End of Season One Q&A

The team is working hard on Season 2, but this week we're answering your fan questions!

From everyone at Team Animal, thank you!

For this Q&A session, writer Justin Jordan (orange font) and illustrator John Amor (green font) will be answering your questions.

## End of Season One Q&A

**Mave:** This kinda reminds me of Ben10. What was your inspiration for this webcomic?
**John:** Urban Animal was inspired by a lot of different things, Ben 10 Is definitely in that stew, along with some Filipino folklore, Beast Boy, Animal Man, John Carpenter's *The Thing*, Megaman, *Buffy the Vampire Slayer*, and Archie comics.

**Icetry:** They can't have a break, can they, authors?
**Justin:** We live for Joe's sufferings.

**Rexor30:** Is Joe finally gonna stop having monsters beat his ass?
**Justin:** Unlikely, but he can fight back better now. In theory. Maybe.

**MalleyMoon:** If everyone believes the Weirdness (Phoebe) is a dude, and she talks in her videos, does she use some kind of voice changer? Otherwise, wouldn't Baby Heist recognize her voice?
**John:** She uses a digital voice changer to stay as anonymous as possible on the internet. The Baby Heist boys aren't quite sharp enough to detect the female vocal nuances, but Charlotte is wise.

**❦καηεκι❦:** So if a chimera in human form has a child with a human… does the child become a chimera too?
**Echogirl\_64:** Is Joe being a chimera hereditary. Is it some kind of recessive gene from one of his parents' families that he inherited? (BTW this is a great webtoon and is actually one of my favorites)
**Justin:** Combining these two, because they're good but similar questions. The answer is a conditional no.
Being a chimera is not hereditary. There's no genetic component to it ─ if you ran every scientific test in the world on Joe or Cork in human form they'd just come back as human. **—But—** It's not impossible for a chimera to be created and enfleshed in the child of another chimera, or for one to reincarnate that way. It just almost never happens.

Joe is his parent's biological child but his birth was facilitated by Nature ─ this is why they talked about Joe being a miracle baby early in the season. Chimera children are whatever their parent was when they're conceived.

**Dareka Nemo:** What does it take to kill a chimera? Like, what injuries are fatal to them? It seems they are okay after some pretty serious stuff. Also, Corkindale said getting a job was as horrible as ever. What other jobs did he have throughout his life? Would be great to see some illustrations of hi working in different eras too:)
**John:** We will definitely be learning more about Corkindale in the future. Simply put, chimeras are very hard to kill. There is a threshold to the physical damage they can sustain and walk away from, but it is not the only way to harm them. You can also hurt their feelings.
**Justin:** They are killable, though. Even by regular humans if they
re clever enough. But for a straight up example, cutting Joe's head off would definitely kill him. It's just difficult to actually do it.

**Jerrbear96:** Could you draw Joe as a giant badass dragon hybrid creature?
**John:** Only if you believe in me.

**Punk Purple:** How much blood can Joe lose in one night?
**John:** He can lose all the blood. He shouldn't though. That would be bad.

**Shirley1000:** Any advice for someone wishing to start their own webcomic?
**John:** Just do it and have fun. Excite yourself and be your first fan. You be surprise how far that can take you.
**Justin:** Aside from John's excellent advice, I's say consistency. The one thing that really separates successful webcomics from ones that fail is that they are in it for the long haul.

**Somebody32:** Why does Corkindale turn into multiple rats and not just one?
**John:** Cork also has the ability to only turn into one rat, like when he wants to be stealthy. He uses the swarm form for attack and intimidation more than anything else.
**Justin:** He could also split off a small chunk of himself and have one rat running around while the rest of him remains human, but this is difficult and can have … side effects. There'll be more about that in Season Two.

**Rachel Schol:** Does Joe's father know his secret, and if so , is he a chimera too?
**Justin:** He knows as of the Battle of the Bands. But he didn't before, and he's regular human and a great musician.
(Joe's mom is also a plain vanilla human.)

**Ra Eun Sung:** What is your favorite animal (or animal mixture) to draw Joe (or any of the future gang of shapeshifters) in?
**John:** I'm very partial to wolves and canines in general. And dinosaurs are a guilty pleasure. But I'm learning to draw new and different animals every week. I had to learn to draw the pangolin pretty much on the fly. I'm glad people dug it.
**Justin:** I like kitties.

**Violent\_Lilacs:** How old is Joe anyway? He looks like he's 12 LOL.
**John:** Joe and the gang are in that 15-16 age range. But Joe is a smol.

**Crim5009:** Will mom and dad have much more sifnificant roles in the next season?
**Justin:** Yup, they both know, and the have to deal with that.

**MrNecromancer:** If Joe gets control of his powers would he be able to turn into a unicorn?
**Justin:** He could turn into something very much like one, at least. And let us not forget the rhinocorn from earlier in the season.

**Raithelord:** Can you just let Joe get some clothes that stretch or something? The boy needs pants!
**Justin:** If he learns to use his powers better. It's not our fault he hasn't mastered that clothes trick Kagan has.
I'm lying, it's totally our fault.

**Mizuka:** Who's your favorite character to draw?
**John:** In Urban Animal? Joe himself, especially when he's mid-trasformation. Charlotte used to be close second, but now that Kagan has been introduced, those two are battling for that #2 spot.
Outside of UA, I love drawing the DC character Lobo.

**Dadodoizded:** Does nobody care about Joe's nudeness at this point.
**John:** He's nude.
**Justin:** In everyone's defense, Joe has mostly been naked when they had a lot bigger things (usually with teeth) occupying their attention.

**Lieucypher:** Great work. How long does it take you to draw an episode? Where is Corkindale through this? Keep up the good work and remember that it's okay to take a break despite what people say.
**John:** Thanks for looking out for me! Corkindale is in a different place entirely. It takes me five 9-hour days to finish each episode. Sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on how detailed the episode is or how many new animals I need to learn.

**Joesse:** Does it take energy to change his body? Does it take more energy to change into huge animals than into smaller?
**Justin:** It does. Swarms and animals larger than yourself are harder. Chimeras generally need to eat a lot, and there's a certain level of being 'in shape' ─ turning into a swarm of rats is pretty effortless for Corkindale because he does it a lot.

**Zion Amin Cook:** I don't expect you to reveal who dies and when, but how death rampant is this comic going to be?
**Justin:** Probably medium. People and chimera will die, but it's not going to be super murder happy. Still, probably shouldn't get too attached to anyone.

**Poke Nerd:** Does Phoebe have an interest in Joe, or vice versa? And follow up, can you show them together?
**Justin:** Oh yes. And this will be a thing next season.

**Dai the Cat is Cool:** Is it possible Ralablast and Corkindale are somehow related? They look kinda similar and the fact Corkindale implied he was alive in Ralablast's time…
**Justin:** Not related, but they are acquainted. More about that next season, unsurprisingly, and a lot more about Ralabast.

**BigJ503:** Just curious, what previous work/experience/background do you guys have?
**John:** I was born a wolf. When I turned human in my teens, I learned to draw. And then I drew things like Judas: The Last Days for IDW, One Week in the Library for Image Comics, and a buncha other stuff along the way. But I'm still a wolf on the inside.
**Justin:** I was not born a wolf. I had to learn that. But if you work hard and apply yourself, you can be anything you want. But aside from wolfdom, I've been writing comic professionally for almost ten years. I have the Luther Strode series, Spread, Death of Love, and The Family Trade from Image, and a bunch of comics from a bunch of other companies.
But if you like Urban Animal, I would recommend checking out Backways and The Family Trade, both of which you should be able to buy from Amazon or your local comic shop.

**Lov3lypain:** Joe, have your parents not asked you about your disappearing clothes? And if they have, what did you tell them?
**John:** Joe's parents are sort of used to Joe losing or tearing clothes because he's 1) a skater and 2) in a rock band.
**Justin:** He's also not quite torn through enough clothes for it to be an issue, although his mom has noticed his laundry loads seem smaller.

**Minerrian:** Is everything already planned or are you making the story up as you go? If it is planned have you ever considered changing something in the story?
**Blackpanther5000:** Does the comments' section ever affect the plot of the story? Or is everything already planned out?
**Justin:** These questions are fairly similar, but I included them both because they ask some different stuff.
So the season was planned in detail before it came out. Basically we knew what all 27 episodes were going to be, and when the reveals and stuff would happen. Which generally is how I write, but particularly for this there's a looooot of stuff going on in the background of the book, so we needed a clear roadmap so it all made sense.

And we mostly stuck to that plan. There's been a couple of times where two episodes became one, or one got expanded to two, just because I under or estimated how much space we needed.

That means there weren't any significant changes because of the comments. There have been times where we adjusted the dialogue a bit based on what people seemed to be thinking about the episodes. Some stuff we made clearer, some stuff we hid more.

**Megnificent:** Any plans to make Urban Animal available in print?
**Justin:** You bet. It won't be until next year at the earliest. Aside from anything else, it's a decent chunk of work to refit the series for the print form. And we're busy with the series so we have to fit it in around that.

**Lemon\_Peppermints:** How many seasons are you guys planning for this comic? Also it's a really interesting storyline, keep up the great work!
**John:** Thank you! We currently have roughly five seasons mapped out, but if you guys keep reading and liking, and Webtoon continues to dig us, we could honestly go for longer than that.
**Justin:** Yup! We've just barely scratched the surface of the lore and mythology, let alone all the different groups and factions that exist. So we've got enough to go for a loooooong time if we're popular enough. And thanks! We love you guys.

**Ricky Zimmerman:** Is Yaslatol's master connected to Ralabast? And does he have any history with Corkindale?
**Justin:** She sure does.

**PurplePanda :3:** Just for fun … which animals would his friends be able to become? Also could you provide quick sketches?
**John:** I'll probably sketch these some day soon … but here goes
* Sean ─ dog
* Phoebe ─ fox
* Charlotte ─ cat
* Fletcher ─ snake
* Paulo ─ bear

**Justin:** I agree with these, although I think Charlotte and Fletcher are probably both cats in my head.

**Blademeister22:** Can only certain chimeras hurt the body snatcher things or can they all do it? Does it required a certain emotion, like actually shifting, or is it just more of a passive ability?
**Justin:** Most can't. Joe and Kagan aren't the only ones who can do it, but the number of chimera with enough power to do it is probably less than a dozen.
Any chimera can kill the bodies they possess, if they do enough damage. Corkindale eventually could. But the actual spirit would just move on to another body.

It's one of the reasons soul parasites remain a problem. They difficult to get rid of permanently. It doesn't require any particular emotion under normal circumstances, but it's not quite passive. The chimera have to want to do it.

Joe is an unusual case, he did have to be angry to do it because that was the only way for him, in the moment, to tap the power he possessed as Ralabast.

**Amega676:** Is the blond-haired chica Joe's girlfriend now?
**Justin:** Not yet.

**Blademeister22:** Was it ever explained why Corkindale can only turn into rats?
**justin:** He's bad at chimera'ing.
I'm kidding, more or less, but the answer is that he can't. For reasons that no chimera understands (because Nature doesn't explain things, ever) they're created with varying power levels. So turning into one giant rat or a lot of little ones is literally the only transformation he can do, aside from just transforming part of himself.

He also has the ability to heal fast and an unlimited lifespan, and some rare chimera don't even get that.

**ʎa BO!:** Is there a meaning in Urban Animal?
**Justin:** The title "Urban Animal" juxtaposes something wild and something tamed. Instead of a noun, it is an adjectival phrase. A descriptive. It harkens back to titles like 'American Vampire' and 'Modern Family'. Also it just sounds cool.

**Frankenstein73:** What inspired you to do Urban Animal?.
**Justin:** John covered his chunk of it in another question, and Urban Animal is his original idea, but I have definitely been channeling my "I want to write Buffy the Vampire Slayer" dreams for it.

**General Q&A:** Who's you favorite character in other comics? Like superheroes & stuff.
**Justin:** I am a big Batman and Daredevil guy. And, appropriately enough, I also really like Bane and Kingpin.
**John:** I love the Fantastic Four. Jonny's my favorite. But I also love Tim Drake Robin and Lobo. And the Ninja Turtles.

**General Q&A:** Do you have a YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram accounts?
**Justin:** No YouTube, although John has a Twitch stream.
But for the rest:

* Facebook.com/JustinJordanComics
* Twitter.com/Justin\_Jordan
* Instagram.com/JustinJordanComics

**John:** Y'all can find me on:
* Facebook.com/JohnAmorArt
* Twitter.com/JohnAmor
* Twitch.tv/JohnAmor

**General Q&A:** Are you going to do a spin-off or sequels?
**Justin:** We're not against it, but no plans currently; our main focus is the series.

**General Q&A:** What was Joe's life like the 1st time?
**Justin:** Different.
We'll see more of that next season, but I will tease one thing: Ralabast was around for a looooong time before humans, and that has a lot to do with how he ended up being Joe Gomez.

**General Q&A:** How old is Corkindale?
**Justin:** Like a lot of things, you'll get a sense of that next season. But he's lived a lot more than one human lifetime.

**John:** Guys! We didn't expect so many of you to be interested in the Urban Animal Playlist I have on Spotify. That's both very encouraging and humbling. A bunch of you have already found the playlist on your own, but here's a url you can visit.
*(UA Wiki admin:*
The link on the Webtoon page has ad trackers now, so instead go here to see the current link and listing of the Season One Playlist.)

Something else we've noticed you asking about is Merch! We have a storefront set up on Threadless. There's a handful of designs to choose from, but we'd love to hear from you guys! What would you like to see on the store?

## Fan Art End of Season One Q&A

Putting the fan art here would be disingenuous with the potential for copyright infringements, but you can go to the Season One Q&A page to see them first hand.

## Season One Q&A 2018

We're reposting the Q&A and Fan Art Showcase from the end of 2018. The entire team is currently neck deep in Season Two production!

From everyone at
Team Animal, thank you!

**General Q&A:** What inspired Urban Animal?
**Team UA:** This comic was originally inspired by Filipino folklore, which is notorious for having shape-shifting creatures such as the "aswang", which can turn into bats, birds, boars, cats and dogs.
We expanded that base lore with nature spirits and animal mysticism to create something conceptually broader that allowed us a lot of room to play around.

The chimera are the result of this expanded idea.

**General Q&A:** How long does it take to make each episode?
**Team UA:** After Justin writes the plot and dialogue for each episode, John draws and colors the art, which takes about a week — sometimes more if there's a lot of characters or background detail. And then Micah applies letters and sound effects.
It's hard to say for sure how long an episode takes because we're usually already working on the next one when Micah is lettering the newly finished one… But a week.

**General Q&A:** What is Joe's band called?
**Team UA:** Joe's dad, who is Filipino, told him stories about 'aswang' when he was a kid. These were scary shape-shifting monsters who would steal children or infants from rural towns.
Joe shared these stories with his friends and they've called themselves "Baby Heist" ever since.

**General Q&A:** Did you do research to support your story?
**Team UA:** We did a fair amount of research, combined things from various cultures, and then took some creative liberties.
The magic system is still being explored in the series and we've barely scratched the surface of what Urban Animal is really about, but we're glad you folks seem to be enjoying the world we're building.

**Hannah Yan:** To John, as the illustrator how did you develop the art style to suit such a comic so well? Did you ever have a hard time studying animal features to blend them into the character designs? Than you for your hardwork *(sic)* on this comic guys, it's really engaging to read and and I hope you guys have as much fun making as us reading.
**John:** Thanks Hannah. I didn't intentionally develop the art style to suit the story, but if you folks feel that way, then that's very encouraging and I appreciate it. This is just how I draw, I guess.
Some animals can definitely be tough to draw, but my style is cartoony enough that we can get away with a lot of simplification and wild shapes.

**General Q&A:** Which animals do you think suit the different characters' personalities?
**Team UA:**
* Sean – dog
* Charlotte – cat
* Fletcher – snake
* Paulo – bear
* Phoebe – fox
* John - fork

**General Q&A:** How long do you intend the series to run?
**Team UA:** As of now we have enough Urban Animal stories mapped out to run for five seasons.
With your likes, comments, and support, we can bring you all five seasons and potentially go further.

**Jesspresso4Life:** What type of music does Joe's band play?
**Team UA:** Since they're a young band, they don't really have a sound of their own yet, but we imagine them to be playing post-hardcore stuff like Circa Survive, Filter, and The Used.
John has a Spotify playlist called "Urban Animal S1 OST" which is literally just a mix of songs that he feels captures the personality of the band and the comic itself.

Feel free to search for it and check it out

*(UA Wiki admin:*
Go here to see the current link and listing of the Season One Playlist.)

**General Q&A:** Hogwart's Houses?
**Team UA:**
* Joe – Gryffindor
* Corkindale – Slytherin
* Sean – Gryffindor
* Charlotte – Slytherin
* Phoebe – Ravenclaw
* Paulo - Hufflepuff

**Rachel Levenstein:** I'm really enjoying your guys comic so far! The art style and story is really fresh and unique. Also, do you have any specific songs in mind when drawing the band scenes?
**John:** Thanks, I do!

I usually imagine that they're jamming to some Bring Me the Horizon or Polyphia.

They have original songs as well — those will be explored later on.

**FleetingFox:** What do the episode titles mean? If they're song titles from real bands, you guys are awesome for always sneaking in subtle cool things like that!!
**General Q&A:** Thanks for noticing!
They are absolutely song titles from real bands.

Episode 7's title "The Company of Wolves" is lifted from an Incubus song, while ep 6's "This Gathering" is from a band John enjoys called Franco. We pick songs that are relevant to the episode, and the fact that they sound badass is icing on the cake.

We'll leave it to you guys to find the other songs if you're keen.

**General Q&A:** If you were to transform into any animal of your choice, what would it be?
**John:** Definitely an owl. But wolves are pretty cool too.
**Justin:** Probably a cat? I'm pretty close to being a human cat anyway.

**General Q&A:** How did you guys meet?
**John:** Justin found me in the woods.

But the story we tell publicly is that we met on an online forum called Digital Webbing, back when we were still jumpstarting our comic careers and looking for potential collaborators. That was in 2008. We've been working together on little projects ever since.

**General Q&A:** How old are you guys?
**John:** I'm 35, but sometimes my bones are 57.
**Justin:** My bones have long since given up. I'm older than John and younger than Corkindale.

**General Q&A:** Who's your favorite character in the series?
**John:** Joe and Corkindale are my absolute favorites, but that's the easy and obvious answer. I really enjoy drawing Fletcher, the green-haired bass player in the band.
**Justin:** Like John, Joe and Corkindale are easy answers, but I am very fond of Phoebe and Charlotte.

**General Q&A:** So if Joe can turn into any animal does that mean he could be a super tough bear or a super cute puppy?
**Justin:** For sure, if he can get the hang of it.
Chimera powers are really versatile, but not every chimera is good at using them. It's kind of like: there are people who can speak a dozen languages, but most people can't. So Corkindale, for instance, is actually pretty weak in terms of his ability to use the powers a chimera can have — he's essentially limited to rats.

But … power isn't everything. Corkindale is a lot more dangerous than his limited abilities would lead you to believe, because he's smart and has centuries of experience.

Wait, did I say centuries…

**General Q&A:** Where do all the characters live?
**Team UA:** The city they live in is called Walker's Point … which is in COUGH–cough–cough

**General Q&A:** Any suggestions for future writers?
**Team UA:** Yes!
1. Read a lot.
2. Write stories.
3. Finish it.
4. Write more stories.

Which, 2-4 are actually less common than you think. I know a lot of people who spend a lot of time writing worldbuilding stuff without actually writing a story. Likewise, a lot of people have a lot of stories they started and never finished, or they spend all their time trying to polish one thing.

You learn a lot more by doing, finishing, and moving on. That said, I get it — while I've published hundreds of issues of comics, I've still never finished an actual novel. I also recommend starting with short stories. If you want to do comics, think five or six pages. If you get good at short stuff, it's easier to go longer, and you end up finishing stuff and starting new stuff much faster.

Plus, it's easier to get artists to draw five or six pages. And if you want to do comics, you should try to get people to draw your stuff — you'll learn a lot from working with them.

**General Q&A:** What are your influences? This comic reminds me a lot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
**John:** I'm a big fan of all things Animal Man and Swamp Thing, but I also really love 80s teen horror flicks like The Lost Boys, Nightmare on Elm Street and Fright Night. The vibe of small town horror and the kids having to deal with it has always appealed to me. All that stuff has definitely seeped into this story.
**Justin:** Joss Whedon is built into my creative DNA, so I take that as high praise. A lot of my influences come from movies and books, so Quentin Tarantino and Elmore Leonard are in there too, which is probably why there's so much dialogue.
I'm also a big John Carpenter fan and a horror guy in general. Which I think also influences UA pretty heavily.

**TatiJL:** I was wondering if the chimeras (since they can shift into any animal) had a particular family of animals they are more attuned to. Since Corky seems to only rats and Gomez seems to be hooked on cats, every time he got mad or almost shifted he seemed to have sabertooth tiger features..
**Team UA:** Yep.
Most chimera will stick to one form or a few similar ones, because it's easier to do. And some, like Corkindale, can only do that, but even the more versatile ones tend to stay with a general kind of animal.

**General Q&A:** Any advice for an aspiring comic creator?
**Justin:** Make sure you keep working, and I think you should get your work out there as soon as you can.

I've basically always made my stuff, even in the early days, available to the public. But the most important thing is to keep going. It's putting you butt in the chair and doing the work.

beyond that, I think it's a good idea to learn as much about the craft as you can, even the parts of comics you don't do. I just write, but I read books and articles on drawing, coloring, and lettering.

**General Q&A:** Who are your artistic influences? I think you art looks a bit like some Mignola, and a lot like some Ted Naifeh…
**John:** That's a great honor, Mignola is one of my absolute favorite artists. I'm also heavily influenced by Joe Madureira, Stuart Immonen, Mike Wieringo, and Kevin Maguire.
I generally tend to gravitate towards cartoonier illustrators with a more accesible art style, but I'd hate myself if I didn't mention my pulp horror staples Bernie Wrightson, Kelley Jones, and the evergreen Frank Frazetta.

**Pagemistress:** What are Corkindale's preferences for movies/books/music/food/date mate? The last one just because I sorta hope some old flame shows up and Joe has to deal with the knowledge his mentor actually had a romantic life.
**Justin:** He doesn't really have any preferences for movies and such — Corkindale is very old and very feral. He does like books, though, but he mostly goes in for science texts. Assuming we get more seasons we will eventually see more of Corkindale's romantic life.

**General Q&A:** Is Joe's power of transformation limited to real animals or could he turn into something from fantasy?
**John:** Tricky. I would say some fantasy animals are really just two or three real-world animals combined, right? So … mmmmmaybe?
**Justin:** Like John said, it depends. Joe is limited in that he can only transform into stuff that has existed. But he can (as we saw with turbunny) mix and match. So he could probably transform into something that looked very much like a dragon, although he couldn't breathe fire.

**Yuridia Rebollar:** What other comic ideas do you have? Are you going to do any other comics?
**Justin:** Oh lots. We're both full time comics people. So there's lot of other stuff from us if you want to read more. I did Luther Strode, Spread, and The Family Trade at Image Comics, which you should be able to Google and check out.
But I for sure have other ideas for new Webtoons stuff, if they want me to do more.
**John:** I've done Judas:The Last Days over at IDW, One Week in the Library at Image, and a handful of other projects all over the place.

I do have one other Webtoon though, if you guys are interested in finding it. It's called Oscuro, and it's about a little boy lost in a scary cave.

Read it in the dark. :)

**General Q&A:** How many chimera are there?
**Team UA:** The number varies, but a couple hundred to a couple thousand at any given time.

**John:** Guys! We didn't expect so many of you to be interested in the Urban Animal Playlist I have on Spotify. That's both very encouraging and humbling. A bunch of you have already found the playlist on your own, but here's a url you can visit.
*(UA Wiki admin:*
The link on the Webtoon page has ad trackers now, so instead go here to see the current link and listing of the Season One Playlist.)

Something else we've noticed you asking about is Merch! We have a storefront set up on Threadless. There's a handful of designs to choose from, but we'd love to hear from you guys! What would you like to see on the store?

## Fan Art Season One 2018 Q&A

Putting the fan art here would be disingenuous with the potential for copyright infringements, but you can go to the Season One Q&A page to see them first hand.

## Dedication to my wife

John Amor at this point wrote a glowing dedication to his wife.

Not to mention she's real pretty. And I love her fiercely.

Footnotes