Few artists have reached the rarified position that Jim Lee finds himself in these day. He has become one of the best and most well known comic book artists in the field. Since he sold his company Wildstorm to DC Comics Lee has stepped away from the business side of things and done some amazing work on DCs most iconic characters. He drew the Batman: Hush storyline with writer Jeph Loeb, Superman: For Tomorrow written by Brian Azzarello and now hes illustrating All Star Batman and Robin for Frank Miller.
I got a chance to talk with Lee about the DVD of the animated cartoon WildCATS. It collects the cartoon series based on Jim Lees comic book creation. The DVD features all the episodes of the show and a new 25 minute interview with Lee.
Buy the DVD of WildCATS - The Complete Series
Daniel Robert Epstein: Hi Jim, its so formal when I called your office. I thought your executive days were over.
Jim Lee: No, I still do that but I deal mostly on the creative stuff these days. I was on the phone; one call was a movie deal thing that was going on. The other was an artist over in Italy I need to take care of because theyre nine hours ahead and I dont want to keep him up.
DRE: You piqued my interest already. Whats the movie deal?
JL: I cant tell you. Its an interesting one though. An actor expressed interest in something and its a pretty well known actor. So it seems pretty good if they follow through on their interest.
DRE: Why has it taken so long for the WildCATS cartoon to come out on DVD?
JL: I actually am not completely clear on that. The cartoon itself was done back in 1994. Then Funimation either purchased the company or the library, Im not sure. I think there just wasnt a market for DVDs until recently, that whole market exploded so theyre putting everything on DVD.
Its great for me because all I had were these really old, decomposing VHS copies of the episodes. Now its all on DVD for me.
DRE: Both you and Eric Larsen [Savage Dragon] had cartoons of your initial Image creations. I know Eric wasnt happy with his show, whats your opinion on the WildCATS cartoon?
JL: I actually am pretty happy with the cartoon. I think maybe Eric expected it to be a very direct interpretation of his comic book. Essentially the cartoons were geared for six to eight year old kids. If you read the comic book WildCATS youll find that 90 percent of it you cant really put on TV. That said the cartoon is a hokier version of the comic book and I enjoyed it. I was involved in producing it. I went over animation storyboards, one of the producers wanted me to go do the voice casting. So it was a fun learning experience. We used that knowledge when we produced the Gen 13 direct to video which is closer to what the content is in the comic books. It didnt pull in the ratings it needed to, but at the same time I watch it with the same fondness I have when I watch old episodes of Speed Racer and Jonny Quest.
DRE: It must have been cool seeing characters that you created running around on TV.
JL: Oh, absolutely. Its not an opportunity that a lot of creators get. Even though it didnt end up being this gigantic commercial success it still was a fun, interesting and challenging experience. The budget they had for the cartoon was nothing like the Batman animated series so you can see what you get for the dollars you spend. For what the budget was I was pretty happy with it.
DRE: How did that experience change the way you handled things?
JL: After that experience we said we wanted more control over this, so we ended up financing the Gen 13 movie ourselves. We sunk in 1.6 million dollars to produce that.
Also with the cartoon even though I was involved in the aspects Ive mentioned, its a far cry from working on it day to day. Theres no way I can review every storyboard and every framed piece of animation. You just do your best in the time you have to give some people some input and response. Besides Im most concerned about what happens to the comic books. If someone goes and makes a big budget movie its not my 60 or 80 or 100 million dollars that theyre spending to produce it. So its up to them and if they end up making a crappy movie hopefully it doesnt hurt or damage what Im doing in the pages of a comic book. Generally it doesnt. So I look at them as two very different things. Im not producing a comic book in the hopes of someone making a terrific movie based on it. If it happens then its a fun experience whether its successful or not. Thats the only sane type of approach I can make with this. Even with putting up the budget money myself and making the big decision.
DRE: Theres an interview with Raymond Chandler where he was asked So what do you think about what Hollywoods done to your books? He said What are you talking about? My books are right there on the shelf behind you.
JL: Exactly. With Alan Moore its the same thing. Hes written all these great graphic novels and comic book series. Im pretty sure he hated every movie adaptation thats ever been made.
DRE: If he sees them, yeah.
The book youre doing now is All Star Batman and Robin with Frank Miller. So whats a Frank Miller script look like?
JL: Franks scripts are a breeze to work from. Ive worked with a number of high profile writers and with Frank being an artist himself, he gives you everything you need. Its to the point and very descriptive so it reads a lot like the actual printed comic book. He writes in fairly terse, clipped sentences. Hes a student of the history of comics so he knows the stuff inside and out. Hes dropping references to [Dick] Sprang and [Carmine] Infantino. I know that stuff but not as intimately as he does. Its great to actually go back in time and find these treasures then dust it off and reinterpret it for a new audience.
DRE: Im sure if Frank wanted to do a Little Lulu story you would have wanted to do it, but did you also want to do a Robin Year One type story?
JL: To be honest I would have done Little Lulu with Frank. There was a time where he wasnt doing a lot of work for DC and he had his own characters. I wanted to work with him because hes one of my heroes creatively but to work on Batman on top of that is kickass.
DRE: How much back and forth was there between you?
JL: He usually responds right after I email him the page. But the back and forth really has happened whenever were in town at the same time. We went to a con together and basically hung out for four nights in a row. We would go out and talk about the upcoming issue and the issues after that. I think he was writing the script as we were talking because phrases we talked about showed up on the printed scripts. One of the first discussions we had about All Star Batman and Robin and before he even committed to being part of the project he was in Austin filming Sin City. They just produced a rough cut so he invited me down check it out at [Robert] Rodriguezs film studio down there. So that was really a cool thing but during the day he did that stuff but at the night wed hook up and have dinner and go out and just talk comics. Talk Batman, talk characters weve liked and how we would visualize Gotham City and Batman. Thats when he said I really want to do something kind of different. I dont want to just retread the same ground. Ive got this take on Robin Ive been meaning to do. Thats how this project really came to be. It wasnt originally going to be a Robin project. Now its Batman through the eyes of Robin so its very cool.
DRE: What did you think of Robin beforehand?
JL: He was in there a little bit with Hush. I think if I were a younger fan Id probably be a little less interested. But having been in the business now since about 1987, theres a certain nostalgia you have for sidekicks and younger characters that you almost dont have when youre 15, 16 or 17 because they might be too close to your age. It might be even nerdier, if thats possible, to identify with them because youre trying to escape from identifying yourself with young kid characters. For a time its kind of uncool to be into the sidekicks of characters. Its cooler to aspire to be Batman. But now Ive got kids of my own so its a way of looking at Batman through the eyes of a 12 year old kid. Its an interesting filter to put on.
DRE: Is it in any way autobiographical in a sense that you are Robin looking at Frank as Batman?
JL: I would definitely have to say, from Franks point of view, that yes theres some of that in there. The dialogue between the two is very, I wont say deconstructionist, but he is definitely updating their interaction. Theyre very frank with each other and theres obviously a fondness and nostalgia for the relationship between the hero and the sidekick but at the same time Frank is poking fun at it too. Exposing it for some of the hilarity that it is. Were grown men creating a story about guys that are superheroes. It is no accident that 99 percent of the people that work in the industry were fans of comics as kids. So its a way to go back and relive your childhood. I think what Frank does is that he takes that, updates it and makes it acceptable to read this stuff as an adult. He makes it feel exciting and interesting.
DRE: Im part of the crowd that only reads this stuff once it makes it to the trade paperback.
JL: Thats funny because I noticed myself doing that years ago. I thought I was outgrowing comics. But I think it really was a shift away from looking at as something that is a collectible that you want to sell someday and more about something you want to keep on the bookshelf and reread.
DRE: Ive been doing it since the glut.
JL: 1961?
DRE: [laughs] No, the glut you guys caused.
JL: Ugh!
DRE: [laughs] Kidding.
Do you find yourself drawing for the trade paperback now?
JL: I work mostly from full scripts so its less of a concern. The input I have is when Im sitting there talking to Frank and were riffing about upcoming storylines and whats been happening to characters. Youre throwing out visual bits and talking about how cool it would be to do this or that. I think the one thing that the trades do is allow the writers to take their time in telling the stories. Thats both good and bad. Its good in that theyre given the time to do more conversational scenes. There used to be this formula in section based stories where you had the setup, you had your little bit of talking, then you have to have the characters fight and then you have this resolution. Now youre seeing a whole bunch of comic book storylines with a lot more dialogue and interaction. The bad side of it is that sometimes youre not getting the most edited down version of these stories. But I prefer reading the trade. I think I get a fuller experience. The idea of reading it every month just doesnt fit into my lifestyle and its just a weird way to take in a story. It is like watching a movie ten minutes at a time every two hours. I think its great to have these come out as complete stories.
DRE: When will you be writing your own stories again?
JL: I did write Divine Rite. I always knew I wanted to write my own series and I know I will again. I think Id just come to this realization that theres only so much work youre going to produce in your career or lifetime. There are a bunch of writers that I definitely want to work with and learn from so it would be a shame if I just wrote my own comics. Itd be great to work with these guys and try to produce something that people would basically read and reread for ages to come. Ive been working with the writers that I think are the best in the business.
DRE: How has working with all these great writers upped your writing game?
JL: What youre really experiencing is other ways of telling stories and pacing. For example in All-Star Batman and Robin, Frank has this whole scene where Batman is trying to convince Robin to join him in this crusade against crime and at the end Robin makes his decision. Then you turn the page and theres just the Robin symbol. He hasnt gotten his costume or his logo but hes going to that iconic image in a full page spread. I would never have done that as an artist even if I was working from a loose Marvel style script or as a writer myself. It makes you realize how powerful that is. So you tuck it away and hopefully can access that somewhere down the road.
DRE: After working with Frank have you thought about bringing back your Sin City homage book, Deathblow?
JL: There will be a new Deathblow book coming out next year with a foreign writer working on it.
DRE: Since were doing this for SuicideGirls I have to talk about the women youve drawn over the years. Have you toned down the breasts?
JL: They look normal to me. The physical form is so exaggerated already so yes I draw large breasts. But I draw very large hands too. No one ever points out the large hands. All these characters are exaggerations of normal physiques so its not just limited to the mammary gland.
DRE: Well certainly one thing to say about you guys that started Image way back when, is that you were some of the first artists to draw the beautiful female characters, hot.
JL: Sure yeah, theres a lot of repressed childhood stuff coming through [laughs]. But it was definitely not a conscious decision.
DRE: Im sure somewhere you have a sketchbook of some beautiful nudes youve done. Have you ever thought about releasing that?
JL: No, I dont have that. Honestly. I dont even have sketchbook material of clothed people. For the most part I was working so much that almost everything I did, even the costume design layouts and that kind of thing was done on the boards. I do have some sketchbooks but for the most part I prefer working on the actual piece of flat separate artboard.
I get no extra titillation value out of drawing a little extra circle that ends up as a breast. Maybe at age 13 but today the costumes are already skin tight. What more do you really need? In fact, I think the characters look better with their clothes on. Sometimes you do get the odd request. This fan comes up kind of breathing heavy asking if I could draw Catwoman naked. But that would just look like a woman naked, the only reason she looks like Catwoman is because of the costume.
DRE: I think Wildstorm puts out some of the best books out there. Ex Machina is one of my favorites.
JL: Yeah, who would have thought that a book like that would have gained the critical success it had. It was one of those weird instances where Brian [K. Vaughan] pitched me three or four ideas and that one seemed the most interesting. I didnt think it would create such a surge of popularity.
DRE: Why does someone do a certain book at Wildstorm rather than Dark Horse or Vertigo?
JL: Vertigo does a lot of thought provoking, offbeat fare, non-superhero type thing. We produce a lot of titles like WildCATS and Astro City which are edgier superhero sort of stuff. They are superhero influenced which has a certain type of action and on top of that theyre more sophisticated, more adult themed or more thought provoking. Ex Machina is about a New York City mayor who used to be a superhero and the book is really more about the politics and all the issues that he has to deal with. It fits in neatly with a lot of the books that weve published before. I called Brian because I was a fan of his work on Y: The Last Man and Runaways. I said to him What do you have that youre interested in doing? He told me a couple of ideas and that that was the one I was drawn to so we gave him the freedom to go out and do it. Thankfully it worked out. I think we have a simpler pitch process than most companies and there are maybe three people here that can greenlight a comic book.
DRE: I very fondly remember your issues of Punisher War Journal.
JL: Youre dating yourself. Say you read it in a reprint.
DRE: No, I would gladly date myself for those books. Those are the best Punisher books that have ever come out. Have you thought about doing another book for Marvel?
JL: No because the cool thing is Ive really only done a year of Superman and Batman whereas I worked with Marvel for five years in total. There are a lot of characters that I would love to take a stab like the rest of the Justice League and The Legion of Superheroes.
DRE: It sounds like you definitely want to keep doing things with the classic characters.
JL: I love the 70s era Justice League. Those are probably my favorite DC books. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Hawkman, Atom, Green Lantern, Black Canary, Green Arrow, Red Tornado, thats the roster.
DRE: Id love to see your Red Tornado. That was a character that never got handled correctly.
JL: With that costume with the yellow arrow on his forehead, that character is one of those things that you grow to appreciate later. Hes probably peoples least favorite Justice League member but he has to be there because the memorys not complete without him.
DRE: Youve worked mostly with inker Scott Williams over the years, what is about the two of you together that works?
JL: He and I have worked for so long together that there is this complete comfort level because I know that whatever I give him hes going to ink it flawlessly. I dont even look at it until it comes out in print even though hes two offices away. In the early days I would go over there and pore over the pages after they were inked and change things. But now its gotten to the point where I pretty much know what its going to look like when he inks it. I can almost previsualize it and he never fails to satisfy me. He adds something to the pencils thats not just the ink lying on top. Its unique. I honestly cant produce work by myself that looks like our collaboration and neither can he. It really is two artists really combining to create one style.
DRE: Is Whilce Portacio working for Wildstorm?
JL: Yes he is.
DRE: Whats he doing?
JL: Hes no longer in the office but he still exclusive to Wildstorm/DC. He comes in every couple of weeks. Hes working on the Wetworks relaunch right now and a high profile DC project. Hes done like six issues of this Wetworks. I dont know if theyre going to come out simultaneously. He hasnt been on the stands yet because were waiting to have a backlog of issues for them to come out timely.
DRE: Is Scott inking him as well?
JL: No, Scott really can only do one book. It actually takes him longer to ink a page than it does for me to pencil a page. When Im up to full speed I can do two to two and a half pages a day. He can maybe do one and a half. It is because inking is so meticulous and it really is about pen control. Theres really no margin for being sloppy or messy unless you intend it to be that way.
DRE: What do you know about SuicideGirls?
JL: I accidentally ended up at that site when I went to this site called Gizmodo. They had a shot of some girl with some pack and I clicked on it and I discovered this whole other site. I thought it was pretty cool. I saw some interviews you did with some pretty big names. So its actually pretty rarified company to be.
DRE: Thats a high compliment from you because Im still just a guy locked out of his house right now.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
I got a chance to talk with Lee about the DVD of the animated cartoon WildCATS. It collects the cartoon series based on Jim Lees comic book creation. The DVD features all the episodes of the show and a new 25 minute interview with Lee.
Buy the DVD of WildCATS - The Complete Series
Daniel Robert Epstein: Hi Jim, its so formal when I called your office. I thought your executive days were over.
Jim Lee: No, I still do that but I deal mostly on the creative stuff these days. I was on the phone; one call was a movie deal thing that was going on. The other was an artist over in Italy I need to take care of because theyre nine hours ahead and I dont want to keep him up.
DRE: You piqued my interest already. Whats the movie deal?
JL: I cant tell you. Its an interesting one though. An actor expressed interest in something and its a pretty well known actor. So it seems pretty good if they follow through on their interest.
DRE: Why has it taken so long for the WildCATS cartoon to come out on DVD?
JL: I actually am not completely clear on that. The cartoon itself was done back in 1994. Then Funimation either purchased the company or the library, Im not sure. I think there just wasnt a market for DVDs until recently, that whole market exploded so theyre putting everything on DVD.
Its great for me because all I had were these really old, decomposing VHS copies of the episodes. Now its all on DVD for me.
DRE: Both you and Eric Larsen [Savage Dragon] had cartoons of your initial Image creations. I know Eric wasnt happy with his show, whats your opinion on the WildCATS cartoon?
JL: I actually am pretty happy with the cartoon. I think maybe Eric expected it to be a very direct interpretation of his comic book. Essentially the cartoons were geared for six to eight year old kids. If you read the comic book WildCATS youll find that 90 percent of it you cant really put on TV. That said the cartoon is a hokier version of the comic book and I enjoyed it. I was involved in producing it. I went over animation storyboards, one of the producers wanted me to go do the voice casting. So it was a fun learning experience. We used that knowledge when we produced the Gen 13 direct to video which is closer to what the content is in the comic books. It didnt pull in the ratings it needed to, but at the same time I watch it with the same fondness I have when I watch old episodes of Speed Racer and Jonny Quest.
DRE: It must have been cool seeing characters that you created running around on TV.
JL: Oh, absolutely. Its not an opportunity that a lot of creators get. Even though it didnt end up being this gigantic commercial success it still was a fun, interesting and challenging experience. The budget they had for the cartoon was nothing like the Batman animated series so you can see what you get for the dollars you spend. For what the budget was I was pretty happy with it.
DRE: How did that experience change the way you handled things?
JL: After that experience we said we wanted more control over this, so we ended up financing the Gen 13 movie ourselves. We sunk in 1.6 million dollars to produce that.
Also with the cartoon even though I was involved in the aspects Ive mentioned, its a far cry from working on it day to day. Theres no way I can review every storyboard and every framed piece of animation. You just do your best in the time you have to give some people some input and response. Besides Im most concerned about what happens to the comic books. If someone goes and makes a big budget movie its not my 60 or 80 or 100 million dollars that theyre spending to produce it. So its up to them and if they end up making a crappy movie hopefully it doesnt hurt or damage what Im doing in the pages of a comic book. Generally it doesnt. So I look at them as two very different things. Im not producing a comic book in the hopes of someone making a terrific movie based on it. If it happens then its a fun experience whether its successful or not. Thats the only sane type of approach I can make with this. Even with putting up the budget money myself and making the big decision.
DRE: Theres an interview with Raymond Chandler where he was asked So what do you think about what Hollywoods done to your books? He said What are you talking about? My books are right there on the shelf behind you.
JL: Exactly. With Alan Moore its the same thing. Hes written all these great graphic novels and comic book series. Im pretty sure he hated every movie adaptation thats ever been made.
DRE: If he sees them, yeah.
The book youre doing now is All Star Batman and Robin with Frank Miller. So whats a Frank Miller script look like?
JL: Franks scripts are a breeze to work from. Ive worked with a number of high profile writers and with Frank being an artist himself, he gives you everything you need. Its to the point and very descriptive so it reads a lot like the actual printed comic book. He writes in fairly terse, clipped sentences. Hes a student of the history of comics so he knows the stuff inside and out. Hes dropping references to [Dick] Sprang and [Carmine] Infantino. I know that stuff but not as intimately as he does. Its great to actually go back in time and find these treasures then dust it off and reinterpret it for a new audience.
DRE: Im sure if Frank wanted to do a Little Lulu story you would have wanted to do it, but did you also want to do a Robin Year One type story?
JL: To be honest I would have done Little Lulu with Frank. There was a time where he wasnt doing a lot of work for DC and he had his own characters. I wanted to work with him because hes one of my heroes creatively but to work on Batman on top of that is kickass.
DRE: How much back and forth was there between you?
JL: He usually responds right after I email him the page. But the back and forth really has happened whenever were in town at the same time. We went to a con together and basically hung out for four nights in a row. We would go out and talk about the upcoming issue and the issues after that. I think he was writing the script as we were talking because phrases we talked about showed up on the printed scripts. One of the first discussions we had about All Star Batman and Robin and before he even committed to being part of the project he was in Austin filming Sin City. They just produced a rough cut so he invited me down check it out at [Robert] Rodriguezs film studio down there. So that was really a cool thing but during the day he did that stuff but at the night wed hook up and have dinner and go out and just talk comics. Talk Batman, talk characters weve liked and how we would visualize Gotham City and Batman. Thats when he said I really want to do something kind of different. I dont want to just retread the same ground. Ive got this take on Robin Ive been meaning to do. Thats how this project really came to be. It wasnt originally going to be a Robin project. Now its Batman through the eyes of Robin so its very cool.
DRE: What did you think of Robin beforehand?
JL: He was in there a little bit with Hush. I think if I were a younger fan Id probably be a little less interested. But having been in the business now since about 1987, theres a certain nostalgia you have for sidekicks and younger characters that you almost dont have when youre 15, 16 or 17 because they might be too close to your age. It might be even nerdier, if thats possible, to identify with them because youre trying to escape from identifying yourself with young kid characters. For a time its kind of uncool to be into the sidekicks of characters. Its cooler to aspire to be Batman. But now Ive got kids of my own so its a way of looking at Batman through the eyes of a 12 year old kid. Its an interesting filter to put on.
DRE: Is it in any way autobiographical in a sense that you are Robin looking at Frank as Batman?
JL: I would definitely have to say, from Franks point of view, that yes theres some of that in there. The dialogue between the two is very, I wont say deconstructionist, but he is definitely updating their interaction. Theyre very frank with each other and theres obviously a fondness and nostalgia for the relationship between the hero and the sidekick but at the same time Frank is poking fun at it too. Exposing it for some of the hilarity that it is. Were grown men creating a story about guys that are superheroes. It is no accident that 99 percent of the people that work in the industry were fans of comics as kids. So its a way to go back and relive your childhood. I think what Frank does is that he takes that, updates it and makes it acceptable to read this stuff as an adult. He makes it feel exciting and interesting.
DRE: Im part of the crowd that only reads this stuff once it makes it to the trade paperback.
JL: Thats funny because I noticed myself doing that years ago. I thought I was outgrowing comics. But I think it really was a shift away from looking at as something that is a collectible that you want to sell someday and more about something you want to keep on the bookshelf and reread.
DRE: Ive been doing it since the glut.
JL: 1961?
DRE: [laughs] No, the glut you guys caused.
JL: Ugh!
DRE: [laughs] Kidding.
Do you find yourself drawing for the trade paperback now?
JL: I work mostly from full scripts so its less of a concern. The input I have is when Im sitting there talking to Frank and were riffing about upcoming storylines and whats been happening to characters. Youre throwing out visual bits and talking about how cool it would be to do this or that. I think the one thing that the trades do is allow the writers to take their time in telling the stories. Thats both good and bad. Its good in that theyre given the time to do more conversational scenes. There used to be this formula in section based stories where you had the setup, you had your little bit of talking, then you have to have the characters fight and then you have this resolution. Now youre seeing a whole bunch of comic book storylines with a lot more dialogue and interaction. The bad side of it is that sometimes youre not getting the most edited down version of these stories. But I prefer reading the trade. I think I get a fuller experience. The idea of reading it every month just doesnt fit into my lifestyle and its just a weird way to take in a story. It is like watching a movie ten minutes at a time every two hours. I think its great to have these come out as complete stories.
DRE: When will you be writing your own stories again?
JL: I did write Divine Rite. I always knew I wanted to write my own series and I know I will again. I think Id just come to this realization that theres only so much work youre going to produce in your career or lifetime. There are a bunch of writers that I definitely want to work with and learn from so it would be a shame if I just wrote my own comics. Itd be great to work with these guys and try to produce something that people would basically read and reread for ages to come. Ive been working with the writers that I think are the best in the business.
DRE: How has working with all these great writers upped your writing game?
JL: What youre really experiencing is other ways of telling stories and pacing. For example in All-Star Batman and Robin, Frank has this whole scene where Batman is trying to convince Robin to join him in this crusade against crime and at the end Robin makes his decision. Then you turn the page and theres just the Robin symbol. He hasnt gotten his costume or his logo but hes going to that iconic image in a full page spread. I would never have done that as an artist even if I was working from a loose Marvel style script or as a writer myself. It makes you realize how powerful that is. So you tuck it away and hopefully can access that somewhere down the road.
DRE: After working with Frank have you thought about bringing back your Sin City homage book, Deathblow?
JL: There will be a new Deathblow book coming out next year with a foreign writer working on it.
DRE: Since were doing this for SuicideGirls I have to talk about the women youve drawn over the years. Have you toned down the breasts?
JL: They look normal to me. The physical form is so exaggerated already so yes I draw large breasts. But I draw very large hands too. No one ever points out the large hands. All these characters are exaggerations of normal physiques so its not just limited to the mammary gland.
DRE: Well certainly one thing to say about you guys that started Image way back when, is that you were some of the first artists to draw the beautiful female characters, hot.
JL: Sure yeah, theres a lot of repressed childhood stuff coming through [laughs]. But it was definitely not a conscious decision.
DRE: Im sure somewhere you have a sketchbook of some beautiful nudes youve done. Have you ever thought about releasing that?
JL: No, I dont have that. Honestly. I dont even have sketchbook material of clothed people. For the most part I was working so much that almost everything I did, even the costume design layouts and that kind of thing was done on the boards. I do have some sketchbooks but for the most part I prefer working on the actual piece of flat separate artboard.
I get no extra titillation value out of drawing a little extra circle that ends up as a breast. Maybe at age 13 but today the costumes are already skin tight. What more do you really need? In fact, I think the characters look better with their clothes on. Sometimes you do get the odd request. This fan comes up kind of breathing heavy asking if I could draw Catwoman naked. But that would just look like a woman naked, the only reason she looks like Catwoman is because of the costume.
DRE: I think Wildstorm puts out some of the best books out there. Ex Machina is one of my favorites.
JL: Yeah, who would have thought that a book like that would have gained the critical success it had. It was one of those weird instances where Brian [K. Vaughan] pitched me three or four ideas and that one seemed the most interesting. I didnt think it would create such a surge of popularity.
DRE: Why does someone do a certain book at Wildstorm rather than Dark Horse or Vertigo?
JL: Vertigo does a lot of thought provoking, offbeat fare, non-superhero type thing. We produce a lot of titles like WildCATS and Astro City which are edgier superhero sort of stuff. They are superhero influenced which has a certain type of action and on top of that theyre more sophisticated, more adult themed or more thought provoking. Ex Machina is about a New York City mayor who used to be a superhero and the book is really more about the politics and all the issues that he has to deal with. It fits in neatly with a lot of the books that weve published before. I called Brian because I was a fan of his work on Y: The Last Man and Runaways. I said to him What do you have that youre interested in doing? He told me a couple of ideas and that that was the one I was drawn to so we gave him the freedom to go out and do it. Thankfully it worked out. I think we have a simpler pitch process than most companies and there are maybe three people here that can greenlight a comic book.
DRE: I very fondly remember your issues of Punisher War Journal.
JL: Youre dating yourself. Say you read it in a reprint.
DRE: No, I would gladly date myself for those books. Those are the best Punisher books that have ever come out. Have you thought about doing another book for Marvel?
JL: No because the cool thing is Ive really only done a year of Superman and Batman whereas I worked with Marvel for five years in total. There are a lot of characters that I would love to take a stab like the rest of the Justice League and The Legion of Superheroes.
DRE: It sounds like you definitely want to keep doing things with the classic characters.
JL: I love the 70s era Justice League. Those are probably my favorite DC books. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Hawkman, Atom, Green Lantern, Black Canary, Green Arrow, Red Tornado, thats the roster.
DRE: Id love to see your Red Tornado. That was a character that never got handled correctly.
JL: With that costume with the yellow arrow on his forehead, that character is one of those things that you grow to appreciate later. Hes probably peoples least favorite Justice League member but he has to be there because the memorys not complete without him.
DRE: Youve worked mostly with inker Scott Williams over the years, what is about the two of you together that works?
JL: He and I have worked for so long together that there is this complete comfort level because I know that whatever I give him hes going to ink it flawlessly. I dont even look at it until it comes out in print even though hes two offices away. In the early days I would go over there and pore over the pages after they were inked and change things. But now its gotten to the point where I pretty much know what its going to look like when he inks it. I can almost previsualize it and he never fails to satisfy me. He adds something to the pencils thats not just the ink lying on top. Its unique. I honestly cant produce work by myself that looks like our collaboration and neither can he. It really is two artists really combining to create one style.
DRE: Is Whilce Portacio working for Wildstorm?
JL: Yes he is.
DRE: Whats he doing?
JL: Hes no longer in the office but he still exclusive to Wildstorm/DC. He comes in every couple of weeks. Hes working on the Wetworks relaunch right now and a high profile DC project. Hes done like six issues of this Wetworks. I dont know if theyre going to come out simultaneously. He hasnt been on the stands yet because were waiting to have a backlog of issues for them to come out timely.
DRE: Is Scott inking him as well?
JL: No, Scott really can only do one book. It actually takes him longer to ink a page than it does for me to pencil a page. When Im up to full speed I can do two to two and a half pages a day. He can maybe do one and a half. It is because inking is so meticulous and it really is about pen control. Theres really no margin for being sloppy or messy unless you intend it to be that way.
DRE: What do you know about SuicideGirls?
JL: I accidentally ended up at that site when I went to this site called Gizmodo. They had a shot of some girl with some pack and I clicked on it and I discovered this whole other site. I thought it was pretty cool. I saw some interviews you did with some pretty big names. So its actually pretty rarified company to be.
DRE: Thats a high compliment from you because Im still just a guy locked out of his house right now.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
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Ta much