Ten years ago, J.P. Ahonen brought Belzebubs to life, a webcomic that found in dark humour, black metal and the everyday situations of a very particular family the formula for building its own universe. Since then, the project has continued to grow and has crossed the boundaries of the comic strip, expanding into music, books and now animation as well.
In this interview, J.P. Ahonen looks back on the evolution of Belzebubs and talks to us about the long-awaited premiere of its animated series, which will arrive in Spain, the future of the comics and the possibility of a second album. A conversation about a decade of creativity, new projects and the peculiar balance between demons, dark humour, extreme music and family life that has made Belzebubs such a unique proposition.
David Aresté
M.S: Thank you very much for your time and for coming back to our website. Belzebubs has become a much-loved phenomenon both within the comic-book community and the metal scene. How do you feel when you see how much this universe has grown since the first strips?
J.P: Yes, well, obviously it has been really exciting and very rewarding, because it is something I never take for granted. You put in the hours and do everything you can, but you never know how things are going to turn out.
I am very grateful to all the fans I have online and to the people I meet at festivals, comic conventions and all that. I simply try to do my thing and it will reach as far as it reaches, so there is no pressure. But yes, I am happy that people have joined the journey.
M.S: Many years have passed since the last time we spoke, I think it was in 2019, when the first Belzebubs book came out. A lot has happened since then, including the upcoming animated series. I think it will be broadcast in some parts of Spain. Do you know if it will reach more cities?
J.P: Yes, in Spain it will be through TV3, the Catalan channel.
And, of course, we hope that this will help it reach a wider audience in Spain as well. Because if you think about the Belzebubs fan base and everything, we also have many followers in Spanish-speaking countries. So it would make sense for it to reach as much of Spain as possible and, of course, South America, Mexico, and so on as well.
So I really hope that we can release those translated editions. And Banijay is currently handling the distribution, so we have several agreements. Well, the Catalan channel, and then we have Italy, the Czech Republic, and then Iceland and Finland for now.
Speaking of Spain, I have been talking for quite some time with Dibbuks, the publisher I have had in Spain, about the second book. But there have been some changes in the organisation, in the legal team and all that. So I am a little bit in limbo regarding the second book.
But yes, it should also come out because they have always shown interest in making it happen. But yes, we have to wait, we have to finalise the agreements and all that. So I have been waiting patiently.
M.S: That was going to be my next question, precisely about the second book. But it is good news that it will be coming out soon.
J.P: Yes, yes. I hope so. I sent them the material for them to review perhaps a year ago or something like that, a very long time ago.
M.S: Going back to the animated series, what can you tell us about those episodes?
J.P: We started the project in 2019 with Pyjama Films, which had already worked on the first two animated music videos.
And yes, it has been a very long process to get here. Most of the time has simply gone into securing the funding and all that. It is an international production, so part of the funding comes from Finland and from other countries, mainly Spain, Italy and others.
But yes, we took our time defining what the series would be like, how long the episodes would be, and so on. And then I have been writing the episodes with the scriptwriters, with a team of writers. There are three writers besides me.
I have been the main writer, so I have been reviewing everything. That way, everything is in tune and has the look and feel of Belzebubs, and it is also consistent with the comics, the music videos, the songs, everything.
So, in a way, it brings together all the other elements we have in this sort of multimedia creature. And yes, the first season has 13 episodes of 22 minutes each. So there will be nearly five hours of material to watch. And yes, there are individual episodes, but the whole season forms a longer story arc.
So you do not need to know the comics beforehand. Everything is explained and you can watch an episode now and then. But in the long term you can watch it in one sitting and things evolve, the characters evolve and the story moves forward, more or less as it does in the comics.
There are scenes from the comics, of course, because we more or less follow the same story and see how the first record gets started and all that. But if you think about the individual strips, I would say they are like little snapshots of the whole story.
And then, in the animated series, we have the excellent opportunity to delve deeper into the stories and provide more context for things that might simply be a one-off gag in a strip. And suddenly you have an entire episode that develops and expands on all of that.
For example, in the episode… What number is it? In episode nine we see how the lyrics to “The Faustian Alchemist” came about and all the background to the story. Personally, I find it fun, so I hope the fans will enjoy it too.
But suddenly, with Belzebubs, things started to fall into place. I thought: “Okay, now I have these friends and these other things…”
Those old ideas that I could recover from my sketchbooks and all that. So I don’t know.
Maybe the timing was simply right for me personally. I don’t know if it was the right time globally. Was there a demand for something like this and all that?
But yes, as I said, the band and I simply do our own thing. And if people like to jump on board, they are welcome.
M.S: And is there any possibility of a new Belzebubs album?
J.P: Yes, of course. We have a three-album contract with Century Media. In fact, the second album has been finished for almost two years.
But there have been… First there was COVID. Then all the financial difficulties came. We built up a huge debt, around 50,000 or 60,000 euros, due to pre-production costs, because we were going to go on tour in 2020. But yes, COVID really screwed us over. And afterwards I had some personal problems with another debt, because our house needed renovations and all that. So I practically focused all my efforts on getting the animated series off the ground.
It was a very strange situation in which I had time to work on the second album or the music videos, but then the songs weren’t ready. So we couldn’t move forward with that.
And then, when the band finished all the music, the animated series got started: we secured the funding and everything. Then I thought: “Okay, now I’m busy with this.” “Sorry, I’ll be able to get back to the music videos.” I kept saying: “Okay, in May I’ll be able to do this.” And then another surprise appeared during the production process of the animated series.
So I thought: “Okay, now I’m stuck with this. I’ll get back to it in September, October, January, whatever.”
M.S: So, speaking of the Hexperience 360º: did the immersive experience get shown to the public before COVID, at any festival or anything like that?
J.P: Oh, yes. It has been… I can’t remember how many festivals.
It has been to several film festivals and also to metal festivals. In Copenhagen it was at Copenhell, at the Wacken Cruise, and then what was the other one…?
M.S: No, it doesn’t matter, don’t worry… And what kind of feedback have you received about the show?
J.P: They’ve liked it. Yes, yes. It’s something unique, and a lot of the feedback has been something like: “This is what I could imagine virtual reality being used for.”
I now have a 360-degree headset because of the Hexperience, but I never use it. I’m not into that world at all. But I think the 360-degree experience with the goggles is pretty cool.
And there are so many things to see and discover: the LED screen, the band, the audience, everything, that you can easily watch it several times in a row and discover new things each time.
So yes, people have liked it.
M.S: Now that the animated series is going to be released in different countries, will there be a chance to buy Belzebubs merchandise through more shops or something like that? I think you only have one at the moment.
J.P: Yes, we have Backstage Rock Shop and then, in the United States, we have Night Shift Merch. And at one point we had merchandise at EMP and also through Century Media and things like that. But yes, we’ll see. I have no idea.
M.S: We tried to buy something through Backstage, and the shipping costs are quite expensive. So it would honestly be better if there were more shops…
J.P: Yes, yes, I completely agree. And it’s something I’ve always tried to ask the people at Backstage: whether there is anything I can personally do to reduce the costs and all that. Because I know it’s a problem for many of the fans, but yes, unfortunately, that’s how things are at the moment.
M.S: Looking ahead, what do you have planned from the end of this summer through the rest of the year?
J.P: Well, there’s the premiere of the animated series. It’s in three weeks. It starts in Finland on 24 September. Before this, we’ll have the premiere at the Helsinki International Film Festival, Love and Anarchy.
Right now, I’m preparing an exhibition for that festival, so there will be a small Belzebubs exhibition, as the project is now ten years old. Half of the exhibition will showcase everything we’ve done with Belzebubs, while the other half will be a sort of walkthrough of the process of creating the animated series.
There will be material covering character creation, prop design, locations, how a script becomes an animatic, and then how it moves from there into actual animation.
And yes, at the same time I’m working on the new music videos, trying to finish them.
And yes, if I manage to get the music videos finished in time, then I’ll have… I’m working on an art book about Belzebubs, and I’m also compiling the material for books number three and four, because there are more than 300 pages of material since the second book.
So I have a huge amount of material for the next two comic books. So yes, there’s a lot going on.
M.S: Do you already have the material for books three and four?
J.P: I have the material for those books.
I don’t know. What I usually do is that Belzebubs appears in the local newspaper every week. On Sundays, there’s a new Sunday strip.
So every week I receive material and put it aside.
And when I start compiling the next book, I print everything out and go through it: “Okay, here’s this storyline, then I have this and that.” And these are individual jokes that I can basically place wherever I want.
Then I start putting the next book together: “Okay, in the next book I’ll have this storyline, and this will complement it.” And I try to find the pacing.
After that, I work on the additional material, which is created specifically for the book, and try to make everything coherent… For example, in the first and second books there is a loose overarching storyline running through them. In the second one, Lucy left the advertising agency and started her own project.
And in the first book, we had Sam joining the band, basically, after Lilith had been stalking him and all that. So I’m trying to find that kind of overarching storyline to hold the third and fourth books together.
So yes.
And, well, I haven’t been… Actually, you’re the first one. I think I mentioned this to you as well, but my Finnish publisher and I were working on a Belzebubs app. So we’ll see when it will be ready for publication, but it’s something I’m also developing.
M.S: Finally, as someone who has built a project from scratch, I really admire your tenacity and your strength. It’s a pleasure to have you back on our website. We will always support you. And if you would like to close the interview, this is your moment. Thank you very much and good luck.
J.P: Oh, thank you. Yes. Thanks for your encouraging words and for everything. And thanks for taking the time and for your patience. It’s been a pleasure talking to you.
M.S: I hope to see you soon with your new book with Dibbuks.
J.P: I’d love to come back to Spain for any kind of event, whether it’s a convention or a festival.
So I really hope to hear from them soon.
M.S: Knowing how busy you are and that you have a thousand things going on, we really appreciate you spending some time with us…
J.P: Yes, don’t worry. My pleasure.
David Aresté
