Richard: What is the storyline of "True Lovers 2"?

Jason Turner: It is about the relationship, after the initial romance period. Moving in together, trying to make all your stuff fit in one dwelling.

So this is the story of True and Zander living together and having little things like work schedules become big obstacles to their relationship. At the same time we see their friends having their own relationship ups and downs.

Richard: Who are the main characters and what are they like?

Jason: True is the title character, and she owns a vintage clothing store. She is not that great at relationships. She had a lot of trouble breaking up with her boyfriend before Zander, and now that she has Zander she gets easily distracted when he's not around.

Zander is her boyfriend, who is a pretty laid back guy who kind of goes with the flow. In this volume he gets frustrated when the flow isn't cooperating with him.

Then there are their friends Herb and Eliza. Herb is Zander's buddy. He is a loveable pot-smoking complexicator. Eliza is an old friend of True, a high maintenance self-centered loud mouth, who we still have a soft spot for. She is the one who will always call True on her crap. She keeps it real.

Richard: What is the setting for this story?

Jason: It is very much set in Vancouver. The city is almost another character in the book. Also, it is the Vancouver that Manien and I live in, so it isn't so much about the drug gangs and the Olympics as people having their jobs and hanging out on Commercial Drive.

Richard: Why did you decide to create this comic?

Jason: A long time ago, I thought I might make some money writing Harlequin romance novels. So I read one, and it did not relate to my life at all. Then later I was trying to think of a Vancouver-specific story that might be serialized in a weekly local paper, and somehow that synched up with my latent desire to do a romance story that made sense to me. The initial seed of this idea was worked out with Manien ... and magic was born!

Richard: If you could change one thing in True Loves what would it be and why?

Jason: Have the printed book in colour. I really enjoy doing the online version of the story in colour and feel like it adds another dimension to the proceedings.

Richard: What is your co-creator and co-writer Manien Bothma like?

Jason: Well she is my WIFE! She is awesome. We always have so much fun writing the comic together, and it inevitably goes in directions that neither of us would have thought of on our own.

Richard: How would you describe the art on "True Lovers 2"?

Jason: Simple but evocative.

Manien Bothma: I find that with a few lines you are able to convey a lot about the characters, and what is going on in a given scene. Often when there are no words, you are saying a lot through the expressions and postures of the characters. I'm thinking of that one panel in the first book where it was a photo of True and Dirk and his brother and she was wearing that toque and there was red-eye and reflection of the flash in the Christmas ornaments... It captured that awkward Christmas with Dirk's family so well.

Richard: What is "Adulation Interlude: The Talking and Walking"?

Jason: That is the horrible clunky name I came up with for a daily drawing project through April 2009. I thought I would draw four panels straight to ink each day, and then colour them with pencil crayon, and post them on the internet. The strange and difficult to explain part of it is that I see it as a little interlude in a story that I have had in my head for years. So this is a little interlude that would not be included in the full story (that I have not actually drawn), but maybe it would get me in gear to draw the story proper. Also, it is mostly two guys walking along a street for a block, and chatting.

Richard: What do you get out of creating mini web comics?

Jason: I get to do some comics, and do them in colour if I so desire, and have them potentially read by people all over the world. And if I post them somewhere like livejournal, sometimes there is immediate feedback on them, which is nice.

Richard: Why are you a member of the Crown Commission?

Jason: Why indeed. At the time we got that together, it seemed like a good idea to have a group of mostly Canadian cartoonists, mostly in Vancouver, cross-pollinating, sharing our readers. But we had an art show. We put together a zine of jam comics. We never quite pulled it together. At this point, the Crown Commission is host to a delightful message board, promotes the Vancouver Comic Jam and nominally fuels the few stragglers in the Daily Grind Iron Man competition.

Richard: How do you spend any free time you have?

Jason: I like to read. To draw. To watch a movie or two on the DVD, perhaps with a glass of wine in my hand.

Richard: What comics did you read as a child and do you read now?

Jason: As a child, I read the superheroes. Mostly Marvel, I think, but I was not too discriminating.

Nowadays, I read things like Chris Ware, Scott Pilgrim, and a Drifting Life, with a healthy dollop of Grant Morrison superheroes on the side.

Richard: How can someone contact you?

Jason: turboloves@gmail.com

Richard: Any words for readers of your comics?

Jason: Thank you for your support, and your interest in comics that are maybe a little different.

Also: Walking down your back alley can be every bit as interesting as jetting off to Europe. If you let it.