Review Fix Exclusive: Jonathan Case Talks ‘The New Deal’

Review Fix chats with comic book artist and writer Jonathan Case, who discusses his new graphic novel, “The New Deal.” A departure from his more serious artwork with Jon Arcudi on “The Creep,” Case insists “The New Deal” is a book that he wants to draw smiles from, but it’s also one that’s reinvigorated his own love of writing.

Review Fix: What inspired this book?

Jonathan Case: My love for classic movies and plays, New York, and shenanigans. I love the Cary Grant/Katharine Hepburn vehicles, but I wanted to tell a story about the players in the background: The black maid, the bellhop. I was especially interested in their roles amongst the glamour and excess in a place like the Depression-Era Waldorf Astoria. What opportunities did they carve out in that period, when there was so much social and economic upheaval?

Review Fix: What do you think makes it special?

Case: I wanted to tell an entertaining story about a couple of ‘small’ people with big ambitions. No vampires, aliens, or haunted hotel rooms. Just a fast, light story that stands on the strength of their relationship to each other and the wild world around them. I also did my best to make it visually rich.

Review Fix: For those that appreciated your work in “The Creep,” how is this book different?

Case: The Creep is one of several books I’ve drawn for other writers. That means a very different tone, a different author voice. What you get in The New Deal is my particular expression as a cartoonist, whatever that is. My first book, Dear Creature, is very different from The New Deal as well, but I guess they share my sense of whimsy. Arcudi’s story in The Creep is very real, and very dark. The New Deal is a romp.

Review Fix: What do you think you learned about yourself through writing this?

Case: It reaffirmed my love for dialogue and writing in general. Having spent the last few years mostly drawing other people’s stories, it was refreshing to get back to my own. Storytelling is what I enjoy the most, and that’s important to claim when many publishers and editors see my work as illustration. Just illustrating isn’t the creative high for me that it is for some. I need to tell stories.

Review Fix: How do you want this book to be remembered?

Case: With smiles.

Review Fix: Bottom line, why should someone check this out?

Case: If you love retro Americana, if you love rooting for underdogs, or maybe if you just want some historical fiction that doesn’t take itself too seriously, this is for you.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Case: Something for young readers that I’ve been working on a long time, but had to set aside for a while. Very excited to get back to it. In the near term, one issue of Superman, American Alien, and a last chapter of Batman ’66, both for DC Comics.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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