For its latest eagerly anticipated musician team-up, Z2 Comics and Jimmy Eat World frontman Jim Adkins have crafted an original graphic novel adaptation of the band's song "555." Joined by co-writer Alex Paknadel and artist Koren Shadmi, the story expands on the music video from the 2019 song as the alien overlord Klaarg looks over his science fiction factory run by an army of clones, only for the factory's impending closure to make him realize how expendable he truly is.
After an enormously successful initial preorder run, a limited restock of the hardcover edition hand-signed by Adkins will be available through Z2 for preorder live on Thursday, April 8 at 11am EST. In an exclusive interview with CBR, Adkins talked about his '80s music video inspirations for creating the sci-fi world of Jimmy Eat World: 555, the sense of place that grounds Jimmy Eat World's lyrics and how Paknadel and Shadmi nailed the adaptation from Adkins' plans for the story.
CBR: Sonically, "555" is unlike anything you guys have done before. What made you want to adapt it into a science fiction graphic novel?
Jim Adkins: The comic adaptation kind of stems from the characters of the video. I don't think it's necessarily that much an outlier when you're taking into consideration everything we've done, but, definitely on our album Surviving, that's mostly guitar rock; a collection of guitar rock ideas. And then there's "555" which is...not. [Laughs] But I don't think it's crazy outside of the boundaries of what we like to do but it was definitely an outlier so there was room to go far away from the typical, visual side of things that we put out.
'80s MTV is just scorched into my brain, into my psyche, into my soul. Def Leppard with giant swords? The Thunderdome thing in "Rock You Like a Hurricane?" I thought that stuff was badass! Those sort of elements are just a part of me. I really like the "Bop 'Till You Drop" music video by Rick Springfield where there's this reptilian overlord person overseeing these workers doing plumbing work, and then Rick Springfield appears and leads a revolution based in music, rising up against their captors.
The song "555" is about acceptance, how a lot of the time, the problems we have in our lives are our own fault, our own making. We have a lot more to do with the things that we think are a struggle than we give ourselves credit for and you look for other places to put that blame on and that leads you down a really negative dark path that you're not getting out of because you'll continue to rationalize that things are stacked against you. If you look for reasons to think things are going against you, you're going to find them. That doesn't mean they're 100% true!
In thinking about that and also thinking about the kind of videos that I loved, this idea that these characters -- from their perspective, they're having a really bad day or just in a funk -- you really shouldn't have any sympathy for them, like the lizard overlord from "Bop 'Till You Drop." From his perspective, he's having a really bad day; it's a bad day at the office, like "I've got to be stuck down here and it's hot and humid and the entertainment sucks...where did this revolution come from?! C'mon!" or the executioner from Blazing Saddles. That's what got me thinking of what would be fun and funny to do for a video for us.
To make it connect for me personally, I have to [know] who are these people -- yes, it's wacky and it looks insane, but what's the world behind this, who are these characters? Why are these minion people clones and what is this guy's personal struggle and why should not have any empathy for him? I had to know the backstory behind that and it just sort of lent itself to more development because you don't that story in the video about the song. A comic adaptation seemed the best way to let that breathe more!
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I remember seeing an interview you did with Gerard Way, who is certainly steeped in comic work. You had compared the process of handing off a song to a band, producer and engineer to getting a comic done. Now that you're on the other side of that process, would you agree with that analogy?
Adkins: I guess it just depends how you're working and what your individual process is. It was fascinating how much the illustrator works with the writer. or how a writer would break down what's being said or the scene itself. I think it's more of a band editing process than handing it off to a producer; it probably happens any number of ways.
With that in mind, how was it working with Alex Paknadel and Koren Shadmi and seeing these pages come in?
Adkins: I guess Alex and Koren were kind of like the band and I was sort of the producer. [Laughs] I talked with Alex first about a potential story arc and explained to him as fleshed-out a character presentation as I had and a general idea of the arc of Klaarg's journey; the protagonist Klaarg. [Laughs] I picked out Koren because of his work: It's the perfect vibe, the perfect mix of sci-fi, fantasy and atmosphere that I thought would be perfect for this and then I just sort of got out of the way. I think because we had done such good work setting up and providing an environment to explore, I had no notes the entire time going back and forth with them because they just nailed it.
It never clashed with your vision of the story?
Adkins: Yeah, I was looking for it to go to a place where it wasn't my own micro-management creation, I wanted the extra stuff to come in. I've only tried writing outside of song once and it was really hard! [Laughs]
Something I've always loved about Jimmy Eat World is how visually evocative your lyrics are -- "Pol Roger" feels like Midnight in Paris and even something as power-poppy as "A Praise Chorus" has a Sliding Doors thing going on -- I've always loved those storytelling sensibilities in the lyrics. Was it easy to come up with a sci-fi story for "555?"
Adkins: Oh yeah, totally! It was really easy! There's always a sense of place, there's always a setting that I like to build into our songs. It might not be at all what someone else picks up on as a setting but, for me, I get excited when I listen to music and can think back and get a sense of place around it. If I can imagine myself in an environment, then it's working. Sometimes that leads to choosing imagery in the lyrics, like "Pol Roger," in just describing a scene. Sometimes I hear it and I feel that I'm in the scene, like "A Praise Chorus."
Yeah, I always think about the bridge in that song [which references the songs] "Crimson and Clover" and "Our House (In the Middle of the Street)." There's something evocative and atmospheric about that.
Adkins: Yeah, each one of those is things is like a mini-trigger that sends you down where you were as a kid. If you're my age as a kid, it sends you somewhere and that association is what makes music special when you can build that for yourself when you live with something, and it becomes like "Oh my god, this is "Our House!" I feel like I'm in the car heading to fourth grade! I'm on a road trip to Disneyland right now or going to San Diego with my family and 'Our House' is on the radio." When you take the time to live with music, you start to build those associations with it, and then it's yours and it's powerful!
How is it transposing that verisimilitude to such a far-out concept?
Adkins: I think it's from rooting it in something very real and something foundational, like discovering you are wrong and then seeing a personal benefit or when you admit to yourself that you're wrong and try to take action on whatever it is that's happening. Instead of doubling down and doubling down, just trying to protect your ego, when you're willing to let some of that in and go with it and see that you don't die, and you end up in a place that's better, that's powerful and that's a human experience. And if you can get a little bit of that into the journey of an imaginary, evil overlord overseeing a workforce of clones in some other galaxy, that's a win.
Initial preorders to this book have been bananas. Having gone through this experience, would you adapt another song like this?
Adkins: I've thought about that sense of place I talked about...there's definitely some of those where it puts me in a real place. Sometimes that's a fantasy place -- an unreal place, not my life experience place -- like a galactic penal colony or whatever. Short answer: Yes!
Now that these pages are coming in, what are you most excited about to get to share this book with fans and readers?
Adkins: It's just something new and I'm excited about how it turned out. Koren and Alex, they killed it; they nailed it! It's amazing, I take no credit for any of their work, it's a true collaborative work and, when you do that, it's always exciting to wind up someplace you didn't expect. I don't know how I'm going to move forward and try that again -- maybe it's a comic, maybe it's a film, I don't know, but it's definitely encouraging. You take on a challenge, and when you accomplish that, it brings a sense of momentum and maybe you try something even more ambitious next time. I'm just excited to fucking work again, dude. [Laughs] That's where I'm at!
Written by Jim Adkins and Alex Paknadel and illustrated by Koren Shadmi, Jimmy Eat World: 555 is available to order now through Z2 Comics and expected to ship May 21.