I drink too much coffee: Jonathan Kunz

India's pop culture experience, Comic-Con India 2019 kick starts from the city of Hyderabad on October 12 & 13 and will move to Bangalore (16th & 17th November), Mumbai (7-8 December), Delhi (20-22 December) and Ahmedabad (1-2 February 2020), respectively.

The festival is in its 9th edition and will see its 7th edition in Hyderabad this year. Hyderabad Comic Con 2019 will be headlined by creators of the world's top Webcomics, 'Strange Planet' (Nathan W Pyle) and 'War & Peas' (Jonathan Kunz). Covering the multiple spheres of pop culture, the event will feature exclusive live performances by popular stand-up, music and dance act like Sapan Verma, Rajasekar, Beatboxerish, LiveWire and Duality. This year, The Indian Championships of Cosplay (ICC) Qualifier will be evaluated on 3 parameters - Needlework, FX and Armor.

The pandora's box will also include International & Indian artists, exclusive comic books, geekiest merchandise, cosplayers, fan experience zones, Indian creators & writes and the main stage that will include cosplay parade, workshops, etc.

In a freewheeling chat ahead of the event Jonathan Kunz of 'War and Peas' talks about his stint in the industry and more…

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Excerpts from an interview:

Q: What is your agenda for Comic-Con Hyderabad?

I'm looking forward to having a great time in Hyderabad. I will be signing and attending several panels. I'll also bring a few 'War and Peas' tote bags and pins of my favourite character called 'Slutty Witch'. I hope to meet some great people, get to know the Indian way of life and get to taste some of your fantastic dishes.

Q: How did 'War and Peas happen'? What was the idea behind it?

It was all a big accident. When Elizabeth Pich and I met at art school, it was like two magnetic poles. We immediately started creating stories for movies or novels. There were too many ideas even! We found comics to be a great medium to tell these stories as we wouldn't need a crew and a lot of money to create them.

Q: When did you first decide that you wanted to create your own comics?

That was an accident as well as we never really 'decided' that. We started 'War and Peas' without any thoughts about our careers. When suddenly people began to react to our comics, we were just happy about that and knew that we have to keep on with this.

Q: Who has had the biggest influence on you outside the comics industry, and how did they affect your life?

My parents had a great influence on me. I grew up travelling in an old Saab car listening to Free Jazz and Bob Dylan.

Q: Describe your typical work routine.

I have two jobs: I'm a lecturer at art school and I'm a part of 'War and Peas'. So, when I get up, I listen to my favourite podcasts, drink too much coffee and head to art school. Most of the times some students or appointments are waiting for me. When I'm done with these, I drink much more coffee and enter the War and Peas Slack. Then it's a lot of chatting with Elizabeth and making plans regarding our comics.

My favourite part is the weekends though. When I get to have a lazy Saturday I usually go to a café and scribble ideas in my sketchbook. That's the most peaceful time for me and I get the best ideas from that. Besides the opera. The opera is great to get new ideas!

Q: What style of drawing do you use?

We created the style together. It's pretty minimal and there are no mouths or noses, so it's a lot about the dialogues and the body postures.