{"id":136930,"date":"2017-12-06T22:21:44","date_gmt":"2017-12-07T03:21:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=136930"},"modified":"2017-12-06T22:21:44","modified_gmt":"2017-12-07T03:21:44","slug":"j-torres-the-man-behind-teen-titans-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2017\/12\/06\/j-torres-the-man-behind-teen-titans-go\/","title":{"rendered":"J. Torres: The man behind Teen Titans Go!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Joseph<\/a>
Joseph Torres better known as J. Torres, who won a Shuster Award for “Outstanding Canadian Writer” in 2006 for his work in Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, Love as a Foreign Language, and Teen Titans Go. (Photo by Dylan Buijk)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sitting inside a room battling with tons of storylines in mind, coming up with a stirring plot for the next series, and handling tight headlines while maintaining high standards of works are the scenarios that a comic book artist encounters. No ifs, ands, or buts\u2014 it takes a lot of guts to be in the abstract world of the comic book.<\/p>\n

With hard work and passion, Joseph Torres\u2019 keenness has brought him not only to his dream career but to the compelling field of the comic book industry. Starting from a comic book strip for a school paper that gained tons of compliments, a light gleamed in front of Torres that made him walk through his purpose as a comic book writer.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a closer look at the synopsis of the award-winning Filipino Canadian comic book writer Joseph Torres better known as J. Torres, who won a\u00a0Shuster Award for “Outstanding Canadian Writer” in 2006 for his work in\u00a0Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight,\u00a0Love as a Foreign Language, and\u00a0Teen Titans Go.<\/p>\n

Series 1: A comic book writer<\/strong><\/p>\n

A semi-autobiographical \u201chomemade\u201d comic entitled Copybook Tales made the way for Torres and his collaborator Tim Levins as they fire up their career in the comic book industry. Copybook Tales was first published by an American\u00a0comic book\u00a0publisher\u00a0Slave Labor Graphics\u00a0in the early 90s and later collected and reprinted by\u00a0Oni Press.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe story was about a Filipino-Canadian kid a lot like me, growing up in the 80s, and later dealing with<\/p>\n

post-college woes in the 90s like getting a job and following your dreams. It was a<\/p>\n

semi-autobiographic, slice-of-life comedy,\u201d Torres said.<\/p>\n

Torres and Levins\u2019 first grind in the industry set their feet on the real battle of comics; they were recognized by editors and publishers who opened doors of opportunity for them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was both our first attempt at making comics and we were considered part of the \u201cindy scene\u201d in Toronto for a time. That comic got us noticed by editors and publishers who would then give us<\/p>\n

other work. Tim eventually went to work on a Batman book, I went to work on an X-Men miniseries, and our careers took off from there,\u201d Torres added.<\/p>\n

Several top comic book publishers have trusted Torres such as Oni Press, DC Comics, and Marvel Comics due to his exceptional stories that fascinate avid comic readers.<\/p>\n

Torres has worked with characters from A (Archies) to Z (The Mighty Zodiac) and many more in between (Avatar, Batman, Ninja Scroll, Simpsons, WALL-E,\u00a0Wonder Woman, YoGabbaGabba, and X-Men to name a few), and has also written for animation and television (including a\u00a0Degrassi webisode\u00a0in which “Drake” ignored the script and adlibbed his lines).<\/p>\n

Series 2: Immigrant Story<\/strong><\/p>\n

Torres\u2019 family decided to move to the great land when he was four years old. Like the usual immigrant story, his parents\u2014 who were originally from Pampanga\u2014 hastened their plans to fly to Canada during the reign of Ferdinand Marcos when there was a threat of implementing Martial Law.<\/p>\n

Looking forward to gain a career in the white-collar industry, his parents who are degree holders strived to enter their career paths in the most populous municipality in Quebec but their diplomas weren\u2019t recognized. However, they were \u201coverqualified\u201d in some blue-collar jobs they attempted to work in.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think my dad\u2019s first job here was working in a warehouse and mom worked some kind of assembly line. Hardwork, and not what they studied all those years for, but they had to earn a living. Eventually, they found entry level jobs in their field and worked their way up the ladder so to speak,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Torres emphasized that living in Canada provided him and his family good opportunities. Aside from having the right to acquire benefits and the country\u2019s great social program, Canada also gave them the opportunity to be multicultural-friendly citizens.<\/p>\n

\u201cMoving here gave my siblings and me a lot more opportunities than we would\u2019ve had in the Philippines, especially growing up in the 80s. We were also exposed to a lot of different people and cultures and languages we wouldn\u2019t have otherwise. Canada is known for being a healthy, safe, and multicultural place to live, and that gives you a lot of advantages growing up,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

For Torres, living in a North American country has various advantages; one of those is living in the land that is a plane ride away from major destinations such as the United States, South Africa, and the Caribbean. Connecting to different people, learning new things, understanding divergent cultures, and experiencing colorful festivals are the incomparable privileges for Torres.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love how multicultural Canada is, and especially the Toronto area, so that one month we\u2019re celebrating Chinese New Year, the next month or so Easter, then summer hits and it\u2019s Caribbean, Greek,<\/p>\n

Italian, and even Filipino festivals galore. And you work and play with people from all of those cultures every day. It\u2019s wonderful, and the sort of thing you can only experience in relatively few<\/p>\n

places in the world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Series 3: Filipino roots<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even though he considers himself as a Canadian, Torres made sure that his natural Filipino spirit will remain inside their home. He shared that his family is still able to incorporate their Filipino heritage such as using Tagalog words when speaking to one another and eating famous Pinoy dishes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe eat a lot of Filipino food. My wife has learned to cook all my favorite dishes from rellenong talong<\/em> to lumpia <\/em>shanghai to beef calderata<\/em> and even Filipino style spaghetti. I\u2019m a lucky man!\u201d Torres said.<\/p>\n

Despite of speaking English most of the time, Tagalog is still a part their everyday vocabulary.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy youngest son calls his older brother kuya<\/em>. All the Filipino adults in their lives are titas<\/em> or titos<\/em>, ninangs<\/em> or ninongs<\/em>, lolas<\/em> or lolos<\/em>,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Torres also shared that his whole family loves to attend Filipino food festival and competition every summer, as well as cultural shows such as folk dances, cabarets, and talent showcases.<\/p>\n

Series 4: Success\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Vying to be one of the most in demand comic artist has been a rough road for Torres. He believes that it is not only talent that will help aspiring comic artists to reach their goal but dedication, and a good planning should also be their companion.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not easy. It requires not only talent but dedication, good planning, and a little bit of luck. You will have lean years, you will have dues to pay, but eventually if you do good work, or even enough work, you\u2019ll make a name for yourself and the rest should follow,\u201d Torres said.<\/p>\n

Holding the responsibility of a father while chasing his dream career was not easy for Torres; sustaining financial stability was the hardest part. Fortunately, Torres has his wife as his support system in pursuing his dream career.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst of all, my wife. She is great with money, and if it wasn\u2019t for her, I would probably in be major debt or even broke by now!\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Torres also shared how Canada\u2019s good benefits aid his necessities as a freelancer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m also lucky to live in Canada, where we have universal healthcare. I know American freelancers, for example, who have had to deal with large medical bills and have come close to personal bankruptcy due to an illness in the family. That is something I never have to worry about, fortunately,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Torres leaves three words to aspiring comic artists in order to succeed in the industry: good, fast, and nice.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re good and nice, you may run into trouble being slow with your work, but you\u2019ll get away with it. If you\u2019re fast and nice, not necessarily the best writer or artist out there, editors will remember you and you\u2019ll get work. If you\u2019re good and fast, you\u2019ll likely find work even if you\u2019re not the nicest person in the world. Take that with a grain of salt, but there\u2019s a lot of truth to it,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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