Frequently Asked Questions –
Note: Many questions are also addressed in the interviews I’ve done.
How did you get started?
I’ve always drawn a lot, and I’ve always told stories with my pictures. In high school I drew a comic strip in my high school newspaper every week for two years. I went to art school and was trying lots of different things, but I kept coming back to comics. In my senior year I had to pick a thesis project to work on for a whole semester, and I decided to do a comic book adaptation of a Brothers Grimm fairy tale (I wanted to avoid getting bogged down writing an original story, and I was reading Robert Bly and thinking about fairy tales a lot at the time). That project became my first full-length graphic novel, Bearskin.
When I finished it, I sent it around to every publisher I could think of. No one was very interested, but I learned about self-publishing, and then I sent it to the Xeric Foundation — an organization founded by Peter Laird (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), whose purpose was to distribute grants to comic self-publishers. They gave me $5000 to print and promote it myself. That was in 1998. I then decided to adapt and self-publish an ambitious full-color book, Beowulf. That started to sell pretty well, especially to teachers, and then I got written up in the Boston Globe, and Candlewick Press called me up and offered me a two-book publishing deal.
How long does it take to write and draw each book?
Most of my books take 12 – 14 months start to finish, but there are exceptions. The shortest was Merchant of Venice (9 months), The Odyssey took 20 months and The Iliad took two and a half years. I do each book in stages, starting with a month or two for writing the script and designing the characters & costumes, then rough sketches of the whole book at a rate of 3-4 pages/day, then finished line art 2-3 pages/day, then coloring 3-4 pages/day. My schedule is often interrupted for travel to schools, libraries, and trade shows. Once I deliver a book to my publisher, it takes them another whole year (or more) to get it on store shelves, because it takes that long to go through multiple rounds of copyediting / proofing / cover design, get printed overseas, advertised in various catalogs, sent to reviewers, marketed in lots of different ways, and finally distributed to retail stores where you can buy it.
Why did you choose Beowulf?
I had experimented with adaptation (with Bearskin, mentioned above), and I wanted to keep exploring the literary adaptation vein, but I wanted something more heroic and action-oriented. Beowulf is a perfect connection between ancient literature and the modern superhero genre.
Did you do everything?
I did the script adaptation and all the drawing — so basically everything except the lettering/typesetting, and writing & translating the original story.
Near the end of the second section, after Beowulf battles Grendel’s mother and is talking to Hrothgar, it looks like they are looking at the New York skyline with the Twin Towers bilowing smoke — is this a direct reference to 9/11?
I drew that panel 2 years before the towers were knocked down, so it’s not a direct reference to the events of 9/11 (and the smoke is supposed to be industrial pollution). However, the reason I chose the image of the World Trade Center to go with that speech is the same reason the terrorists wanted to destroy it: it was a peerless symbol of pride and economic power.
Do you have Beowulf T-shirts or other merchandise for sale?
I’ve found it difficult to keep up with making merch while writing and drawing new books, but I do have a Society6 store with a variety of images from my books as well as personal paintings.
Have your books been translated into any other languages?
A few. The Odyssey in Korean, King Lear and Romeo & Juliet in Turkish, and recently The Odyssey and The Iliad in Romanian. (Why those particular languages? I have no idea.)
Why doesn’t my local store have your books?
There’s not a ton I can do about this, so in part I rely on folks like you to go and ask your store to order my books. Most stores are happy to do so, and can get them quite quickly. But you also have the option to get them straight from me or from other online retailers.
Why do you switch styles all the time?
When I was in art school, all my teachers told us we had to pick a single style if we wanted to get work as freelance illustrators, but I just never could do it. And then I had one teacher who instead told me I should create my own projects and do them obsessively well in whatever style worked for that project, and I’d find a way to make money off them — and he was by far the most successful of the lot, so who would you listen to? It’s also worth noting that my job in computer games required working in different styles and formats from project to project (which was part of the reason it was a good fit for me).
How do you decide which books to adapt?
The decision involves a combination of my favorite classics, and the ones which are most taught in schools (since that is my primary market), plus whatever is most inspiring to me after I finish the previous book.
Do your books contain the full text of the original work?
No, the text is carefully abridged.
Are you going to do any original stories?
Someday, when I have written one that’s good enough 😉
Are you going to do any modern classics?
Possibly, though that can be complicated by copyright and artistic control issues. Graceling is my first foray into this area.
Will you illustrate my graphic novel script?
I am generally booked at least a year or two out, and you are competing with Shakespeare and Homer. So we’ll just say it’s a very long shot.
Do you answer your mail?
Usually, but please understand if it takes awhile or my response is brief.
What’s your advice for young folks getting into comics?
Become a well-rounded artist (and/or writer). Don’t narrow your horizons to just comics. Even now that it’s a more popular artform, it still tends to pay poorly relative to the amount of work involved, and focusing too much can limit you artistically. Once you are comfortable with yourself as an artist, then if you find yourself compelled to make comics, do it well. Read Scott McCloud’s work, dissect the books you really like, see how they do what they do. Tell a story that is meaningful to ordinary people, not just another twist on existing genre work.
Do you recommend self-publishing?
Yes, but don’t expect to get rich doing it. It’s a learning process. Start small, build up an audience, don’t sink too much of your own money gambling on the success of your book.
Who are your favorite artists?
I like lots of folks — really too many to name, but I’ll give a sample. In comics: Gene Yang, Jillian Tamaki, Jen Wang, Kazu Kibuishi, Masamune Shirow, Lorenzo Matotti, James Kochalka, Paul Grist, Bill Seincewicz, Kent Williams, Dave McKean, Paul Pope, Nicolas De Crecy, Brian Ralph, Chris Ware, Mike Mignola, etc, etc.
In Fine Art: Picasso, Ernst, Giacometti, Klimt, Dali, Archipenko, De Kooning, Hokusai, Brice Marden, Henry Moore, Jim Dine, Richard Diebenkorn,… really the list is too long, I’ve just scratched the surface.
What are your favorite graphic novels?
I keep a not-very-up-to-date list here.
Did you go to school for this? Is art school a good idea?
I have a BFA from Parsons School of Design, in NYC. I felt that the first three years were somewhat wasted (partly my fault for thinking I already knew how to draw), but they got me to the fourth year, where I relearned pretty much everything I know about art. School can be tremendously inefficient, but it’s also a very valuable experience, and without it, it’s much harder to find out what you really need to learn.
Do you sell original art from your books?
Occasionally. I also sell custom prints in the online store (any image from my books or websites), and I have open studio events once in a blue moon.
What is it like working in the game industry?
It’s a good job. Like in many other jobs, You have to sit in front of a computer all day, and usually you have to pay your dues early on by working super hard on boring stuff. But it pays pretty well and the work environment is super cool. If you really love games, you will probably really love it. But there is a lot of unpaid overtime, and especially during the “crunch” time at the end of a project it can be a living hell.
I don’t care about the living hell part. How do I get that job?
It’s a lot harder and more competitive than it was when I was starting out, but it’s still a growing industry, so there are a lot of game development jobs available out there. You just have to be very good. To be a game artist, you need very strong traditional skills and/or you need to be able to build and texture objects or characters using a 3D modeling program like 3DSMAX or MAYA. To be a designer, you need to be able to build and texture game levels in a popular game editor (Half-Life, Unreal, NWN, etc.) and you should have good writing skills and the ability to analyze the mechanics of a game and what really makes it fun or not. To be a programmer, obviously you must be able to crank out solid code (I think a lot of places still use C++, but I’m not sure). Most companies also have departments for QA (testing), marketing, accounting, and desktop/network support, and that can be a good way to get in the door.
What games did you work on and what was your role?
I worked for over 10 years in the game industry, creating a wide variety of 2D and 3D art for environments, characters, conceptual design, modeling, animation, and art direction. Shipped titles include:
– Ratatouille (Helixe Games, 2007, Nintendo DS) – Environments
– The Incredibles 2 (Helixe Games, 2005, Nintendo DS) – Environments
– The Incredibles (Helixe Games, 2004, GBA) – Environments
– Tak and the Power of Juju (Helixe Games, 2003, GBA) – Environments
– Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide (Floodgate, 2003, PC) – Character Portraits
– Star Wars: New Droid Army (Helixe Games, 2002, GBA) – Environments
– The Lost (Irrational Games, Unreleased, Playstation 2) – Concept art, character modeling
– System Shock II (Irrational Games, 1999, PC) – Lead Artist, Concept art, character modeling
– Sinistar Unleashed (GameFX, 1999, PC) – Concept art, space station modeling
– TERRA NOVA: Strike Force Centauri (LookingGlass, 1996, PC) – modeling, manual illustration
– FLIGHT Unlimited (LookingGlass Technologies, 1995, PC) – manual illustration, interface, trophies, instructional diagrams, art management