My name is Dan Barlow.  I’m 37 years old, I’ve been married 8 years and I have 3 children.  I started drawing in second grade when I became fascinated with a cartoon called, “All Star Blazers”.  I became consumed with drawing.  I filled sketchbooks with drawings from comics and dictionaries.  I drew buildings, clouds, etc.  My first comic characters stemmed from my love, of all things, G.I. Joe (yeah, I’m a dork). I also drew some cat creature called the “Cat Berets”.  I did five or six issues of them.  I was horrible at anatomy.

I was never a star pupil in art class.  I couldn’t paint and I was never good at following directions, so my projects came out funky.  I stayed away from art school, but my love for drawing never decreased.  I dabbled in portraits, doing work in both pencils and pastels.  

I read Justice League, Punisher, and X-Men.  A year after high school I tried drawing comics again.  It was a couple of years since my Cat Beretcomics.  My work was very dark, being heavily influenced by Mar Silvestri (before Top Cow and Image). 

I ventured out with my portfolio, but the only work being offered was some goth/porn junk which I couldn’t bring myself to draw.  I took part in several collaborative ventures that never saw print, but made friends along the way.  I’ve drawn and inked four personal books (120 pages) that will never see print, because of the quality of the work now that I look back.  I finally got published in 2004 (13 years later) in two books at the same time.

Though my debut in digital webbing came with some serious criticism, my anatomy or inking was not professional, there is always room for improvement.  It has been a long and exciting journey.

Since Christ saved my life in 2005, my artwork has changed.  I’ve challenged myself to do my best work for His glory.  I believe Christian comics can be better, but I’m excited to see brothers and sister grow and push this medium for the purpose of honoring the Lord.

Some of the books that features my work are Big City Blues and 4 issues of Panel Anthology by Ferret Press, Point Pleasant by Ape Comics, Johnny Zombie’s Rock n’ Roll Gauntlet #7 and 8, Digital Webbing Presents, the Megezeen Horror issue and Ragged Capes by New Creation Now.  

The next book I’ll be appearing in is the second issue of Joe Endre’s Colossians due out in 2009.  See you then and praise God, for He is good.

This is part two of an interview with one of  New Creation Now founders, Clint DeRon Johnson, about his character, Matthew Cross: FaithWalker.  It was in July 2008 by Don Ensign.

Don: Does fighting crime primarily take place for Faith Walker within the African American community or is it broader based than that?

Clint: It starts within the African American Community because this is where he encounters his immediate challenges. But because of the organization he is involved with, The Word Technologies it becomes more of a global operation.

Don: Does Matthew have a specific city --a real city or is it just a made up city?

Clint: It is a fictional city and it is called Los Cosmos. Because I’m a native of Los Angeles there are major similarities. It would be Los Angeles just a lot darker, meaning the way it is laid out there are some very criminal and sinister areas. You have what is called the Wide Road district. The Bible tells us that wide is the gate. Then you have the Avenue of Seventh and Hope. So there are different pockets- we have restaurants like Manna from Heaven. So there is a lot of Biblical interplay with where he lives.

Don: What age group or age groups do you think Faith Walker would appeal to?

Clint: I actually believe that the age groups— those that read and begin to comprehend the stories will be kids that tend to gravitate toward a lot of things —I’m not really written to your seven or eight year olds. I’m really writing to that market, your Batman, your Spider-Man your X-Men crowd, so more of like 12 and up. And what I find is we adults still kind of read them too. They would appeal to that audience as well.  But I’m really targeting the early teens to the mid 20s.

Don: What kind of feedback have you gotten from--not necessarily Christian comic’s fans-but people who are not necessarily into comics? Do you get positive or negative or indifferent reactions to Faith Walker.

Clint: I’ve been blessed enough to say I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback. We have done book shows where it wasn’t a comic book show but parents just seem to think that comics are good for kids or comics are for kids.  These are people who are not necessarily Christian but they say I think my son or my daughter would like this and they make the purchase. I’ve actually had people e-mail me -say, "Man, this is hot this is a great idea.  When can I see more of it?" I've actually received an e-mail from a gentleman who told me that the comic book blessed him. This was a number of years ago and so from what I’ve received about Faith Walker I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback.  

Don: That’s great, Clint! Let’s talk a little more about his powers.

Clint: Yes, you asked me about his powers.  It was a struggle to say, does he or doesn’t he because all super heroes do something. There is something special about them. They fly, they are bulletproof-he doesn’t do any of those things. You asked me a question about fighting the villains-are they demonic or human? The answer is both, if I wasn’t clear. There are scenes where the villains are clearly not human and because of Faith Walker’s spiritual relationship he has the ability to withstand these demonic attacks. This is was one of the things that made him a candidate to become a member of this organization the Light Knights. Because Christians -the born again Christian has a certain immunity when they are walking with God the spiritual forces do not impact them the same as those who are lost. What he does add, it is to his arsenal per se. He wears the purple and gold uniform which is referred to as the garment of praise. So because of the technology Faith Walker has Bible based gadgets and gizmos. He has a hand held crossbow which he literally calls the Crossbow. He has a net he uses he calls the Fisherman’s net. He has a staff which he refers to as the staff of Aaron. So there are these other elements that do take place that kind of lock into the Biblical theme of his character.

Don: What other characters do you have in his cast? You say that he is a youth minister-are there going to be young people that he is going to be relating to on a regular basis?

Clint: The primary youth in the storyline is this young guy named David King. Everyone calls him Davey, but he known as Baby Saint. Baby Saint is roughly 12 years old. He is at a point in life where he is learning a lot and Faith Walker interacts with him in the person of a guide or a mentor. As a story device Baby Saint gives Faith Walker access to a lot of youth challenges. The whole gang thing and the peer pressure aspect, all flows through this character, Baby Saint.  Faith Walker has a best friend name (we call him) Doc Vision. He real name is Marcus Hightower and he serves as comedic relief. Faith Walker is a pretty straight laced, straight forward kind of guy and I needed to balance him. So Doc Vision will be the guy who will be saying a lot of silly stuff. Doc Vision might be inclined to use a lot more street slang than Faith Walker. Then we have his leaders, who are Bishop Thunder and Doctor Daylight. Bishop Thunder is Faith Walker’s spiritual head as well as the personality that’s going the give Faith Walker his missions and he is backed by Dr. Daylight who is his wife. She is in charge of the prayer ministry at the church Matthew attends which is called Maximum Ministries. That came later because initially Faith Walker was a lone almost vigilante wandering type guy. I say that doesn’t really work in a real Christian situation. There has to be a level of accountability, he needs to interact and there are certain characters that need to fit.  Most ministers take a directive from their pastors so Faith Walker has that same scenerio and everyone needs a support mechanism. In the story that we have online now is Smoking Mirrors which we introduce Chapel and Handmaiden. These are other agents that Faith Walker works with battling the forces of evil.

Don: You mention that Faith Walker is going to be an agent for a larger organization. However it seems as if Faith Walker is a hero who had his own cast of characters around him and some villains too. Do you see him occasionally, or frequently or not at all relating to other Christian super heroes?

Clint: Faith Walker is also a team player. I look forward to the day when he is teaming up with other characters. In fact we at New Creation Now are planning some crossovers where Faith Walker will get an opportunity to interact characters created by a lot of other great Christian comic book creators. We haven’t titled the project yet so it kind of hard to tell you what it’s going to be called. Then I have also been working off and on with my good friend Tim Gagnon and we’ve created what we call Defenders of the Faith where Faith Walker teams up with this armor wearing saint called Redemption. That will be an ongoing series as well. I love the crossover team up aspect and definitely want to pursue that.

Don: Thanks, Clint. Great interview.

Clint: Thank you and God’s blessings.  

This is part one of an interview with one of New Creation Now founders, Clint DeRon Johnson, about his character, Matthew Cross: FaithWalker.  It was in July 2008 by Don Ensign. 

 Don: How did you come up with the idea for Faith Walker in the first place?

Clint: I was attending a church in Inglewood around 1990. At that time I was doing a lot of fliers and artwork. One of the deacons said, "Hey man, that’s great, why don’t you use your artwork as a ministry?" I was new to the ministry and I had no idea what he was talking about. But I meditated and thought about it for a while. I liked super heroes and now this Christian walk is a major influence in my life as I had newly given my life to Christ, so that seed was planted.  Then I ran into a lady who I had done artwork before when I was about 19. She was starting up a newspaper. The newspaper was called the "Community Circle Clipper".  So everything sort of came together. Someone had given me an idea and the seed had germinated, now a vehicle had presented itself. So then came Faith Walker. Usually when you are new to Christ—a baby saint-you tend to be on fire. So that fire got my creative juices really going. Faith Walker was originally planned as a three panel strip that was in the newspaper twice a month. He was our hero that walked the streets of the community giving Biblical solutions to society’s woes.

Don: Could you go into the core concept behind Faith Walker a little bit more. You sort of alluded to that in your last response.

Clint: OK. The core of Faith Walker is really in his name. He walks by faith not by sight. At that time, for Christians the Faith Movement was huge. So Matthew Cross-his original name was Matthew Davidson. So I was still playing and working the whole Christ angle. Because we know that Jesus came from the lineage of David-so He was David’s son. But it just didn’t have the ring.  In essence, he’s a Bible scholar.  I refer to him as a Bible student, but I didn’t want him to be elevated to that point where he just knows it all.  He is a Bible quoting character that attempts to right the wrongs of society. He relies on the power of God -basically being God’s Word. Matthew Cross the Faith Walker is first a minister and second an action/adventure hero. 

Don: How did Matthew Cross become Faith Walker? Tell us a little bit about his origin.

Clint: This is a story yet to be printed. Matthew was raised in a small town called Our Fair Community. Both parents were ministers. His dad was heavily into The Law of the Old Testament, while his mom had more of a grace perspective toward Scripture. So this was the house he was raised in. At the age of eighteen Matthew pretty much did a prodigal son and said, “Dad, I’m gone." He moves to a larger town. In this town he befriends a young man and Matthew shares nothing about the gospel with anyone he encounters. He is amongst the sinners, but he does nothing to share light until his closest friend falls victim to what we’ll call mistaken identity. These guys thinking he is Matthew Cross basically assault him. His friend ends up in a coma and this is a major wake up call for Matthew. At this point he goes back to God, “Father I’ve done this, I’ve wronged.” But there is a twist-he wants vengeance. So He takes on the personality of an Avatar. He tracks down the guys who hospitalized his friend. Once he gets a hold of them he realizes that he isn’t a murderer. He can’t kill them. And then at that point in time he understands all over again that he belongs to the Lord and now his energies are directed to stopping crime and enlightening people on the ways of Christ.

Don: Does Matthew have any siblings? Any brothers and sisters?

Clint: He has a younger sister. Once again she is yet to come. Her name is Rainy Cross. She will be somewhat of an informant because they didn’t necessarily take the same path. So she will keep her big brother clued in on what is happening a lot of the street level activity. Another dimension to Matthew’s origin which I should have mentioned once he got passed his experience with his friend being in the hospital and he takes on the mantel of Matthew Cross. Keep in mind his parents are ministers so there is the robe concept--why he wears a robe. Because it puts him in mind what ministers did of old. At a later time which is coming out in book one he joins this organization called The Word Technology Light Knights. He receives formal training and combat and technologies to take his battle against evil to a different level.

Don: So Matthew Cross is a spiritual guy and he uses Scripture in his fight against evil. Also, he has apparently some combat skills that he has been trained and certain types of technology, but he doesn’t actually have any actual inherent super powers.

Clint: No, what we do is with us our faith moves God. And there are times in stories-it’s nothing I use it all the time, because I don’t want him walking around saying I’m as strong as Samson that would have made no sense or I can walk on water. These are all Biblical things well and he’s a Christian hero, but Matthew’s quote-unquote power level adjusts as his faith adjusts. Let’s say there’s something I’ve written in an earlier issue called, “The Faith Factor” where it’s not about him.  It is where the power of God literally takes over, where Matthew’s gadgets and gizmos fail. When his human wit doesn’t work and strength or athletic ability fails him, his faith factor kicks in and pushes him through. So no, he doesn’t fly. But what Matthew does have is endurance which is Biblically sustained. He has wisdom which is Biblically based. He endures and these are certain characteristics I felt that he should have. Then I have a play on words now and then. Matthew has agility, so he may leap a little bit further than the average guy, so we tie in the old phrase the "Leap of Faith". So we tie that in every now and then.  

Don: As far his foes are concerned is he going to be deeply involved in spiritual warfare where he battles demons and this type of thing or are they more human type foes? Or is there going to be a mix?

Clint: It’s basically a mix. His villains are written with a sin or a fallen state in mind. The primary villain is this real nasty guy called Snakeskin. Snakeskin has the ability to influence men to do things that are contrary to God.  So even though Snakeskin is a living breathing guy like we are, there is a definite presence behind what his is capable of doing. The story that we just did on the web site “Smoking mirrors”, Empress Intoxica was the villain. Hers was a mixture of-she’s getting kids high, but she did it under the guise of being in a cult.  So they thought there was spiritual enlightenment, so while she was getting everybody pretty much intoxicated like her namesake, she rang more of a natural villain. But there is a definite spiritual implication to what she did.

Don: Are Matthew Cross’ parents going to be showing up? Are they still living?

Clint: His parents are still living. In Book One I have one shot we he is on the phone with his Mom. He’s telling Mom, "I’m fine and everything is OK and tells Dad I said hi." There is a huge back story that there still needs to be resolution between Matthew and his dad because he didn’t leave home on the best of terms. So that is another story that is going to come in the future to bring the family closer. But his parents are definitely alive and definite an influence on him.

Don: Have you thought about having a girl friend or possibly a wife for Matthew Cross?

Clint: Yes, the Matthew Cross comic strips that ran for about four years introduced a few characters. One of the main characters was a young lady by the name of Victoria Bless. She goes by the code name of Virtuous (not like Virtue that our good friend Kevin Yong created)--Virtuous. And she is what Lois Lane is to ClarkKent except Matthew chooses to avoid relationships. He doesn’t feel he can sustain a relationship or he doesn’t trust himself. That doesn’t stop Victoria from being crazy about him and believing that this is the guy God has for her. Matthew doesn’t negate the possibility, he just doesn’t pursue it. So they are good friends, he just doesn’t chooses not to date.

Don: Taking the Lois Lane analogy a little bit further does Matthew have a secret identity? 

Clint: Well, because of the line of work he is in, Matthew is a youth leader for a prominent ministry in the city that he lives in. So it is the type of thing He doesn’t really wear a mask and it’s not really a secret but if you are not close enough to him you wouldn’t know. So it's kind of like —everybody knows James Bond but everyone doesn’t necessarily know he’s 007. 

Don: So Virtueque is not necessarily trying to prove his secret identity?

Clint: No, not at all. In fact she is very much aware of his identity and the great thing about it with the Christian values that are instilled in her, she prays for Matthew a great deal.  She is funny as a character, if she had her way he wouldn’t be Faith Walker, because she feels it is much too dangerous.  She’s like well, "Matt you would be great behind the pulpit -you would be great just preaching in church and handling Bible study. Why do you need to put on this purple robe and go out and fight crime?" So from her perspective she’ll be glad when he retires.

The interview continues next week with part 2.