{"65639":{"#nid":"65639","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Assistant Editor Moonlights as Comic Book Artist","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIt all started with a doodle \u2014 that is, a doodle of Pinocchio stabbing a vampire. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI actually wanted to be a comic book illustrator before I went into journalism,\u201d said Van Jensen, an assistant editor of the Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine. \u201cWhile I was working at a newspaper, I met Dusty Higgins, an illustrator, and one day he doodled Pinocchio stabbing a vampire. Later, he asked if I wanted to write a graphic novel based on the idea.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJensen jumped at the chance. The first \u201cPinocchio, Vampire Slayer\u201d came out in 2009. The plot is based on the Carlo Collodi fairy tale, but Jensen\u2019s spin mixes horror with humor. A sequel was released last year, and the final book in the trilogy is slated to come out in 2012.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s been kind of crazy how fast it\u2019s happened,\u201d he said. \u201cDusty and I were actually special guests at Comic-Con [an annual convention for lovers of all things comics] last year, which was amazing.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor those comic book readers who are looking for something that is a bit more fact than fiction, Jensen also writes and illustrates a series of autobiographical comics called \u201cNebraska\u201d \u2014 true stories about growing up in a town of 300 in western Nebraska.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERecently, The Whistle sat down with Jensen to learn more about him and his time at Tech. Here\u2019s what we learned:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow did you get to Georgia Tech? \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI realized that I wanted to be a writer in high school and studied journalism in college. I was editor-in-chief of my college paper and then got a job as a crime reporter at a paper in Little Rock, Ark. My wife was accepted to Emory University\u2019s law school, which brought us to Atlanta. Once we arrived, I decided to take a break from newspapers, and that\u2019s how I ended up here.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat does your job entail?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003EI get to interview faculty, staff, students and alumni who are doing amazing things. I also take photos and do web programming, page design, writing and editing.\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat do you enjoy most about your job and least? What do you do to make your least-favorite part bearable?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI love learning about people\u2019s lives and the work they do. On the other hand, sometimes I\u2019ll receive a letter that\u2019s pretty critical regarding something I\u2019ve written. It\u2019s always tough to hear someone was upset by something I wrote. But, I try to learn from any criticism and use it to improve going forward.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat piece of technology could you not live without?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EEven though I write about technology all of the time, I\u2019m no techie. I have an ancient cell phone, take most of my notes by hand, don\u2019t play video games and don\u2019t even have cable at home. I did just get a new Wacom tablet, which is a digital drawing surface. I\u2019m getting back into drawing, so I\u2019m excited about that.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat are three things everyone should do while working at Tech?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EGo bowling at the Student Center, walk to Sublime Doughnuts and attend a softball game \u2014 oh, and send a story idea to the Alumni Magazine. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBest place to grab lunch, and what do you order?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe curry at Spoon \u2014 but only if you like spicy food.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAny ideas in the works for future comic books?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt hasn\u2019t been published yet, but I also wrote a graphic novel that features the disembodied-yet-sentient leg of Mexican President Santa Anna as the protagonist.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIt all started with a doodle \u2014 that is, a doodle of Pinocchio stabbing a vampire. \u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"It all started with a doodle \u2014 that is, a doodle of Pinocchio stabbing a vampire."}],"uid":"27445","created_gmt":"2011-04-18 16:20:18","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:08:30","author":"Amelia Pavlik","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-04-18T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2011-04-18T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"65641":{"id":"65641","type":"image","title":"Van Jensen","body":null,"created":"1449176863","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:07:43","changed":"1475894582","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:02","alt":"Van Jensen","file":{"fid":"193246","name":"Van.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Van.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Van.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1113958,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Van.jpg?itok=9dA0Fx8_"}},"65640":{"id":"65640","type":"image","title":"Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer","body":null,"created":"1449176863","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:07:43","changed":"1475894582","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:02","alt":"Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer","file":{"fid":"193245","name":"Cover.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Cover.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Cover.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":5097409,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Cover.jpg?itok=obq5YB_m"}}},"media_ids":["65641","65640"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.pinocchiovampireslayer.com\/","title":"Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer"}],"groups":[{"id":"1259","name":"Whistle"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"12850","name":"Assistant Editor of Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine"},{"id":"12849","name":"Van Jensen"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:amelia.pavlik@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EAmelia Pavlik\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-385-4142\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}