3 posts tagged “interview”

What initiated your interest in comics?

I'm from the GI Joe and Transformers generation. I used to come home from school and watch both on TV, and we had a lot of the toys. When I found out the neighbor kid was selling some GI Joe comics, I raided our milk money jar, bought a bunch, and I was hooked. I got in trouble for that one, but afterwards Mom started taking us to the comic shop.

Was it always your dream to write or did you somehow ‘fall into it’?

I've been a big reader for as long as I can remember, and I used to write these goofy adventure stories about my friends and I fighting bad guys in an underground kingdom. Shortly after that I got into roleplaying games and thought it would be cool to write game modules, but that never went beyond running games for my buddies. When I took a creative writing course my senior year in high school, my teacher suggested my work might be publishable. I tinkered after that, but I lost a few years while I was working in retail management. It was shortly after that I discovered I was better at writing horror than sci-fi and started to get serious.

Who do you look up to as influences?

It's hard to say as this fluctuates all the time. Different people are good at different things, and I've probably learned different things from different writers. For example, in novels, Richard Laymon is great with pacing and suspense, Jack Ketchum creates some of the best characters I've ever read, and Tom Piccirilli lays out a good, eerie atmosphere. In comics, Warren Ellis is one of my favorites because he's got a great imagination and a unique way of looking at things.

Can you give the outlining plot for Call of the Wild?

In a nutshell, it's a crime thriller with werewolves. Our protagonist, Cole Tyler, comes to a small town looking for his younger brother Will and Will's fiancee, Kate. Cole soon finds the town is hiding several secrets, but he's got a few surprises himself.

How did you come up with the idea for Call of the Wild?

It all started with the opening scene, actually. The first three pages of the first issue depict the murder of Will and Kate, and that sequence had been in my head for several months before I met Joe Gentile at Moonstone Books. When Joe agreed to look at a submission from me, I sat down and thought about why these people were killed, who might come looking for them, and so on. Two weeks later I turned in a three-issue script, Joe liked it, and we went into the editorial process.

How has the reaction been to the book so far?

Very positive. We've had our share of criticism, but most of the reviews have been great and the fans have really dug it. Unfortunately our sales numbers didn't follow the reviews, as our store penetration was low.

Will we see a return of Cole Tyler after the mini has finished?
Any chance of an ongoing series?

I'd like to say yes to both of those. I have more stories to tell about Cole and the rest of his family, and Moonstone and I discussed the possibility of an ongoing early on. However the sales numbers just don't make a fourth issue feasible at the moment, so we're leaving it as a mini for the time being. If I can build a larger audience for the book and more demand for my work, I will definitely revisit Call of the Wild.

If any readers want to check out the book or help spread the word, they can find everything they need at www.cotwcomic.com or www.mikeoliveri.com.

What other projects are you currently working on?

I've got two comics in active development. Patrick Hoover is the artist on Wounded Gods, a supernatural war story about a conflict of faiths between two soldiers in . We've got some preview artwork up at www.woundedgods.com. I'm working with Bryan Baugh on an untitled project, a straight-up horror comic set in 1850's . Neither have been placed with a publisher yet, but I've got a lot of confidence in both.

If you were able to be on any book what would it be?

I'd love to take a crack at the Punisher, and I've got a few ideas I might work up the balls to pitch sometime. As a close second I'd be thrilled to work on some of the supernatural-leaning titles like Hellblazer, Swamp Thing, and Doctor Strange.

What other work have you done?

I've been published in the horror small press on and off since 1999. I won a Bram Stoker Award for my first novel, Deadliest of the Species, and I've had short stories and novellas appear in several anthologies. I recently sold a Phantom short story to Moonstone for The Phantom Chronicles.

I've also got free, serialized fiction running right now at Muy Mal (www.muymal.com), which some comics fans might dig. My pieces, Bastard Precinct and , are horror-crime hybrids and are set in the dark fantasy world two friends and I created for the site. We just launched a crossover event called Cataclysm on Halloween.

Once again I've been given the opportunity to have an interview with another artist. This time it's David Wachter who is the artist on the comic Scar Tissue. After you've finished reading all about his projects feel free to go over and grab all of the books so far!

Trust me... you'll love it!

What initiated your interest in comics?
Like every red blooded American child, I loved cartoons. When very young, one of my favorites was the 60's Spider-man that used to come on in the morning before I went to school. This didn't translate to comics until later, about 3rd grade I believe. My best friend at the time, Tim, was big into comics and got me hooked instantly. Those were the days of Secret Wars, so naturally Marvel was my bag. The first issue I ever bought was Captain America 297, in which Cap is forced to relive the death of Bucky. Anyone who is reading that title now will understand why I love what Brubaker has been doing with Cap. I devoured comics until the early nineties, when I was in high school and other interests began to take precedence. In 2001, I was at the Osco pharmacy down the street and I noticed a rack of comics. More importantly, I noticed Amazing Spider-man with art by John Romita Jr.. I started picking them up on a regular basis. Then, when my brother moved up here to Chicago, for my birthday he got me a subscription to ASM and Daredevil, with Bendis and Maleev at the helm. I was hooked again, after a while I found a great comic shop close to me and began my weekly habit. 

Was it always your dream to draw comics or did you somehow ‘fall into it’?
I was drawing since before I can remember, and I was always good at it. I drew all the time as kid. So, when comics came along it was perfect. I only owned one comic when I first tried to draw my own, which was basically a rip-off of that first Captain America. I would draw issues of my favorite cartoons, like Transformers and Thundercats. We didn't have a VCR back then, so I would have to have my pencil ready every afternoon when the shows were broadcast so I could get Optimus's head right, or the Cat's Lair. I wrote a few series too, most of which were based on some sort of conflict with the Soviet Union. Can you tell I grew up in the Reagan 80s? I got out of comics for a while. When I came back a few years ago, I was out of college, but still with no real direction as to what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to "be an artist" but in what capacity? And how could I make a living at it? One day, I received a very unexpected email. It was from my grade school headmaster Dr. Paul Dawson. He had since retired, but was reaching out through the internet to find out how I was doing after all these years.

I was gifted as a child, full of potential and he reminded me of that. It forced me to look at my life and realize that I wasn't really headed anywhere. I was living fine day to day, but I had no recognizable goals for my future. I hadn't "found my passion" as Oprah says. I was actually pretty disappointed in myself. He mentioned to me a book I had written and illustrated when I was at school. It was a children's book about a kid on a family trip in the car who gets bored and begins to imagine things in the clouds. He told me he was always very impressed with the book and that I should seek to have it published. I did a lot of research into children's book publishing, but I could never find a copy of that book. It's probably still in my parents attic somewhere. The more research I did, the more I realized that I didn't know much about the competitive field of children's book publishing, and that I wasn't really that interested. But what I was interested in, since childhood and again as an adult, was comic books. I got the bug to draw comics again, and I got it bad. I did a boat load of research, found a few scripts online from different publishers and got to work.

Who do you look up to as influences?
Too many to name, really. I can pick up a new book drawn by somebody I never heard of and be influenced. As for comic artists, Art Adams was the first guy I was able to recognize and spot his style whenever I saw it, which was rarely, unfortunately. John Romita Jr. was also an early favorite. He was great at the big action scenes, but I was always inpressed with his ability to make everyday people really interesting, especially in a book like Daredevil. Barry Windsor Smith is another one, just beautiful work.

I try to let my influences spread beyond comic art. I was always a fan and student of fine art: impressionism, Degas and Seurat; surrealism, Magritte; symbolism, Klimt, Japanese printmaking, Hiroshi Yoshida; Chinese painting; even pop art and post modernism. So I try to let that inform my work in some way.

The film medium acts as a strong influence as well. I studied film production and filmmaking for a few years, so I'm always looking at framing techniques, pacing, the use of light and shadow. I really love old black and white movies because they hold on the scenes longer, less fast editing, so a viewer really has the chance to absorb what going on within the frame. And the black and white allows for a better analysis of how different lighting techniques are utilized. Influencial filmmakers include Orson Welles, Terry Gilliam, Stanley Kubrick, and Alfred Hitchcock.

Recently, I've also been looking at a lot of book cover art, especially from the pulp stories of the 30s 40s and 50s. There's some really impressive art on the covers of these cheaply printed dime novels, and I've been using them to help me in my own cover work.

Can you give the outlining plot for Scar Tissue?

The quick pitch: A teenager receives a heart transplant and begins to display strange powers. It turns out that the heart came from a murdered supervillain!
Want more? Okay. Ben is our transplant recipient. His parents have passed away and he lives with his two older brothers, Carl and the bread-winner Donny. Ben has been sick all his life and has wanted nothing more than to be a normal, healthy kid. When he finally gets the new heart, he thinks that this is his chance. But, it doesn't work out that way for him when his hands can suddenly melt steel and there are some very strange thoughts running through his head that he's pretty sure aren't his own. Of course, with great power comes... other people who want that power for themselves.
Other characters include the patriotic super hero The Compatriot, who is up on murder charges for the killing of the heart donor, the villainous Grundoom, in a devastating downtown battle. The evil Sorceress Savisuthra, Grundoom's former lover, thirsts for the power for herself. She has created a race of monstrous minions to help her achieve that goal. That can only mean trouble for Ben and his brothers!
 

Who came up with the idea for Scar Tissue? What drew you to the characters?
The writer, J. Andrew Clark, had the idea and the first issue scripted when I came on board. I immediately thought it was a great concept. I always enjoyed super heroes and was excited by this twist on the genre, a story that showed some of the reactions and consequences on real life people. So, you've got realism on the ground level, then you've got another level with the heroes and villains, which are larger than life. It creates an interesting tension and it lets me flex all different kinds of artistic muscles, from talking head scenes to all out destructive bam pow action.
 
How has the reaction been to the book so far?
We've gotten a lot of positive response, from readers and critics alike. Everybody who reads the book seems to really like it. The tough part is getting it into people's hands in the first place. Comics aren't cheap and there's a lot vying for the reader's attention. It can be difficult for self publishers like us, but I think we've got a top quality product and when somebody does take a chance on us they're glad that they did. 
 
Will we see a return of Scar Tissue after the mini has finished?
We'll have to wait and see. I would certainly like to. Self publishing is a tricky business. When this first arc is done with issue 5, we'll be compiling it into trade paperback format and soliciting it to publishers.
 
How did you, and J. Andrew Clark come together to work on Scar Tissue?
When I decided I wanted to start drawing comics again, after about an 8 year hiatus away from even reading them, I found a few scripts online, drew them and posted them on a few comic art message boards. Nathan Patton from Ronin Studios contacted me and invited me to look around and post my art to see if any writers were interested. Almost immediately he came to me with Jim's script, telling me he had shown interest in a single page of mine that was posted. I thought the script was great, something really original while giving a nod to the classics. We got in touch and got to work. It's been a really nice working relationship and friendship as well, even being 2000 miles apart. I live in the greatest city in the world, Chicago, while Jim lives with all those weird West-coasters in California. We only first met face to face in San Diego 2005 when the second issue came out. It was love at first site and we lived happily ever after.
 
What other projects are you currently working on?
I did a lot of work on a horror anthology called Fiendish Fables with my friend and Dial R Studios comrade John Schlim Jr.. I illustrated a short story called Feeding Pigeons, written by John and based on an illustration of mine. I also did the grey tones on two more stories and just finished a painted cover. Originally, it was to be published by Narwain until they went under, or whatever happened to them. Who knows? It was even in the June Previews with a "Certified Cool" rating. This was the first work for either of us to be in Previews and we were both really excited about it. When the Narwain deal fell through it was a real let down, but we're not giving up. It's a great looking book with some really fun and spooky stories in it. John's been shopping it around to other publishers and it will be out there again soon, you have my word on that.
 

If you were able to be on any book what would it be?
I've always said that my dream project has original characters and story, is creator owned, experiments and takes risks, affords me a good page rate and creative control.
If I had to pick an existing book, it would be tough to narrow down. Probably Daredevil, for all the dark alleys and the variety of criminals and secondary characters. It's superhero, but it's noir as well. Although books like Fear Agent or Hip Flask would be really cool, being able to create weird aliens, futuristic cities and landscapes, and I like animal people.
 
What other work have you done?
Scar Tissue, Fiendish Fables, pinups in the back of a few books (like issue #4 of Wasteland from Oni Press), and a bunch of commission work. Also, I just finished the painted cover to Roninfinity, a sci-fi anthology from Ronin Studios.

Do you do Commissions or Sketches for people and how can they contact you?
Yes, I am available for commissions, time permitting. Folks can contact me, and check out previous commissions and sketches at: www.davedrawscomics.com
I've also got my own forum at the Dial R Studios site. Everybody should check out that site anyway to see what some other great up and coming talents are putting out: www.dialrstudios.com
And for the latest news on Scar Tissue, as well as previews of the book check out: www.scartissue-comic.com

I was lucky enough to get an interview with Grant Bond and Ed Lavallee, the Creators of the Revere Mini Series. I have the guys from Comic Geek Speak to thank for bringing this book to my attention as it is one that I look forward to each month.

Now on with the interview!

What initiated your interest in comics?

Grant: I attribute it to two people really. My grandmother and George Lucas. My grandmother was a great painter who challenged me from a very early age to create and I would say sparked my first interest in storytelling. George Lucas opened my eyes to what you could do with storytelling. Star Wars changed my life. My first comic was a Star Wars fanzine when I was about 8 years old. I did it cover to cover with colours and lettering duties done by a much tinier version of yours truly. 

Ed:  For as long as I can remember I have always been interested in art and comic books. It all started way back in the days of old spin racks at the local pharmacy or convenience stores. The brilliant colours and cool looking characters always caught my attention. Lucky for me my mom never discouraged me from reading comics. She's was always supportive of the funny books. Thanks mom. 

Was it always your dream to draw/write for comics or did you somehow ‘fall into it’?

Grant: I would say I was drawn to it. Insert pun joke here. I saw the way line could be used to convey emotion and feeling. To a kid like me some of that art was almost magical. It was also escapism in a way. I had a less than savoury childhood like most and comics helped me sort of deal with the world around me I think. I wanted nothing more than to draw funny books for most of my life. I stopped for about ten years to become an adult and get an adult job but it didn't work out. Basically I was miserable. I decided I would pretty much rather be dead than live out my life not pursuing my dreams. Even as childish as they are. I am happy now. I think I will be even happier if/when my dreams come true.

Ed:  I actually never really knew what I wanted to do growing up as a kid. I just knew I wanted to be involved in art/media somehow. As time progressed and I went to college I realized how hard it is to actually draw the human figure! That didn’t discourage me from art though, just from wanting to draw comics.

I actually have a degree in graphic design and have been working as a graphic designer for the past 10 years. Writing comics came along during college and more recently for me.

Who do you look up to as influences?

Grant: So many names... Eisner, my grandmother, Romita Sr., Buscema, Jack Davis, Rockwell, Bill Mauldin were all early influences. Nowadays, I see guys like Krigstein and feel I must step up my game big time.

Ed:  For writing and comics in general, my favourite is Mike Mignola and his character HELLBOY. Frank Miller without a doubt. Steve Niles, Jeph Loeb. Warren Ellis.

I’m also influenced by others outside of comics, mainly movies and books. I like Tarantino, Rodriquez, Scorcese, Scott, Salvatore, Tolkien and Martin to name a few.

Can you give the outlining plot for ?

Grant & Ed:  The quick rundown of from the actual pitch:

A supernatural killer stalks the townspeople of Boston, and renowned silversmith and monster-hunter, Paul Revere is called in to fight the evil. While tracking down clues to the killer’s identity, the first shots of the revolution are fired and finds himself battling a war on two fronts in a struggle to save his family.

What made you choose Paul Revere as a character and also the setting of the American Civil war? (You’ll have to forgive my ignorance since I’m not American)

Grant: I better let Ed handle this one!

Ed:  I think the whole thing that sold me on Paul Revere was the mystique surrounding his fateful ride that night on April 18th. After that it was the fact that he was actually a renowned silversmith by trade.

Silver and werewolves go hand in hand, so at that point it was a no brainer.

The first book was enthralling, the art complemented the story and the mood was set by both. How has the reaction been to the book so far?

Grant: Really good. 99.9% of the stuff I have heard is absolutely positive. I am new to the game though. I am hopeful people would be willing to share criticisms as well as compliments. I have hopefully have made it clear to everyone I have talked to that I want open honest feedback. All I get are compliments so I suppose I should go with it.  I think we are telling a great story with a highly recognizable character and people will continue to enjoy the story with some of the future surprises we have brewing for our historic monster hunter.

Ed:  The reaction to the book has been great. We really haven’t heard any negative feedback on the story or art. That makes me kind of nervous, but we're going into issue 3 this month without hide nor hair of any negative comments. That doesn’t mean there aren't things that can be improved upon. We just haven't heard anything negative.

Will we see a return of after the mini has finished? Any chance of an ongoing series?

Grant: I believe we are sticking to the mini series format. Ed has several very interesting and solid ideas for upcoming minis I am hopeful we get a chance to tell.

Ed:  I am hard at work right now doing research for the next mini series. Revere has never been planned as an ongoing. If the demand was there for a monthly I am sure grant and I would be all for it.

How did the two of you come together to work on ?

Grant: I initially hired Ed to letter a submission on a book that is yet to see publication. I am excited to say I am talking to interested people now and it looks like it will happen when the time is right. Ed had this concept for a book called , so I was doodling concept art for it off and on jokingly during correspondences with him. He eventually said in one email he was looking to make the submission pack a paid assignment so I was all ears at that point.

Ed:  Grant and I met at a local Comic Convention in Kansas City. I was promoting my other book, ARCHEON at the time and Grant was walking the floor showing his wares and looking for a letterer. I ended up doing some lettering for him on a submission pack he was working on. The rest is history.

What other projects are you currently working on?

Grant: Yikes. I keep getting asked this question and I keep saying the same thing. I do have several projects I am working on with established creators. I am hopeful some official announcement comes soon! I know Ed and I are gearing up for another mini. I actually can say I have been commissioned to do a piece of individual art for an auction this fall for a very good cause by Thank You Walt Disney, Inc. to help in the restoration of the Laugh-O-gram Studio building in downtown KC. Please check out my site @ www.grantbond.com or my MYSPACE profile @ www.myspace.com/tinycowboyhat for more information on this great cause in the next few months to come.

Ed:  Right now, my main focus is getting vol 2 written and ready to go. I have a few other irons in the fire at the moment, but nothing ready to go. My other stories are mainly in the idea/plotting phase.

If you were able to be on any book what would it be?

Grant: Right now? Something with Frank Miller or Steve Niles. 

Ed:  HELLBOY, of course!

What other work have you done?

Grant: In Comics? None! Actually, I did some ghost inking an old friend of mine back in the early nineties on a book called Scimidar. That's about it really. I am a newbie man.  

Ed:  I did a creator owned, self-published book called ARCHEON. I did 2 issues of it through the Digital Webbing imprint line. That was a long time ago. I actually still have an ARCHEON TPB in the works. I'm just waiting on a single page of artwork from my artist. I hope to find a new publisher for it, so stay tuned.

Once more I'd like to thank Ed and Grant for letting me interview them and everyone should now go out and grab the first 2 issues!

To read more about Revere go to Alias Enterprises or The Official Revere Site and as Grant mentioned you can get in touch with him from his site or myspace account as mention within the interview.