Minneapolis writer turned broken heart into graphic novel ‘The Flip Side’

Graphic novel “The Flip Side” grew out of Jason Walz’s grief and he hopes it will help other grieving people deal.

What was he sad about? A lot.

“I had a friend, a best friend, whose name was Kris [Erickson]. He and I made tons of movies together. We wrote scripts, worked on comics, tons of stuff. Mostly it was garbage but we had a blast,” said artist and writer Walz, 50, who lives in south Minneapolis with his wife and two sons (no, he’s not related to the governor). “He died from pancreatic cancer. It was brutal and heartbreaking and he was way too young. I fell into a pit of depression for a while and that corresponded with COVID and the murder of George Floyd. And I’m a special education teacher, for 23 years now, and I was doing that virtually. It was all kind of miserable.”

After Erickson’s death, Walz recalled a short story his friend wrote, called “Rooted,” in which a father and child must navigate a world where gravity is in reverse. A bell went off.

“I couldn’t get Kris’ story out of my head. That idea of a world turned upside down took on new meaning for me,” said Walz, who is “temporarily retired” from teaching at Transition Plus School in Minneapolis. “So I spoke with his wife and she said, ‘Yeah, take it. Do what you want with it.’”

That turned out to be “The Flip Side,” Walz’s fifth graphic novel, in which adolescent Theo is grieving the death of his best friend. As if to mirror Theo’s discombobulated state, his world flips upside down and he’s pursued by monsters. He runs from the shape-shifters with the help of Emma, a sarcastic girl who knows more than she reveals about life in the Flip Side.

One thing that will make the suspenseful, moving “Flip Side” especially engaging for local readers is that it’s set in Minneapolis and features the characters finding their way through upside-down, renamed versions of landmark locations, including the Main Cinema and Southdale Mall.

Creating those unfamiliar images of familiar places was the fun part of making “The Flip Side,” Walz said.

“I went out and took tons of photos of Southdale, Nokomis Library, whatever. But I very quickly realized I had to do it my own way. The ceilings of these places either don’t look like ceilings when you’re using them as floors or they’re overly complicated,” said Walz.

His working method includes making lots of sound-effects noises with his mouth while drawing and listening to soundtracks from Sergio Leone movies and jazz by Ornette Coleman or John Coltrane: “Like my kids say, ‘The squawkier, the better.’”

What hasn’t been as much fun with “Flip Side” was needing to dive further into his own grief. It’s something Walz knows about. His “Homesick” — which was nominated for the graphic novel equivalent of the Oscar, the Eisner — was about a young man facing the fact that he will lose his mother to cancer, something Walz went through with his own mom, Linda.

“Writing that book was super helpful. My mom was amazing and great and by the end of writing it, I did find some peace,” said Walz. “This book, ‘Flip Side,’ I don’t think I did. It was a really hard one to work on. I definitely wanted the book to feel fun, as far as there’s an adventure element and I hope it’s suspenseful. But it was heavy, and thinking about Kris the whole time, it was a little bit of not letting him rest or me moving on.”

What does help is the knowledge that there are young people out there, going through some of the things characters in Walz’s books endure. Which is why Walz can often be found at events like the upcoming Teen Lit Con, in Mendota Heights.

“It’s taken me a while to figure out what works best. A typical bookstore reading, I don’t like those much. The turnout is pretty low usually; it has a somber vibe. Comic cons can be fun but more and more people who go are looking for stuff they already know about,” said Walz. “But teen bookfests? I go to them anywhere I’m invited to go. I just love them. They’re into books, they love books, nobody’s making them go there. They’re great.”

One thing he’s learned is not to worry about being cool.

“I love helping people make comics. I used to do long-winded PowerPoint presentations about the history of comics, whatever. Now, we very quickly get into creating a character together and me giving them time to draw. The more I stay out of their way and give them permission to be creative, the more fun they have,” said Walz, who has different approaches for different groups. “Middle schoolers are a breeze, but high schoolers have that tricky first 15 minutes in a room when nobody wants to be uncool. So I make sure I’m the most uncool right away.”

The hope is to connect with young people who, on top of the losses everyone experiences, also lost a sense of community during the COVID years.

“This is my fifth book and I am so unbelievably proud of it. It’s my favorite right now and that doesn’t usually happen right after I finish the book,” said Walz. “I think it had to be hard to be what it is.”

Walz would love for “Flip Side” to be a bridge to connect with young folks. And he thinks his own difficulties in creating the book can help show there are constructive ways to deal with grief and depression.

The Flip Side

By: Jason Walz.

Publisher: Rocky Pond Books, 304 pages.

Event: 6 p.m. April 23, Fresh Eye Gallery, 4238 Nicollet Av., Mpls. Free.