Few artists move between the grotesque and the sublime with as much confidence as Jason Shawn Alexander. With a style steeped in shadow and soul, Alexander has carved a distinct path across the comic book medium, infusing his work with cinematic intensity, jazz-fueled rhythm, and painterly chaos. From the influence of Will Eisner and Mike Mignola to the visceral echoes of Francis Bacon and Patrick Graham, his art resonates with a raw emotional current. Now, after over two decades of gestation, Alexander returns to a long-shelved project—Scrooge: A Christmas Carol—with renewed vision and haunting relevance. In this conversation, we explore the artistic forces that drive him, the ghosts that shape his take on Dickens, and why this timeless tale hits harder today than ever before.
Interviewee: Jason Shawn Alexander
Interviewer: Anthony Andujar Jr
Q1: You’ve been illustrating within the comic medium for years. What were your influences in the various media that impacted your path in art?
J.S.A: ‘Everything” is a lame answer, but it’s true. Films like Dark City and Pi inform my art as much as Bitches Brew by Miles Davis or anything Tom Waits plays. It all filters into a kind of mood, a kind of aesthetic that I always hope to tap into when I work. Painters like Francis Bacon and Jack Levin,e and Patrick Graham, as well as comics by Will Eisner and Mike Mignola.
Q2: During the development of this book (Scrooge: A Christmas Carol), it was mentioned that it was originally a project that didn’t come into fruition. After 24 years, what was it about this project that inspired you to take another shot at fully realizing your vision of this tale?
J.S.A: At this point, I had some level of the work finished. And I’m a sucker for a good library book kinda thing. Once I started playing around with it, I got crazy excited about it.
Q3: Were there any moments while working on this Charles Dickens staple where you felt the need to stray and experiment thematically with the story that hadn’t been done before? How did you navigate that as a storyteller?
J.S.A: Stylistically, I wanted to show the ghosts how I saw them, which both differ from the original text, but in other ways, stays truer than most adaptations I’ve seen. Especially with Christmas Future.
Q4: You’ve been working with Zoop to crowdfund this project. What is it about Zoop as a crowdfunding platform that attracted you?
J.S.A: Honestly, I dig Full Tilt, and the more I looked at Zoop, the more it felt right.
Q5: What is it about tales such as Scrooge that remain relevant to the world of today, and how does it impact you as both an illustrator and as a person? And where can readers follow your work?
J.S.A: Scrooge was more painful today, after 49 years of life, than when I first read it. When I first did it, it was about being spooky cool for Christmas. Now I see it more as a fantasy. Taking a cruel billionaire by the hand and showing them, to their face, the consequences of their actions both on them and on other people. Seeing the damage and real pain that his actions caused, it broke Scrooge out of his solitary ways and showed him the fulfillment and joy he could bring to others. I love it so much.
But I say “fantasy” because I genuinely believe if this happened today, the ghosts would all return, unfulfilled, and the chains would go on being made bigger.
You can find Jason Shawn Alexander’s art here:
Zoop: https://zoop.gg/c/scrooge
IG: https://www.instagram.com/jasonshawnalex/?hl=en
Big Cartel: https://studiojsa.bigcartel.com/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/jasonshawnalexander
Dan Kleiner 
Brian Isaacs - Executive Editor / Publisher