Allen: Welcome back to Jazma Online for new interview Miha Rinne. I interviewed you last year about Far End Chronicles vol. 1. How have you been since our last interview?

Miha: Thank you. After our last interview, I completed the short version of Far End vol.2, which is the version that is available online, and was published in magazine Koululainen, and I nearly went bankrupt as last year the interests were sky high while the publishing fees I get are not very high. Then I started to work on Far End vol.3, while working on a 6-month freelance gig, which rescued me from financial ruin. Now thanks to recession the interests are low, so I just about manage.

Allen: Tell me about The Far End.

Miha: It began in 2001 as an imaginary world I created -as an excuse- to draw as many whimsical and bizarre creatures I wanted. But in order to serve an enjoyable story, I tried to add few realistic human (or human like) characters to it. Everything that has followed has come naturally and been made purely by intuition.

With Far End, our interest is not really about what it is, or where it is, instead we just travel around it and appreciate things as they appear before our eyes, such as the beautiful gas giant on the sky, spirits who come out at night, and weird but somehow comforting system of life where souls don’t really die but are recycled instead.

Allen: I have just finished reading volume 2. Tell me little bit more about Lili.

Miha: You might have noticed that in beginning of vol.2 Lili does not behave like a hero, but like an annoying little brat. This is because of I felt a need for realism, and because in my opinion you can’t just march a character in front of the reader and bluntly present him/her as a faultless “hero”. At least I would not buy into that. Lili is an artificial creature for sure, but I just can’t believe she could be built to be hero, or into any personality. Personality (as we all know) is an evolving thing that develops out of your surroundings and life experiences.

So in order to make Lili develop hero-like qualities, whatever you think that means; she would have to go through severe hardships in order to grow. And since most of the readers are likely to experience hardships in their own life, I had to make sure that Lili’s troubles are bad enough so reader could sympathize with her and believe the way her maturing and growing up is presented.

Also, I needed to make sure that she has people, or creatures around her that could love or support her, because otherwise she would just grow bitter and nihilistic instead. And cheap nihilism is like cheap sentimentalism; I wish to avoid both. If I had Elvin and Basil build a creature with fully-developed personality from the scratch, that creature would have behaved like a Johnny-cab in Total Recall. That’s how I see it.

So in this story, Lili had to take some serious growing pains and also I also made sure that she earns the right to be a “hero” of the story. So as a result, the story is sometimes dark.

Allen: What sort of things would you like to talk about volume 2?

Miha: Hard to say anything specific unless asked, but I guess it took far too much time to make. I revised everything about my working methods like I said in my last interview, and I had to remove 15 pages at the request of my editor, which was bitter and hard decision to make. Luckily I could choose the pages myself; they still sit unfinished in my drawer.

If you mean if there is any ‘message’ in this story, well, I did not start it with the intent of consciously having a ‘message’, as I feel it would have ended up being pretentious. Looking afterwards at the finished story, I can see there is quite a bit more going on the story than just having an excuse for an adventure, but I think that is something that comes as a natural result of writing story with honest feelings, rather than trying to figure out what would please the reader.

I must say that I was surprised at myself that the story had such dark elements, like dealing things such as loneliness and death, but considering where I wanted characters to evolve it felt totally justified at the end, so I would not change a thing. I must also give kudos to the retired managing editor who approved this story; it must have been darkest story that has ever been published in that magazine. But it still had a very happy ending, and I think the editor got it what I wanted to do, so nobody protested.

Allen: What do you feel is your mission for creating The Far End Chronicles? What is conflict that is being resolved?

Miha: It’s hard to think of some kind of “mission” in literal sense, and I don’t know about the “conflicts” either.. Should I be worried now?

But, imagine this scenario: You are in some misty, old second-hand comic store or bookshop, and suddenly you see weird but intriguing looking book in the bottom of the book pile. It has interesting cover, which reminds you of the animated film posters you saw as a child, before people had videos at home. Everything about it looks different what you have seen before, but still strangely familiar, as you had known the comic all your life. So you buy it and take it home.

When you read it, you realize that you actually care about the characters, and the story will stick in your mind. Artwork looks bit sloppy at first, but it is obviously lovingly handmade, rather than painted with computer, and somehow the drawings arouse your imagination. You actually feel bits of excitement you haven’t felt since you were a child. You hunt down all the remaining volumes, and take very protective care of them. You treasure them for the rest of your life, and dig them out and reread them, when you want to remind yourself, amid life’s frustrations, that there are still exciting things left in this world.

That all might sound pompous to some people, but I tried to create the mental image on how I would see the comic I want to make - as something that I would want to find and read myself. Then again, this was just one example. I did not mean that I am making this exclusively for old geeks or used comic-book stores, so please do not take it literally!

Allen: What has been reaction to first two volumes?

Miha: If you mean the kids who bought the magazine, they hated the first volume to death. They just had no patience to go through all the episodes as it was only two pages for month. Vol.1 suffered especially from this, as it was not written to be read in 2-page parts. For vol.2, the response was divided between those kids who said that they haven’t read it and don’t want to read it, and those who actually took their time to look for all the back issues and/or episode descriptions on my website, and they really, really, really loved it! This made me very happy.

But obviously I understand that Far End is, especially in serialized form, more challenging than usual as it has no instant gratification, no fart jokes or kid characters that are smarter and meaner than adults. I did not want any of that because I hated it even when I was a kid. If some kid thinks that Idols and Big Brother are the best entertainment that life has to offer, there is just no way that I could, or would even want to, ever appeal to them.

Allen: Why did you choose to put story on www.kidjutsu.com

Miha: Brian contacted me and asked if he can publish it. I thought it was fine since I felt it would then find readers who would be at young age (though Far End hasn’t really been made for any specific age group, as I find that kind of planning very superfluous)

Allen: I had the honor of interviewing Mike Penny. He actually set up our last interview. How did he help promote Far End Chronicles? How has his death changed your way of promoting Far End Chronicles?

Miha: Mike Penny helped in many ways. He posted about the Far End on many forums, he set up a ‘featured artist’ presentation on his home page, and yes he set up the interview.

Obviously with his passing the amount of visibility and promotion has diminished somewhat for all the web comic artists who were in Dakuwaka.

Allen: Tell me some of your favorite memories about Mike Penny.

Miha: He was incredibly decent and nice person, he answered quickly and his answers were always precise and to the point. He even gave me his own Wowio password, so I can look up how much revenue Far End had generated at Wowio. How much more honest than that can person possibly get? It is impossible to even imagine saying anything but good things about him.

My last memory of him was that he was looking forward to the cover art for vol.2, so he can put it to Wowio, and then he suddenly stopped replying on my emails. I found only months later that he had passed away, which was a shock. Despite his disabling illness he achieved much more than most of the people do in their lifetime. He was definitely inspiring. It is sad that the very best of us always leave too soon.

Allen: Tell me where readers can read volume one and two?

Miha: Vol.1 can be found from my Comicspace gallery; http://www.comicspace.com/miha_rinne/ , Wowio: http://www.wowio.com/users/product.asp?BookId=4352 or Kidjutsu: http://www.kidjutsu.com/comic/far-end-chronicles-vol-1 , Vol.2 can be found from Comicspace, or Kidjutsu: http://www.kidjutsu.com/comic/far-end-chronicles-volume-2

Allen: Are there plans for issues that can be bought in stores? What is best way to get copy if not just online?

Miha: I do have plans to self-publish these in Finland. Obviously I am hoping that people could but and read these in English also, but I have decided to not approach any foreign publishers unless the story is complete. I will then ask them, once, and if the answer is no, I am hoping to self-publish them also in the states as soon as I got money for it. I got also French translations slowly coming up. As for how to obtain them, we will see once we are that far. I will sell them on my website for sure.

Allen: We talked a little about your self in last interview. What is it about your living area that fuels your desire to create stories?

Miha: I guess I always wanted to create stories, and I do not know why that is. Neither I want to go too deep to analyze that, as I feel this would taint that desire. Making story is a journey where you also learn something about yourself. That is why it can be very satisfying, providing that you are allowed to do it in your own way. My current living area provides me a peace to concentrate on my work, but whether it has affection on the content – maybe, but I don’t really know.

Allen: What was inspiration for The Big Black Boo?

Miha: I can’t remember really. The character, as well as the dragon, was in my sketchbook as early as 2001. It was satisfying to give it life. I guess I was influenced by early Tove Jansson. I hate the commercialized Moomins of today, but her original works have a very magical quality about them. I was always impressed how she could make some creature look mysterious or menacing with just few lines of ink. I guess it just has to come from the heart.

Allen: Tell me about the dragon. I am curious about origins?

Miha: Oh, that’s very simple. I saw never-ending story as a kid, and was very impressed by the furry luck dragon, who was called Falkor. It was not furry in the book, but I think it was a great idea from the filmmakers to make it look like a flying dog. There was also very imaginative arcade game made in the 80’s, Space Harrier, where you rode a furry dragon which was called Uriah. Strangely, I could never think of a name for my own dragon.

Also, I remember when I finished my first furry dragon sketches, I thought “nobody has made furry dragons since then! This is great!” then only weeks later, I saw Miyazaki’s “Spirited Away” on imported DVD…Oh well, at least Spirited Away is a truly great film.

Allen: Tell me what the future holds for Far End Chronicles?

Miha: Just a week ago, I got a reply for my inquiry from the new, young managing editor we have now in the magazine who publishes Far End in Finland. He had decided that they will stop publishing Far End after volume 3. I tried to offer them another comic but they would not even talk about it. They are going to replace my work with comics that are made by 7-12 old children. You can imagine how I felt. Well, I wept for 30 seconds, and then I decided that what the hell, I got still seven months to go before I am forced to move onto day job. So I am going to finish volume 3, 4 and 5 before that happens, no matter what.

Allen: That’s a lot of pressure to finish it all. Do you have much of third volume completed? How many pages do you think will be in rest of the volumes?

Miha: For vol.3, it’s a kind of no-brainer. I had to compress the length of vol.3 to 24 pages, to please the editors, which is far too little. I got now 13 pages done. I have soon done all that I am obliged to do for the magazine.

I will then move on to finish the missing pages for vol.2, then I will add as many pages as necessary for vol.3 to make the pace of the story just right. I will then move on to finish the story what I feel I want to tell in volumes 4 and 5. I don’t know how many pages they are going to be, and frankly, I don’t care. Since I am going to self-publish them anyway, I don’t need to pay attention to anything else than serving as good a story as I can, which I think is a real blessing. Maybe the remaining volumes will be 100 pages in total, maybe 60. We’ll see.

What ever the page count is, it will still be enormous amount of work to do in just seven months, but at least I have a clear idea on how much time I got left, and the pressure will definitely push me to finish to once and for all something that would otherwise hang around and haunt me for years. If that is not a real blessing, then I don’t know what is.

Allen: How many languages are Far End Chronicles issues translated?

Miha: English, and French. The French edition for vol.2 was once again translated by Mathieu Stoldick, who has done a stellar job. It will remain to be seen if I will translate the rest, perhaps I should see how the publishers in France will react, first.

Allen: Tell me about any other new comics you are working on. What is best way to read issues? Are they translated from Finnish language?

Miha: I am working on a satirical / autobiographical comic about my time in game industry (and the nature of that profession in general), via satire and/or parody. It is called “Matkailua Pelialalla 1994-2009”, which means “traveling around the game industry”. It tells about two young students, who in 1994 are given a 15-year grant to make comprehensive document about the game industry. They will then find that it was not at all what they imagined it to be. The first chapter is in Finland, the second chapter in UK, then we will visit other countries, and many different studios who are echoes of real places, or totally imaginary.

Since I’ve been around a bit, and seen many different workplaces, I am able to make fun out of many different aspects of this job. But rather than just being comical, my real intention is also to completely dispel the myth that making games is a “dream-job”. In truth, it can be just as hard and frustrating as any other job, because after all you will still deal with the reality. There are good moments for sure, but they are always compensated by many long evenings and weekends doing endless overtime which is sometimes unpaid, frustration, at times terrible working conditions, and sometimes even years of work being canned on top of all that!

I began to do it, because I strongly felt the need to show what making games really is like. I am sick of people who think I am lucky because I got to be in game industry. I don’t think that I am any luckier than any of you; I just worked hard and tried to put up with all the crap. My rewards have never been any more overwhelming compared to amount of work and wasted efforts I’ve done. When you read the comic I hope you will understand. And that’s all.

Now, it seems that this webcomic has begun to be really achieving some sort of cult-status in Finland, which –believe it or not- was not my intention at all. All I was hoping to do was to vent out my feelings about the industry, and hopefully make someone understand me and my job as a result. And hopefully not alienate too many people in this industry, as I still might need a job some day.

But it seems to me –based on the feedback and response that I’ve got- that lot of people, especially young people, seem to have an awful amount of bent-up frustration, bitterness, and anger about their experiences in the industry. Perhaps they had unrealistic expectations when they entered the game industry. They surely must have had, because I did, when I entered.

If they were able to turn their negative experiences all into a good laugh because of my comic, then that is a wonderful thing. If I am able to calm down any unrealistic expectations of any young person who enters the industry, then that is even better. Maybe they could then cope with the fact that it is not really a dream job, where you swim with fame and money, but just a very hardworking and demanding career where you got to face disappointments just as much as anyone who lives in the real world.

But, I also have had many requests from the fans to write and draw about “how he and he did this and that shady thing in this and that company”.. Well, I was not very happy to get those kinds of requests, because shaming people or companies, or exposing all the shame and dirt and mistakes specifically was not my intention!! I am not some dirty paparazzi. And I don’t want to be sued either. I am only willing to shame myself in this comic.

It is OK to laugh at 10+ year old things, because you can see that things in entertainment industry haven’t really changed much, but when the comic moves on to 2000’s, I am –rather than going over and over again talking about the same problems- really more interested to show what has actually changed, when making games, and how it affects us. It may be not as funny, it may be even boring and depressing, who knows, but I don’t care. I want to be honest. They can stop reading it if they get bored.

It will be translated in English when it is all done and I got time, right now only the first episode is subtitled.

Allen: How much of your time per day is spent creating stories? Take me through an average day creative wise for you Miha.

Miha: That’s a tough question because it depends whether deadline is looming or not. If there is no deadline, the hours from 10am to 3pm are done procrastinating, and thinking “Oh no, I can’t do this, I am not good enough, everyone is going to hate this and me forever if I am going to put this out.” Then, I realize I got to do something whether it works or not, and draw or paint from 3pm to 10pm..And it turns out to be all right, mostly. When I got deadline, I don’t pay any attention to that, I just work around the clock, so I can finally send the bill. That’s why I love deadlines; there is less time to worry. With the game industry comic, I don’t care at all if it is good quality or not, because I do it just for fun. I spend few hours every Sunday making it, no more! But I do make sure that it has more content than just talking heads with still camera.

Allen: What are some comics you are reading at present time?

Miha: I’ve been more reading books again, I’m afraid. I recently purchased Creepy anthology though, so my comic reading habits have not progressed much. The book I am reading currently is Hayao Miyazaki’s “Starting point 1979-1996”; which is a collection of his essays. It has answered many very tough questions I have been thinking about, such as why should I kill myself with working so hard for so many hours for such little money and reward. The answer was that if you are working on something fulfilling, the work done is a reward in itself, and therefore the money earned or amount of hours put in are totally irrelevant. However, I am aware that any future employer of mine reading this might possibly try and abuse this quote, as they will surely forget that ‘if’… ha ha!

Allen: When not working on stories what are some of your present pass times?

Miha: I watch movies, read books or play old video games. I don’t go out very much as I don’t have time or money. I used to do hapkido, but I lack the time, so I have to resort to simple jogging.

Allen: Do you still feel desire to work in other fields? I recall that you used to work in video game industry. Would you like to again work in that field or try another area?

Miha: Since there are no magazines left who would pay me to do comics I want to make, I have no option but to return to game industry, or at least some day job. I have to consider hard where I want to work, if there is any option. Maybe I can find a small, independent game studio, where my efforts might actually matter. That would be better than putting on late hours just to please the stockholders. I tried to work for a corporation once, and I wish not to do that again.

Animation is also interesting, but even I feel intimidated by 24-hour working days that still tend to happen in that industry. I am not sure if I love making animation that much, especially now when all that people do is CGI animation.

Allen: What is best way to contact you? Do you presently have website?

Miha: I guess the best way would be write to my hotmail address, which is miha_rinne[at]hotmail.com … I check it few times a week. I do have webpage, www.miharinne.1g.fi but it is totally under construction.

Allen: Do you have any convention appearances planned for future?

Miha: If I get the possibility to self-publish Far End Chronicles in English, I would love to sell it at some comic convention at states. But I would do it for fun only; I have no illusions that anyone would pay any attention to me or my work.

Allen: It was fun talking to you again Miha. I also was saddened to find out Mike Penny passed away. I hope to again interview you again next year. I have really enjoyed reading Far End Chronicles. What would you like to say to readers that still are unsure of giving story a try?

Miha: I don’t know. If the cover artwork does not rouse your interest I don’t know if there is anything I can do to persuade you. But I can say that I have spent many years of serious effort to bring this comic out, so at least you would know that you are not reading some half-baked attempt. I don’t think there are that many comics on a web that have so many hours of work poured just on a single page alone. And once this is done, I am not sure if anything similar is going to spring up very soon again. Of course, that alone does not guarantee an enjoyable experience, so the rest is up to your taste. Thank you for your time!