ISSUE #10 | An Interview with Joachim Heijndermans
JOACHIM HEIJNDERMANS writes, draws, and paints nearly every waking hour. Originally from the Netherlands, he’s been all over the world, boring people by spouting random trivia about toys, movies and comics. His work has been featured in a number of anthologies and publications, such as Mad Scientist Journal, Ahoy Comics, and The Gallery of Curiosities. He’s currently in the midst of completing his first children’s book. You can check out his other work at joachimheijndermans.com, or follow him on Twitter: @jheijndermans.
PLANET SCUMM: Do you look at "A Little Galaxy" differently now than when you first wrote it?
JOACHIM HEIJNDERMANS: It's funny, but it took until recently for me to realize where the idea came from in my personal life. It's an amalgam of several events and some of the characters are combinations of actual people, but the anger from the helplessness that me and others felt at the time really jumps out at me when re-reading it, like it happened yesterday. It all worked out in the end, but I didn't intend for the story to be so close to the pain of that time.
PS: What are you working on now?
JH: I have several projects in the pipeline, including a collection of short stories I've had published over the years. I also intend to actually finish the children's book I've been talking about for years, since the artwork has been done for a while now.
PS: What classic sci-fi invention (hovercar, anti-grav boots, capsule food) would you most want to have made real?
JH: Teleporters/warp gates. I love going places, but the act of travel itself is too much sometimes. Just open a door, and walk through to get to the other side of the planet. It would've made the long-distance relationship so much easier (married for nearly 5 years now).
PS: What’s an art form (sculpting, dance, spoken word) you’ve wanted to try, but haven't?
JH: Voice acting. I like to do impressions and I've been told I have a knack for it. (I do a killer Marge Simpson, which then is a killer on my vocal cords). I'd have to sit down and record some stuff someday, and get over cringing when hearing myself played back.
PS: Tell us about a work of art or media that has directly influenced you.
JH: Pluto, a manga by Naoki Urasawa, which is a re-imagining of an Astro Boy storyline by Osamu Tezuka. I used to write scripts for comics and concepts here and there, but after finishing that series I found myself actually sitting down to write stories (many about robots who ask "why am I?" and companies who reply "Good question. That'll be $5 for the asking fee and $5 for the reply.")
