Cal: Would you tell the readers a little about your career. You’ve been writing comic books for around ten years. Your first comic book was Street Heroes for Malibu Graphics back in the late 80’s?

SJ: 1988. I created the series in 1982 and sold it to Malibu in 1987. Unfortunately Street Heroes got good reviews but had trouble finding its audience. Sundragon Comics reprinted the first issue of Street Heroes in 1997 as Wolverstone and Davis. Same results, though. Good reviews, low sales.

Cal: Chris Jones, one of the artists on Red Diaries, was the artist on Street Heroes?

SJ: Ten-four. Chris is the little brother I never knew I wanted, and I’m still not sure I want him. (Drum roll, please.) I’ve known him since 1980 he was 10, and even then artists like Mike Grell and Dan Jurgens were amazed at not just the promise but the skill Chris possessed. Chris and I kept in touch over the years, working on stories together. It was nice that Street Heroes was both of ours first professional job. Now Chris is starting to get work from DC, too. He was the regular fill-in artist on Young Heroes in Love and drew stories for the 1998 JLA Summer Annual and JLA Secret Files.

Cal: Briefly, what other comics have you written?

SJ: Dracula, Dracula: The Lady in the Tomb, Dracula: The Suicide Club…

Cal: We’re starting to detect a pattern here.

SJ: …Carmilla, Invaders From Mars (two series with the same name), Halloween Horror, Seduction, Alien Nation: A Breed Apart, Re-animator and Lovecraft in Color. All those were at Malibu. I also wrote an inventory story for Night Man after Marvel purchased Malibu, which was a thrill because I’m a big Stephen Englehart fan. This will give you an idea how screwy this industry is. Marvel paid me far and away more money for that script than anything else I’ve written, and it will probably never see print. Go figure.

Cal: Caliber titles?

SJ: Well, as you know, I’ve written Worlds of H.P. Lovecraft, a 48 page Tatters story for Caliber One-Shot, Sherlock Holmes: Adventure of the Opera Ghost, Sherlock Holmes: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Holmes, and Nightlinger. Nightlinger is a horror-adventure series and it’s the single best thing I have ever and will ever create.

Cal: Are there any other artists you’ve worked with that comic fans may know?

SJ: A bunch of terrific artist! I’ve really been fortunate when it comes to most of the artists I’ve worked with. Sandy Carruthers, who drew the first Men In Black comics. Rob Davis from Star Trek and Quantum Leap. The Cariello brothers, Sergio and Octavio. Great guys, both of them. Terrific guys. Except for Chris I’ve never gotten to know any artists as closely as those two guys. And I don’t want to forget Aldin Baroza, who used to be on Tales From the Heart. When I first started freelancing at Caliber, Aldin and I worked together a lot. He is a super, super talent. And, oh, gosh…Robert Schnieders, John Ross, Bruce McCorkindale, S. Clarke Hawbaker, Dan Jurgens. Bruce Timm, believe it or not, colored the first cover for Street Heroes. I’d like to work with him again! And Jimmy Palmiotti inked my Alien Nation mini-series. That’s a damned respectable list, I think.

Cal: Is there anything else you’d like to tell people reading this?

SJ: Hey! Support Caliber Comics! It’s good stuff, baby!