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Getting to Know You

Tell us a bit about yourself

I’m J. Hitz, I’m a designer, illustrator, and storyteller based in the San Francisco, Bay Area, California, United States. By day I work at a large tech company and by nights (and weekends) I create The Barrier Scroll, a passion project I’ve carried with me for many years now.

What do you do when you’re not working or creating art?

So many things, to stay active I love running, walking, or surfing. I adore being outside and in nature, it’s where I get a lot of my ideas from. I adore reading. One of the rooms in my home is dedicated to a library! I also love gardening, crafting, and making things by hand.

What inspires you most as an artist?

Everything. The human condition, writing, art history, anthropology, astrology, poetry, popular culture, politics.

As for The Barrier Scroll specifically, the narrative is inspired by stories I grew up with that include: The Neverending Story, The Last Unicorn, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, and Star Wars. Book series like Lord of the Rings and The Stormlight Archive. As well as games like the Quest for Glory series and Dungeons and Dragons. The art style itself is inspired by 80s/90s animation and comic greats like the late Michael Turner and Marc Silvestri.

What helped you most when learning to draw?

I’ve dabbled in art and drawing throughout my life, and I took art classes in college as part of my major. But it wasn’t until I started to create my comic that I got super serious about illustration. The day I decided to make a comic I picked up a pencil and started drawing and I’ve basically drawn every day since then, whether it was to work on a panel or practice anatomy.

I think the simple act of doing something over and over again, helps you eventually get better at it, you just have to stick with it. I still have a ton to learn but I’ve come a long way since I’ve started and you can see some of the growth from my earlier episodes until today.

What part about making comics is the hardest for you?

In full transparency, publishing.

People say it gets easier over time but for me it never has, I always get anxiety and nervousness. The act of putting something out into the world that you poured a lot of yourself into, the response doesn’t always equal the effort, and that can be difficult to process sometimes. And really for me it’s only like this with The Barrier Scroll. I’m a designer so I’m constantly making things that people see and use everyday, and I have no issues there; but The Barrier Scroll takes with it a little part of me every time I put out a new episode, and it can feel very vulnerable sometimes if you’re not in the right headspace, so I’m being more intentional about handling this better.

For three years you’ve published almost every single month. How do you manage that kind of consistency?

I knew going into this, that The Barrier Scroll was going to be a very long project. And it’s important to me that I complete this story, so I needed to look at the bigger picture. I wanted to give myself the time that was required to weave a narrative of this magnitude in a way that did it justice. Anything more frequent than once a month with the fidelity I wanted to execute in, while balancing life and my full time job – I knew I would simply burn out.

Many manga and western comics release once a month and have been publishing for years, so even if it’s less common with vertical scroll comics, it’s more common in the industry as a whole. It’s also just me working on the comic, I don’t have any assistants or colorists or editors, I do it all. And I prefer it this way too, it’s the one thing I can truly say is mine, and when I create it solo it feels all the more special to me.

Is creating comics your full-time job?

Sometimes I wish it was, and other days I’m glad it isn’t. If I was doing this full time I could likely release more than one episode a month – which would be amazing, but also when something is your job and you’re trying to make ends meet or pay your bills with a creative passion, sometimes that might steal the magic a bit. So it’s a double edged sword. I’m also very fulfilled in my career; I’m a Visual/UX designer and I adore what I do for a living. So right now, I’m content with this balance.

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Quick Fire

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About The Barrier Scroll

In an interview with Webtoon Wave, you mentioned that The Barrier Scroll was originally supposed to be a book trilogy. What made you change your mind?

When you read a lot, I feel like you start to develop a pretty good grasp of what good writing feels like. To that point, I am simply not a great writer! But I knew I had a solid story in hand, and I knew I still wanted to tell it. I have always adored the comic medium. I read a lot of graphic novels, western comics, webtoons, and manga. So I thought this might be a nice middle ground where I could still use my writing skills and mesh that with my visual design background, it just felt more natural and better suited to me.

Does Phylos get a backstory?

Not in the sense where he’ll get a whole flashback scene to himself. But he is integral to the past, Oriole’s parents, and what actually went down at Halcyon Braid the day Oriole was born. Phylos knows way more than he’s letting on.

Was Thome Frogmin always meant to be the comic relief character from the start, or did that just happen naturally?

No! Thome was actually supposed to be this really slick and cool frog guy, but I had a friend help me with some of the very first character development sketches, and he just turned out so cute and ridiculous looking – immediately I was like, this is it, this is my silly frog, everything else just came so naturally after that. He writes himself.

How do you come up with the unique names of your characters and places?

I love naming things in The Barrier Scroll. Oftentimes I feel like names, places and dialog (especially dialog) if done well can fully immerse a reader. Nothing pulls me out of immersion quicker than a name or a word that feels so out of world.

When thinking up new names for the story, sometimes it’s just a name I’ve heard elsewhere that I’ve altered. I really loved Jin’s name from Samurai Champloo, not only does it read and look beautiful on paper, but it’s easy to say, and even has a bit of an edge when spoken out loud. It’s where I derived Ryn’s name from. I have a whole list of names I haven’t used yet, and I write them down as they come to mind. I’m very intentional about naming.

Which panels do you look at now and think “what was I thinking,” and which panels are you most proud of?

I have a love-hate relationship with my early episodes. I think most creators do. But I also give myself grace here because it’s those earlier episodes that have helped me build the foundation that I have today. If I never took the chance to make those, I would have never given myself the opportunity for growth. I also love to look back and see the improvement from those beginner episodes until now. I think it humanizes you as an artist and writer while simultaneously grounding you into this reality of creation as a journey.

Episode 24: Through Shadows & Light, is a love letter to my own comic. I didn’t thumbnail this episode, I just illustrated any scene I wanted to in any way I wanted to. When I tell you I adored making this episode, it’s still one of my favorites.

(Check out what J. means here: Episode 24)

In Episode 16, after Ryn and Oriole meet Nenewin, Ryn thanks Oriole for not correcting the misunderstanding that they’re together. When Oriole says “She just seemed so pleased,” Ryn replies “…She was.” The comments seem to read this as “She was, but I wasn’t.” How was it actually intended?

What is shown here is a little bit of frustration on Ryn’s side. He can’t or doesn’t want to admit that in a way, Nenewin’s response is also potentially aligned with his own. He’s confused, and disappointed. It’s too early for love, but Ryn is a man who is very much in control of his emotions, and for the first time in a while, he doesn’t know how to feel, or how to even make sense of it.

Which subtle easter eggs or hints for big reveals down the line should readers watch out for, or would you rather not say?

I am forever peppering in easter eggs and hints to narrative beats that will unravel later in the story!

I also love to integrate musical lyrics for ballads into the story. Episode 24’s ballad is quite literally mentioning important moments that will happen from all 3 books/seasons. It’s ripe with foreshadowing!

Do you have a favorite character?

Many readers have told me Ryn resonates as a character to them, and I think it’s because this man has been through so much, and he still tries to do the right thing – even when he has every reason not to. Especially these days, when the world sometimes feels less than we all deserve, we have to wake up every morning and make sure we’re putting some good into life, because many of us have seen how bad it can get. In a way, I think that’s how Ryn looks at the world as well. He’s so incredibly flawed and I think readers love him for that, I do too.

What do you want your readers to feel when reading The Barrier Scroll?

Seen. I wanted Oriole to be a character people could empathize with, not just physically but emotionally as well. It’s rare I think to see a dark skinned, dark haired female lead who has agency but is soft and kind – and wills those as her strengths. She puts others before her always, and wields magic that is protective and synonymous with her as a character. She also struggles significantly with self-worth, feeling inferior and undeserving. So her whole journey is about overcoming this. I think people can not only empathize with this but relate to it as well.

I also felt it very important to have a diverse cast of characters that were deeply rooted and necessary to the narrative. Art should strive to be as diverse as the life it’s inspired by.

Why did you choose to publish The Barrier Scroll on your own website?

I think it’s important, especially in this shifting and unpredictable tech landscape, to own the experience and place that your readers go to enjoy your comic. They deserve to have the best experience possible, and you deserve to have stewardship over your IP and work.

I do still publish on other 3rd party sites because I think those are great funnels for marketing and make your work accessible for certain audiences, but my main focus and priority is always my website. I enjoy posting updates there and always try to keep the site fresh for readers.

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Beyond The Barrier Scroll

On your website you have a shop with jewelry and other goodies. Who designs those?

Me! I love crafting and I thought it would be neat to meld my love for crafting with The Barrier Scroll and now I have a whole merch line dedicated to my story because I was able to mesh two loves of mine!

Do you have a passion project you still wish to complete, or a dream for where you want your creative journey to go?

I think we should all aim for bigger and better goals for sure. But one thing I’ve been working on is being more intentional about being happy and content in-the-now. I want to make sure I’m appreciating all the hard work I’ve done to get to where I am.

Often, I can be so motivated to keep pushing forward that I’m not just stopping and appreciating how far I’ve come, and I think I’d be doing myself a disservice if I didn’t. Just finishing this project would be a dream come true, so right now that’s my north star.

Anything else you’d like to tell the readers?

It’s definitely my readership bias talking – but I genuinely believe Barrier Scroll readers are some of the kindest, most emotionally intelligent human beings I’ve had the pleasure of knowing. I’ll be forever grateful for all the encouraging, intentional, and grounded messages I’ve received.

It gives me a lot of hope to know that this little story that has lived in my heart all these years, lives in yours now too. That’s just so deeply human to me.