Joe Harris is a writer who keeps pulling off the impossible. Every month the man delivers two totally distinct but similarly ambitious, long form narratives that both delve into themes of survival, restoration and, ultimately, hope.
First he has The Great Pacific. Co-created and co-owned with series illustrator Martin Marazzo, The Great Pacific is the story of the son of a multi-millionaire oil tycoon burning his family’s legacy of environmental exploitation to the ground by setting out to claim the great pacific garbage patch as his own sovereign -and environmentally sustainable- nation. It’s Robinson Crusoe meets WALL-E by way of The Life Aquatic. The series is alarming and inspiring in equal parts and consistently surprising in its twists and diversions. The Great Pacific is published monthly by Image Comics.
Then he veers simultaneously into our past and present with The X-Files: Season 10, Harris’ direct continuation of the massively successful television and film franchise. Released monthly by IDW Publishing, Harris’ series begins with Scully and Mulder living in peaceful seclusion before being drawn back into a dark world of conspiracy, danger and fringe science by a series of coordinated attacks on their friends and the kidnapping of their son. Co-plotted and overseen by X-Files creator/writer/director Chris Carter, Harris’ series manages to blend the intricacy of the series with the scope of the films and the enduring voices of the characters. While licensed comics are not usually good, this one truly is.
Recently, Joe Harris agreed to answer some questions in the present tense.
- Scully is…
Joe Harris: …hope.
- Mulder is…
Joe Harris: …relentless.
- The Great Pacific is…
Joe Harris: …the realization of dreams and, perhaps, the best we do…for better, or worse.
- Conspiracies are…
Joe Harris: …a lot of fun, unless you’re a member of the Kennedy family.
- Working with Chris Carter is…
Joe Harris: …an honor, thrill and challenge…as well as one of the coolest jobs I’ve ever had.
- My favourite episode of The X-Files is…
Joe Harris: …the season three finale, Talitha Cumi…in which we not only learn that the Cigarette Smoking Man had an affair with Mulder’s mother and get some kick-ass action involving alien bounty hunters, stiletto weapons and faith-healers, but a drop-down, drag out, bareknuckle brawl between Mulder and the mysterious man known only as “X” which makes me jump up and down on the couch in excitement when I watch it to this day.
- I decided to write The Great Pacific because…
Joe Harris: …I thought there was a story to be told out there in the muck and mire of our polluted oceans.
- The greatest single threat to the environmental security of our planet is…
Joe Harris: …mankind.
- Canada is…
Joe Harris: …a lovely country that resembles America, without a lot of the hang-ups and our propensity for violence…except for hockey, I guess (which I also love).
- America is…
Joe Harris: …an imperfect, but visionary experiment that is best honored through efforts to make it more perfect, to fix what might not be working, and to expand its promise of freedom and equality to the disenfranchised, the disaffected and the dispossessed.
- I am proudest of…
Joe Harris: …my own, personal growth; the fact that I’m unwilling to settle down and be content with what I have when I want so much more.
- People need to be…
Joe Harris: …kinder to one another, more open to each other and more accepting of things outside their comfort zones.
- I am inspired by…
Joe Harris: …progressive politics.
- I am fearful of…
Joe Harris: …environmental cataclysm and war for empire.
- The movie that first blew my mind was…
Joe Harris: …Star Wars.
- Three good reasons that you should spend your money on The Great Pacific are…
Joe Harris: …that it’s unique, it attempts to be poignant…and it’s pretty fucking good if I do say so?
- Three good reasons why you should return to the world of The X-Files are…
Joe Harris: …that we’re bringing our ‘A’ game and striving to make this as authentic and vintage an experience we can while also forging forward, working to make this series relevant and to find its zeitgeist place in the 21st century. And because it’s one of the greatest genre franchises in history on this, or any other, planet.
- I still love comics because…
Joe Harris: …of the possibilities. The intimacy of the experience both creating and consuming them and the broad audience of interconnected, social media-devouring makers, readers and purveyors of myriad stripes.
- The one thing that every person should do before they go to bed tonight is…
Joe Harris: …floss.
The Great Pacific and The X-Files are available in both single issues and collected editions at your local comic shop as well as digitally for iOS and Android devices on the Comixology app. You can follow Joe Harris (@joeharris) on Twitter.
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Theodore Wiebe is a writer living in Calgary. You can follow more of his important nonsense on Twitter (@TheodoreWiebe) or Tumblr (writingafterdark.tumblr.com).
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