Interviews Conducted by Robert J. Beck

How did you become a comic book artist?

I always tell people becoming a comic artist is the easiest
and hardest job to get: all you have to do is be able to
consistently draw 3-5 pages of sequential art.
That's it. If you show up and prove to editors that you can do that weekly and well, you will get work.
Because comic book pages are incredibly difficult to draw, especially these days, when fans expect every panel to have a background and every inch needs to be covered in ink, artists who can consistently deliver professional work are in high demand.

How did your work on the Heroes comics come about?

Oh, very easily actually. The Heroes stories are particularly complicated, with the need to reference the key actors and even the new characters are base don SOMEONE so the regular artist fell a bit behind, and the Heroes guys went out to find someone to help out a bit. And that was me!

How does this compare to normal comic book work? Are there any differences?

Oh, so much of printed comic book work is so digital that at this point, the way you put together work for the digital realm and print is distinct only in terms of pixel size and other specifications. And as they are trying to replicate the feel of a comic, the differences are negligible.

Were you familiar with the show before your work on the comics?

Not as much as I would have liked to have been. Watched the first season mostly and enjoyed it. Unfortunately, my job is very demanding and I don't have much time for TV. I usually listen to audiobooks.

Have you had to draw characters to look like actors before? Is this a hard thing to do?

Oh yes. I've been working on what's called licensed projects my whole career, from Disney to Star Trek. It provides a different kind of challenge.

You recently worked on X-Men Noir, was it easy for you to draw in a more Noir-ish style?

It's neither easier nor more difficult. Just two different approaches to different kinds of stories. That keeps things funa nd interesting.

Along with being a comic book artist you have done work for Roleplaying games, how did you get into this field of work?

Same basic principle. Took my portfolio of work to a convention, in this case it was Gen Con, the foremost RPG convention in the country, and talked to anyone who would listen about doing work for them. It wav very enjoyable, but unfortunately the industry was collapsing at the time and pay rates weren;t great. I had a dream that i wanted to become a major D&D artist, having loved the game as a child. But alas, it was not to be.

Are you working on anything at the moment that you can talk about?

Well of course, Fred Van Lente and I are working on Xmen Noir: Mark of Cain, a follow up to our series from this past year, which is very very cool!!