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| << May07, 2005 - [ComicBooknet E-Mag] CBEM 522.09 |
May07, 2005 - [ComicBooknet E-Mag] CBEM 522.10 >> |
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------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> What would our lives be like without music, dance, and theater? Donate or volunteer in the arts today at Network for Good! http://us.click.yahoo.com/pkgkPB/SOnJAA/Zx0JAA/bGIolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> ****** Andrew Dabb writer and Tim Seeley artist on "Forgotten Realms: The Dark Elf Trilogy from Devil's Due Publishing interviewed by Richard Vasseur/Jazma VP Andrew Dabb Richard: Can you give us a brief outline of the story? Andrew: The Dark Elf Trilogy is the story of Drizzt Do'Urden, a heroic drow elf born into a society where heroes are either killed or corrupted. The trilogy charts how Drizzt rebels against this dark underground world, with the help of his mentor Zaknafien, and ultimately finds his purpose in life--and some measure of happiness--on the surface. The story is about finding your place in the world, no matter where you might start, which is why I think it resonates so much with people. We all go through that to one extent or another. Richard: Did you enjoy doing an adaptation? Andrew: I did. The Dark Elf Trilogy, along with the early Dragonlance novels, were really my gateway to the fantasy genre. They led me to Tolkien, Eddings, Jordan and a whole universe of stories I might otherwise have missed. So, to get a chance to go back and work with these characters, even in a very limited way, is really a lot of fun. Not just because of the nostalgia factor, but because these are great stories with compelling characters, and as a writer you can't really ask for anything more. Richard: Have you had to make any changes from the books by R.A. Salvatore? Andrew: Unfortunately, when you're take a 300+ page novel and turn it into a 132 comic, some scenes are going to have to be cut or condensed. Still, we're really trying to take what I guess you might call the Peter Jackson approach. Basically what that means is that we all know certain scenes will have to be changed or lost all together, but we're really trying to approach the books with a sense of reverence. The goal is to make the transition of The Dark Elf Trilogy from one medium to another as seamless as possible. It's not always easy, but, thankfully, R.A. Salvatore has agreed to offer comments on the scripts and help us in that regard. Richard: How does writing "Forgotten Realms: The Dark Elf Trilogy" differ from "Slices"? Andrew: Wow, good question. They are totally different. First of all, the Dark Elf Trilogy is not my story. No one is buying these books looking to see Andrew Dabb's version of Drizzt Do'Urden. My goal is to maintain as much of Bob Salvatore's voice as possible in this new medium, and I take that very seriously. Thankfully, he is a great writer, so that makes my job easy. Slices (a series of fifty two dark three page shorts which ran weekly on Opi8.com back in 2000), on the other hand, was probably the single most personal comic book work I have done. It gave me a ton of experience dealing with various types of characters and situations in a very short time, and while not all of the fifty two stories I did was a classic, overall it was a great experience and one that I think really shaped me as a writer. Richard: Which genre do you prefer to write about? Andrew: To be honest, I'm more attracted to characters than genre. As long as the characters are interesting, I'm up for pretty much anything. Taking that approach has allowed me to work on a variety of projects in various genres over the last couple of years, from fantasy, to superheroes, to sci-fi, to slice of life, and that's just the way I like it. Richard: Where does your inspiration come from? Andrew: Film, books, television, conversations with friends, dreams, pretty much anywhere. It's always different, and always unexpected. Richard: What else have you been working on? Andrew: In addition to adapting the Dark Elf Trilogy, I am working on an adaptation of the Dragonlance: Chronicles trilogy for Devil's Due, Atomika a twelve issue maxi-series about a soviet superman for Speakeasy, Vaistron an off-beat sci-fi comedy for Slave Labor Graphics, the supernatural cyberpunk mini-series Megacity909 and my own fantasy epic Mu both currently available from Devil's Due as well. Richard: What would be your perfect job? Andrew: This is it. Richard: What comics would you recommend besides "Forgotten Realms: The Dark Elf Trilogy"? Andrew: You can't go wrong with anything by David Lapham, Alan Moore or Grant Morrison. But if you want to read an amazing, underrated comic, check out Matt Wagner's Grendel, it's everything that's great about comics in one book. Richard: Will you be attending any conventions? I will be at Comic-Con International in San Diego this July. Richard: How can someone contact you? Via my website, http://www.andrewdabb.com/, is best. Richard: Any last words for the fans? Andrew: Probably my biggest hope is that the fans will understand that everyone involved in this project, from the people that run Devil's Due on down, are fans of these books too. None of us are here just to phone in an adaptation, we want to make this not only true to R.A. Salvatore's vision, but do so in such a way that it's visually impressive. Something you've never seen before. And we hope that, come June, you'll take a look and let us know what you think. Tim Seeley Richard: Do you find it hard to draw Menzabberranzan? Tim: Yeah, actually, I did! It wasn't so much that it's hard to draw, as there was an intimidation to it---everyone who loves these books knows what this place looks like in their mind. I had to do it justice! I tried to just make it look really huge and majestic...familiar, but also really alien. Richard: Was it easy to bring Drizzt to life with your art? Tim: Well...I think so...or at least I hope so. He's a challenging character in that he's really this tough guy...a hard-ass a la Snake Eyes or Wolverine, but he's also this very intelligent, noble guy among an entire race of bastards. I think it helped that I got to follow him from baby to teenager to adult. Richard: Does drawing fantasy give you more freedom in your art? Tim: Oh hell yes. No one can come back and tell me that I drew a certain part of a hook horror wrong, the way they can with a Hind Helicopter, or an M-16. It allows me a lot more chances to actually "cartoon." I can exaggerate things, make things up...a lot more than I could for G.I. Joe. Richard: Do you look forward to feedback on your work? Tim: Heh...yeah, sort of. I mean, aside from the absolute terror you have right before something gets released, it's great to hear from the fans. They are the experts. Richard: What was it like working on Hack/Slash: The Final Revenge of Evil Ernie? Tim: It was a hell of a lot of fun. I'm a sucker for crossovers of any sort really. I just like mixing the chocolate and the peanut butter I guess. But this one actually made a lot of sense, and I was able to tell a story that I liked about my characters and Ernie. I really love the art too...though, it may take a little getting used to for old school Chaos! fans; it's more along the lines of the IDW style of horror comic, the Ben Templesmith look. It's gorgeous. Richard: Do you prefer drawing or writing? Tim: For entirely practical reasons, I actually like writing better...it's just faster and easier. But, drawing was my first love, so I'll always have that. I dunno...it seems like drawing never gets easier...it's always a struggle to get what's in your head onto a page, even if you technically get better at it. Richard: Do you have any other projects? Tim: I'm ever so slowly working on a one-shot for Image called Loaded Bible. It's a horror book about Jesus fighting vampires. It's being drawn by Steve Kurth, who's one of my best buds and a tremendous artist. I'm writing a cool book for Devils' Due that takes advantage of my love for crossovers, and G.I.Joe, but I'll have to wait until they drop the "official bomb" for that one. Richard: Could you see yourself in any other field of work? Tim: Yeah, I think so...I worked in Children's books before comics; I could see myself in that again. I'd love to do some film stuff someday too. Hell, if this art thing bottoms out, I've still got the three years of Burger King experience from high school too. Richard: What do you do when your not working on comics? Tim: I watch a lot of movies, read a lot of comics, go to live music shows, do a little dating here and there, and just walk around the great city of Chicago looking for cool places, people, and things. Richard: What comics do you read now? Tim: I'm kind of a Marvel guy....I love the Ultimate line, because I think those are more true to the original concepts than the main books are right now. I dig Runaways and Young Avengers too. I really like Invincible, The Walking Dead, Savage Dragon, most anything by Steve Niles and everything we put out at DDP. Richard: How can someone contact you? Tim: Email me at seeley@devilsdue.net Richard: Any last words for the fans? Just a big thanks for the support, and I hope you all dig the hell out of me and Mr. Dabb's version of R.A Salvatore's world. _________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------- [7] Thoughts From the Land of Frost Alex Ness Alexander@popthought.com http://www.Popthought.com [Alex has taught college level history and is a full time father. His interests include cats, comics and militaria. His writings have been featured on SlushFactory.com, UGO.com, and are currently on the Popthought.com web site. ] Jason Copland, Comic Artist an Interview By Alex Ness Despite his fine talent, I doubt that you have heard of the artist Jason Copland. He is a kind fellow who I met online while I was a writer at Slush Factory. When Pop Thought got started he was one of our first regular posters. He is a comic book artist who received an assignment to do the pencils for Hoarse & Buggy's WESTERN TALES OF TERROR (issue #4). My family and I met Jason and his beautiful wife Jackie during my visit out to Washington state last July. He and I are now very good friends, and I hope/think that fact will be evident in this interview. His art is found on his site www.jasoncopland.com and at his Pop Thought Gallery. Alex Ness: Mr Copland, welcome to the Land of Frost Jason Copland: Thank you, Alex. It's a pleasure to be here. AN: Please tell my readers, if you would, where do you live, what do you do, are you married? kids? cats? JC: I live in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada with my beautiful wife Jackie. I don't have any cats but we are expecting our first child in early August! AN: Other than working on art pages, which we will talk about, I promise, what do you do? JC: I work at the Vancouver Public Library as a Librarian Assistant. It's mostly a grunt job but it pays the bills. I also play hockey. I'm a goalie for a recreational hockey team called the Invaders. Sadly, we were eliminated from the play offs last week! AN: D'oh! Now, ... where were you trained in art? Or are you mostly self taught? JC: Ah..... schooling..... I have attended a few schools. I did 2 years at the Alberta College of Art in Calgary, then packed my bags and came to Vancouver to do 2 years at a local community college... then, finally went back to art school and did my last 2 years at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design here in Vancouver. AN: Wow, that is a lot of school JC: Yeah.... 6 years. And one big student loan bill at the end! AN: What goal did you have going to art schools, other than finishing? JC: Originally, I wanted to be a painter. I thought that it would be cool to be a gallery artist and make huge pieces of work. But I soon realized that I had absolutely NO colour sense. So I switched to drawing. I loved comics, but found that they didn't have a place in Art school. AN: What artists were among your favorites before going into art school and who are they now? JC: Byrne, Simonson, Miller.... most of the 80's Marvel guys. Now.... I still love those guys (minus Byrne) but I love Guy Davis, Ashley Wood, Paul Pope..... the list could go on and on.... AN: So why only comics folks? Do you have fave artists outside of comics? JC: Yeah. I love a lot of artists..... Joseph Bueys, Hans Hoffman, Cy Twombly.... the list could go on and on.... lol AN: Now this might seem the same question, but who are your strongest influences upon your work? JC: Well, I'd say I still see a big Byrne influence in my work. But, I'm really thinking about breaking out of that traditional style and start throwing down some stuff like Ash Wood and Bill Sienkiewicz.... AN: I have spoken with a few working great comics artists and each told me that working on a comic page they were very careful to avoid any works by other artists or they'd begin to use that artist's style even subconsciously. Do you have that ability (or curse) to just pick another artist's style by looking at it? JC: No, I don't think so. AN: What was your first published comic work? JC: The first comic that was available to comic stores was A. David Lewis's "Mortal Coils". I was in a mini comic before that, though. AN: This interview is set to present you and your work to the comic reading audience. What is the title of the Hoarse and Buggy book you are doing? JC: Western Tales of Terror. AN: What issue? What is the story titled? Who did you work with? JC: The story that I illustrated was written by the very talented Stuart Moore and will be available in the fourth issue of Western Tales of Terror. It's titled "Other Folks' Troubles" AN: So it is a full length comic story? JC: No, it's an 8 pager. AN: Short stories can work often better than full if the creative team works well together. Like an illustrated O. Henry story, or something. JC: Insert candy bar joke here...... AN: Mmmmm, O Henry JC: Well done! AN: OK, then, what is your favorite Canadian Candy Bar? JC: I LOVE Big Turks! Are they Canadian......? AN: I think so, but I am not Canadian and I do not eat much candy so what the hell do I know? What is the diamond previews order number for Western Tales of Terror now in April Previews? JC: Just a sec..... apr05 2945 AN: Excellent OK, so what do you think are your strengths as an illustrator? JC: Hmmmmm..... I'm very detail oriented. I think I do pretty good layouts. They tend to be easy to read. I also give the reader backgrounds in most panels! I get soooo tired of reading comics with one panel a page that has a background and the rest are empty...... I feel ripped off, as a reader. AN: What comics do you read? JC: Well, I tend to follow artists around from book to book. So those books change quite often.... but... I do read WALKING DEAD, STRANGERS IN PARADISE, EX MACHINA, CAPTAIN AMERICA..... Anything by Ash Wood and Guy Davis..... AN: Do you have a favorite all time title? JC: YES!!! Yes, I do! AN: What would it be? JC: Frank Miller's "RONIN". Nothing can beat that. Nothing. AN: Goseki Kojima + Moebius + Cyberpunk = Frank Miller JC: It's got it all. AN: Ok, so Western Tales of Terror flies off the shelves... you become a hot artist... what is your dream in comics? JC: Well, I would never assume I'm the reason those copies of WToT are flying off the shelf..... but my dream would be to do a self published comic that financed itself for the rest of it's life. AN: No work at the big two? No groupies shouting Ja-son Ja-son? JC: I think working there would have it's advantages....... AN: Money... prestige... so why not then? JC: Yeah.... but also name recognition. The name sells the book. AN: What do you have up on your website and what is its address? JC: I have some images from some projects I've worked on. Some are finished. Some are in progress. I also have a news page that I try to update when I can. The site URL is www.jasoncopland.com AN: Has the site been a big part of your entering the comics industry? Has it led to work? JC: Actually, yes, it has led to work. I was contacted by the Hoarse and Buggy people after they were directed to my site. AN: Whoa, so you'd recommend other artists to do it? JC: And getting to work with Stuart because of that was a huge step in getting my comic career going. Yes. Definitely. AN: Whatever the cost? Do you need to have computer smarts to do it? JC: You need to have a little computer smarts..... but not a lot. I'm an example of that. And it's not all that expensive. AN: Your site hosting fees under say 300 dollars American? Not trying to pry JC: Oh, yeah. I pay about $150 Canadian...... that's about $12.50 US. AN: Just trying to help other artists, very interesting. Thanks for that info JC: You're welcome AN: Now... JC: Yes.... AN: If you could draw any established character for any company, who would it be? JC: I think I'd say Daredevil. Then, I'd say Thor. Either one. It's a toss up. AN: Why? JC: I think I'd be better on Daredevil, though. I like the characters. AN: Not necessarily the visual impact of them? JC: I think it's more of the artists that I admire did work on those characters..... and I'd like a chance to add to that cycle of admiration. Did that make any sense? LOL AN: Yes just today I was in an interview with a big name and he said his greatest wish was fulfilled when he worked on the same book as his fave artist JC: That's what I'm talkin' about! I think I'd have that same feeling, too. AN: What project are you at work upon right now Jason? JC: I'm currently knee deep in an exciting espionage book with my past collaborator, A. David Lewis, called "Empty Chamber". I'm penciling and inking it and I'm having a ball! AN: Nice JC: I should have it done by Late Fall. AN: Will you be attending any conventions in 2005? I know your wife is giving birth in the summer... so will that much more important event prevent you from attending? JC: Yep. I was originally planning on going to my very first San Diego con this year, but the arrival of a baby boy has put that on the back burner. I think I'll have to wait until next year to start taking the convention rounds. AN: Supposing all of the publishers, all of the talents and all of the retailers are there, what do you do first? JC: When I walk through the door.... where do I go? AN: Yep. JC: I think I'd make a trip around the artist alley. Check out the stuff people are pimpin'. B&W books are where it's at. AN: Not ...umm ...not searching out your pal... the big, bald, beautiful bastich.....me? JC: You'd be too busy beating back the babes....... how's that for alliteration! AN: Awesome and wrong. JC: We'd be sharing a table pimpin' OUR new book! AN: Our? As in... you and me? JC: But, of course! AN: Righteous, then I'd better wrap this interview and commence to writing that bad boy. JC: :) AN: Thanks for your time and for your answers, Jason, you are a great fellow. JC: You are more than welcome, Alex. AN: And I have appreciated getting to know you. JC: As are you! AN: Thanks. Thanks for subscribing to the Comic Book Network Electronic Magazine (CBEM) --------------------------->Disclaimer<--------------------------- This is an ANNOUNCE only mailing list, only the Editor can send messages to the list. No one else has access to the subscriber list. Replies to these messages will be received by the Editor ONLY, so you must CC: individual contributors if you want them to get your E-Mail. The E-mail to the E-mag MAY be used in future issues at the Editor's discretion UNLESS you specifically request that they not be. It is our policy to withhold names and/or Addresses, by request only, from letters of comment. All contributors are required to use their real name and have a valid Email address for their columns to be published. 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| << May07, 2005 - [ComicBooknet E-Mag] CBEM 522.09 |
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