Charles Vess is a master of artwork involving fantasy. Since his early comic book work in the 1970s he has established himself as a master of fairies, pixies and all wonder stuff.
For his new work, The Book of Ballads, he has transcended all his previous work and created something that pays homage to the ballads of old and also created something new and fantastical. He originally self published all these works in comic book form and had the stories written by his favorite writers such as Neil Gaiman, Jeff Smith, Sharyn McCrumb, Jane Yolen, Charles de Lint, Emma Bull and many more.
Check out the official site for Charles Vess
Daniel Robert Epstein: How are you doing today?
Charles Vess: Just working and surviving the gloomy weather.
DRE: Where are you?
CV: In southwest Virginia down near Tennessee.
DRE: What are you working on today?
CV: Working on a Fables graphic novel set in the world of the Arabian Nights.
DRE: Fables for Bill Willingham?
CV: Yes hes writing all the stories. Its going to be an original graphic novel that Vertigo will be putting out next fall. Its short stories modeled after Sandman: Endless Nights so it will be hardcover and get lots of promotion.
DRE: Are you a fan of Fables?
CV: Ive known Bill for many years, Im a fan of the series and hes been trying to get me involved in some manner since it started.
DRE: What is your story about?
CV: Mine is the framing story and its Snow White coming to the court of the Sultan. Snow White is taking over the role of Scheherazade in 1001 Arabian Nights. She is threatened with having her head cut off so she is telling stories until he gets over it.
DRE: Is the story becoming Vessian just by you drawing it or did Bill tailor it just for you?
CV: Just by me drawing it. Ive never drawn the world of Arabian Nights before, so its fun. It has lots of costuming and exotic scenes.
DRE: It seems like most of the stories in The Book of Ballads were done in the 90s with some done later on.
CV: I started them in 1993 and finished them last year so its been 11 years.
DRE: What made you want to adapt these ballads?
CV: Well Ive been listening to the ballads by British folk rock bands like Fairport Convention since about 1970. But it wasnt until I asked a friend of mine, Charles de Lint, to write me a script and he had adapted a ballad that the lightbulb above my head went on and I realized I could do more of them.
DRE: What was going on in 1993 that you felt the need to challenge yourself with the ballads?
CV: When I came up with the idea of doing the ballads I knew it would be an incredibly project to sell to any publisher. They would look at me like I was stark raving mad and say that no one would ever buy it. But when I published the first issue I sold 24,000 copies. Thats quite good. I got Neil Gaiman to write a story and his name helped sell it so it sold better than a lot of full color superhero books.
DRE: I didnt realize until I had finished the book that originally you had self published these stories.
CV: Yes I did four issues from 1995 to 97. I still had a number of scripts to be drawn but things were going on in my life to the point where I couldnt keep self publishing so I put it aside and kept working on it when I had time. Then I eventually sold it as a collection to Tor Books.
DRE: How did the stories get selected?
CV: First I selected the writers. I made a list of writers I wanted to work with and that I thought would be interested in the subject matter. I sent them a letter and asked them to pick whatever their favorite ballad was. Then if they left the plot the same they could add any subtext, change the time period and do whatever they wanted to. It worked out pretty well.
DRE: Had you worked with all the writers before?
CV: Some of them I knew, some I had worked with and some of them I only knew through their reputation. I sent those I didnt know a letter cold. I picked out a dozen writers and sent out the prospectus on a Monday then by Saturday I had heard from the first writer, Jane Yolen. She called up and asked if anyone had taken King Henry, I said no and she said Good because Im halfway through the script. About two hours later she finished the script and sent it to me. So I had my first script within a week.
DRE: Obviously you picked this story as a challenge for yourself so did you find any story difficult to draw?
CV: The most difficult one was one by Pam Lin which is a really theatrical and visual story. Ive listened to the song many times but when I finally got down to it I only had five days before my publishing deadline to get the story done.
The script that was written by Elaine Lee and it could have been its own 64 page graphic novel so I transformed her script into a play script with illustrations. It upset her to no end in the beginning but she likes it now.
The other one that was difficult is called The Three Brothers and was written by Lee Smith who is a pretty well known southern writer. She had a book called The Last Girls which was on the New York Times bestseller list. Even though she had never written any comics before, she wrote the script and it was so over the top and melodramatic that I just couldnt see drawing it. I had it in my drawer for seven years and every time I read it I would see it as Victorian melodrama with Snidely Whiplash twirling his moustache. Then it occurred to me that I should draw it that way. So I did it as if you were in a theatre watching the play happen. I added this clown character to say where the settings were. The story is an uber tragedy of a young man picking the wrong woman to marry then everyone kills each other in the end. It was kind of a fun to make it into a lighthearted story with very tragic underpinnings.
DRE: I know that when one self publishes making the book black and white helps to make it affordable. Did you ever think of adding color when Tor agreed to publish the hardcover?
CV: I really liked the black and white look and they just wanted to be that way. The project has been very personal all along without the influence of any marketing decisions. There is a lot of violence, sexuality, eroticism and all sorts of things that a regular publisher would ask to tone down.
DRE: When you work for the big publishers do you often get asked to tone stuff down?
CV: Not a lot but sometimes. I did a Spider-Man graphic novel a few years back [Spider-Man: Spirits of The Earth]. I asked if the people could be drinking in a pub in Scotland and also if Peter and Mary Jane could be shown in bed together because they were married at the time. But its their corporate symbol so you have to be careful about what you do with them. I knew that I wouldnt do the book if they said no to either one of those.
DRE: You know that some of things that you do best are these lyrical and fantastical stories that have plants in them.
CV: Im not very good at Robert E. Howard Conan the Barbarian stories where they walk around bashing peoples heads in nor am I really that good at superhero type stories because usually they involve the question of who has the biggest fist. Thats not the way I approach life.
DRE: When did you first discover that fantasy was your thing?
CV: Probably when I saw Jason and the Argonauts at a downtown movie house in Lynchburg Virginia in the early 60s. Ive always been drawn to the fantastic and especially more of the outdoors. I really hate drawing buildings. I can do it but I hate it.
DRE: Ive talked to a number of guys like yourself like P. Craig Russell and I asked them, why they stay in comics. Often they say because theyve been doing this for so long thats where they get paid the most money. Is there a lot commercial work for you?
CV: Im doing most of my work outside of comics right now.
DRE: What is it you do?
CV: I do a lot of childrens picture books. Im about to do one with Neil [Gaiman] called The Blueberry Girl for HarperCollins. Im doing a signed and limited edition of George Martins A Storm of Swords. I do a lot of work with Charles de Lint in the small press area. Thats all Ive been doing and that is why its odd to do be doing this graphic novel now but its gotten quite a good critical response.
DRE: Also by coincidence I talked to Michael Zulli this morning and I asked him how many different ways hes worked with Neil Gaiman. He says that since theyve been working together for so long that theyve worked every which way. Is that the same with you?
CV: Yeah, you get comfortable with someone after a while, well not too comfortable, but enough to know how things work. Its not too warring egos trying to be the best person. It becomes a third entity that makes a book or comic become different than what it would have become if it had been done solely by one of the people.
DRE: Have you ever worked with stories that werent that good but had something in them that you could make wonderful with your art?
CV: Sometimes and other times it just drags you down and makes you beat your head against a wall. That was more often in the early days when I was at Marvel, some of which is ok and some of it isnt.
DRE: I read a lot of your short bios like in the back of The Book of Ballads and the first thing that is mentioned is the World Fantasy Award you and Neil Gaiman won for the "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in Sandman. Is that what you are most proud of?
CV: A lot of people pick up on that one. Im very proud of the two World Fantasy Awards Ive won and the Eisner award as well. It is just really good to be recognized by that group of people. But the first World Fantasy Award win for Sandman was a unique thing. I dont really talk about it much anymore but it seems to be in every single bio Ive ever read. Its just one of those things people can remember.
DRE: When did you and Jeff Smith first meet?
CV: He sent me the first 30 issues of Bone as they were published and we got to be really good friends. My wife and I would go visit him and he would take me walking through the actual Old Mans Cave in Ohio. We were walking through it one day and I asked him what happened to Grandma Ben before the Bone showed up. He actually made up the whole story and told it to me. So I said Gosh Jeff if you dont want to draw it, I will. Thats how that came together.
DRE: A few years ago I was lucky enough to visit Barry Windsor Smiths house in New York and I was expecting to see giant suits of armor and pointed walls. But it was just a house with a studio. Whats your house like?
CV: I have a house and a studio 20 minutes away in Abington. In my house I have hardly any of my own work up. I have a Gustav Klimt lithograph. Someone just gave me an Arthur Rackham pen and ink drawing. I have a beautiful print of a collaboration between Geof Darrow and Moebius. At the studio I have a lot of my work up in one of the four rooms. Most of the work up is by Robert Crumb and European artists. I have an original Walt Kelly and all sorts of stuff like that.
DRE: Had you ever heard of SuicideGirls?
CV: I have through Neil Gaiman. I visited the site and I like looking at all the beautiful women.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
For his new work, The Book of Ballads, he has transcended all his previous work and created something that pays homage to the ballads of old and also created something new and fantastical. He originally self published all these works in comic book form and had the stories written by his favorite writers such as Neil Gaiman, Jeff Smith, Sharyn McCrumb, Jane Yolen, Charles de Lint, Emma Bull and many more.
Check out the official site for Charles Vess
Daniel Robert Epstein: How are you doing today?
Charles Vess: Just working and surviving the gloomy weather.
DRE: Where are you?
CV: In southwest Virginia down near Tennessee.
DRE: What are you working on today?
CV: Working on a Fables graphic novel set in the world of the Arabian Nights.
DRE: Fables for Bill Willingham?
CV: Yes hes writing all the stories. Its going to be an original graphic novel that Vertigo will be putting out next fall. Its short stories modeled after Sandman: Endless Nights so it will be hardcover and get lots of promotion.
DRE: Are you a fan of Fables?
CV: Ive known Bill for many years, Im a fan of the series and hes been trying to get me involved in some manner since it started.
DRE: What is your story about?
CV: Mine is the framing story and its Snow White coming to the court of the Sultan. Snow White is taking over the role of Scheherazade in 1001 Arabian Nights. She is threatened with having her head cut off so she is telling stories until he gets over it.
DRE: Is the story becoming Vessian just by you drawing it or did Bill tailor it just for you?
CV: Just by me drawing it. Ive never drawn the world of Arabian Nights before, so its fun. It has lots of costuming and exotic scenes.
DRE: It seems like most of the stories in The Book of Ballads were done in the 90s with some done later on.
CV: I started them in 1993 and finished them last year so its been 11 years.
DRE: What made you want to adapt these ballads?
CV: Well Ive been listening to the ballads by British folk rock bands like Fairport Convention since about 1970. But it wasnt until I asked a friend of mine, Charles de Lint, to write me a script and he had adapted a ballad that the lightbulb above my head went on and I realized I could do more of them.
DRE: What was going on in 1993 that you felt the need to challenge yourself with the ballads?
CV: When I came up with the idea of doing the ballads I knew it would be an incredibly project to sell to any publisher. They would look at me like I was stark raving mad and say that no one would ever buy it. But when I published the first issue I sold 24,000 copies. Thats quite good. I got Neil Gaiman to write a story and his name helped sell it so it sold better than a lot of full color superhero books.
DRE: I didnt realize until I had finished the book that originally you had self published these stories.
CV: Yes I did four issues from 1995 to 97. I still had a number of scripts to be drawn but things were going on in my life to the point where I couldnt keep self publishing so I put it aside and kept working on it when I had time. Then I eventually sold it as a collection to Tor Books.
DRE: How did the stories get selected?
CV: First I selected the writers. I made a list of writers I wanted to work with and that I thought would be interested in the subject matter. I sent them a letter and asked them to pick whatever their favorite ballad was. Then if they left the plot the same they could add any subtext, change the time period and do whatever they wanted to. It worked out pretty well.
DRE: Had you worked with all the writers before?
CV: Some of them I knew, some I had worked with and some of them I only knew through their reputation. I sent those I didnt know a letter cold. I picked out a dozen writers and sent out the prospectus on a Monday then by Saturday I had heard from the first writer, Jane Yolen. She called up and asked if anyone had taken King Henry, I said no and she said Good because Im halfway through the script. About two hours later she finished the script and sent it to me. So I had my first script within a week.
DRE: Obviously you picked this story as a challenge for yourself so did you find any story difficult to draw?
CV: The most difficult one was one by Pam Lin which is a really theatrical and visual story. Ive listened to the song many times but when I finally got down to it I only had five days before my publishing deadline to get the story done.
The script that was written by Elaine Lee and it could have been its own 64 page graphic novel so I transformed her script into a play script with illustrations. It upset her to no end in the beginning but she likes it now.
The other one that was difficult is called The Three Brothers and was written by Lee Smith who is a pretty well known southern writer. She had a book called The Last Girls which was on the New York Times bestseller list. Even though she had never written any comics before, she wrote the script and it was so over the top and melodramatic that I just couldnt see drawing it. I had it in my drawer for seven years and every time I read it I would see it as Victorian melodrama with Snidely Whiplash twirling his moustache. Then it occurred to me that I should draw it that way. So I did it as if you were in a theatre watching the play happen. I added this clown character to say where the settings were. The story is an uber tragedy of a young man picking the wrong woman to marry then everyone kills each other in the end. It was kind of a fun to make it into a lighthearted story with very tragic underpinnings.
DRE: I know that when one self publishes making the book black and white helps to make it affordable. Did you ever think of adding color when Tor agreed to publish the hardcover?
CV: I really liked the black and white look and they just wanted to be that way. The project has been very personal all along without the influence of any marketing decisions. There is a lot of violence, sexuality, eroticism and all sorts of things that a regular publisher would ask to tone down.
DRE: When you work for the big publishers do you often get asked to tone stuff down?
CV: Not a lot but sometimes. I did a Spider-Man graphic novel a few years back [Spider-Man: Spirits of The Earth]. I asked if the people could be drinking in a pub in Scotland and also if Peter and Mary Jane could be shown in bed together because they were married at the time. But its their corporate symbol so you have to be careful about what you do with them. I knew that I wouldnt do the book if they said no to either one of those.
DRE: You know that some of things that you do best are these lyrical and fantastical stories that have plants in them.
CV: Im not very good at Robert E. Howard Conan the Barbarian stories where they walk around bashing peoples heads in nor am I really that good at superhero type stories because usually they involve the question of who has the biggest fist. Thats not the way I approach life.
DRE: When did you first discover that fantasy was your thing?
CV: Probably when I saw Jason and the Argonauts at a downtown movie house in Lynchburg Virginia in the early 60s. Ive always been drawn to the fantastic and especially more of the outdoors. I really hate drawing buildings. I can do it but I hate it.
DRE: Ive talked to a number of guys like yourself like P. Craig Russell and I asked them, why they stay in comics. Often they say because theyve been doing this for so long thats where they get paid the most money. Is there a lot commercial work for you?
CV: Im doing most of my work outside of comics right now.
DRE: What is it you do?
CV: I do a lot of childrens picture books. Im about to do one with Neil [Gaiman] called The Blueberry Girl for HarperCollins. Im doing a signed and limited edition of George Martins A Storm of Swords. I do a lot of work with Charles de Lint in the small press area. Thats all Ive been doing and that is why its odd to do be doing this graphic novel now but its gotten quite a good critical response.
DRE: Also by coincidence I talked to Michael Zulli this morning and I asked him how many different ways hes worked with Neil Gaiman. He says that since theyve been working together for so long that theyve worked every which way. Is that the same with you?
CV: Yeah, you get comfortable with someone after a while, well not too comfortable, but enough to know how things work. Its not too warring egos trying to be the best person. It becomes a third entity that makes a book or comic become different than what it would have become if it had been done solely by one of the people.
DRE: Have you ever worked with stories that werent that good but had something in them that you could make wonderful with your art?
CV: Sometimes and other times it just drags you down and makes you beat your head against a wall. That was more often in the early days when I was at Marvel, some of which is ok and some of it isnt.
DRE: I read a lot of your short bios like in the back of The Book of Ballads and the first thing that is mentioned is the World Fantasy Award you and Neil Gaiman won for the "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in Sandman. Is that what you are most proud of?
CV: A lot of people pick up on that one. Im very proud of the two World Fantasy Awards Ive won and the Eisner award as well. It is just really good to be recognized by that group of people. But the first World Fantasy Award win for Sandman was a unique thing. I dont really talk about it much anymore but it seems to be in every single bio Ive ever read. Its just one of those things people can remember.
DRE: When did you and Jeff Smith first meet?
CV: He sent me the first 30 issues of Bone as they were published and we got to be really good friends. My wife and I would go visit him and he would take me walking through the actual Old Mans Cave in Ohio. We were walking through it one day and I asked him what happened to Grandma Ben before the Bone showed up. He actually made up the whole story and told it to me. So I said Gosh Jeff if you dont want to draw it, I will. Thats how that came together.
DRE: A few years ago I was lucky enough to visit Barry Windsor Smiths house in New York and I was expecting to see giant suits of armor and pointed walls. But it was just a house with a studio. Whats your house like?
CV: I have a house and a studio 20 minutes away in Abington. In my house I have hardly any of my own work up. I have a Gustav Klimt lithograph. Someone just gave me an Arthur Rackham pen and ink drawing. I have a beautiful print of a collaboration between Geof Darrow and Moebius. At the studio I have a lot of my work up in one of the four rooms. Most of the work up is by Robert Crumb and European artists. I have an original Walt Kelly and all sorts of stuff like that.
DRE: Had you ever heard of SuicideGirls?
CV: I have through Neil Gaiman. I visited the site and I like looking at all the beautiful women.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 6 of 6 COMMENTS
"There's a lovely interview with Charles Vess over at Suicide Girls: http://suicidegirls.com/words/Charles+Vess/ (and having gone over there to read that, I wound up reading the Woody Allen interview and the Darren Aronofsky). Sucide Girls really has the best assemblage of cool interviews with people that's out there."
Which is preeeeeeeeecisely why I pay for the membership fee here. It's really cute to see these guys referencing each other across the net.