Rough Stuff #7 by TwoMorrows Publishing

No. 7 Winter 2008

$6.95

Celebrating the ART of Creating Comics!

Featuring Dan Jurgens Sandy Plunkett Chris Samnee ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

THE ART OF GRAPHIC NOVELS by MIKE GAGNON ROUGH CRITIQUE

MARTIN BALCER

TIM TOWNSEND MARIE SEVERIN 74

Interviews & Art Galleries

82658 27766

Volume 1, Number 7 Winter 2008

Celebrating the ART of Creating Comics! EDITOR

Bob McLeod PUBLISHER

John Morrow DESIGNER

Michael Kronenberg

FEATURED ARTISTS PROOFREADERS John Morrow and Eric Nolen-Weathington COVER ARTIST

Dan Jurgens

Sandy Plunkett

Chris Samnee

Tim Townsend

CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Bob Brodsky, CookieSoup Periodical Distribution, LLC SPECIAL THANKS Martin Balcer Dawn Brown Dewey Cassell Mike Gagnon Scott Hampton Tomer Hanuka Dan Jurgens Sandy Plunkett Chris Samnee Marie Severin Ben Templesmith Lance Tooks Tim Townsend

ROUGH STUFF™ is published quarterly by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Bob McLeod, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: ROUGH STUFF, c/o Bob McLeod, Editor, P.O. Box 63, Emmaus, PA 10849-2203. E-mail: mcleod.bob@gmail.com. Fourissue subscriptions: $26 Standard US, $36 First Class US, $44 Canada, $60 Surface International, $72 Airmail International. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Central cover art by Tim Townsend. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2008 Bob McLeod and TwoMorrows Publishing. ROUGH STUFF is a TM of TwoMorrows Publishing. Printed in Canada. FIRST PRINTING.

ISSN 1931-9231

ROUGH STUFF FEATURE 18

Graphic Novelties Mike Gagnon

ROUGH STUFF INTERVIEWS 54

Marie Severin

Tim Townsend

ROUGH STUFF DEPARTMENTS 2

Scribblings From The Editor Bob McLeod

Cover Stories Tim Townsend and Sandy Plunkett reveal the process of creating a cover.

PrePro Art by Tim Townsend, done before he turned pro.

Rough Critique Editor Bob McLeod critiques an aspiring penciler’s sample page.

Rough Talk Comments and opinions from our readers.

WINTER 2008 • ROUGH STUFF

SCRIBBLINGS FROM THE EDITOR:

hen we started Rough Stuff last year, neither the publisher nor the readers nor I knew where we were going with it. We just had a vague idea that we wanted to show some pencil art and get the artists to comment on it. Here we are six issues later and I’m still working out where I want to go with it. I’ve

decided it should be more than that simple premise. I want more interviews and articles, and I want a broad variety of artists. And I want to keep experimenting with new things. Your opinions are important to me, so please keep telling me what you like or don’t like. We open this issue with the very prolific Dan Jurgens. He’s probably best known for writing and drawing Superman long before, during and after I had my shot at him. In a business bursting at the seams with unreliable prima donnas, Dan is an editor’s dream, always on time with the same level of quality month after month. Then writer Mike Gagnon is back, this time bringing us four young artists, Ben Templesmith, Dawn Brown, Lance Tooks, and Tomer Hanuka, working in the exciting new field of graphic novels. I’ll be taking notes and paying close attention, because I’m teaching a class on drawing graphic novels this semester at the Pennsylvania College of Art & Design in Lancaster! About 100 years ago (actually I think it was 1974) when I was just starting my career, I briefly shared an apartment with a very talented artist named Sandy Plunkett. It’s my pleasure to welcome him to these pages. His work has a nice romantic feel to it, somewhat in the tradition of the great Al Williamson. Following Sandy is a relative newcomer you might not have heard of, but he’s got game. Chris Samnee shows us some pages he did for Harvey Pekar’s American Splendor, and Oni Press’ Queen & Country. And then, it’s an honor to present an interview of the grand dame of comic books, Marie Severin, by Dewey Cassell. I remember Marie best from her work in Marvel’s Crazy magazine, where I got my start. She preceded me as artist on my favorite strip, Teen Hulk! But she also did dozens of great cover layouts that might surprise you. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love Marie, and I’m sure you will, too. Our featured interview this issue is with one of the best inkers in comics, Tim Townsend. When I first started editing Rough Stuff, the publisher and I thought it might turn into an “inker’s mag,” focusing on the inker’s contribution to comic art. I think up to now we’ve focused more on the preliminary pencil art, but we do get a bit into inks now and then. If there’s anyone as opinionated as I am about inking, it’s Tim Townsend, and he has a lot to say in this interview. But did you know he also does some sculpting? And not only can he draw now, he shows us he could do a darn good John Byrne impression when he was just 11! Then newcomer Martin Balcer offers up a cool Ghost sample page for my Rough Critique. Don’t forget, www. twomorrows.com is now offering Rough Stuff with full-color in PDF form for the reduced price of only $2.95 (free for subscribers!), so be sure to check that out and let us know what you think. And go to the Rough Stuff pages of my own web site for art and comments that didn’t quite fit into the magazine. I’ve also added some of my own prelim art there on the Editor’s Corner page. And while you’re on the web, why not visit the web sites of our featured artists, some of whom may accept commissions. Now, on with the show! Dan Jurgens: http://www.theartistschoice.com/jurgens.htm Sandy Plunkett: http://plunkettart.com Chris Samnee: http://www.chrissamnee.com Marie Severin: http://www.theartistschoice.com/severin.htm Dawn Brown: http://www.dawnbrown.net Tomer Hanuka: http://www.thanuka.com Ben Templesmith: http://www.templesmith.com Lance Tooks: http://www.lancetooks.com 2

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2008

Bob McLeod Editor mcleod.bob@gmail.com www.bobmcleod.com PO Box 63 Emmaus, PA 18049

D U R E F E A T

I S T A R T

DAN JURGENS

ok stalbeen a comic bo as h s en rg Ju Dan na s and has draw wart for decade regular addition to his in rs ve co of k titles stac g and drawing n ti ri w s n ru ries. He also monthly many other se d an artists A JL , N A the few comic of e like SUPERM on s e’ H . Gold for DC ave plenty of created Booster mic and still h co ly th on m a n’ t pencil a cover, he does es who can easily do e h en h ral very his hands. W e sent me seve spare time on H e. re th es do ch, he just do one sket k. ples of his wor interesting exam

DAN JURGENS For this Action Comics cover, the basic concept was a fight between Superman and Black Adam. Since Black Adam wears such a stark, black costume, I wanted to go for something that would allow for some lighting effects. Both approaches, the first with pouring lava and the second with lightning, provided that. We went with the lightning because more of the focus would be on the main characters. Superman, Black Adam TM & ©2008 DC Comics

WINTER 2008 • ROUGH STUFF

DAN JURGENS For this Action Comics cover, editor Eddie Berganza wanted something with a magical feel to it, first describing a Woodsman as a foe for Superman. Neither of the first two approaches (A & B) wowed him, though I liked the reflection in the ax. We spoke again and decided to go with a dragon so I generated sketches C & D. We went with C, though Eddie asked to have Superman holding open the jaws of the dragon, which definitely works a little better. Superman TM & ©2008 DC Comics

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2008

DAN JURGENS The concept behind this Action Comics #834 cover was simple: Superman with multiple versions of a magical “bad self” somehow reflected. We all liked approach “B” better and went for it. One note: When I submit sketches I don’t consistently rate my favorite approach as “Cover A.” I like to vary that designation without telling the editors so there are no preconceived ideas in play when things are being looked at. Superman TM & ©2008 DC Comics

WINTER 2008 • ROUGH STUFF

DAN JURGENS JLA #32 More examples of covers, going from roughs to final pencils. In #32, focusing on Dr. Destiny, we decided to add the effect of souls going into his dream gem. I also changed Wonder Woman to make her figure a bit less awkward.

DAN JURGENS

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2008

DAN JURGENS JLA #34 In this cover for JLA #34, focusing on Batman, I added more lava explosions and drama in the final version.

DAN JURGENS

WINTER 2008 • ROUGH STUFF

DAN JURGENS JLA #33, p. 12 This is an example of my layouts (not full pencils) with finished inks by Trevor Scott. I think the strong vertical nature of the panel arrangement pulls the eye across the page in a natural manner. Trevor does a great job with texture and line weight and dynamism, which really puts it over the top. JLA TM & ©2008 DC Comics

BOB McLEOD For you aspiring inkers out there, here’s a great example of how to keep the penciler’s style and still add your own. I’ve often felt like I was battling with Dan when inking him, but Trevor’s taken what Dan started

DAN JURGENS

and run smoothly with it in the same

direction, with powerful results.

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2008

DAN JURGENS JLA #34, p. 2 Once again, my layouts along with Jerry Ordway’s very distinctive finishes. Jerry changed the angle on John’s head, which probably wasn’t necessary but certainly acceptable. As always, Jerry’s use of highlight and texture is second to none. JLA TM & ©2008 DC Comics

BOB McLEOD Jerry and I, both being pencilers ourselves, have definite ideas about how things should look, and

way he felt the need to change the angle of the head in panel one and the shoulder and breast in panel two. The result is a great page, but now it’s more of a 50-50 blend of Ordway and Jurgens, which is usually expected when inking layouts.

DAN JURGENS

you can see Jerry battling with Dan here in the

WINTER 2008 • ROUGH STUFF

DAN JURGENS JLA #33 cover The general approach of the JLA in a ticker tape parade was something we all agreed on with the only question being how tightly we wanted to come in on the Red King. In my sketch, I wanted to come in just a bit tighter but editor Mike Carlin asked me to pull the camera back just a bit, while getting more of Wonder Woman into the shot. Once again, that suggestion improved the cover. JLA TM & ©2008 DC Comics

BOB McLEOD A good editor like Mike Carlin can really make a difference, which of course means a weak editor is also making a

DAN JURGENS

difference...

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2008

DAN JURGENS JLA #34, p. 5

Another example of my layouts. I like the feel of the page and the close-up on Superman in panel four. It can be hard to pull the eye down through the first four panels and then over to the right, but I think it works okay.

DAN JURGENS

WINTER 2008 • ROUGH STUFF

BOB McLEOD Notice how Dan’s balancing large shapes and small shapes throughout the page, and being a writer himself, he’s acutely aware of the need to leave room for dialogue, so you can see he’s also thinking of that as he carefully

DAN JURGENS

places his figures.

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2008

DAN JURGENS JLA #110, p. 9 Another JLA page with finishes by Jerry Ordway. Wonder Woman was a little more muscular in my layout. Jerry added the lighting effects and slimmed her down a bit. The page has sort of a Gil Kane feel to it as Wonder Woman addresses the entire planet. Wonder Woman TM & ©2008 DC Comics

BOB McLEOD Jerry also added her lasso and changed the shape and W’s on her costume. As much work as Dan put into this page, Jerry still gave 110% on his end. The result is a mixed bag, though; I

much prefer Dan’s WW head here. Jerry’s anatomy is more correct, but I prefer Dan’s posture.

DAN JURGENS

always love Jerry’s inks, but I

WINTER 2008 • ROUGH STUFF

DAN JURGENS Nightwing #125, p. 3-4 These are examples of my initial thumbnails and subsequent layouts from a recent issue of Nightwing. I do my thumbnails printed size and then blow them up and pencil on a light table. I rule out whatever I want for a perspective grid on the thumbnail and then use that as a guide for backgrounds while penciling. Writer Marv Wolfman really wanted a lot of movement across these pages and I think I hit the mark. Nightwing TM & ©2008 DC Comics

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2008

BOB McLEOD This example illustrates something I teach my students: Compose the figures first, then design backgrounds to complement them. This page also really leads your eye perfectly from start to finish with the way he designed and placed the figures in a Z pattern. (I added the Z, not Dan.)

DAN JURGENS Nightwing #125, p. 18 Another example of thumbnail-topencil layout progression. The action builds to the dramatic final panel, all the while leaving room for word balloons.

DAN JURGENS

WINTER 2008 • ROUGH STUFF

BOB McLEOD Dan always uses great variety in his panel layouts to keep things interesting. Take a minute and go back and notice that.

DAN JURGENS

See more art by Dan on the Rough Stuff

pages of my web site at http://www. bobmcleod.com/roughstuff.htm

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2008

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WINTER 2008 • ROUGH STUFF

Graphic Novelties Mike Gagnon

ne of the fastest growing trends in the comics and pop culture industry is the graphic novel.

Previously only enjoyed by children’s libraries, cus-

The enthusiasm from the education system has fed the growth of the graphic novel industry, as has the interest of Hollywood film studios. Movie producers have

tomers of comic and hobby shops and a very limited num-

embraced the graphic novel adaptation as it provides not

ber of book store patrons, graphic novels have exploded

only a recognizable property with a built in fan base, but

in the last half decade. In book stores where it was once strange to see more

also an instant script and storyboard ready to be filmed or adapted as the producer sees fit.

than a couple of well-known classic graphic novels, now

Leading this trend of growth are not only large pub-

it is strange not to find an entire section devoted to illus-

lishers specializing in mainstream super-hero fare, but

trated or graphic novels. Libraries can’t grow their graph-

also smaller publishers specializing in new and unique

ic novel collections fast enough and universities are

stories and methods of illustrated storytelling, which con-

adopting many of these illustrated narratives as official

tinues to lend artistic credibility and interest in graphic

text books. Comic shops have many more options when it

novels as an entertainment medium.

comes to their graphic novel purchases now.

I recently had the opportunity to talk with several well known graphic novelists and discuss their work, their approach to creating and their take on the current popularity of graphic novels.

Tomer Hanuka RS: Why do you think graphic novels have become so popular over the last five years? TOMER: I think it comes in cycles. The culture would open up to comics and then shut it out again. Maybe it has to do with Hollywood putting it under the spotlight, in

Tomer Hanuka

terms of identified brands, but also as source material.

“Richard” and “investigation”

RS: Do you personally prefer graphic novel or comic

(opposite page) are

book format?

drawings exploring ideas/scenes/

TOMER: Graphic novels, as I think they go deeper usually. 24 pages is such a quick read, you’re mostly left with just a taste.

characters from the book Life of Pi

RS: How do you approach a page from scripts to finished

which I am a big

art and what art supplies do you use?

fan of and I was

TOMER: I usually write the script as I draw the thumbnails,

inspired by the

so I really write it with drawings more than words, then

visuals it describes.

after I edit the thumbs and feel it works as a narrative, I’ll redraw it on a big Bristol paper and ink and letter. I use

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2008

Speedball ink and a 000 brush, W&N series 7. RS: Is Bipolar the only comic project you have had published? TOMER: I’ve published regularly in Meathaus, an anthology of artists who came out of SVA and we graduated together. Eight books have come out so far from the series. I’ve published a short story in New Thing: Identity, an indie anthology with a literary bent. Also, I have created covers for DC Comics/Vertigo Midnight, Mass and then the second volume that ran as a mini-series. I’ve created cover work for DC Comics’ Focus series which included four books a month. I’m currently doing covers for a Vertigo project that has not been solicited yet. RS: What has been your favorite comic/ graphic novel project to work on? TOMER: The Placebo Man, a collection of short stories I’ve published recently with Alternative Comics. RS: What other types of art or illustration have you done? TOMER: Everything from editorial to book covers to advertising to television to apparel to snowboards to packaging. To name a few of the clients, I’ve worked with Rolling Stone Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker, GQ magazine, and many more. RS: How would you describe your artistic style? TOMER: Narrative visuals. I like drama. I want to tell a story in one scene, but compose it so that you get many points of view and the situation is boiling toward some sort of climax. I try using the color for atmosphere, and to manipulate the eye a little, control the way you interpret what’s important here, what is the driving force.

Tomer Hanuka

Ben Templesmith

“Iraqis” is an edito-

RS: Do you think fans have embraced the graphic novel format of comics? BEN: Nope. Well, not fans. Fan is short for fanatic. By their very definition, they’ll probably be addicted to the

rial illustration for Mother Jones about the problem of the

monthly floppies until they die. But readers both casual

Iraqi refugees (now

and regular — meaning normal people that buy things

numbered at about

based on content, rather than say, what publisher puts it

half a million).

WINTER 2008 • ROUGH STUFF

wait for the collected editions, I figure I may as well support their floppies... but not out of love for the format. RS: How do you approach a page of artwork from script to finished art? BEN: It varies greatly, depending on if I’m writing it or if someone else is. If someone else is, I just get straight into it and follow as best I can. If it’s me doing it, I simply do layouts over conversational script, and then start work on the finals from there. RS: What art supplies/techniques do you use? BEN: Lots. Mostly I meld traditional greyscale drawings with photographic elements and textures in Photoshop. Coloring it, like all comics are these days, in computer. For the actual drawings, it’s basically pen and ink, some acrylic and white pens. Sometimes some copic marker and watercolor washes, too. RS: How would you describe your artistic style? BEN: Haphazard abstractness with a touch of angry young man.

out (who goes to see movies based on what studio makes it?) — seem to be favoring the format more and more. In some ways it hurts floppy sales, but I guess the fans, being fans will no doubt often buy them as well as the collection/GN/TPB, whereas readers may simply wait for the collections. Larger format books with real endings to them (or at least to story arcs) I can see having much more appeal to the mainstream, too. If floppies die though, they’ll need to figure out a new financial dynamic, since their sales keep things running and people eating long before there’s enough to put in a trade. RS: Which format do you personally prefer to read and why? BEN: I much prefer TPBs or GNs. Though as I’m a fussy bugger, I don’t collect much, and what I do collect tends to come out once or twice a year at best, so rather than

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2008

RS: How many books are there now in the 30 Days of

Lance Tooks

Night series?

(top) “Hysteriamagia”

BEN: Not sure anymore. But there’s a lot. Apart from the

is a story about

main “trilogy” there’s a bunch of spinoffs now just set in

alien witches that I

the “universe” of the original.

created for a recent RS: What has been your favorite project to work on?

gallery show here in

BEN: That’d be my own semi-regular book Wormwood:

Madrid, where I live.

Gentleman Corpse from IDW Publishing. (bottom) A rough for RS: Any advice for amateur comic artists?

a sample page from

BEN: Keep at it. If your ambition is to get paid for it,

volume 3 of my

never give up no matter what others say, but be willing to

graphic novel series

listen to criticism and feel the need for improvement and

Lucifer’s Garden of

evolution. If you’re still drawing the same as you did five

Verses, specifically

years ago, then you’re doing something wrong. (In my

entitled “The

humble opinion at least!)

Student, or Nude Descending a

Lance Tooks

Staircase…

RS: Why do you think graphic novels have become

Headfirst!” Inspired

so popular?

by the German Silent

LANCE: I believe it’s due to a combination of fac-

film classic “The

tors: a wider variety of stories being told by creators

Student of Prague,”

and publishers; greater support both within and out-

this is the story of

side of the comics field by critics, and a recent will-

Andree Baldwin, a

ingness of bookstores and libraries to make them

down-on-his-luck,

available to the public.

would-be Basquiat who enters into a

RS: Do you prefer to read comic or graphic novel

Faustian bargain

format? Why?

with a powerful art

LANCE: Fine work has appeared in both formats,

critic in exchange

but the better quality printing that the graphic novel

for status, riches

format generally affords can sometimes make a good

and the love of a

book better.

woman. Acquanetta RS: How do you approach a single page of art from

Scapinelli is the crit-

scripting to finished artwork?

ic in question, and

LANCE: I don’t script my comics or create in single

she recounts this

pages. I consider myself a storyteller first, and my

bitter tale with sar-

approach is to work out the book with hundreds of

donic delight... “For

notes and images. I build my stories using collage and

what shall it profit a

improvisation, throwing out anything that doesn’t feel

man if he gain the

right for the tale I want to tell. I always design pages in pairs and use panels and word balloons sparingly. My books are

RS: What supplies and techniques do you use to create

usually interior stories about people, told in first person

your artwork?

monologues, so I prefer very simple backgrounds. I draw

LANCE: Each individual image starts with rough pencil

inspiration from movies and music, especially jazz and hip-

quickly rendered in markers. I scan these into Photoshop

hop.

and choose where to place them in my two-page layouts

whole world and lose his own soul?”

WINTER 2008 • ROUGH STUFF

Lance Tooks

RS: What are you working on now?

A sample page from

LANCE: In 2007, I’m publishing Anansi’s Dreambook, an

volume 4 of my

original graphic novel for NBM, about a sixteen-year-old New York skate messenger whose imaginary life starts to

graphic novel series

take control of his real one... plus, I’m a contributing car-

Lucifer’s Garden of

toonist in Harvey Pekar’s upcoming anthology about the

Verses, specifically

Beat poets... plus, I’m adapting an Oscar Wilde piece

entitled

and a Nathaniel Hawthorne tale for upcoming editions of

“Between the Devil

Eureka’s Graphic Classics series.

& Miles Davis.” RS: What has been your favorite project to work on? LANCE: I enjoyed creating Narcissa, my first graphic novel (Doubleday/Random House) about an American filmmaker who escapes to Spain in an attempt to outrun death. I also enjoy working with Graphic Classics, adapting the greatest short story writers who ever lived, for Editor Tom Pomplun. RS: Any advice for would-be graphic novelists? LANCE: Sounds corny, but “always do your best .”

Dawn Brown depending on how the story seems to flow best. I add

RS: Why do you think graphic novels have been

hand-lettered text and altered photographs; then use

embraced by readers?

tones and patterns to direct the reader’s eye. No page is

DAWN: It can be difficult to carry the momentum of a

finished until they all are.

monthly series when there are so many factors to distract

RS: What is the name of your most recently published

tain issues may be sold out. Some find it easier to enjoy

the reader. Monthly titles may not come out on time; cergraphic novel? Can you tell us a bit about it?

a story when it is presented in its entirety as a graphic

LANCE: I just completed a series of four graphic novels

novel or trade paperback, when the reader can enjoy it at

in two years, entitled Lucifer’s Garden of Verses. (NBM)

his or her own pace.

Each book is told in a different style, and features the fictional character of Lucifer as protagonist or antagonist.

RS: What is your process for making your final art, start-

In “Book 4: Between the Devil and Miles Davis,” neither

ing from a scripted page?

the Devil, nor Miles Davis make a literal appearance in

DAWN: I develop words and images at the same time.

the story. Yet, this book ties the previous trilogy together.

One influences the other, and vice versa. I usually start

Amo Tanzer is a hardened journalist, at war with the

with random thoughts and scribbles in a sketchbook,

human race, who smokes and drinks too much, though

then move on to rough layouts, gather reference, all the

not nearly enough for her own taste. Assigned to profile

while refining the story, dialogue and art. Once the line

the late jazz legend Miles Davis, she finds herself at a

art is complete, I scan it into the computer and paint it in

creative impasse. How does one approach such an

Photoshop.

“overly-written-about” artist from a fresh angle, and what’s her opinion worth anyway in a world so fast unrav-

RS: Are there any techniques that you use that may be

eling? At her wit’s end, she stumbles into the mysterious

considered original or unique?

Smokeasy, the only bar in Manhattan where adults are

DAWN: I like to build models of my sets and compose shots

allowed to behave as such; and it is that misty room that

with a digital camera. This generates many compositions very

Amo falls under the spell of an uncanny bartender.

quickly; I can play with lighting and perspective very quickly to come up with the most dynamic images.

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2008

Dawn Brown RS: What has been your favorite project to

The first image is

work on?

from the graphic

DAWN: My favorite is still my first, Little Red

novel “Ravenous.” I blocked this fight

Hot: Chane of Fools.

scene with two RS: Aside from Ravenous what other

artist reference fig-

comic projects have you done or are you

ures and took digital

working on?

photos of the com-

DAWN: Little Red Hot: Chane of Fools,

positions I like.

Little Red Hot: Bound, Vampirella #7-10. RS: How would you describe your artistic

RS: What supplies do you use most often to create your art? DAWN: Model making materials, lots of reference, some heavy-duty computer power. Lots of Dr. Pepper and great playlists on iTunes.

What’s great about working from mod-

style?

els is you can try out

DAWN: I would hope it could be described

many different com-

as “original.” While I have always acknowl-

positions and light-

edged I have been influenced by people

ing options very,

like Frank Miller and Bill Sienkiewicz, I have

very quickly. I do a

worked very hard to forge my own path.

line drawing over

RS: Any advice for aspiring graphic novelists? DAWN: Beware of back-end deals from publishers!

the photograph and scan it into the computer. The final

Well that’s all the graphic novel goodness that we can pack into an article for now.

painted artwork is created in

I’d like to thank all of the graphic novelists who took

Photoshop.

part for taking time out of their busy schedules in order to answer some questions. In an industry that is well known for its ups and

The second image is

downs, I think it is safe to say that the graphic novel will

also from

continue to represent and be an important part in the

“Ravenous.” But this

comic book industry.

image is simply based on some ref-

Mike Gagnon is a writer and former publisher based in Ontario, Canada. He is also editor and administrator of the pop culture news website

erence material. I drew my character and background

www.sexcomicsandrocknroll.com

over the reference More details on Tomer Hanuka can be found at:

photograph and

www.thanuka.com

scanned it into

More details on Ben Templesmith can be found at:

Photoshop. Quick

www.templesmith.com

and simple.

More details on Lance Tooks can be found at: www.lancetooks.com More details on Dawn Brown can be found at: www.dawnbrown.net

WINTER 2008 • ROUGH STUFF

D U R E F E A T

I S T A R T

T T E K N U L P Y D SAN

reer the started his ca tt ke n u Pl dy n Sa ct, we were room fa In d. di I e m same ti ays too ile. He was alw h aw r fo es at m d out a ectionist to grin quite a bit, much of a perf unced around bo s e’ projh so , es rating several st u monthly seri ill d an l ve just see ting for Mar ose artists you doing some wri th of e on s e’ H comics. ng more. ects outside of aves you wanti le s ay w al e h d occasionally an

’ve always been a little self conscious about the way I work. When I began teaching myself inking, the process scared the willies out of me. I’d pour all this time and effort into the pencils of a page and face the possibility that I might destroy it by flubbing the inks. In particular I was

skittish about putting in blacks and so approached black-and-white spotting very cautiously. Which was frustrating because the artists I most admired at the time were Wrightson and Jones, both of whom were exuberant in their use of deep, lush, black shadows. I ended up by adopting the working method of another artist I greatly admired, Al Williamson. He used reams of tracing paper to work out his drawing problems. In his EC days he might generate a half dozen overlays of a single panel or figure position, working out subtle changes in lighting or positioning. Tracing paper! Seemed like the right solution for me. Actually, it was (and still, to a certain extent, is) a doubled-edged sword. Though it can save you from making some serious blunders, it can also rob you of the spontaneity that gives a drawing its life. You can find yourself simply trying to copy the success of the tracing, an approached guaranteed to result in tedium and a lifeless finish. I’ve always tried to ink as loosely and as fast as possible on the overlays, using a blunt marker or a brush pen or a Winsor & Newton on its very last legs. Even today, if I do a tracing, I’m working over pencils that are barely comprehensible to any eye other than my own. This helps diminish the sense that I’m simply “going over lines” and, hopefully, maximizes inventiveness. There always seems to be this pull between correctness of drawing and expressiveness. I tend towards being more expressive these days.

SANDY PLUNKETT Conan A preliminary ink rough. I believe this Conan drawing was meant for a frontice for the Savage Sword of Conan. I attempted to finish the pencils but before getting very far realized that, to my sensibilities, the rough was the finished piece, whether it was clean enough to meet Conan TM & ©2008 Conan Properties Intl., LLC

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“professional” standards or not.

SANDY PLUNKETT Conan cover The only variation in working method here is that I did the thumbnail in marker instead of leaving it in pencil. I’m not sure, but I think it was to clarify the image for the editor. Craig Russel did his usual great job inking this, but if you compare it to the inked rough, you can see that the piece lost some of its vigor in the finish. This almost always happens, at least to some extent.

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SANDY PLUNKETT Scarlet Witch pin-up This was for an all pin-up issue of Marvel Fanfare, and one of the clearer examples of how much can be lost if you do an initial tracing. The finished inks are very polished, and there’s some improvements in the drawing, but I much prefer the rough. There’s a primitive quality to it that matches more closely the nature of the subject matter. Clean, controlled rendering is always popular with fans but sometimes it comes at the cost... Scarlet Witch TM & ©2008 Marvel Characters, Inc.

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BOB McLEOD humor in mainstream comic books? I love these pages and fervently wish they were more ubiquitous, as they were in the ‘70’s.

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Am I the only one who misses

SANDY PLUNKETT Jungle These are two pages from a sketchbook I was working in a couple years ago. I suppose the better term would be “exercise book.” I set myself the challenge of drawing finished comic pages without any preliminary work (no thumbnails, sketches, reference or research) and no white out, erasing or tracing. This, to overcome the psychological speed bumps that made me believe that my spontaneous impulses aren’t strong enough to rely on. I developed a comic strip called “Jungle Land,” starring an elephant desperately neurotic about body image. I had no real thought that the strip would ever work commercially — simply, the concept provided me with a focus for the exercise.

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SANDY PLUNKETT Solomon Kane I did an adaption of a favorite R.E. Howard poem (“Solomon Kane’s Homecoming”) for Carl Potts many, many years ago. The result was terrible — one of the worst comic jobs ever printed. Having too much time on my hands one day, I decided I’d try redoing it (this is, after all, one of Howard’s most evocative pieces of writing!) Here you have two steps along the way to a complete splash page — finished pencils and the finished inks. Solomon Kane TM & ©2008 Robert E. Howard Properties, LLC

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I took a couple photos of a friend for reference. Somehow though, I still managed to do a piss poor job on Kane’s face. Later, I did a careful study from one of the photos simply to placate my own need to see the drawing done right. It might be interesting to see page two from the same adaptation. This penciled page, however, was commissioned for a collector in France, Ivica Rontic. A pretty striking contrast between pencils finished for my own inking and the sort of pencil rendering that is meant to stand on

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its own.

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SANDY PLUNKETT Fennario This is the development of a page from a recent story (“Tales of Old Fennario”). If you compare the thumbnail to the finish, you see a fair difference. I’m still trying to figure out the best way to work out storytelling when I’m writing my own material. I should rely more on stick figures, I suppose, but for me, part of developing the storytelling is developing dramatic visual opportunities. This seems to necessitate at least a certain mount of “fleshing out.”

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Cookbook When I’m doing illustrations, I use pretty much the same working method as with comics. Not too much to say about this one. In the finished version, I included a circle as a framing devise after some thought. It takes away a little from the impact of the silhouette, but this drawing was to sit all by itself on a blank page and the circle helped create a sense of completeness — a sense of being self contained — it otherwise lacked.

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SANDY PLUNKETT Batman Like the Conan drawing, this one never got past this inking rough. I believe it was done a good while back, meant for a portfolio piece, which is where it finally ended up. First I had to get past the idea that all my samples had to be tightly rendered. If you keep your mouth closed, the editor will assume all that roughness is intentional, part of your artistic vision, don’t you know. Batman TM & ©2008 DC Comics

BOB McLEOD See more art by Sandy on the Rough Stuff pages of my web site at http://www.bobmcleod.com/roughstuff.htm 32

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SANDY PLUNKETT I think this is the only cover I did for DC. I fumbled with the composition for awhile and ended up using “ye old pyramid” design. You can do worse. Most comic covers these day are truly impressive — computer coloring rendering many of them into virtual paintings — but the compositions themselves are usually too confused to Spectre TM & ©2008 DC Comics

deliver a real impact. In my opinion, at least. WINTER 2008 • ROUGH STUFF

COVER STORIES

What happens between the initial layout of a cover and the published version? Usually a lot of changes as it goes from penciler to editor to inker, but sometimes it may not change at all!

TIM TOWNSEND Amazing Spider-Man #500 cover Pencils by Jeff Campbell Inks by Tim Townsend What can you possibly say about Jeff? He’s force of nature. He’s one of the true superstars of our generation. He’s one of the nicest people you could ever hope to know. He’s the whole package. Oh... he draws pretty pictures, too. When Jeff asked me to ink his famous run of covers on the Amazing Spider-Man I was incredibly flattered. Jeff and I had worked together a number of times over the years and he was always very kind to me. Spider-Man TM & ©2008 Marvel Characters, Inc.

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Inking Jeff, while incredibly fun, can also be challenging. His pencils are simply pristine. It’s all there, every line. This takes away the need to do any embellishing but it brings to the table a different set of challenges. You have to not only match his beautiful line work, you need to find a way to accentuate it, complement it, and elevate it without altering it fundamentally.

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SANDY PLUNKETT Solo Avengers #14 cover Way back when I was doing covers for Marvel, I eventually settled into an acceptable approach to working. First, I would do a thumbnail sketch, to be approved by the editor. (Much could be said about thumbnails. The more experience you have, the more of the problems you can solve — or prevent — at this stage.) Next, I’d transfer the image onto Bristol board, a step I’d always do by eye, rather than overhead projector. (I hung out at Neal Adams’ Continuity Studios some in those days and virtually every penciler working there used those things. I never got the hang of the method.) While the pencils were still very rough, I’d pull out the tracing paper and do a quick, crude inking. The quicker and cruder the better. Just trying to find a blackand-white patterning that was exciting and would make the drawing “readable.” Then I’d tighten up the pencils accordingly. Even with the crutch of the tracing stage, I’d usually find an inker to pass it on to. I had the great good fortune of convincing some of the best artists in the biz to help me out. I love what Scott Hampton did with the inks on this cover. Hawkeye & Black Widow TM & ©2008 Marvel Characters, Inc.

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SCOTT HAMPTON Sandy and I were toying with the idea of my inking a Black Panther job he’d sweated blood over and doing the Solo Avengers cover was a sort of trial run. Working over Sandy was both super-fun and scary. The main thing for me was getting some of the originals for my collection. Sandy doesn’t tend to sell those and I knew Craig Russell was never going to part with any of his from their classic Spiderman/Scarlet Witch job.

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D U R E F E A T

CHRIS SAMNEE

I S T A R T

reer at Oni started his ca Chris Samnee ANSAS. g CAPOTE IN K n ti ra st u ill s, Pres on Harvey s also worked Since then he’ R, r DC, and ICAN SPLENDO Pekar’s AMER CHECKMATE fo d an o, ig rt Ve r ovel for RS fo nced graphic n EXTERMINATO ou n an n u an orking on Manning is currently w ed for the Russ at in om n as w is. he lives in St. Lou e Vertigo. In 20 06 H d. ar aw er g Newcom Most Promisin

CHRIS SAMNEE American Splendor #2 thumbnails This just goes to show what a difference a great editor can make. Here are my original thumbnails and first draft of a few pages from American Splendor #2.

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CHRIS SAMNEE After changing a few angles and zooming in or out a bit and helped to spice up what could have been a really uninteresting layout. American Splendor © Harvey Pekar

BOB McLEOD Amazing professionalism from such a young, relatively unknown artist. It ain’t Spider-Man, so most fans couldn’t care less, but this is solid comic art and a good storytelling textbook.

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keeping the camera moving on the characters, it really

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CHRIS SAMNEE I ended up changing the angle on Harvey in panel 4 so as not to have two similar panels next to one another. American Splendor © Harvey Pekar

BOB McLEOD Good comic art is 50% thinking and 50% drawing. There’s an old maxim “Think before you ink.” It applies just as well to penciling.

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CHRIS SAMNEE My first draft of the pages turned out pretty bland and I used the split panel phone device way too frequently. American Splendor © Harvey Pekar

CHRIS SAMNEE Here are the finished pencils. While I had a little harder time trying to get the split panels into their own rectangular space I really think it helped in the long run. American Splendor © Harvey Pekar

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CHRIS SAMNEE Queen & Country #29 thumbnails I’m still experimenting with how I do thumbnails, so with almost every book I work on they range in size from 1" x 1.375" to 4.5" x 6.375.” I’ll do some in pencil, some in ink, or depending on how good a picture I have in my head of the finished product, I might even try to spot some blacks.

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CHRIS SAMNEE Queen & Country #29, pg. 2 Since this was my first issue of Q&C and my first chance to work with Greg Rucka I was really nervous so I did a ton of research and started out with (by my standard anyway) super-tight pencils. LCS (on the license plate) is actually my wife’s initials so you might see them sneak into my pages from time to time... along with a ton of other little Easter eggs if you

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take the time to look.

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CHRIS SAMNEE Queen & Country #29, pg. 20 Usually I start to hit my stride on a book by page 20 so the last couple of pages look the best to me. It’s a shame monthly books only run 22 to 24 pages or so. Panels 5 and 6 are pretty loose here because I knew I wanted to save most of the heavy

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lifting for the inks.

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CHRIS SAMNEE Queen & Country #30, pg 7 This page is from my second ish of Q&C (#30, pg. 7). I was starting to get a little more confident with my inking by this one so I left spotting black and most of the line weight and junk for the inks.

BOB McLEOD Ahh, sanity in penciling. What music to my ears. If only more pencilers and editors could see the value in this

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approach.

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CHRIS SAMNEE Queen & Country #30, pg. 8 Before this went to print it was decided that panel seven wasn’t quite working, so the print version has a paste up with Tara taken out.

BOB McLEOD I never cared for the paper-shortage mentality (usually the writer’s) of needing eight panels on a page, but I’m liking this Samnee fellow more and more. Hello, Marvel? Can we please double his page rate and get this guy on the X-Men or Spider-

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Man?

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CHRIS SAMNEE Queen & Country #30, pgs. 18-19 This is one of the few times I’ve tried to do a double-page spread. I was actually pretty happy with how these two turned out, which is pretty rare since I’m my own worst critic.

CHRIS SAMNEE Queen & Country #31, pgs. 10-11 Okay, I guess I do more double page spreads than I thought. I think this was only like my fourth one ever though. These are definitely the hardest thing to wrap my head around. WINTER 2008 • ROUGH STUFF

CHRIS SAMNEE Queen & Country #31 pgs. 18-19 For this sequence I had a clear picture of what I wanted the inks to look like so I used a piece of scrap paper, which I must have tossed out, to do an ink rough with some brush pens. I then lightboxed that which is how the black areas might look a little more confident than others.

BOB McLEOD I recommend this method for inkers who lack confidence in placing blacks. I usually quickly sketch in blacks and lighting on the pencils (my own or other artists’) before I go to ink. I often

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don’t follow my initial ideas, but it

helps give me a starting point.

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CHRIS SAMNEE Queen & Country #30 thumbnails In the margins here you can see me trying to figure out a page before I commit to the final thumbnail. I’ve recently started adding the word balloons to my thumbnails, not so much for the letterer but rather to make sure I leave enough room for them, since I’ve always had a hard time leaving that 1/3 of a panel open. It’s really helped to think of the balloons themselves as part of the composition though, as opposed to something that sits on top of it. WINTER 2008 • ROUGH STUFF

CHRIS SAMNEE Queen & Country thumbnails Just a few examples of thumbnails for my arc of Queen & Country. (The five pages at the top left are from #30 while the rest are from #31)

For a while I had been doing a lot of really tight thumbnails with between two to four pages worked out on a sheet of 8 1⁄2" x 11" sketchbook paper and tried to nail down every little thing and even went so far as to spot blacks on quite a few, but by #30 I had loosened up a bit and really just wanted to make sure I had the staging, that the layout worked, and that I was leaving enough room for the word balloons.

The really small little thumbnails to the right side were done right after I read each script page so that I could hurry up and get down on paper my first impressions of how the pages might look like before I fully committed to anything.

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CHRIS SAMNEE Capote pgs. 36-40 This is probably my favorite sequence from Capote in Kansas where we follow Truman from this hotel, past a couple Holcomb landmarks and to the Clutter home, where he walks around the grounds and to the back of the house leading to the big reveal on page 40.

BOB McLEOD Chris, thanks so much for this storytelling textbook. I hope all the aspiring pencilers out there can appreciate it without any span-

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dex.

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CHRIS SAMNEE Capote For page 37 Ande gave me a description for panels one and seven, and the idea that we needed Truman to move from one place to the next (maybe a mile or two) in between, and let me run with it to figure out what we’d see in between.

BOB McLEOD Geez, how many people bought this comic, anyway, twelve? I’m so glad to be able to show this work to our readers. I hope the

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mainstream editors see it.

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CHRIS SAMNEE Truman is a bit off model here, sort of shifting from panel to panel, but I

relatively well.

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think the storytelling still holds up

BOB McLEOD Holds up? Are you kidding me? This storytelling could hold up a bank. It’s not dynamic, because the story isn’t dynamic, but few superhero pencilers I’ve seen could handle this story as well. Take a bow, Chris.

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INTERVIEW

MARIE SEVERIN By Dewey Cassell

irthful” Marie Severin worked at Marvel Comics for many years, serving in a variety of

“M

roles, including penciler, inker, production, colorist, and art director. Fans fondly remember her dynamic rendering of classic superheroes like the Hulk, Doctor Strange, and the Sub-

Mariner, as well as literary characters like Kull the Conqueror, and her wonderful sense of humor, brought to life in the pages of Not Brand Echh and Spoof. But in some respects, her greatest contribution to the Marvel Age of Comics was behind the scenes. For several years, from the late Sixties to early Seventies, Marie Severin designed virtually every cover that appeared on a Marvel comic book. The following is an excerpt

from an interview with Marie that took place last year. DEWEY CASSELL: There was a point in time in which Stan Lee had you doing mock-ups of the covers that Marvel Comics was putting out. Why was that? MARIE SEVERIN: Well, if Sgt. Fury was going to be on a cover All characters and covers in this interview are TM & ©2008 Marvel Characters, Inc.

with a helicopter sequence or somebody jumping out of a helicopter, and unbeknownst to the editor or Stan, somebody else was writing a story about Daredevil or Spider-Man hanging off a helicopter, you could have two covers in the works and only discover it when they both came back and two of them might be about helicopters. They wanted to have Sgt. Fury TM & ©2008 Marvel Characters, Inc.

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SEVERIN: I started hanging up the cover sketches over the previous covers. I had a whole six months of covers hanging on the wall, of all the books, and I would look at what was coming out this month. “Okay, let’s have a variety of that. Let’s change that.”

a little more control on the design of the covers, so you wouldn’t have subject duplication. CASSELL: How did you get involved in designing the covers? SEVERIN: I was very fast with design and sketches and the individual artists didn’t have time to come in and do individual sketches. It was faster for Stan to say “no” to a design with somebody in the office doing them, rather than have the artist, say John Buscema, do a cover and Stan wouldn’t like the layout or he thought the layout was too close to something else or he wanted a different expression (which, of course, John wasn’t that annoying.) But I would have a variety because I knew what the rest of them looked like. CASSELL: How did you keep track of all of the different covers? The Fantastic Four TM & ©2008 Marvel Characters, Inc.

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CASSELL: When you were doing the cover sketches, did you have anything to work from? Did you have the plot synopsis or artwork? SEVERIN: Yeah, you did. Sometimes I got the script, sometimes I got Xerox pages of the pencils half done or the whole story, but usually they wanted to get the cover in the works before the thing was inked and lettered. I really tried — Stan wanted it that way — that you would basically have the same thing on the cover that was going on inside. I used to hate it as a kid when sometimes the cover had nothing to

do with the story inside. We tried to be basically accurate. CASSELL: DC used to do that a lot. Their covers often had nothing to do with the story. SEVERIN: Well, remember that they were bigger than we were. A lot of times, the stuff wasn’t even in production and you had to put a cover on, so you can’t blame them. They were trying to attract the readers to buy the book. Sometimes the story wasn’t even written and they had the cover done. CASSELL: The cover sketches were done on 8 1⁄2 x 11inch paper, frequently on the back of a piece of Marvel stationery. Why was that? SEVERIN: Probably it was a good size to send out to the guys and it had the address on it and everything so the guys would know where it came from.

CASSELL: Some of the cover sketches were done in pen or marker, but others were done in ink and wash. SEVERIN: As I recall, depending if you wanted to show a graveyard or nighttime scene, you would use the wash

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guys would get the idea. They didn’t have to follow it if they didn’t want, but it gave them the atmosphere that Stan wanted at the time. CASSELL: Some of the cover sketches were fairly simple, but others reflected a tremendous amount of detail. A few were even done in watercolor. You typically drew a “corner box” in the upper left and allowed space on the right margin for notes, which might be instructions to the artist or a brief explanation of the scene depicted on the cover. When you put together an idea for the cover, to whom did it go for approval?

SEVERIN: Stan, usually. Or the editors would do it, like Roy Thomas. Stan tried to, and succeeded in most cases, make sure he knew what was going to be printed. He might forget an hour later what you showed him, but when you showed him, his instincts were there. CASSELL: Did you design all of the Marvel covers? SEVERIN: For a certain length of time, I was doing most of them. You would have all this coming in and I was like a central point of it. I would file and Xerox it. At that time, we were pretty orderly with it and I would have a consensus of what the covers were. Not that my designs were always the best, but we would get it going. We had a starting point and a correction point. When my sketch was approved, they would send it out and the guy would do it WINTER 2008 • ROUGH STUFF

available, you could get somebody else to do it. Or, you know, he would have loved to have Kirby do them all. CASSELL: I noticed, for example, that your brother John frequently did western covers. SEVERIN: He drew horses so well. And also, he loved the cowboy bit. His drawings of that era – battles and equipment and guns – it just came so naturally to him. He loved the scenes, the backgrounds so much. More than, I think, most artists in comics did. Other artists might put a modern gun in a guy’s hand, not realizing it. John was very, very accurate. If he knew it was April 1876, he had April 1876 backgrounds. John (Severin) did not put just any old thing there. CASSELL: I also noticed that sometimes, when the finished cover was done, the artist might have kept the same general concept, but they might change the perspective, for example. Once the cover design was approved, did they still have some latitude?

and at least it would be roughly in the same design or subject matter that I had. John Romita, for instance, did his own. He was there, and he and Stan were doing Spider-Man, so I didn’t have to worry about Spider-Man. CASSELL: Who decided which artist would actually draw the cover? SEVERIN: It wasn’t just at random. For the most part, Stan had preferences for certain artists to do certain characters. Like, if it was Daredevil, whoever was on the book or Stan thought was good. If they weren’t Kid Colt TM & ©2008 Marvel Characters, Inc.

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Shadows where you did three or four sketches for the same cover? SEVERIN: Sometimes, Stan would drive me crazy. It might have been that Stan was being picky about stuff, or that the sales were down and they were more specific about what they were putting out there to get kids to buy it, and I would have to do a number of covers, even if it wasn’t a bestseller book. Then, sometimes, I would do one sketch and Stan would say, “Fine.” CASSELL: A lot of the cover sketches have issue numbers on them. Did you always know which issue it was going to be? SEVERIN: I think we knew before-

SEVERIN: Oh, sure. That was okay. Stan liked the idea of the design being basically under his control, but you could change the perspective or the background or whatever. Stan just liked to have an idea of what was going on. Sometimes, the artist might bring the cover in and the editor might even forget about the sketch that I did. It was probably not attached to the cover when it came back. If the editor or Stan didn’t like the finished cover, he would have them change it. CASSELL: I noticed that you did a cover sketch, even if you were going to do the finished cover. SEVERIN: Well, I still had to get it approved. CASSELL: I noticed there was an issue of Tower of WINTER 2008 • ROUGH STUFF

hand, but wanted to make sure. I would pin these up on the wall and you wanted to make sure you were doing the right issue. Also, when the artist would send it in, you had these vouchers that you put the number on and you’d have all this trouble with bookkeeping if you didn’t put the right issue number on the voucher. Once in a while, very rarely, Stan would say, “Let’s use this for the next one and we’ll switch the stories.” So, you really wanted the artist to be aware of where the heck it was going. CASSELL: I also ran across a Captain America cover sketch that was apparently never used. SEVERIN: That could have happened. A lot of

times, covers were rejected or the story wasn’t that strong, so they switched to something else. Not every sketch that I did appeared. Or the stories had to be changed. A lot of times, Stan would say, “I don’t like the ending of this” and they’d fool around with it, so the cover would be junked. CASSELL: When you were doing the cover sketches, did you know which artist was going to do the actual cover? SEVERIN: Sometimes, but I didn’t think about it. They tried to be consistent, but sometimes somebody was loaded down, so maybe the inside of the book was done by Herb Trimpe, but he didn’t have time to do the cover. Or Romita might be doing the cover and not have time to do a finished story. Romita did a lot of covers. He was very good at design, too. CASSELL: Did the artists ever comment on your cover sketches? SEVERIN: I remember I was so flattered. John Buscema said, “I don’t want to get your sketches. They’re so good. I can’t compete with that.” And I said, “You?” And he said, “Well, you’ve done the thinking and it’s right. There is nothing for me to do but render.” It took the fun out of the originality for him and I could understand that. He would look at my sketch and really like it. And instead of 60

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putting his own energy into it, he was trying to copy what I did and he was not a copier. He said, “I like the ideas, but it’s hard for me. You’ve got it all down. I’m almost trying to duplicate.” CASSELL: That was a great compliment, coming from Buscema. SEVERIN: I was also flattered when Jack Kirby said, “Sometimes, I don’t like your sketches because I can’t get the flavor that you get.” And I said, “You? Do it your own way.” It’s true. That’s what happens with anybody, whether it’s the little guy in the production department – me – or Buscema, it’s still mentally intimidating because you know that idea has been approved, but you might not like the layout. Sometimes you would change it and Stan wouldn’t care. Other times, he would say, “No, I wanted to show the guy in the costume more, because they’re introducing that costume and I want to make sure it’s noticeable.” CASSELL: So why did you quit doing the cover sketches? SEVERIN: In the early days, when Stan had a hand in it, he had a lot more control of the situation and could still be creative. But by the time things were getting so big, there was such a volume of work, that Stan, Roy and all of the guys, they couldn’t be as specific as Stan was in the early days. But they tried to keep the quality of the book, the way it was selling, they didn’t want to lose that. CASSELL: It had become too big for one person to do? SEVERIN: Yeah. And as time went on, as the company got really big, certain artists wanted to do their own sketches to have control, and if that’s what they wanted and they were useful to the company, they let them do it. CASSELL: The cover sketches you did are actually quite collectible. SEVERIN: I’ve been hearing that. Had I known, I would have Xeroxed them and sent the Xeroxes out. I didn’t know they were going to be worth anything. A significant number of the Severin Marvel cover sketches survived, dating from at least 1968 to 1972. During

Marvel, Marie exerted a tremendous amount of influence over the “look” of Marvel comics, which undoubtedly contributed to their success. Ironically, many collectors have commented that Marie’s designs were often superior to the finished covers. Today, the Marvel cover sketches provide a wonderful insight into the creative talent of Marie Severin, and in many cases, a wistful look at what might have been. Sincere thanks to Marie Severin for the interview, and to Ruben Espinosa, Glenn Musial, Doug Taylor, Stephen Moore, and Spencer Beck for the cover sketches used in this article. Spencer has several Severin cover sketches for sale on his website at www.theartistschoice.com. Dewey Cassell is a frequent contributor to TwoMorrows publications as well as author of the book, The Art of George Tuska. He is currently working on a book about Marie Severin.

this time period, considered by some the heyday of

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PRE-PRO

id you ever wonder what the pros’ artwork looked like before they turned pro? Some are already looking good in college, some even in high school. Tim Townsend couldn’t wait that long; he was already well on his way in 6th grade!

TIM TOWNSEND Here are a few old drawings I did when I was about 11 circa 1981-82. John Byrne fan? Who, me?!

BOB McLEOD Angel and Galactus, both obviously thinking “Make my day, punk!” I don’t know about you, but Tim’s got me wondering what John Byrne’s own drawings looked like when he was 11! Could they have been any better than this?

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2008

BOB McLEOD My caption: “Need any help with these eight guys, Logan?” “Nah, I can take it from here, Colossus...!” 11 years old and he was already inking this well?? I’ve seen adults who can’t do this. It’s no surprise he ended up being a top inker a decade or so later!

WINTER 2008 • ROUGH STUFF

INTERVIEW

TIM TOWNSEND By Bob McLeod

hen we first started on Rough Stuff, Twomorrow’s publisher John Morrow and I thought it would probably turn into the “inker’s” mag, but instead we’ve usually been predominantly focused on the pencil side of comic art. This issue I’m excited to welcome the amazing Tim Townsend to our

pages as our first featured artist who’s mostly known for his inking skills. Tim is a great inker and a great guy. I first got acquainted with him on a Yahoo inkers forum, then met him in person at MegaCon, in Orlando. He began working in comics in 1993, starting out at Image and moving over to Marvel in late 1994. He says he worked on Uncanny X-Men for about 7 years and then bounced back and forth a bit between Uncanny and the adjective-less X-Men ever since, with some special projects here and there in between. He’s worked on most of Marvel’s main titles at one time or another, as well as most of the main books at DC and Image but to a much more limited amount. He’s had good runs

TIM TOWNSEND This was a gift for a good buddy of mine. I’ve always been a big fan of the Frankensteinlooking Hulk with his prominent brow and vacant stare. I was trying to turn the tables and do a very simple approach on the figure, the focal point, and go nuts with the detail on the extraneous area. It made for a nice contrast.

with pencilers like Joe Madureira, Adam Kubert, Frank Quitely, and Chris Bachalo, none of whom I’ve inked, so I’m a bit envious. This interview was conducted via e-mail near the end of April 2006. Tim’s incredibly shy, but I somehow managed to pull him out of his shell. No, actually, as anyone who’s met him can tell you, Tim’s effervescent personality is perfectly suited to the comic book world, and as you’ll see, he has quite a lot to say: Hulk TM & ©2008 Marvel Characters, Inc.

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2008

TIM TOWNSEND This page is from a Savage Dragon story that I inked over Erik in issue #100. I’m one of the privileged few to get to actually ink Erik on anything Dragon! I’ve always been such a huge fan of Erik and the unique, energetic approach to his art that I was completely floored when he contacted me about inking this story. I’d inked him on a couple of Spidey covers and, quite literally, had some of the most fun I’ve ever had as an inker. I know it’s P.C. to say that about artists you admire but I’m serious. I find inking Erik to be nothing but pure fun and exploration. The pencils, while

BOB MCLEOD: I think it’s important to get some basics

loose, are all there, but they give you such latitude as an inker because there is still quite a lot left

first. Where and when were you born? Are you the first

to interpret. Initially, I expected my work with Erik to fall flat since his style is so far outside of what

artist of note in your family, or do you come from an

I’m used to working with. Who could have guessed that we would gel so well together?! At least

artistic family? Was your art encouraged or discouraged

we thought so. There’s not a lot of explanation that goes along with this page. Basically, I was just

as a child?

trying to find a balance between the anal retentive, slick tendencies that my inks tend to have and

TIM TOWNSEND: I was born January 19th, 1970 in Peoria, Illinois. I was adopted at birth and my family

the high energy, shoot-from-the-hip vibrancy of Erik’s pencils. I don’t pat myself on the back very often, almost never, but I’m exceptionally proud of the work we did on this story.

moved to South Florida only days later. Since I don’t share any genetics with anyone in my family (or anyone

at an early age. More importantly though, my mother was

I’ve ever known until my new son) I can’t really claim any

always hyper-alert to any interests I showed and quick to

predispositions to latent talents. My aunt was, however, a

nurture them and allow me to explore. At age four or five

commercial artist so I was exposed to a creative environment

I was given my first comic book, a Charlton E-Man, with

WINTER 2008 • ROUGH STUFF

TIM TOWNSEND Pencils by Chris Bachalo This is the splash page from Chris’ and my first issue of the Captain America story arc we did a few years back. Chris and I were both really into the gig and the artistic juices were flowing. As I’ve mentioned in this interview, Chris has always given me tons of leeway in my interpretations of his pencils. This page, while pretty tight, still left me plenty of room to play. I was instructed to make it rainy and gloomy. With all the organics and textures to mess with, I was in Heaven. A funny side note, Cap’s wings were reduced in size in production. We thought they looked cool, but the office thought they were a little too Thor-like. In retrospect, I think they were right. Looking at this really takes me back. Oh, that chain mail... that #@$% chain mail!

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2008

a back-up “ROG 2000” story by John Byrne. You know in the movies, when you see a character encounter something life-changing, something that captures them and changes them, they usually depict it with a close-up of the person’s face as the camera swings back and up as the person looks to the heavens with this look of knowing on his face? Well... if there had been a camera trained on me that day at the 7-11 as I flipped through that Byrne story, that’s what you would have seen. I was hooked. The weird thing though, in retrospect, was that I wasn’t just hooked on comics as most kids with that inclination were, I was hooked on John Byrne’s art. Big time. I just obsessed on the stuff from that day on. So I was right there with John as he grew as an artist over the years. I know how to pick ’em. That first day, after coming home from the 7-11, I announced to my parents that I no longer wanted to be an archaeologist. I wanted to draw comic books... and I did from that point on.

TIM TOWNSEND

Pencils by Chris Bachalo This is another page from that same first issue of Captain America by Bachalo and myself. I thought this was a nice example of a page with a lot going on, a lot of textures and small figures to make sense out of. With pages like these, its very easy to take similar approaches on too many things. The end result of this is a page that just

MCLEOD: I can totally relate to that. I was hit in becomes controlled chaos. Inking 101 demands that you approach different things, different surfaces and textures, the same way by Mort Drucker’s art in Mad

with different techniques. You can take this as far as you like but it is a good idea to stay within the confines of

magazine. I wanted to be Mort Drucker. When

the inking style you’ve already established on the project. In the center panel, I decided to play up the grassy

did you actually decide to try to get work in

areas of the ground to try and make those great Cap figures pop. By creating a slightly insane, fine grassy texture

comics, and did you have any formal training?

underneath the figures, I was able to do two things. I was able to pop the figures nicely and I was able to lay in a

How important do you think a formal art educa-

good contrast between that grassy texture and the slicker, more straightforward approach to the figures. Oh, ok...

tion is to a career in comic books?

I was able to show off a little, too. Be warned, the grassy texture is not deadline friendly!

WINTER 2008 • ROUGH STUFF

TOWNSEND: I never really went through the whole

some artists were already great on their first job out of

This was a piece com-

“what am I going to do when I grow up?” thing. It’s all I

the gate. How did you get started in comics? Who gave

missioned by a friend

ever wanted. You can imagine the looks on my guidance

you your big break? Were you ready?

TIM TOWNSEND

of mine. This was one of those things I can’t believe I ever agreed to do... finishes over Brian Bolland... nothing like a little pressure?! Yikes! I don’t really

counselors’ faces. I did go to college however, because I

TOWNSEND: While I was in school I got a penciling gig

knew what a long shot breaking in to the industry would

at AC Comics from Bill Black here in Orlando. It was a

be. I wanted to have something to fall back on... although

single issue and man did it stink! It was a great eye-open-

I majored in drawing so, beyond teaching, I’m not really

er though. It made me realize how little I really knew

sure what the hell I could have fallen back on. My training

about drawing funny-books and what I was up against if I

in college was geared more toward the classical

ever wanted to make a real go at it.

approaches to drawing. I went to a school with an amaz-

Not long after this, I received a call from Dan

ing drawing program, The University of Central Florida,

Panosian. I had met Dan at a convention a year earlier

know what to say

and had a wonderful professor. He really broke us down,

and had begun a regular correspondence. I would send

about this. I tried to

like boot camp, showed us what little we really knew, and

him work and he would critique it. In retrospect, it’s really

make it look the way I

began to rebuild us with the fundamentals. He didn’t try

amazing how much time and effort Dan was willing to

thought Brian would

to rebuild us in his image as so many teachers do, he

spend on someone he really didn’t know. That really

have finished it in

showed us what it was all about and allowed us to

made a lasting impression on me in regard to dealing

pencil while still doing

extrapolate what we needed. The most important thing I

with fans to this day. Anyway, Dan was calling me to offer

a little of my own thing

learned in school though was a work ethic. We used to

me an assistant position at Extreme Studios (Rob

with it. Brian has a

go into the studio with food and sleeping bags on the

Liefeld’s branch of Image) in California. He wanted me to

beautiful softness to his ink lines while mine tend to be more slick and sharp (something I’d like to get away from at some

weekends and just camp out and draw for days. It was

assist him and Art Thibert with their inking. Wow. One

amazing. Part me wants to go back and do it again. I

thing I had never focused on, not even remotely, was ink-

think I could use some “unlearning.”

ing. I literally had no idea what inking really was. I was basically your typical fan in that regard.

MCLEOD: Wow, I wish I had had a teacher like that. I

I saw an opening though, an “in,” so I took it. I quit

ended up quitting college and art school because I

school with two months left to go for my B.F.A. degree,

couldn’t find anyone like that. I studied like mad and I

packed my car with what I could carry, sold the rest, and

point). In the end, my friend was happy and I

was lucky enough to be able to learn on

drove out to Cali’. It was, quite liter-

don’t feel like I com-

the job when I

ally, the

pletely embarrassed

started at

scariest

Marvel, but

myself.

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2008

thing

TIM TOWNSEND Amazing Spider-Man #555 cover and splash Jeff is a perfectionist and knows exactly what he wants. He’s not the guy whose pencils you want to get on an inking ego trip with. While I’m sad that Jeff has moved into having his work shot from pencils, I can see why he does it. He’s already inking it with a pencil. He’s one of a very small handful of pencilers that I think can pull this off. I’d still love to see it inked though!

WINTER 2008 • ROUGH STUFF

I’ve done in my life. I got there and basically just sank my teeth in to whatever there was to learn. Was I ready? Not even remotely. I laugh my ass off

down and focus on the minutia. It was a very frustrating time. It’s sort of like one of those lenticular images, the ones that look like mush at first glance but, after staring

when I think back at how utterly clueless I was back then.

at them, the 3-dimensional shape appears. Once you see

I can still remember having to actually learn how to “look”

it you cant “unsee” it. I was awful, really awful, the whole

at the inked art. When I first started I was still at the

time I was at Extreme. That’s not self-deprecation, it’s a

stage where I was looking past the lines and only seeing

fact. It wasn’t until I broke away and went off on my own

the whole image. I had to relearn how to break things

to Marvel that I really started to understand what it was all about. I was still awful but I was finally on the right

TIM TOWNSEND

track. I think it took getting away from my mentors and my

This was a prelim for a larger Batman/Hellboy piece I was thinking of doing. You’ll notice that

comfort zone to force me to push my limitations.

the Hellboy trading card image, also seen in these pages, fits nicely dangling from Batman’s outstretched hand. Batman was originally going to be part of the dangling Hellboy image,

MCLEOD: Tim, you’re a couple of generations removed

having Hellboy hanging from Batman’s outstretched arm. I never got around to working on the

from me, and you began doing comics at a very different

piece and ended up salvaging the Hellboy figure years later for the trading card. Save those

period in the evolution of comic art. Do you consider

yourself much of a student of the history of comic art, or do you feel it’s not very relevant to what you’re doing in the current comic books? I imagine you’re familiar with them, but have you actually studied Hal Foster, Alex Raymond, Milton Canniff, and the other early pioneers of comic art? I grew up reading newspaper strips by them, but you probably wouldn’t have seen their work until much later in your life, right? TOWNSEND: What a wonderful question. I know a good bit about the history of comic art, where we come from, who the greats are, what their work looks like, who begat whom, but I wouldn’t qualify myself as a student, at least not in comparison to many of my peers. My earliest exposures were a good amount of classic Kirby and Ditko (thanks to my mom buying me plenty of those old pocket comic reprint books), John Byrne of course, John Romita, Gil Kane, Neal Adams; that bunch. Frazetta was also an early discovery of mine. I had Frazetta posters on my wall from about age seven-on. This was all the early-to-mid ’70s. I appreciated it all as much as a five-year-old kid could but it made a dent, it stuck. As I grew older my range grew, both forwards and back. It wasn’t until my high school years, though, that I really started getting into guys like Toth, Foster, Raymond, etc. I did grow up reading the Prince Valiant strips, but because it wasn’t superhero stuff, it didn’t really hold me. Again, I was young. It probably wasn’t until only the last ten years or so that I really began to go back and look, read, and learn in earnest about the greats. I still hear old, popular stories that are new to me about the old days. I’m a big nostalgia buff as well as an art collector... which I suppose is the same thing when you get right down to it. MCLEOD: Most everybody knows, but I’m obligated to ask: who are your main influences? Which artists did you

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2008

TIM TOWNSEND Pencils by Chris Bachalo I just love the covers in which Chris integrates the title logo into the image. This is a lost art and I wish more people would do this. This was a really fun cover, simple and effective.

WINTER 2008 • ROUGH STUFF

TIM TOWNSEND

study when you first began to

I’m almost as well

try your hand at comics?

known for being a

TOWNSEND: In the early

Hellboy fanatic as I am

days, Byrne, Byrne, and more

for being an inker. I jumped at the chance to do a trading card for the Upper Deck Hellboy set. I wanted to go for a very simple

Byrne. I don’t want to creep anyone out but I’m not kidding you when I say I obsessed on John’s work. I was strung out on the stuff. I even learned how to copy his signature when I was a kid. I had this lit-

and open image and let

tle filing cabinet that I kept

the layout and colors

separate from the rest of my collection

do their thing. Rob

and under lock and key. I forged John’s

Haynes, a long time

signature on the front and kept the key

friend and art god, was

hidden... as if someone might break it

kind enough to do the

at any moment to steal my Byrne col-

honors with the colors.

lection. It could happen!

At first glance I was definitely taken aback. It was a very different approach from what I had envisioned. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it but soon found

I really did start out emulating John quite a bit. There was also Big John Buscema and that wonderful How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way book. That thing was magical for me. I used to fill up stacks of tablets of tracing paper with stuff I copied from that and other books. Half of my older collection

that I kept going back

is embossed from all the tracings I did.

to look and that some-

Funny thing that... I’m still doing it.

thing about it made me

When I penciled that comic for AC, it

want to look. I ended

was very heavily Byrne-influenced... more

up loving it. Rob could

like a caricature of what I thought his work looked like.

encouraged to draw a certain way, but drawing a certain

explain the color theo-

Yeesh. That was such bad stuff. When I finally got my foot in

way definitely got more of a reaction than others. We all

ry he used on the

the mainstream door, I basically just glommed onto whatever

wanted to please the boss. Most of my penciling at that

piece... but you’re

was in front of me. At Extreme, as with most of the Image

time was behind-the-scenes, though. I still considered

studios, there was a “house style.” I won’t say we were

myself a penciler and looked at inking as my way in.

stuck with me.

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2008

These days my influences are vast. In regard to my inking, since I started out learning inking in the early ’90s, most of my influences were the immediate hot-list guys. Dan Panosian and Art Thibert for obvious reasons, Scott Williams, Dan Green, Alex Garner, Mark Farmer, etc. Once I really got a grip on things, I began to go back in time to look at what it was I loved so much about this and that. Terry Austin, you, Frazetta, Williamson, Sienkiewicz, guys like this really began to freak me out once I realized what I was looking at. They still do! At this point in the game, I’ve sort of learned where my tendencies lie. A certain inker might blow my mind, make me want to ink like him, but I know that’s not natural for me. I pride myself on versatility. I can do brush, I can do nib, I can do marker, and most things in between, some better than others. I have to say that the guy I keep coming back to, my own personal king of kings, is Scott Williams. That guy just freaks me out. He can do it all. He’s not inking, he’s

TIM TOWNSEND

literally drawing. I attribute a good

The Hellboy sculpture was done during one of the three major hurricanes that hit Florida a few years back. We found ourselves

50% of how amazing Jim Lee’s

without power for about 3 days and I suddenly found myself in a situation where I couldn’t work. I tend to have a lot of nervous

work always looks to Scott. That’s

creative energy and needed some sort of outlet, so I gathered up some materials I had socked away the year before and set off

no slam on Jim, by the way; Jim is

on my first real sculpting experiment. I did this piece over the course of two evenings (daytime was spent clearing trees and

The Man. That’s just a testament to how amazing Scott is. I’ve seen

other debris) by candlelight, something I found to be rather pleasant. I kept thinking about the days before electricity when artists did this routinely. Not to sound overly dramatic but I actually felt “connected” as I worked. I highly recommend it!

him ink Neal Adams, Walt Simonson, Byrne, just about everyone at one time or another and, even when it may not be the optimal look

MCLEOD: I’d like to hear your thoughts on inking in

for the style of pencils on a regular basis, it’s always

general, but perhaps I should first ask about “old school”

something new and amazing. Scott keeps me hungry,

vs. “new school.” Would you agree there is such a dis-

keeps me trying. He’s my muse... but in a very

tinction, and how would you characterize each

masculine way.

approach?

In regard to illustrating, I’m all over the place.

TOWNSEND: I think the distinction between old school

Currently, I seem to be going in an odd direction. I’ve

and new school was easier to discern back before color-

really been into the whole “Tiki Culture” thing for a while

ing went crazy. More times than not, these days, it’s real-

now. I love Shag, Ragnar, Glines, etc. I’m really inspired

ly hard to even see the linework beneath the colors. I’m

by that stuff right now and doing a lot of experimenting.

not lumping all colorists into the one category, mind you.

We’ll see where it takes me.

There are some very intense and yet very effective col-

WINTER 2008 • ROUGH STUFF

TIM TOWNSEND This was yet another trading card I did for Upper Deck. I’ve always been a big Iron Fist geek thanks to John Byrne. While working on the pencils for this, I was asked by Alex Garner (one of my personal favorite inkers of all time) to ink some of the cards he was doing for this same series. I agreed to as long as he promised to ink me on this one. Alex’s inks are as close to perfection as I’ve ever seen. To top things off, I had David Self, one of the

orists out there. There’s a time and place to unload all

also always penciling, and all I did was put into my ink-

best colorists of our

your tricks and a time and a place to hold back. I think

ing all the stuff I was learning about comic art in general.

generation, color it up for me. The pencils are the lame part of this piece!

the biggest and most common coloring mistake is in

Inking and penciling often didn’t seem as distinct as they

thinking that you have to use all your tricks on every sin-

do today. The line between them was more blurred, in

gle page. I just wish more colorists would learn how to

the sense that I think inkers used to need to know more

work within the art instead of over it. The same can be

about penciling than they do today, and pencilers

said for inking. The inker and colorist are the supporting

depended on inkers to contribute more to the finished

cast for the penciler. Neither should try to draw attention

style of the art.

to itself in-and-of-itself. But I digress. Yes, there is a distinction between new school and

TOWNSEND: These days the pencils tend to be far more polished. Many times the new school inker is called

old. There are always exceptions to any rule so, to save

upon to just pretty-up the lines, add a little depth, throw a

time and space we’ll just stick to generalizations. The way

few flashy texture tricks down, and call it a day. I’m not

I see it, old school inking leans more towards embellish-

knocking this. Even this sort of approach takes skill.

ment. Old school pencilers didn’t feel the need to ink

Lord knows I’ve spent a good part of my career doing

with graphite. They got their ideas down on paper and

exactly this.

trusted their inker to finish the job. You’re one of the

I have much more fun with pencilers who trust me

kings of this, Bob. You stand out in my mind as one of

enough to hold back and let me participate in the draw-

the greatest finishers of all time. You guys added shadow,

ing a bit. Guys like Joe Madureira and especially Chris

texture, backgrounds, figures, you name it. I guess

Bachalo really let me do my thing. Not so much Joe these

without an old school penciler you can’t really be an old

days. He’s as tight as they come now. Chris Bachalo

school inker.

though, he really trusts me like no other. He gives me amazing artistic freedom and we have a huge mutual

MCLEOD: Well, thanks, Tim, I really appreciate the com-

respect and understanding of what the other is thinking

pliment. I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity

and how it will translate onto paper. Chris knows I’m not

to ink over all the great “looser” pencilers of the ’70s and

going to try and make it a Tim Townsend production. I

’80s. I learned a great deal out of necessity. But I was

know his art and how to keep it his art while still adding

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2008

to it. It’s a very intricate dance, as much mental as it is

named Serge LaPointe recently, and in my opinion what

physically on paper. I must say, when I get a really loose

he’s doing as a “new school” inker is really a different

page of breakdowns from Chris, it’s about the best com-

job in many ways from what I typically do in my inking.

pliment he could ever give me as an inker. I’ve grown a

TOWNSEND: This is a tough one because I’m so used to

lot as an artist because of him.

looking at things on an individual basis. I think an inker’s job

So, old school inking, more drawing, less technical. New school inking, more an emphasis on pretty lines, less on drawing. Again, this is just a generalization.

varies depending on who it is they’re inking. If I’m inking J. Scott Campbell, my job is going to be to keep the lines pristine, perhaps add a little depth and texture, and that’s about it. The drawing is all there and very precise in nature.

MCLEOD: But pretty apt, I’d agree. Do you consider

The basic drawing is exactly what Jeff wants and any devia-

manga another “new school”? It really seems to me that

tion from it is going to be a detriment.

there are several schools of comic art, rather than just

When I’m inking Chris Bachalo, I have the freedom to

“old” and “new.”

interpret form, create depth, mood, add, take away, you

TOWNSEND: I don’t really think of faux-manga (the only

name it. The trick with this is to know how to do all of that

real manga is in the East or with those from the culture)

without deviating from what the penciler wants in the end.

as “new school.” I think of it more as a trend, a lasting

In talking to some of my venerable peers, one thing I’ve

one. It’s more a style that we lifted off our gifted brothers

noticed is that many have a hard time understanding why

and sisters in the East. I look at faux-manga the way I

such an emphasis is placed in making each and every

look at the practice of biting off of Jim Lee or Travis

teeny tiny line perfect and why there has to be this or that

Charest. It’s a popular, valid style.

bloop or bleep that has nothing to do with real life, texture, anything. There’s a ton of “tricks” that have developed over

MCLEOD: Can you describe in more detail what all you

the years that don’t mean anything, they don’t serve a pur-

feel the inker’s job entails, in today’s comic art? I was

pose, they just are. It’s just a style thing.

looking over some pages by a talented young inker

Some old school guys are able to just sort of go with

WINTER 2008 • ROUGH STUFF

TIM TOWNSEND This was also a trading card for Upper Deck. My penciling has been moving in this simpler, more stylized direction for a while now. I’m finally getting my feet wet with coloring, something that’s always intimidated me, and I’m finding that the direction I’m taking my pencils is one that is heavily reliant on color. I’ve always had trouble

it but others either don’t have the patience or just think

freedom. As a result, things begin to homogenize and

picking a style or

it’s silly... and I certainly wouldn’t argue against it. It just

the inker finds himself viable in only a limited capacity.

direction in regards

is. Bell bottoms and parachute pants... just were... they

to my penciling. I

were silly, too.

always seem to want to draw like the last thing I looked at and loved. I’m very excited to have

MCLEOD: Exactly. I can see where pencilers who got bad inking would try to “bullet proof” their pencils by

MCLEOD: Yeah, I’m one of those latter guys. I just don’t

making them tighter. I’ve attempted that myself with vari-

have the interest in making each feathering line exact. I

ous inkers. But on the other hand, a good inker usually

admire you guys who do, it’s just not where my interest

knows more about rendering and lighting than the aver-

lies as an inker.

age penciler, because he’s spent more time studying it,

TOWNSEND: These days, with the vast majority of the

while the penciler has probably spent more time studying

“A-List pencilers,” if one were to go in and do a finishing

storytelling and composition. And a good collaboration

some sort of defini-

job, redrawing, adding shadows, etc., one would proba-

between penciler and inker produces art neither artist

tive direction at

bly find themselves out of a job very quickly. Unless that

can achieve alone.

long last.

is what the job entailed from the get-go, most pencilers

No one but us inkers knows what a thrill it is to get a

want you to stick within the confines of what’s already on

stack of penciled pages in the mail that we can have our

the page... and that is their prerogative. Most pencilers

way with. Can you describe what you first do and think

these days just put in an extraordinary amount of work...

about when you get a new inking job, and what you look

much of the time needlessly so. It’s hard to give up total

for? Where do you begin? Are you nervous? Excited?

control though, so I can empathize.

TOWNSEND: Well... here’s something you’ll probably

MCLEOD: I think it’s a shame, though. Those pencilers

of pages in the mail. Two or three times perhaps, but

get a kick out of, Bob. Rarely have I ever gotten a stack

are spending hours drawing details the inker can more

rarely. I usually get them one, two, three at a time. Most

easily handle with a pen or brush. And they’re missing

of the pencilers I’ve worked with over the years aren’t

out on the wonderful collaborations that are possible

exactly speed demons. I’m usually working right along

when the inker is allowed to contribute more of his own

with them. In their defense, the guys I’m thinking of are

sensibility. Imagine if Janson had had to closely follow

some of the best of the best. They put a lot of work and

Miller’s pencils on Daredevil.

long hours into the pages. This, coupled with the fact

TOWNSEND: This, I believe, has lead to a generation of

that 99% of my work has been at Marvel means that I’m

inkers who can’t really draw. They weren’t really required

usually inking pages as they’re being turned in. DC has

to draw from the onset and aren’t given much creative

more of a “working ahead” format than Marvel does. Also,

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2008

pages are usually shipped straight to me from the

penciler. Marvel doesn’t have that silly rule about the physical pages having to be filtered through the office before being sent to the inkers. It’s ironic, DC has all these time-saving regulations in place and yet has so many counterproductive ones alongside them. In this day of scanners and e-mail it takes minutes to scan and send a page to the office, get it approved, and ship it right to the inker. Saves days and weeks and tons of money. Anyway, back to the question. When I get pages, I usually flip though them praying for at least one easy one. It’s a wonderful feeling seeing that page that you know will only take you an hour or two. Few and far between, they are. I then sit down and assess what my workload is going to be like and, depending how I’m feeling that day, I may tackle the hardest one first or vice versa. And yes, when I see that amazing page or pages, that killer cover that you know everyone will be drooling over, I get very excited. I love that high you get when you’re about to tackle a beautiful piece of art. The only time I’ve been nervous in recent memory was when I inked some Jim Lee

ways of working, by the way. This is just how it is for me.

Superman pages. A) It’s Jim. B) Jim is a penciler who

Believe me, I’ve got major respect for guys like Danny

lets his inker participate. There’s plenty of room to screw

Miki, who are out there doing 300 books a month. I

up. C) I’m following Scott Williams. ‘Nuff said.

stand in awe. While I’m at it, can I have a loan, Danny?

Once I sit down, I usually go over the page with an eraser bag to get things nice and clean. I rule the panel

MCLEOD: You obviously have a strong inking style. Do

borders and dive in with the ink. I don’t really have a

you feel tight pencils still allow you enough room to put

strict method. I just go for it based on how I’m feeling at

your unique stamp on a job, or should the inker’s style

the moment or how well my hand is or isn’t working that

even be obvious?

day. Some days I can’t pull a clean line to save my life. I

TOWNSEND: I don’t know if this is common for many

usually stick with rougher stuff, textures and whatnot,

artists but, to this day, I really have a hard time seeing

when my hand isn’t obeying. Sometimes I work panel to

any real style in my work, something that holds true from

panel, sometimes I might do all heads, then all hands,

job to job. I’ve inked jobs completely differently than I’ve

etc. No real method, as I said.

ever inked before, only to have people tell me they knew

I know guys who do an assembly line. They’ll stack up pages and just go through them step by pre-planned

it was me a mile away. I wish I could see what you see. In answer to your question, I do think that there is a

step. Next, next, next. This is really efficient and a great

way to interact, shine, and not outshine tight pencils.

time-saver. I’ve tried it before but I find it takes me out of

Unfortunately, a lot of this, for me, is sort of an intangible.

the art. The way my mind works is completely opposite of

I’m not really sure how to verbalize it. Sometimes it boils

the assembly line mentality. I’m methodical and tend to

down to little stylistic tricks, a certain snap to the line, a

work from my gut. I like to really get in there and look at

certain way of hatching, how thick versus how thin you

what I’m working with, study it, enjoy it. Because of this I

go, textures, etc. I think the fact that a lot of this is so

am not, never have been, nor ever will be a fast inker. I’m

unconscious to me is why I have a hard time seeing my

about a page-a-day guy, and that’s it. The things it would

“style.”

take me to do in order to speed up would take everything I love out of the medium. I’m not knocking other

MCLEOD: People say the same about my style, which is

WINTER 2008 • ROUGH STUFF

TIM TOWNSEND I don’t quite know what to say about this. It started out as a drawing I did for the sole purpose of playing around with color. It was just some random, nonsensical scenario that popped into my head, a hot girl with a devious teddy bear. It got a great reaction from the people I showed it to so I did another (Bedtime Bare) which was just as silly but slightly more disturbing. I’m eventually planning on doing a series of them for some sort of publication.

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2008

also less obvious to me. I think it’s

assets you can bring to this business.

the line thicknesses and those sub-

Sometimes your inker might be a bet-

conscious stylistic tricks. To me,

ter penciler than you are.

your style comes through in the type of line you use. The thickness,

MCLEOD: Absolutely. When you

the spacing, the length, etc., all

draw, do you begin with a gesture

combine to create a certain look

sketch, or with ovals and cylinders,

that says “Tim Townsend did this.”

or an outline, or what?

You do also add a certain amount of

TOWNSEND: I usually do a quick

detail that isn’t always in the pen-

gesture. I have a certain approach

cils. Do you prefer looser pencils?

that harkens back to art school. I

Have you ever inked breakdowns?

start with one sweeping line that

TOWNSEND: Generally speaking I

captures the bent and energy of the

prefer looser pencils that I can really

figure. That one line is as close to

participate in. But... guys like Joe

pure energy as you can get in a

Madureira and Jeff Campbell, well...

drawing. Every line you add to it

there are few people I’d rather be

shaves off just a little, and a little

inking. I know how to make it fun for me. I’ve inked breakdowns many, many times. A lot of the

more. You find the points where the collar bones are, the angle, find the counterpoints and angle of the pelvis, line up the head and pivot foot (in

work I’ve done on the X-Men has been breakdowns. I

most cases), and then begin to establish shapes. Details

only recall getting credited for it once back when I was

such as eyes, hair, etc., are left for last. So many people

with Joe Mad... and I had to ask for it.

like to go for the kill right away. It’s like trying to string up the lights before you put the tree up.

MCLEOD: See, that would get to me. I don’t take credit

If I’m just doodling, I might just go for the kill right off

for the penciler’s work, and I don’t want him taking credit

the bat... it all depends on if I’m just warming up or doing

for mine. There’s also the matter of fair compensation.

a serious drawing.

Breakdowns require more work and knowledge from the inker, and should pay more than finished pencils. We

MCLEOD: I also enjoy your sculpting, which many read-

used to get $20-$25 per page extra to ink breakdowns

ers may be unaware of. Has sculpting in 3-D influenced

back when the top inking rate was only about $50. With

your 2-D art?

inflation, breakdowns should now pay about $70 or

TOWNSEND: Thank you! And yes, it has. It’s shown me

more per page extra, shouldn’t they? But that’s not the

a whole new level of “looking.” There’s no cheating in

case, to my knowledge. On tight pencils, how obligated

sculpting. In some ways, it’s far less forgiving than paper

do you feel to follow them? Where do you feel you can

but, in others, it’s almost magical. There are times that

make subtle changes?

you’ll pull back and ask yourself how the hell you did

TOWNSEND: It depends on the penciler. To be totally

that. How did I get that form just right all the way around

honest, sometimes it’s a game of old guy/new guy. I’m not

without even trying. I’m such a novice at sculpting that

going to go around changing things on Joe Mad or Jeff

it’s almost comical.

Campbell. But, if new guy X comes along, talented though

The 2-D and 3-D art feed on each other. One shows

he may be, tight as a whip though he may be, I’m going to

you how to look at the other in new ways and vice versa.

be less inclined to follow it to the letter. This is probably one

I find, at this stage, that the art tends to lead me instead

of those things that most people won’t admit to... but it’s

of the other way around. It can be very exciting and

reality. There’s also the fact that great pencils are just that,

always great fun. One of these happy accidents might

great. They probably don’t need changing. I certainly don’t

show me how I should be drawing something in 2-D.

go around changing things arbitrarily. If new guy X’s pencils

Conversely, the better my drawing ability, the better I can

need some tweaking though, I’m going have no real qualms

apply my knowledge of form to the clay. This reminds me,

about changing them. Fortunately, in my experience, guys

it’s about time I get back to that. It’s been ages!

like this usually end up being very grateful and complimentary. Keeping your ego in check is one of the most invaluable

MCLEOD: You’ve said that you were very heavily influ-

WINTER 2008 • ROUGH STUFF

freaks like me who just can’t get past the work he did back then. To feel that you are doing the best work of your career only to have your biggest fans remain in the past... well... as one of those fans, I can only humbly apologize and emphasize that it’s all love. What were we talking about? Oh yes... I actually have inked John once. I can honestly say that, without a doubt, that was the single most nervewracking experience of my professional life. It was the alternate cover to X-Men: The Hidden Years #2. The boys upstairs at Marvel wanted to see how I would handle John. I obviously jumped at the chance but later found out that it wasn’t exactly the best situation. John felt that, since Tom Palmer was the regular inker on the book, he should be the one inking the cover. I certainly wouldn’t argue against that point. Beyond that, I can certainly imagine John wanting Tom inking him over me no matter what the situation. Anyway, I didn’t find this out until I had the page sitting on my desk. I know John had nothing against me personally but it still added to my nerves knowing I was sort of crashing the party. Furthermore, the pencils on this cover were relatively loose. I was in the position of either having to do a little bit of embellishing or just tightening up the loose pencils.

enced by John Byrne’s work on X-Men. I think Byrne’s pencils haven’t changed all that much since the ’90s, but your inking has progressed to a much more sophisticated approach over the years. How would you approach inking John Byrne today? Would you keep it simple, or try to jazz it up somewhat? Have you ever inked Byrne? Would you be intimidated inking your early idol? I know I’d break into a cold sweat if I ever had to ink my idol, Mort Drucker, even though I’ve never been nervous inking anyone else. TOWNSEND: I’m of the opinion that John’s pencils have changed quite a bit over the years but, as you say, perhaps less from the ’90s until present than from the ’80s to the ’90s. I can only imagine how frustrating it must be for John to constantly come up against the nostalgia

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2008

The professional decision would have been to embellish. Laying it all out on the table, I just didn’t have the balls. I choked and took the easy way out. The end result was less than satisfying for me and, I would be willing to bet, John. If you’re reading this, John, I hope I can get a second crack at working with you someday. These days I feel more confident, less prone to intimidation, and more versatile as an artist. I think I’m much more equipped at working with someone like John Byrne or a John Romita Jr. I’m not saying I’d be the best choice, but I think I could do something, at the very least, interesting. Speaking of JRJr, man, that’s another guy I’d love to work with more. I inked him once on a Thor advertising piece. Similar result as the Byrne cover in my opinion. I’ve had a couple of chances to work with John at length at his invitation and it’s always come at the wrong time for me. I did, however, get to help out on his Eternals series which was a ton of fun! I hope to do it again soon. MCLEOD: Lastly, (A) can you describe a drawing you did solely to impress a girl in hopes of “winning her affection,” and (B) did it work? TOWNSEND: Wow... you ask the coolest questions, Bob. I do recall a portrait I did of a girl in high school. That led to a two-year relationship with the captain of the cheerleading squad and homecoming queen (same person) so I guess she liked it. The master of this used to be Dan Panosian, before he got married. Dan would go to a bar with friends and do stacks of napkin sketches, actually they were more mini-

because, to be totally honest, I freeze up when people

BOB McLEOD

illustrations than sketches, of the surrounding patrons.

are watching me work. I’m not sure why. I’m not shy and I

See more art by Tim

You wouldn’t believe the amount of play he would get

have no problem with public speaking. Put a pen in my

from this. I suppose being built and incredibly handsome

hand though, and I just go stiff. Go figure.

didn’t hurt either, but I think these sketches could have gotten Quasimodo laid. I was never really able to join in on these exercises

on the Rough Stuff pages of my web site at http://www.bob mcleod.com/rough stuff.htm

WINTER 2008 • ROUGH STUFF

EDITOR’S CORNER

ell, I find myself with an extra page this issue, so I’m grabbing it to show you one of my recent projects. Last year I wrote and illustrated my first children’s

book, and I was fortunate enough to have it published by HarperCollins. It’s an alphabet book of original superheroes called (what else?) SuperHero ABC, and it’s available in all the bookstores and on amazon.com. I had a great time doing it because it’s the first time I’ve colored my own comic art in years, and it’s the first project I’ve written. You can see a lot of the finished pages and characters on my web site, but for Rough Stuff, I thought I’d show you my pencil roughs for two of the pages. I drew them on paper, but colored them on the computer, to give them a real comic book look. I hope to do more children’s books soon.

BOB McLEOD This is one of my favorite characters from the book, Goo Girl. Some pages came to me very easily, like this one. Other pages were more difficult and required a few revisions. You can see where I indicated the colors I was planning.

BOB McLEOD This is my rough for the letter A. I originally drew it as a vertical single page, with just one flying saucer and the phrase, Astro-Man is Always in Action Above the Atmosphere. When the designer suggested doing some double page spreads, I redid it like this and wrote a new phrase to reflect all the flying saucers. 82

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2008

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ROUGH CRITIQUE By Bob McLeod artin Balcer submitted this fine Ghost sample page for my critique this issue. There are several

for punishment. His storytelling is clear with no dialogue, his panel layout is very well designed, and the backgrounds establish where this sequence unfolds, outside on a city street. His

things Martin is doing well here. His characters have a lot of personality. Ghost looks sexy and threatening, and his bad guys look wild and crazy and overdue

camera angles are varied and dramatic, and the composition is well-balanced. And I know he’s a serious contender because he sent me several sample pages, so he’s not lazy. But there are some problems here that are keeping this from being a strong sample page on a pro level.

Martin also provided the script, by Randy Strandley, so let’s take it panel by panel, although I’ll edit it a bit for brevity: Script: Panel 1. A dramatic up view of Ghost floating in midair a few feet below the top of the nearest building. Lit from below, her stark face shows just the beginnings of rage... I like this panel, but she’s not lit from below, or even shown from below. Just putting her up in the air doesn’t do it. The building is tilting away from us, and she should, too. Her legs should look closer to us than her torso. Lie down on the floor and look at someone standing above you to see how the figure should look. Her foreshortened angle should be even more extreme than I’ve shown if you want to match the building, but if you get too extreme she becomes unattractive. So the thing to do (as always) is draw a cool figure and then put in a background to match it. When you have a shape like those rounded windows, try to place it carefully to read clearly. The inside arch of yours is touching her cape, creating a tangent that flattens the depth. It’s also not attractive to attach the breast to the armpit. And there needs to be a bone inside her thigh, and her knee needs to be at the end of it, not below it. And it’s always better to pose the legs on a diagonal rather than a vertical. Also, her right arm and left thigh are a bit too hefty, and her left thumb is dislocated. And finally, why is the sky black above her cape but white below it? I’ve added gutters around the inset panels to separate the blacks in them from the black which should be in panel one. Script: Panel 2. Looking through the windshield, into the Jeep.... Both wear expressions that indicate that they can’t imagine having more fun than this. See how much art has to be covered when the text is added to this panel? You need to consider how much text is in each

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2008

panel and leave more room. So this panel really needs to be a bit taller. And unless that’s Charlie Brown in the back seat, the reference I’ve seen shows that round tire shape centered horizontally in the back window. And the human mouth just can’t do what you show on the driver. Exaggeration is good, but keep it in limits. Panel three follows the script (which I’m omitting to save space), but you don’t want to squeeze objects into the corners of the panel like you did with Ghost here. And here again the caption would obscure your car, so I lowered it. This viewpoint is dramatic, but having black in both the foreground and background flattens the depth. You need to either have more highlight on his right leg or maybe center the car between the legs.

study perspective and study how the best artists add backgrounds. You have a lot of potential, but it’s going to take some serious study to get to that next level. Good luck and thanks for offering this page for my Rough Critique. Any readers who would like me to critique their sample page should email me or mail a photocopy to Rough Critique at P.O. Box 63, Emmaus, PA 18049.

Script: Panel 4. Medium shot of Ghost, floating in air... a building behind her. To repeat basically the same background from panel one in the last two panels is a no-no. For one thing, it flattens the page by sinking into the first panel, and it also just looks boring. You surely know this, because it must have been boring for you to draw! And don’t have the edges of objects touching the panel border like your chimney does here. And once we remove the background, it makes sense to continue the building in panel one to counter the empty background here. Panels 1,4, & 5 are also all upshots, which again is repetitive. Rather than the medium shot requested in the script, a close-up in the last two panels would be more interesting, and has the added benefit of being much easier for you to draw. This is why I prefer plots to full scripts. Artists usually have a better visual sense than writers. It’s better to vary the size of the figures from panel to panel, and all of your Ghost figures are about the same size. You’ve also turned her to the right in relation to the building, so she’s not looking in the same direction. Once we move to a close-up this isn’t a problem, but we may as well keep her facing in the same direction to avoid confusing the reader. Her nose is badly drawn here and her mouth is too big. Script: Panel 5. Same angle as Panel 4, but now all we see is the building. Ghost is gone. Perhaps we see just a ghostly trace of her as she vanishes. I’m not sure why the chimney’s falling over... Her features are swimming all over her face and her jaw is too wide. You need to study the head. It’s not so evident here (Martin sent me five pages), but your figure drawing needs a lot of improvement. I think your drawing style is very entertaining, but you need to

WINTER 2008 • ROUGH STUFF

ROUGH TALK I thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated Michael Browning’s short piece

I just wanted to thank you for putting these PDFs online for down-

on the origins of Jonah Hex in Rough Stuff #5. While historically and

load. It’s so nice to have the mags in a form that takes up less

artistically informative, I was most amused by John Albano’s depiction

physical space — my studio’s running out of shelf space! And still

of Hex on page four. The character has an almost Hanna-Barbera car-

the same great quality as always. It’s fantastic! Warren Leonhardt

toon-like quality to him. I can’t help but wonder if this is how Jonah would have looked if he had been published at that time by the more kids-friendly Charlton Comics. Boy, I’m glad Carmine Infantino took a

Readers who would like to download a full-color pdf version

chance with Hex rather than cancel All-Star Western. We almost never

of TwoMorrows’ magazines can do so for just $2.95 at

had one of comics’ greatest anti-heroes!

www.twomorrows.com — ed. Jim Kingman As always, I love to see all those preliminaries, penciled pages and

I just wanted to write you and let you know how much I am enjoying

your and the artists’ comments on them. They help to understand

Rough Stuff. Aside from seeing the wonderful work by Cully

the making of and the creative process behind comics. The problem

Hamner and Steve Rude, what I really loved was looking at those

with Gil Kane is that, after the last thread on stolen artwork in [the

Gil Kane drawings. Man, if that didn’t take me back! Gil was such

Yahoo group] Comicart-L showed me that he had a role in it, he has

an outstanding artist and such a big influence in comics. His pages

disappointed me seriously as a person. I try to separate the man

always were so well composed, his figures so dynamic and they

from the work, although in cases like this one, I find it really difficult.

had such weight. He really knew how to not just tell a story but to

Anyway, I grew up enjoying his work in Spider-Man, and this is a

do so in the most dramatic fashion.

fact that I can’t change. And my admiration for his skills hasn’t

Quick story, back in the early Nineties I was out visiting a friend

changed, either. You published really interesting pencils and break-

in LA. He lived in Venice so part of the visit was taking in the

downs from him! A pity that you couldn’t show the creative process

“boardwalk” and walking along the beachfront to see the interesting

of Rude’s painted cover in color pages. I loved when he showed

sights. During the course of one such walk, we came across a guy

preliminaries like that in Nexus #50 (the one with the prestige for-

who had a sandwich board with a drawing of a wizard on it. The

mat — I’m talking from memory). [ed note — the color painting can

pose was from the mid-torso up with the subject in the middle of

be seen on Steve’s Rough Stuff page of my web site] By the way, I

casting a spell, hands in arcane gestures with a magic wand

showed in a post of my blog the thumbs of all the interior pages

clasped in one of them. White haired, with a long flowing beard and

from Spider-Man: Lifeline. You can check it here:

a pointed wizard’s hat there was no mistaking who drew it! It was a

http://ferrandelgado.blogspot.com/2007/05/preliminar-de-la-porta-

Gil Kane image. It was so large and so brightly colored there was

da-y-planificacin.html

no way you could miss the thing. It was just beautiful. Well, we walked over to the guy whose advertisment it was and that was when we got an even bigger surprise. We of course were

Great pro-to-pro interview with Steve Rude. Also, it’s really interesting to read his comments since he’s very direct, and he has no fear to say things as he feels them.

curious where he had gotten such a great drawing, how he had

About Paul Smith, it was fantastic to enjoy his penciled pages,

gotten it and if he even knew who the artist was. When we asked

especially from X-Men. The problem is that they were just a couple

him if he knew that Gil Kane had drawn it, his reply was, “Oh yeah!

of them, and it just started my hunger for more! The same goes for

That’s my dad!” Imagine that!

Keown’s work! I found his section very short since his artwork is so

Well, I just wanted to note again how much I enjoy the mag and

amazing! It begged for more samples! [I tried my best to get Dale to

how great it was to see some of those Kane pieces (especially

send more! — ed.] Shame on Ashley Wood! At least this gave you

those Spidey pages). It made me wonder how Kane’s work would

the opportunity to show your work! Although I love Sienkiewicz’s

look in the hands of today’s colorists. Would it get muddied up or

work on NM, I also enjoyed your run on the series. I enjoyed very

would they know what to do with it? Keep up the great work.

much the Rough Critique! You taught very clearly some aspects of

P.J. Mungiole 86

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2008

drawing comics that I never thought about. You made me realize

ROMITAMAN

how many aspects you have to master to do a good drawing and

ORIGINAL COMIC ART

good storytelling. Keep up your great work! Ferran Delgado Regarding Rough Stuff #6, I see on page 48-49 two full page shots of Colleen Doran’s backgrounds, but it seems like an opportunity was missed to explain a bit about how the perspective effects were achieved, particularly how fast certain buildings rapidly change to other perspectives and why it works, even if it’s not really something you see in perspective textbooks or how you yourself would pull it off. That might be a bit beyond what you get out of say, even Draw! magazine, but it seems like something you offer readily in your critiques in the magazine and figure this would be an opportunity to really distinguish what you offer. Interviews in both magazines tend to be a bit soft, and I would like to see more steering of content to teach. Scott LeMien Thanks for the suggestion, Scott, but I try to be careful not to intrude on Draw! magazine’s territory, and I really think this is their domain. I love perspective and would gladly jump into it, but I’ll leave it to them for now. I toss in little bits of advice here and

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there, but Rough Stuff isn’t really meant to be an instructional magazine. I will make an effort to get whatever instruction I can from

Hey, just a quick note to tell you how much I’m enjoying Rough

our interviewees, however, and Colleen, if you’re reading this,

Stuff. I picked up the first three issues recently, and walked away

please feel free to write in with a response if you like. — ed.

with at least one new trick from each issue. I love learning how other cartoonists work.

In the latest Rough Stuff you dropped a bomb, that Dave Cockrum did not like your inks on X-Men #94. I’m totally struck numb. That

I took advantage of TwoMorrows’ holiday sales to order all the other back issues. Keep ’em coming.

book, along with Defenders #25, burned an image in me that has lasted over 30 years. Your style was a breath of fresh air. I looked

Cheers,

for you all over, found you in the Son of Satan series. I often won-

Andrew Wahl

dered why did they not put you with George Tuska’s Iron Man. That

Journalist/writer/cartoonist

book needed a dramatic inker over Tuska’s action storytelling. Thank

Off the Wahl Productions

you very much. I will continue to support your latest venture. John Villalpando

P.S. I loved your New Mutants run. It was one of my favorite titles when I was a kid.

Thanks for those comments, John. I never did ink Tuska, and always thought I would be a good inker for him. I did ink a couple

Thanks very much, Andrew! If I’d only realized how many people

commissions over him recently, which you can see on my web site.

were enjoying the New Mutants I would have stayed with it longer!

I’m glad you liked me on X-Men #94, but I don’t blame Dave. I

— ed.

was still learning the craft of inking and wasn’t quite ready for his style of penciling. A few months later I think I was. I’m not pursuing comic book work at this time. If you really want to support my current efforts, please look over a copy of my Superhero ABC chil-

SEND YOUR ROUGH COMMENTS TO:

email: mcleod.bob@gmail.com (subject: Rough Stuff) or snail mail: Bob McLeod, Editor- Rough Stuff, P.O. Box 63 Emmaus, PA 18049

dren’s book, published by HarperCollins. And I’m glad you’re enjoying Rough Stuff! — ed. WINTER 2008 • ROUGH STUFF

HOW-TO BOOKS, MAGS & DVDs

BEST OF DRAW! VOL. 2

WORKING METHODS

COMICS 101:

COMIC CREATORS DETAIL THEIR STORYTELLING & CREATIVE PROCESSES

HOW-TO & HISTORY LESSONS FROM THE PROS

Art professor JOHN LOWE puts the minds of comic artists under the microscope, highlighting the intricacies of the creative process step-by-step. For this book, three short scripts are each interpreted in different ways by professional comic artists to illustrate the varied ways in which they “see” and “solve” the problem of making a script succeed in comic form. It documents the creative and technical choices MARK SCHULTZ, TIM LEVINS, JIM MAHFOOD, SCOTT HAMPTON, KELSEY SHANNON, CHRIS BRUNNER, SEAN MURPHY, and PAT QUINN make as they tell a story, allowing comic fans, artists, instructors, and students into a world rarely explored. Hundreds of illustrated examples document the artists’ processes, and interviews clarify their individual approaches regarding storytelling and layout choices. The exercise may be simple, but the results are profoundly complex!

TwoMorrows has tapped the combined knowledge of its editors to assemble an all-new 32-page comics primer, created just for FREE COMIC BOOK DAY! You’ll learn: “Figure Drawing” and “How To Break Down A Story” from DRAW!’s MIKE MANLEY and BRET BLEVINS, “Writing Tips” from WRITE NOW!’s DANNY FINGEROTH, plus ROUGH STUFF’s BOB McLEOD provides “Art Critiques” of promising newcomers! There’s even a “Comics History Crash-Course”, assembled by ALTER EGO’s ROY THOMAS and BACK ISSUE’s MICHAEL EURY! (32-page comic book) $2 US Diamond Order Code: FEB070050

BEST OF DRAW! VOL. 1 Compiles material from the first two sold-out issues of DRAW!—a wealth of tutorials, interviews, and demonstrations by DAVE GIBBONS (layout and drawing on the computer), BRET BLEVINS (drawing lovely women, painting from life, and creating figures that “feel”), JERRY ORDWAY (detailing his working methods), KLAUS JANSON and RICARDO VILLAGRAN (inking techniques), GENNDY TARTAKOVSKY (on animation and Samurai Jack), STEVE CONLEY (creating web comics and cartoons), PHIL HESTER and ANDE PARKS (penciling and inking), and more! Each artist presents their work STEP-BY-STEP, so both beginning and experienced artists can learn valuable tips and tricks along the way! Cover by BRET BLEVINS!

Compiles material from issues #3 and #4 of DRAW!, including tutorials by, and interviews with, ERIK LARSEN (savage penciling), DICK GIORDANO (inking techniques), BRET BLEVINS (drawing the figure in action, and figure composition), KEVIN NOWLAN (penciling and inking), MIKE MANLEY (how-to demo on Web Comics), DAVE COOPER (digital coloring tutorial), and more! Cover by KEVIN NOWLAN. (156-page trade paperback with COLOR) $22 US ISBN: 9781893905580 Diamond Order Code: APR063421

(200-page trade paperback with COLOR) $26 US ISBN: 9781893905412 Diamond Order Code: OCT043046

(176-page trade paperback with COLOR) $26 US ISBN: 9781893905733 Diamond Order Code: MAR073747

PANEL DISCUSSIONS

TOP ARTISTS DISCUSS THE DESIGN OF COMICS Art professor DURWIN TALON gets top creators to discuss all aspects of the DESIGN of comics, from panel and page layout, to use of color and lettering:

HOW TO DRAW COMICS FROM SCRIPT TO PRINT

COMICS ABOVE GROUND

SEE HOW YOUR FAVORITE ARTISTS MAKE A LIVING OUTSIDE COMICS

DVD

HOW TO CREATE COMICS FROM SCRIPT TO PRINT

COMICS ABOVE GROUND features comics pros discussing their inspirations and training, and how they apply it in “Mainstream Media,” including Conceptual Illustration, Video Game Development, Children’s Books, Novels, Design, Illustration, Fine Art, Storyboards, Animation, Movies and more! Written by DURWIN TALON (author of the top-selling book PANEL DISCUSSIONS), this book features creators sharing their perspectives and their work in comics and their “other professions,” with career overviews, never-before-seen art, and interviews! Featuring: • LOUISE SIMONSON • BRUCE TIMM • DAVE DORMAN • BERNIE WRIGHTSON • GREG RUCKA • ADAM HUGHES AND OTHERS! • JEPH LOEB

REDESIGNED and EXPANDED version of the groundbreaking WRITE NOW! #8 / DRAW! #9 crossover! DANNY FINGEROTH & MIKE MANLEY show stepby-step how to develop a new comic, from script and roughs to pencils, inks, colors, lettering—it even guides you through printing and distribution, & the finished 8-page color comic is included, so you can see their end result! PLUS: over 30 pages of ALL-NEW material, including “full” and “Marvel-style” scripts, a critique of their new character and comic from an editor’s point of view, new tips on coloring, new expanded writing lessons, and more!

(168-page trade paperback) $24 US ISBN: 9781893905313 Diamond Order Code: FEB042700

(108-page trade paperback with COLOR) $18 US ISBN: 9781893905603 Diamond Order Code: APR063422

• WILL EISNER • SCOTT HAMPTON • MIKE WIERINGO • WALT SIMONSON • MIKE MIGNOLA • MARK SCHULTZ • DAVID MAZZUCCHELLI • MIKE CARLIN • DICK GIORDANO • BRIAN STELFREEZE • CHRIS MOELLER • MARK CHIARELLO If you’re serious about creating effective, innovative comics, or just enjoying them from the creator’s perspective, this guide is must-reading!

Documents two top professionals creating a (208-page trade paperback with COLOR) $29 US comic book, from initial idea to finished art! ISBN: 9781893905146 In this feature-filled DVD, WRITE NOW! Diamond Order Code: STAR19844 Magazine Editor DANNY (Spider-Man) FINGEROTH and DRAW! Magazine Editor MIKE (Batman) MANLEY show you how a new character evolves from scratch! Watch the creative process, as a story is created from concepts and roughs to pencils, inks, and coloring—even lettering! “The closest thing you’ll find to Packed with “how-to” tips and a comic creation tutorial; an tricks, it’s the perfect companion to the WRITE NOW #8/DRAW essential reference for anyone who’s #9 CROSSOVER, or stands ever hoped to self-publish or make a alone as an invaluable tool for amateur and professional serious bid at a career in the field.” comics creators alike! (120-minute DVD) $35 US ISBN: 9781893905399 Diamond Order Code: AUG043204

ink19.com on HOW TO CREATE COMICS

BACK ISSUES DRAW! (edited by MIKE MANLEY) is the professional “HOW-TO” magazine on comics, cartooning, and animation. Each issue features in-depth INTERVIEWS and STEP-BY-STEP DEMOS from top comics pros on all aspects of graphic storytelling. NOTE: Contains nudity for purposes of figure drawing. INTENDED FOR MATURE READERS. TWO-TIME EISNER AWARD NOMINEE for Best Comics-Related Periodical.

“TwoMorrows has printed a goldmine of information for up-and-coming artists under the able tutelage of Mike Manley, and anyone serious about drawing comic books for a living should not only pick up this volume, but also seek out the other issues and subscribe to the magazine.” ComicCritique.com on BEST OF DRAW, VOL. 2

DRAW! #4

DRAW! #5

DRAW! #6

Features an interview & step-by-step demo from ERIK LARSEN, KEVIN NOWLAN on drawing and inking techniques, DAVE COOPER’s demo on coloring in Photoshop, BRET BLEVINS on Figure Composition, PAUL RIVOCHE on the Design Process, reviews of drawing papers, and more!

Interview and sketchbook by MIKE WIERINGO, BRIAN BENDIS and MIKE OEMING show how they create the series “Powers”, BRET BLEVINS shows “How to draw great hands”, “The illusion of depth in design” by PAUL RIVOCHE, must-have art books reviewed by TERRY BEATTY, plus reviews of the best art supplies, links, a color section and more! OEMING cover!

Interview, cover, and demo with BILL WRAY, STEPHEN DeSTEFANO interview and demo on cartooning and animation, BRET BLEVINS shows “How to draw the human figure in light and shadow,” a step-by-step Photo-shop tutorial by CELIA CALLE, expert inking tips by MIKE MANLEY, plus reviews of the best art supplies, links, a color section and more!

(88-page magazine with COLOR) $9 US Diamond Order Code: APR022633

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DRAW! #8

DRAW! #10

DRAW! #11

DRAW! #13

DRAW! #14

From comics to video games: an interview, cover, and demo with MATT HALEY, TOM BANCROFT & ROB CORLEY on character design, “Drawing In Adobe Illustrator” step-by-step demo by ALBERTO RUIZ, “Draping The Human Figure” by BRET BLEVINS, a new COMICS SECTION, International Spotlight on JOSÉ LOUIS AGREDA, a color section and more!

RON GARNEY interview, step-by-step demo, and cover, GRAHAM NOLAN on creating newspaper strips, TODD KLEIN and other pros discuss lettering, “Draping The Human Figure, Part Two” by BRET BLEVINS, ALBERTO RUIZ with more Adobe Illustrator tips, interview with Banana Tail creator MARK McKENNA, links, a color section and more!

STEVE RUDE demonstrates his approach to comics & drawing, ROQUE BALLESTEROS on Flash animation, political cartoonist JIM BORGMAN on his daily comic strip Zits, plus DRAW!’s regular instructors BRET BLEVINS and MIKE MANLEY on “Drawing On LIfe”, more Adobe Illustrator tips with ALBERTO RUIZ, links, a color section and more! New RUDE cover!

Step-by-step demo of painting methods by cover artist ALEX HORLEY (Heavy Metal, Vertigo, DC, Wizards of the Coast), plus interviews and demos by Banana Sundays’ COLLEEN COOVER, behind-the-scenes on Adult Swim’s MINORITEAM, regular features on drawing by BRET BLEVINS and MIKE MANLEY, links, color section and more, plus a FREE ROUGH STUFF #3 PREVIEW!

Features in-depth interviews and demos with DC Comics artist DOUG MAHNKE, OVI NEDELCU (Pigtale, WB Animation), STEVE PURCELL (Sam and Max), plus Part 3 of editor MIKE MANLEY and BRET BLEVINS’ COMIC ART BOOTCAMP on “Using Black to Power up Your Pages”, product reviews, a new MAHNKE cover, and a FREE ALTER EGO #70 PREVIEW!

(96-page magazine with COLOR) $9 US Diamond Order Code: DEC032848

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WRITE NOW! (edited by DANNY FINGEROTH), the magazine for writers of comics, animation, and sci-fi, puts you in the minds of today’s top writers and editors. Each issue features WRITING TIPS from pros on both sides of the desk, INTERVIEWS, SAMPLE SCRIPTS, REVIEWS, exclusive NUTS & BOLTS tutorials, and more!

Go online for money-saving BUNDLES, including the entire run at HALF-PRICE! “Anyone wanting to write comics (or film, or TV) isn’t likely to learn any magic secrets here (mainly because there aren’t any, except hard work) but if you can get past that childish desire, there’s a lot of information to be gleaned here.”

Steven Grant on WRITE NOW!

WRITE NOW! #1

WRITE NOW! #2

WRITE NOW! #3

Get practical advice and tips on writing from top pros on BOTH SIDES of the desk! MARK BAGLEY cover and interview, BRIAN BENDIS & STAN LEE interviews, JOE QUESADA on what editors really want, TOM DeFALCO, J.M. DeMATTEIS, and more!

ERIK LARSEN cover and interview, writers STAN BERKOWITZ (JLA cartoon), TODD ALCOTT (“ANTZ”), LEE NORDLING (Platinum Studios), ANNE D. BERNSTEIN (MTV’s “Daria”), step-by-step on scripting Spider-Girl, 10 rules for writers, and more!

BRUCE JONES on writing The Hulk, AXEL ALONSO on state-of-the-art editing, DENNY O’NEIL offers tips for comics writers, KURT BUSIEK shows how he scripts, plus JIMMY PALMIOTTI, JOEY CAVALIERI, and more! New MIKE DEODATO cover!

(88-page magazine) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: MAY022406

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WRITE NOW! #4

WRITE NOW! #5

WRITE NOW! #6

WRITE NOW! #7

WRITE NOW! #8

HOWARD CHAYKIN on writing for comics and TV, PAUL DINI on animated writing, DENNY O’NEIL offers more tips for comics writers, KURT BUSIEK shows how he scripts, plus FABIAN NICIEZA, DeFALCO & FRENZ, and more! New CHAYKIN cover!

WILL EISNER discusses his comics writing, J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI on Hollywood writing, BOB SCHRECK details his work on Batman, DENNY O’NEIL’s notes from his writing classes, FABIAN NICIEZA, PAUL DINI, and more! CASTILLO/RAMOS cover!

BRIAN BENDIS and MICHAEL AVON OEMING in-depth on making an issue of Powers, MARK WAID on writing Fantastic Four, BOB SCHRECK’s interview continues from last issue, DIANA SCHUTZ, SCOTT M. ROSENBERG, & more! OEMING cover!

JEPH LOEB and CHUCK DIXON give indepth interviews (with plenty of rare and unseen art), JOHN JACKSON MILLER discusses writing, MARK WHEATLEY on his new Image series, & more NUTS & BOLTS how-to’s on writing! TIM SALE cover!

Part One of “how-to”crossover with DRAW! #9, as DANNY FINGEROTH and MIKE MANLEY create an all-new character and ideas are proposed and modified to get a character’s look & origins! Plus interviews with DON McGREGOR & STUART MOORE!

(80-page magazine) $9 US Diamond Order Code: FEB032284

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WRITE NOW! #9

WRITE NOW! #10

WRITE NOW! #11

WRITE NOW! #13

WRITE NOW! #14

NEAL ADAMS discusses his own writing (with rare art and a NEW ADAMS COVER), GEOFF JOHNS discusses writing for comics, a feature on the secrets of PITCHING COMICS IDEAS, MICHAEL OEMING and BATTON LASH on writing, plus more NUTS & BOLTS how-to’s on writing and sample scripts!

Interviews and lessons by Justice League Unlimited’s DWAYNE McDUFFIE, interview with Hate’s PETER BAGGE conducted by JOEY CAVALIERI, comics scripter/editor GERRY CONWAY, writer/editor PAUL BENJAMIN, plus more NUTS & BOLTS how-to’s on writing and sample scripts, and a JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED cover!

STAN LEE, NEIL GAIMAN, MARK WAID, PETER DAVID, J.M. DeMATTEIS, TOM DeFALCO, DENNY O’NEIL, and 18 others reveal PROFESSIONAL WRITING SECRETS, plus DeFALCO and RON FRENZ on working together, JOHN OSTRANDER on creating characters, and an all-new SPIDER-GIRL cover by FRENZ and SAL BUSCEMA!

X-MEN 3 screenwriter SIMON KINBERG interviewed, DENNIS O’NEIL on translating BATMAN BEGINS into a novel, Central Park Media’s STEPHEN PAKULA discusses manga writing, KURT BUSIEK on breaking into comics, MIKE FRIEDRICH on writers’ agents, script samples, new RON LIM /AL MILGROM cover, and more!

BRIAN BENDIS interview, STAN LEE, TODD McFARLANE, PETER DAVID and others on writing Spider-Man, pencil art and script from MARVEL CIVIL WAR #1 by MILLAR and McNIVEN, JIM STARLIN on Captain Comet and The Weird, LEE NORDLING on Comics in Hollywood, and a new ALEX MALEEV cover!

(80-page magazine) $9 US Diamond Order Code: SEP043062

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WRITE NOW! #15

WRITE NOW! #16

WRITE NOW! #17

J.M. DeMATTEIS interview on Abadazad with MIKE PLOOG, DC’s 52 series scripting how-to by RUCKA/JOHNS/MORRISON/ WAID, KEITH GIFFEN breakdowns, pencil art by JOE BENNETT, JOHN OSTRANDER on writing, STAR TREK novelist BILL McCAY on dealing with editors, samples of scripts and art, and more, plus a FREE ROUGH STUFF #4 PREVIEW!

An in-depth interview with Spawn’s TODD McFARLANE, Nuts and Bolts script and pencil art from BRIAN BENDIS and FRANK CHO’s MIGHTY AVENGERS and from DAN SLOTT’s AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE, an interview, script and art by DOUGLAS RUSHKOFF on his acclaimed graphic novel TESTAMENT, cover by MIKE ZECK, plus a FREE DRAW #14 PREVIEW!

HEROES ISSUE featuring series creator/ writer TIM KRING, writer JEPH LOEB, and others, interviews with DC Comics’ DAN DiDIO and Marvel’s DAN BUCKLEY, PETER DAVID on writing STEPHEN KING’S DARK TOWER COMIC, MICHAEL TEITELBAUM, C.B. CEBULSKI, DOUGLAS RUSHKOFF, Nuts & Bolts script and art examples, a FREE BACK ISSUE #24 PREVIEW, and more!

(80-page magazine) $9 US Diamond Order Code: JAN074011

(80-page magazine) $9 US Diamond Order Code: MAY073903

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HOW TO CREATE COMICS HOW TO DRAW COMICS TRADE PAPERBACK FROM SCRIPT TO PRINT

DVD

REDESIGNED and EXPANDED version of the WRITE NOW! #8/DRAW! #9 crossover, showing how to develop a comic, from script to pencils, inks, colors, lettering—even printing and distribution! With 30 pages of ALL-NEW material!

See the editors of DRAW! and WRITE NOW! magazines create a new comic from script and roughs to pencils, inks, and colors—even lettering—before your eyes!

(108-page trade paperback) $18 US ISBN: 9781893905603 Diamond Order Code: APR063422

(120-minute DVD) $35 US ISBN: 9781893905399 Diamond Order Code: AUG043204

OUR NEWEST MAGAZINE! Spinning off from the pages of BACK ISSUE! magazine comes ROUGH STUFF, celebrating the ART of creating comics! Edited by famed inker BOB McLEOD, each issue spotlights NEVER-BEFORE PUBLISHED penciled pages, preliminary sketches, detailed layouts, and even unused inked versions from artists throughout comics history. Included is commentary on the art, discussing what went right and wrong with it, and background information to put it all into historical perspective. Plus, before-and-after comparisons let you see firsthand how an image changes from initial concept to published version. So don’t miss this amazing new magazine, featuring galleries of NEVER-BEFORE SEEN art, from some of your favorite series of all time, and the top pros in the industry!

ROUGH STUFF #2

ROUGH STUFF #3

ROUGH STUFF #4

Our debut issue features galleries of UNSEEN ART by a who’s who of Modern Masters including: ALAN DAVIS, GEORGE PÉREZ, BRUCE TIMM, KEVIN NOWLAN, JOSÉ LUIS GARCÍA-LÓPEZ, ARTHUR ADAMS, JOHN BYRNE, and WALTER SIMONSON, plus a KEVIN NOWLAN interview, art critiques, and a new BRUCE TIMM COVER!

The follow-up to our smash first issue features more galleries of UNSEEN ART by top industry professionals, including: BRIAN APTHORP, FRANK BRUNNER, PAUL GULACY, JERRY ORDWAY, ALEX TOTH, and MATT WAGNER, plus a PAUL GULACY interview, a look at art of the pros BEFORE they were pros, and a new GULACY “HEX” COVER!

Still more galleries of UNPUBLISHED ART by MIKE ALLRED, JOHN BUSCEMA, YANICK PAQUETTE, JOHN ROMITA JR., P. CRAIG RUSSELL, and LEE WEEKS, plus a JOHN ROMITA JR. interview, looks at the process of creating a cover (with BILL SIENKIEWICZ and JOHN ROMITA JR.), and a new ROMITA JR. COVER, plus a FREE DRAW #13 PREVIEW!

More NEVER-PUBLISHED galleries (with detailed artist commentaries) by MICHAEL KALUTA, ANDREW “Starman” ROBINSON, GENE COLAN, HOWARD CHAYKIN, and STEVE BISSETTE, plus interview and art by JOHN TOTLEBEN, a look at the Wonder Woman Day charity auction (with rare art), art critiques, before-&-after art comparisons, and a FREE WRITE NOW #15 PREVIEW!

(116-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: APR063497

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ROUGH STUFF #1

ROUGH STUFF #5

ROUGH STUFF #6

ROUGH STUFF #7

ROUGH STUFF #8

ROUGH STUFF #9

NEVER-BEFORE-PUBLISHED galleries (complete with extensive commentaries by the artists) by PAUL SMITH, GIL KANE, CULLY HAMNER, DALE KEOWN, and ASHLEY WOOD, plus a feature interview and art by STEVE RUDE, an examination of JOHN ALBANO and TONY DeZUNIGA’s work on Jonah Hex, new STEVE RUDE COVER, plus a FREE BACK ISSUE #23 PREVIEW!

Features a new interview and cover by BRIAN STELFREEZE, interview with BUTCH GUICE, extensive art galleries/commentary by IAN CHURCHILL, DAVE COCKRUM, and COLLEEN DORAN, MIKE GAGNON looks at independent comics, with art and comments by ANDREW BARR, BRANDON GRAHAM, and ASAF HANUKA! Includes a FREE ALTER EGO #73 PREVIEW!

Features an in-depth interview and cover by TIM TOWNSEND, CRAIG HAMILTON, DAN JURGENS, and HOWARD PORTER offer preliminary art and commentaries, MARIE SEVERIN career retrospective, graphic novels feature with art and comments by DAWN BROWN, TOMER HANUKA, BEN TEMPLESMITH, and LANCE TOOKS, and more!

Features an in-depth interview and cover painting by the extraordinary MIKE MAYHEW, preliminary and unpublished art by ALEX HORLEY, TONY DeZUNIGA, NICK CARDY, and RAFAEL KAYANAN (including commentary by each artist), a look at the great Belgian comic book artists, a “Rough Critique” of MIKE MURDOCK’s work, and more!

Editor and pro inker BOB McLEOD features four interviews this issue: ROB HAYNES (interviewed by fellow pro TIM TOWNSEND), JOE JUSKO, MEL RUBI, and SCOTT WILLIAMS, with a new painted cover by JUSKO, and an article by McLEOD entitled "Inkers: Who needs ’em?" along with other features, including a Rough Critique of RUDY VASQUEZ!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: MAY073902

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(100-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: NOV073966

(100-page magazine) $6.95 Ships April 2008

(100-page magazine) $6.95 Ships July 2008

SUBSCRIBE: Four issues in the US: $26 Standard, $36 First Class (Canada: $44, Elsewhere: $60 Surface, $72 Airmail).

TwoMorrows. Celebrating The Art & History Of Comics. TwoMorrows • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA • 919-449-0344 • FAX: 919-449-0327 • E-mail: twomorrow@aol.com • www.twomorrows.com

T H E U LT I M AT E C O M I C S E X P E R I E N C E !

Edited by MICHAEL EURY, BACK ISSUE magazine celebrates comic books of the 1970s, 1980s, and today through recurring (and rotating) departments such as “Pro2Pro” (a dialogue between two professionals), “Rough Stuff” (pencil art showcases of top artists), “Greatest Stories Never Told” (spotlighting unrealized comics series or stories), and more!

Go online for money-saving BUNDLES, including an ULTIMATE BUNDLE with the entire run at HALF-PRICE! “I learned something on darn near every page. It’s a terrific magazine!” Tony Isabella on BACK ISSUE!

BACK ISSUE #1

BACK ISSUE #2

BACK ISSUE #3

“PRO2PRO” interview between GEORGE PÉREZ & MARV WOLFMAN (with UNSEEN PÉREZ ART), “ROUGH STUFF” featuring JACK KIRBY’s PENCIL ART, “GREATEST STORIES NEVER TOLD” on the first JLA/AVENGERS, “BEYOND CAPES” on DC and Marvel’s TARZAN (with KUBERT and BUSCEMA ART), “OFF MY CHEST” editorial by INFANTINO, and more! PÉREZ cover!

“PRO2PRO” between ADAM HUGHES and MIKE W. BARR (with UNSEEN HUGHES ART) and MATT WAGNER and DIANA SCHUTZ, “ROUGH STUFF” HUGHES PENCIL ART, STEVE RUDE’s unseen SPACE GHOST/ HERCULOIDS team-up, Bruce Jones’ ALIEN WORLDS and TWISTED TALES, “OFF MY CHEST” by MIKE W. BARR on the DC IMPLOSION, and more! HUGHES cover!

“PRO2PRO” between KEITH GIFFEN, J.M. DeMATTEIS and KEVIN MAGUIRE on their JLA WORK, “ROUGH STUFF” PENCIL ART by ARAGONÉS, HERNANDEZ BROS., MIGNOLA, BYRNE, KIRBY, HUGHES, details on two unknown PLASTIC MAN movies, Joker’s history with O’NEIL, ADAMS, ENGLEHART, ROGERS and BOLLAND, editorial by MARK EVANIER, and more! BOLLAND cover!

(100-page magazine) $9 US Diamond Order Code: SEP032621

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BACK ISSUE #4

BACK ISSUE #5

BACK ISSUE #6

BACK ISSUE #7

BACK ISSUE #8

“PRO2PRO” between JOHN BYRNE and CHRIS CLAREMONT on their X-MEN WORK and WALT SIMONSON and JOE CASEY on Walter’s THOR, WOLVERINE PENCIL ART by BUSCEMA, LEE, COCKRUM, BYRNE, and GIL KANE, LEN WEIN’S TEEN WOLVERINE, PUNISHER’S 30TH and SECRET WARS’ 20TH ANNIVERSARIES (with UNSEEN ZECK ART), and more! BYRNE cover!

Wonder Woman TV series in-depth, LYNDA CARTER INTERVIEW, WONDER WOMAN TV ART GALLERY, Marvel’s TV Hulk, SpiderMan, Captain America, and Dr. Strange, LOU FERRIGNO INTERVIEW, super-hero cartoons you didn’t see, pencil gallery by JERRY ORDWAY, STAR TREK in comics, and ROMITA SR. editorial on Marvel’s movies! Covers by ALEX ROSS and ADAM HUGHES!

TOMB OF DRACULA revealed with GENE COLAN and MARV WOLFMAN, LEN WEIN & BERNIE WRIGHTSON on Swamp Thing’s roots, STEVE BISSETTE & RICK VEITCH on their Swamp work, pencil art by BRUNNER, PLOOG, BISSETTE, COLAN, WRIGHTSON, and SMITH, editorial by ROY THOMAS, PREZ, GODZILLA comics (with TRIMPE art), CHARLTON horror, & more! COLAN cover!

History of BRAVE AND BOLD, JIM APARO interview, tribute to BOB HANEY, FANTASTIC FOUR ROUNDTABLE with STAN LEE, MARK WAID, and others, EVANIER and MEUGNIOT on DNAgents, pencil art by ROSS, TOTH, COCKRUM, HECK, ROBBINS, NEWTON, and BYRNE, DENNY O’NEIL editorial, a tour of METROPOLIS, IL, and more! SWAN/ANDERSON cover!

DENNY O’NEIL and Justice League Unlimited voice actor PHIL LaMARR discuss GL JOHN STEWART, NEW X-MEN pencil art by NEAL ADAMS, ARTHUR ADAMS, DAVID MAZZUCCHELLI, ALAN DAVIS, JIM LEE, ADAM HUGHES, STORM’s 30-year history, animated TV’s black heroes (with TOTH art), ISABELLA and TREVOR VON EEDEN on BLACK LIGHTNING, and more! KYLE BAKER cover!

(100-page magazine) $9 US Diamond Order Code: MAR042973

(108-page magazine with COLOR) $9 US Diamond Order Code: MAY043051

(100-page magazine) $9 US Diamond Order Code: JUL043389

(100-page magazine) $9 US Diamond Order Code: SEP043044

(100-page magazine) $9 US Diamond Order Code: NOV043081

BACK ISSUE #9

BACK ISSUE #10

BACK ISSUE #11

BACK ISSUE #12

BACK ISSUE #14

MIKE BARON and STEVE RUDE on NEXUS past and present, a colossal GIL KANE pencil art gallery, a look at Marvel’s STAR WARS comics, secrets of DC’s unseen CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS SEQUEL, TIM TRUMAN on his GRIMJACK SERIES, MIKE GOLD editorial, THANOS history, TIME WARP revisited, and more! All-new STEVE RUDE COVER!

NEAL ADAMS and DENNY O’NEIL on RA’S AL GHUL’s history (with Adams art), O’Neil and MICHAEL KALUTA on THE SHADOW, MIKE GRELL on JON SABLE FREELANCE, HOWIE CHAYKIN interview, DOC SAVAGE in comics, BATMAN ART GALLERY by PAUL SMITH, SIENKIEWICZ, SIMONSON, BOLLAND, HANNIGAN, MAZZUCCHELLI, and others! New cover by ADAMS!

ROY THOMAS, KURT BUSIEK, and JOE JUSKO on CONAN (with art by JOHN BUSCEMA, BARRY WINDSOR-SMITH, NEAL ADAMS, JUSKO, and others), SERGIO ARAGONÉS and MARK EVANIER on GROO, DC’s never-published KING ARTHUR, pencil art gallery by KIRBY, PÉREZ, MOEBIUS, GARCÍA-LÓPEZ, BOLLAND, and others, and a new BUSCEMA/JUSKO Conan cover!

‘70s and ‘80s character revamps with DAVE GIBBONS, ROY THOMAS and KURT BUSIEK, TOM DeFALCO and RON FRENZ on Spider-Man’s 1980s “black” costume change, DENNY O’NEIL on Superman’s 1970 revamp, JOHN BYRNE’s aborted SHAZAM! series detailed, pencil art gallery with FRANK MILLER, LEE WEEKS, DAVID MAZZUCCHELLI, CHARLES VESS, and more!

DAVE COCKRUM and MIKE GRELL go “Pro2Pro” on the Legion, pencil art gallery by BUSCEMA, BYRNE, MILLER, STARLIN, McFARLANE, ROMITA JR., SIENKIEWICZ, looks at Hercules Unbound, Hex, Killraven, Kamandi, MARS, Planet of the Apes, art and interviews with GARCÍA-LÓPEZ, KIRBY, WILLIAMSON, and more! New MIKE GRELL/BOB McLEOD cover!

(100-page magazine) $9 US Diamond Order Code: JAN053136

(100-page magazine) $9 US Diamond Order Code: MAR053333

(108-page magazine) $9 US Diamond Order Code: MAY053174

(100-page magazine) $9 US Diamond Order Code: JUL053295

(100-page magazine) $9 US Diamond Order Code: NOV053296

BACK ISSUE #15

BACK ISSUE #16

BACK ISSUE #17

BACK ISSUE #18

BACK ISSUE #19

“Weird Heroes” of the 1970s and ‘80s! MIKE PLOOG discusses Ghost Rider, MATT WAGNER revisits The Demon, JOE KUBERT dusts off Ragman, GENE COLAN “Rough Stuff” pencil gallery, GARCÍALÓPEZ recalls Deadman, DC’s unpublished Gorilla Grodd series, PERLIN, CONWAY, and MOENCH on Werewolf by Night, and more! New ARTHUR ADAMS cover!

“Toy Stories!” Behind the Scenes of Marvel’s G.I. JOE™ and TRANSFORMERS with PAUL LEVITZ and GEORGE TUSKA, “Rough Stuff” MIKE ZECK pencil gallery, ARTHUR ADAMS on Gumby, HE-MAN, ROM, MICRONAUTS, SUPER POWERS, SUPER-HERO CARS, art by HAMA, SAL BUSCEMA, GUICE, GOLDEN, KIRBY, TRIMPE, and new ZECK sketch cover!

“Super Girls!” Supergirl retrospective with art by STELFREEZE, HAMNER, SpiderWoman, Flare, Tigra, DC’s unused Double Comics with unseen BARRETTO and INFANTINO art, WOLFMAN and JIMENEZ on Donna Troy, female comics pros, art by SEKOWSKY, OKSNER, PÉREZ, HUGHES, GIORDANO, plus a COLOR GALLERY and COVER by BRUCE TIMM!

“Big, Green Issue!” Tour of NEAL ADAMS’ studio (with interview and art gallery), DAVE GIBBONS “Rough Stuff” pencil art spotlight, interviews with MIKE GRELL (Green Arrow), PETER DAVID (Incredible Hulk), a “Pro2Pro” chat between GERRY CONWAY and JOHN ROMITA, SR. (Green Goblin), the unproduced She-Hulk movie, and more. New cover by ADAMS!

“Unsung Heroes!” DON NEWTON spotlight, GERBER and COLAN on Howard the Duck, CARLIN and FINGEROTH on Marvel’s Assistant Editors’ Month, the unrealized Unlimited Powers TV show, TONY ISABELLA’s aborted plans for The Champions, MARK GRUENWALD tribute, art by SAL BUSCEMA, JOHN BYRNE, and more! NEWTON/RUBINSTEIN cover!

(100-page magazine) $9 US Diamond Order Code: JAN063431

(100-page magazine) $9 US Diamond Order Code: MAR063547

(108-page magazine with COLOR) $9 US Diamond Order Code: MAY063499

(100-page magazine) $9 US Diamond Order Code: JUL063569

(100-page magazine) $9 US Diamond Order Code: SEP063683

BACK ISSUE #20

BACK ISSUE #21

BACK ISSUE #22

BACK ISSUE #23

BACK ISSUE #24

“Secret Identities!” Histories of characters with unusual alter egos: Firestorm, Moon Knight, the Question, and the “real-life” Human Fly! STEVE ENGLEHART and SAL BUSCEMA on Captain America, JERRY ORDWAY interview and cover, Superman roundtable with SIENKIEWICZ, NOWLAN, MOENCH, COWAN, MAGGIN, O’NEIL, MILGROM, CONWAY, ROBBINS, SWAN, plus FREE ALTER EGO #64 PREVIEW!

“The Devil You Say!” issue! A look at Daredevil in the 1980s and 1990s with interviews and art by KLAUS JANSON, JOHN ROMITA JR., and FRANK MILLER, MIKE MIGNOLA Hellboy interview, DAN MISHKIN and GARY COHN on Blue Devil, COLLEEN DORAN’s unpublished X-Men spin-off “Fallen Angels”, Son of Satan, Stig’s Inferno, DC’s Plop!, JACK KIRBY’s Devil Dinosaur, and cover by MIKE ZECK!

“Dynamic Duos!’ “Pro2Pro” interviews with Batman’s ALAN GRANT and NORM BREYFOGLE and the Legion’s PAUL LEVITZ and KEITH GIFFEN, a “Backstage Pass” to Dark Horse Comics, Robin’s history, EASTMAN and LAIRD’s Ninja Turtles, histories of duos Robin and Batgirl, Captain America and the Falcon, and Blue Beetle and Booster Gold, “Zot!” interview with SCOTT McCLOUD, and a new BREYFOGLE cover!

“Comics Go Hollywood!” Spider-Man roundtable with STAN LEE, JOHN ROMITA, SR., JIM SHOOTER, ERIK LARSEN, and others, STAR TREK comics writers’ roundtable Part 1, Gladstone’s Disney comics line, behindthe-scenes at TV’s ISIS and THE FLASH (plus an interview with Flash’s JOHN WESLEY SHIPP), TV tie-in comics, bonus 8-page color ADAM HUGHES ART GALLERY and cover, plus a FREE WRITE NOW #16 PREVIEW!

“Magic” issue! MICHAEL GOLDEN interview, GENE COLAN, PAUL SMITH, and FRANK BRUNNER on drawing Dr. Strange, Mystic Art Gallery with CARL POTTS & KEVIN NOWLAN, BILL WILLINGHAM’s Elementals, Zatanna history, Dr. Fate’s revival, a “Greatest Stories Never Told” look at Peter Pan, tribute to the late MARSHALL ROGERS, a new GOLDEN cover, plus a FREE ROUGH STUFF #6 PREVIEW!

(104-page magazine) $9 US Diamond Order Code: NOV063993

(100-page magazine) $9 US Diamond Order Code: JAN073984

(100-page magazine) $9 US Diamond Order Code: MAR073855

(108-page magazine) $9 US Diamond Order Code: MAY073880

(100-page magazine) $9 US Diamond Order Code: JUL073976

BACK ISSUE #25

BACK ISSUE #26

BACK ISSUE #27

BACK ISSUE #28

BACK ISSUE #29

“Men of Steel!’ BOB LAYTON and DAVID MICHELINIE on Iron Man, RICH BUCKLER on Deathlok, MIKE GRELL on Warlord, JOHN BYRNE on ROG 2000, Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman, Machine Man, the World’s Greatest Super-Heroes comic strip, DC’s Steel, art by KIRBY, HECK, WINDSOR-SMITH, TUSKA, LAYTON cover, and bonus “Men of Steel” art gallery! Includes a FREE DRAW! #15 PREVIEW!

“Spies and Tough Guys!’ PAUL GULACY and DOUG MOENCH in an art-packed “Pro2Pro” on Master of Kung Fu and their unrealized Shang-Chi/Nick Fury crossover, Suicide Squad spotlight, Ms. Tree, CHUCK DIXON and TIM TRUMAN’s Airboy, James Bond and Mr. T in comic books, Sgt. Rock’s oddball super-hero team-ups, Nathaniel Dusk, JOE KUBERT’s unpublished The Redeemer, and a new GULACY cover!

“Comic Book Royalty!” The ’70s/’80s careers of Aquaman and the Sub-Mariner explored, BARR and BOLLAND discuss CAMELOT 3000, comics pros tell “Why JACK KIRBY Was King,” “Dr. Doom: Monarch or Menace?” DON McGREGOR’s Black Panther; interview with ALAN WEISS; spotlights on ARION, LORD OF ATLANTIS; NIGHT FORCE; KING KONG; and more! Cover by NICK CARDY!

“Heroes Behaving Badly!” Hulk vs. Thing tirades with RON WILSON, HERB TRIMPE, and JIM SHOOTER; CARY BATES and CARMINE INFANTINO on “Trial of the Flash”; JOHN BYRNE’s heroes who cross the line; Teen Titan Terra, Kid Miracleman, Mark Shaw Manhunter, and others who went bad, featuring LAYTON, MICHELINIE, WOLFMAN, and P REZ, and more! New cover by DARWYN COOKE!

“Mutants” issue! CLAREMONT, BYRNE, SMITH, and ROMITA, JR.’s X-Men work; NOCENTI and ARTHUR ADAMS’ Longshot; McLEOD and SIENKIEWICZ’s New Mutants; the UK’s CAPTAIN BRITAIN series; the Beast’s tenure with the Avengers; the return of the original X-Men in X-Factor (and the revaltion of Nightcrawler’s “original” father), a history of DC’s mutant, Captain Comet, and more! Cover by DAVE COCKRUM!

(100-page magazine) $9 US Diamond Order Code: SEP074091

(100-page magazine) $9 US Diamond Order Code: NOV073948

(100-page magazine) $9 US Ships March 2008

(100-page magazine) $9 US Ships May 2008

(100-page magazine) $9 US Ships July 2008

UPCOMING BOOKS: MODERN MASTERS SERIES Edited by ERIC NOLEN-WEATHINGTON, these trade paperbacks are devoted to the BEST OF TODAY’S COMICS ARTISTS! Each book contains RARE AND UNSEEN ARTWORK direct from the artist’s files, plus a COMPREHENSIVE INTERVIEW (including influences and their views on graphic storytelling), DELUXE SKETCHBOOK SECTIONS, and more!

Vol. 14: FRANK CHO

Vol. 15: MARK SCHULTZ

Vol. 16: MIKE ALLRED

(120-page TPB with COLOR) $19 US ISBN: 9781893905849 Ships October 2007 Diamond Order Code: AUG074034

(128-page TPB) $19 US ISBN: 9781893905856 Ships December 2007

(120-page TPB with COLOR) $19 US ISBN: 9781893905863 Ships February 2008

MORE MODERN MASTERS VOLUMES ARE COMING IN 2008: GAIJIN STUDIOS AND JOHN ROMITA JR.! SEE OUR JANUARY CATALOG FOR DETAILS!

t o

KIRBY FIVE-OH! (JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #50) ALTER EGO: THE BEST OF THE LEGENDARY COMICS FANZINE

(10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION) In 1961, JERRY BAILS and ROY THOMAS launched ALTER EGO, the first fanzine devoted to comic books and their colorful history. This volume, first published in low distribution in 1997, collects the original 11 issues (published from 1961-78) of A/E, with the creative and artistic contributions of JACK KIRBY, STEVE DITKO, WALLY WOOD, JOHN BUSCEMA, MARIE SEVERIN, BILL EVERETT, RUSS MANNING, CURT SWAN, & others—and important, illustrated interviews with GIL KANE, BILL EVERETT, & JOE KUBERT! See where a generation first learned about the Golden Age of Comics—while the Silver Age was in full flower—with major articles on the JUSTICE SOCIETY, the MARVEL FAMILY, the MLJ HEROES, and more! Edited by ROY THOMAS & BILL SCHELLY with an introduction by the late JULIUS SCHWARTZ.

Picks up where Volume 1 left off, covering the return of the Teen Titans to the top of the sales charts! Featuring interviews with GEOFF JOHNS, MIKE MCKONE, PETER DAVID, PHIL JIMENEZ, and others, plus an in-depth section on the top-rated Cartoon Network series! Also CHUCK DIXON, MARK WAID, KARL KESEL, and JOHN BYRNE on writing the current generation of Titans! More with MARV WOLFMAN and GEORGE PÉREZ! NEAL ADAMS on redesigning Robin! Artwork by ADAMS, BYRNE, JIMENEZ, MCKONE, PÉREZ and more, with an all-new cover by MIKE MCKONE! Written by GLEN CADIGAN.

(192-page trade paperback) $26 US ISBN: 9781893905887 Ships February 2008

(224-page trade paperback) $31 US ISBN: 97801893905870 Ships March 2008

TITANS COMPANION VOLUME 2

The publication that started the TwoMorrows juggernaut presents KIRBY FIVE-OH!, a book covering the best of everything from Jack Kirby’s 50-year career in comics! The regular columnists from THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR magazine have formed a distinguished panel of experts to choose and examine: The BEST KIRBY STORY published each year from 1938-1987! The BEST COVERS from each decade! Jack’s 50 BEST UNUSED PIECES OF ART! His 50 BEST CHARACTER DESIGNS! And profiles of, and commentary by, the 50 PEOPLE MOST INFLUENCED BY KIRBY’S WORK! Plus there’s a 50-PAGE GALLERY of Kirby’s powerful RAW PENCIL ART, and a DELUXE COLOR SECTION of photos and finished art from throughout his entire halfcentury oeuvre. This TABLOID-SIZED TRADE PAPERBACK features a previously unseen Kirby Superman cover inked by “DC: The New Frontier” artist DARWYN COOKE, and an introduction by MARK EVANIER, helping make this the ultimate retrospective on the career of the “King” of comics! (A percentage of profits will be donated to the JACK KIRBY MUSEUM AND RESEARCH CENTER.) (168-page tabloid-size trade paperback) $24 US ISBN: 9781893905894 Ships January 2008

HOW-TO MAGAZINES

DRAW! is the professional “How-To” magazine on cartooning and animation, featuring in-depth interviews and step-by-step demonstrations from top comics professionals. Edited by MIKE MANLEY.

WRITE NOW! features writing tips from pros on both sides of the desk, interviews, sample scripts, reviews, exclusive Nuts & Bolts tutorials, and more! Edited by DANNY FINGEROTH.

ROUGH STUFF features never-seen pencil pages, sketches, layouts, roughs, and unused inked pages from throughout comics history, plus columns, critiques, and more! Edited by BOB MCLEOD.

DOWNLOAD DIGITAL EDITIONS OF OUR MAGS FOR $2 95! GO TO WWW.TWOMORROWS.COM FOR DETAILS!

NEW MAGS: T H E U LT I M AT E C O M I C S E X P E R I E N C E !

BACK ISSUE celebrates comic books of the 1970s, 1980s, and today through a variety of recurring (and rotating) departments, plus rare and unpublished art. Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

ALTER EGO focuses on Golden and Silver Age comics and creators with articles, interviews and unseen art, plus FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America), Mr. Monster & more. Edited by ROY THOMAS.

BACK ISSUE #23

BACK ISSUE #24

BACK ISSUE #25

BACK ISSUE #26

“Men of Steel”! BOB LAYTON and DAVID MICHELINIE on Iron Man, RICH BUCKLER on Deathlok, MIKE GRELL on Warlord, JOHN BYRNE on ROG 2000, Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman, Machine Man, the World’s Greatest Super-Heroes comic strip, DC’s Steel, art by KIRBY, HECK, WINDSOR-SMITH, TUSKA, LAYTON cover, and bonus “Men of Steel” art gallery! Includes a FREE DRAW! #15 PREVIEW!

“Spies and Tough Guys”! PAUL GULACY and DOUG MOENCH in an art-packed “Pro2Pro” on Master of Kung Fu and their unrealized Shang-Chi/Nick Fury crossover, Suicide Squad spotlight, Ms. Tree, CHUCK DIXON and TIM TRUMAN’s Airboy, James Bond and Mr. T in comic books, Sgt. Rock’s oddball super-hero team-ups, Nathaniel Dusk, JOE KUBERT’s unpublished The Redeemer, and a new GULACY cover!

(108-page magazine) $9 US Diamond Order Code: MAY073880

(100-page magazine) $9 US Diamond Order Code: JUL073976

(100-page magazine) $9 US Ships November 2007

(100-page magazine) $9 US Ships January 2008

ALTER EGO #72

ALTER EGO #73

ALTER EGO #74

ALTER EGO #75

ALTER EGO #76

SCOTT SHAW! and ROY THOMAS on the creation of Captain Carrot, art & artifacts by RICK HOBERG, STAN GOLDBERG, MIKE SEKOWSKY, JOHN COSTANZA, E. NELSON BRIDWELL, CAROL LAY, and others, interview with DICK ROCKWELL, Golden Age artist and 36-year ghost artist on MILTON CANIFF’s Steve Canyon! Plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

FRANK BRUNNER on drawing Dr. Strange, interviews with CHARLES BIRO and his daughters, ROY THOMAS’ 1971 synopsis for the origin of Man-Thing, interview with publisher ROBERT GERSON about his 1970s horror comic Reality, art by BERNIE WRIGHTSON, MICHAEL W. KALUTA, JEFF JONES, and others FCA, MR. MONSTER, a FREE DRAW! #15! PREVIEW, and more!

STAN LEE SPECIAL in honor of his 85th birthday, with a cover by JACK KIRBY, classic (and virtually unseen) interviews with Stan, tributes, and tons of rare and unseen art by KIRBY, ROMITA, the brothers BUSCEMA, DITKO, COLAN, HECK, AYERS, MANEELY, SHORES, EVERETT, BURGOS, KANE, the SEVERIN siblings—plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

FAWCETT FESTIVAL—with an ALEX ROSS cover! Double-size FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) with WALT GROGAN and P.C. HAMERLINCK on the many “Captains Marvel” over the years, unseen Shazam! proposal by ALEX ROSS, C.C. BECK on “The Death of a Legend!”, MARC SWAYZE, interview with Golden Age artist MARV LEVY, MR. MONSTER, and more!

JOE SIMON SPECIAL! In-depth SIMON interview by JIM AMASH, with neverbefore-revealed secrets behind the creation of Captain America, Fighting American, Stuntman, Adventures of The Fly, Sick magazine and more, art by JACK KIRBY, BOB POWELL, AL WILLIAMSON, JERRY GRANDENETTI, GEORGE TUSKA, and others, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

(100-page magazine) $9 US Diamond Order Code: JUL073975

(100-page magazine) $9 US Diamond Order Code: AUG074112

(100-page magazine) $9 US Ships December 2007

(100-page magazine) $9 US Ships January 2008

(100-page magazine) $9 US Ships March 2008

DRAW! #15

WRITE NOW! #17

WRITE NOW! #18

ROUGH STUFF #6

ROUGH STUFF #7

BACK TO SCHOOL ISSUE, covering major schools offering comic art as part of their curriculum, featuring faculty, student, and graduate interviews in an ultimate overview of collegiate-level comic art classes! Plus, a “how-to” demo/interview with B.P.R.D.’S GUY DAVIS, MANLEY and BRET BLEVINS’ COMIC ART BOOTCAMP series, a FREE WRITE NOW #17 PREVIEW, and more!

More celebration of STAN LEE’s 85th birthday, including rare examples of comics, TV, and movie scripts from the Stan Lee Archives, tributes by JOHN ROMITA, SR., JOE QUESADA, ROY THOMAS, DENNIS O’NEIL, JIMMY PALMIOTTI, JIM SALICRUP, TODD McFARLANE, LOUISE SIMONSON, MARK EVANIER, and others, plus art by KIRBY, DITKO, ROMITA, and more!

(80-page magazine with COLOR) $9 US Diamond Order Code: AUG074131

(80-page magazine) $9 US Diamond Order Code: AUG074138

(80-page magazine) $9 US Ships January 2008

(100-page magazine) $9 US Diamond Order Code: AUG074137

(100-page magazine) $9 US Ships January 2008

A NEW MAGAZINE COMING FEBRUARY 2008 FROM TWOMORROWS PUBLISHING: BrickJournal magazine is the ultimate resource for LEGO enthusiasts of all ages! Edited by JOE MENO, it spotlights all aspects of the LEGO Community, showcasing events, people, and models in every issue, with contributions and howto articles by top builders worldwide, new product intros, and more! Produced with assistance from the LEGO Group. Volume 1, #18 are available NOW as downloadable PDFs for only $3.95 each, and #9 is available FREE so you can try before you buy! Go to www.twomorrows.com to order. The first print issue ships February 2008—order now! 80 pages, full-color! SINGLE COPIES: $11 US Postpaid (add $2 US First Class or Canada, $7 Surface, $9 Airmail). 4-ISSUE SUBSCRIPTIONS: $32 US Postpaid by Media Mail ($42 First Class, $50 Canada, $66 Surface, $78 Airmail).

BrickJournal #1 (Volume 2) BrickJournal #1 (Volume 2) features reports on some of the top events worldwide that are held by the LEGO community, including Northwest Brickcon in the US, and events in Denmark and Germany. There's also interviews with LEGO set designers and other adult LEGO builders, including LEGO Certified Professional Nathan Sawaya! Plus there's stepby-step instructions, new set reviews, and other surprises in every issue!

TwoMorrows Publishing

DOWNLOAD A FREE DIGITAL EDITION OF VOL. 1, #9 NOW AT www.twomorrows.com

TwoMorrows Publishing • 10407 Bedfordtown Dr. • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA • 919-449-0344 FAX: 919-449-0327 • e-mail: john@twomorrowspubs.com • www.twomorrows.com

MODERN MASTERS SERIES Edited by ERIC NOLEN-WEATHINGTON, these trade paperbacks and DVDs are devoted to the BEST OF TODAY’S COMICS ARTISTS! Each book contains RARE AND UNSEEN ARTWORK direct from the artist’s files, plus a COMPREHENSIVE INTERVIEW (including influences and their views on graphic storytelling), DELUXE SKETCHBOOK SECTIONS, and more! And don’t miss our companion DVDs, showing the artist at work in their studio!

MODERN MASTERS DVDs (120-minute Std. Format DVDs) $35 US EACH

GEORGE PÉREZ

ISBN: 9781893905511 Diamond Order Code: JUN053276

MICHAEL GOLDEN ISBN: 9781893905771 Diamond Order Code: MAY073780

VOL. 1: ALAN DAVIS

V.2: GEORGE PÉREZ

V.3: BRUCE TIMM

V.4: KEVIN NOWLAN

V.5: GARCÍA-LÓPEZ

(128-page trade paperback) $19 US ISBN: 9781893905191 Diamond Order Code: STAR18345

(128-page trade paperback) $19 US ISBN: 9781893905252 Diamond Order Code: STAR20127

(120-page TPB with COLOR) $19 US ISBN: 9781893905306 Diamond Order Code: APR042954

(120-page TPB with COLOR) $19 US ISBN: 9781893905382 Diamond Order Code: SEP042971

(120-page TPB with COLOR) $19 US ISBN: 9781893905443 Diamond Order Code: APR053191

V.6: ARTHUR ADAMS

V.7: JOHN BYRNE

V.8: WALTER SIMONSON

V.9: MIKE WIERINGO

V.10: KEVIN MAGUIRE

(128-page trade paperback) $19 US ISBN: 9781893905542 Diamond Order Code: DEC053309

(128-page trade paperback) $19 US ISBN: 9781893905566 Diamond Order Code: FEB063354

(128-page trade paperback) $19 US ISBN: 9781893905641 Diamond Order Code: MAY063444

(120-page TPB with COLOR) $19 US ISBN: 9781893905658 Diamond Order Code: AUG063626

(128-page trade paperback) $19 US ISBN: 9781893905665 Diamond Order Code: OCT063722

V.11: CHARLES VESS

V.12: MICHAEL GOLDEN

V.13: JERRY ORDWAY

V.14: FRANK CHO

V.15: MARK SCHULTZ

(120-page TPB with COLOR) $19 US ISBN: 9781893905696 Diamond Order Code: DEC063948

(120-page TPB with COLOR) $19 US ISBN: 9781893905740 Diamond Order Code: APR074023

(120-page TPB with COLOR) $19 US ISBN: 9781893905795 Diamond Order Code: JUN073926

(120-page TPB with COLOR) $19 US ISBN: 9781893905849 Diamond Order Code: MAY078046

(128-page trade paperback) $19 US ISBN: 9781893905856 Ships December 2007

COMING SOON FROM TWOMORROWS!

BACK ISSUE #26

DRAW! #15

WRITE NOW! #17

ALTER EGO #74

BRICKJOURNAL #1 (V2)

The ultimate resource for LEGO enthusiasts of all ages, showcasing events, people, and models! #1 features an interview with set designer and LEGO Certified Professional NATHAN SAWAYA, plus step-by-step building instructions and techniques for all skill levels, new set reviews, on-the-scene reports from LEGO community events, and other surprises! Edited by JOE MENO.

(100-page magazine) $9 US Diamond Order Code: NOV073948

(80-page magazine with COLOR) $9 US Ships February 2008 Diamond Order Code: AUG074131

(80-page magazine) $9 US Now Shipping Diamond Order Code: AUG074138

(100-page magazine) $9 US Now Shipping Diamond Order Code: OCT073927

(80-page FULL COLOR magazine) $11 US Ships February 2008 Look for it in December’s PREVIEWS

KIRBY FIVE-OH! (JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #50)

SILVER AGE MEGO 8" SUPERSCI-FI COMPANION HEROES: WORLD’S In the Silver Age of Comics, space was the GREATEST TOYS!TM

ALL- STAR COMPANION V. 3

MODERN MASTERS VOLUME 14: FRANK CHO

The regular columnists from THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR magazine celebrate the best of everything from Jack Kirby’s 50-year career, spotlighting: The BEST KIRBY STORIES & COVERS from 19381987! Jack’s 50 BEST UNUSED PIECES OF ART! His 50 BEST CHARACTER DESIGNS! Interviews with the 50 PEOPLE MOST INFLUENCED BY KIRBY’S WORK! A 50PAGE KIRBY PENCIL ART GALLERY and DELUXE COLOR SECTION! Kirby cover inked by DARWYN COOKE, and an introduction by MARK EVANIER, making this the ultimate retrospective on the career of the “King” of comics! Edited by JOHN MORROW. (168-page tabloid-size trade paperback) $24 US ISBN: 9781893905894 Diamond Order Code: JUL078147 Ships April 2008

place, and this book summarizes, critiques and lovingly recalls the classic science-fiction series edited by JULIUS SCHWARTZ and written by GARDNER FOX and JOHN BROOME! The pages of DC’s science-fiction magazines of the 1960s, STRANGE ADVENTURES and MYSTERY IN SPACE, are opened for you, including story-bystory reviews of complete series such as ADAM STRANGE, ATOMIC KNIGHTS, SPACE MUSEUM, STAR ROVERS, STAR HAWKINS and others! Writer/editor MIKE W. BARR tells you which series crossed over with each other, behind-the-scenes secrets, and more, including writer and artist credits for every story! Features rare art by CARMINE INFANTINO, MURPHY ANDERSON, GIL KANE, SID GREENE, MIKE SEKOWSKY, and many others, plus a glorious new cover by ALAN DAVIS and PAUL NEARY! (144-page trade paperback) $24 US ISBN: 9781893905818 Diamond Order Code: JUL073885

Go to www.twomorrows.com for FULL-COLOR downloadable PDF versions of our magazines for only $2.95! Subscribers to the print edition get the digital edition FREE, weeks before it hits stores!

Lavishly illustrated with thousands of CHARTS, CHECKLISTS and COLOR PHOTOGRAPHS, it’s an obsessive examination of legendary toy company MEGO (pronounced “ME-go”), and the extraordinary line of super-hero action figures that dominated the toy industry throughout the 1970s. Featuring a chronological history of Mego, interviews with former employees and Mego vendors, fascinating discoveries never revealed elsewhere, and thorough coverage of each figure and packaging variant, this FULL-COLOR hardcover is the definitive guide to Mego. BRAD MELTZER raves, “I’ve waited thirty years for this magical, beautiful book.” And CHIP KIDD, internationally-recognized graphic designer and author of BATMAN COLLECTED, deemed it “a stunning visual experience.” Written by BENJAMIN HOLCOMB. (256-page COLOR hardcover) $54 US ISBN: 9781893905825 Diamond Order Code: JUL073884

SUBSCRIPTIONS:

More amazing secrets behind the 194051 ALL-STAR COMICS and the 1941-44 SEVEN SOLDIERS OF VICTORY—and illustrated speculation about how other Golden Age super-teams might have been assembled! Also, an issue-by-issue survey of the JLA-JSA TEAM-UPS of 1963-85, the 1970s JSA REVIVAL, and the 1980s series THE YOUNG ALL-STARS and SECRET ORIGINS, with commentary by the artists and writers! Plus rare, often unseen art by KUBERT, INFANTINO, ADAMS, ORDWAY, ANDERSON, TOTH, CARDY, GIL KANE, COLAN, SEKOWSKY, DILLIN, STATON, REINMAN, McLEOD, GRINDBERG, PAUL SMITH, RON HARRIS, MARSHALL ROGERS, WAYNE BORING, GEORGE FREEMAN, DON HECK, GEORGE TUSKA, TONY DeZUNIGA, H.G. PETER, DON SIMPSON, and many others! Compiled and edited by ROY THOMAS, with a new cover by GEORGE PÉREZ! (224-page trade paperback) $31 US ISBN: 9781893905801 Diamond Order Code: MAY078045 Surface

Airmail

JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR (4 issues)

$44

1st Class Canada $56

$64

$76

$120

BACK ISSUE! (6 issues)

$40

$54

$66

$90

$108

DRAW!, WRITE NOW!, ROUGH STUFF (4 issues)

$26

$36

$44

$60

$72

ALTER EGO (12 issues) Six-issue subs are half-price!

$78

$108

$132

$180

$216

Features an extensive, career-spanning interview lavishly illustrated with rare art from Frank’s files, plus huge sketchbook section, including unseen and unused art! By ERIC NOLEN-WEATHINGTON. (120-page TPB with COLOR) $19 US ISBN: 9781893905849 Diamond Order Code: AUG074034

MODERN MASTERS: MICHAEL GOLDEN DVD Shows the artist at work, discussing his art and career! (120-minute Std. Format DVD) $35 US ISBN: 9781893905771 Diamond Order Code: MAY073780

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