For many years Terry Moore has been one of the most significant and important cartoonists in America. His long running series Strangers in Paradise was one of the major comics of the 1990s and the black and white series won many awards including an Eisner Award, a Reuben Award for Best Comic Book from the National Cartoonists Society and a GLAAD Media Award. What struck most of us reading the comic at the time, and even today, is how the book stands out not just among comics but among all media for its treatment of sexuality as the complex, often uncertain and fraught thing it is as his characters struggle with the lines between friendship and romantic love, attraction and affection.
Moore has written some comics for DC and Marvel including Birds of Prey and Runaways, but his focus continues to be his black and white comics which he publishes through his own Abstract Comics. Since Strangers in Paradise ended, Moore produced the science fiction adventure series Echo which has just been collected in a complete volume. His new book, which has just started being released, is Rachel Rising. The book opens with a lengthy, creepy sequence where the titular character climbs out of her own grave. This fall Moore also begins to serialize a book How To Draw. A regular at many comic conventions this year, we conducted this interview over e-mail as Moore bounced between many states.
ALEX DUEBEN: I guess just to get started for people who dont know, could you talk a little about what Rachel Rising is?
TERRY MOORE: Rachel Rising is a comic book series based on the mystery of Rachel Becks murder. The story opens with Rachel climbing out of a shallow grave in the woods to investigate her own murder. Its creepy.
AD: Climbing out of ones own shallow grave is definitely creepy. Was this image the genesis of the book?
TM: Actually, the first images in my head were more urban. A woman at night, meeting her end. The next night shes back on the streets. WTF? How could you not get a story out of that?
AD: The book opens with a gorgeous nine page wordless sequence. What was the thinking behind starting the book off that way and how much of a challenge was it?
TM: Ive written a lot of dialogue in my career, but this was one of those moments where there are no words, just nature waking up and something god-awful pushing through the dirt. I thought about having a Sunset Boulevard narrator, but its been done so much. I think the Psycho approach is creepier no sound but the shower running, the blade hitting bone.
AD: Are you a big horror fan?
TM: Of sorts. I like the smart stuff, meaning, I like when the creator steps away from the formula. For instance, if youve been watching horror films for 50 years, like me, its not that intriguing anymore to see a bad guy do bad things. But if the church lady is Jack the Ripper, Ill watch. Serial Mom is a favorite of mine, by the way.
AD: I remember you spoke about how you were originally thinking of doing Rachel Rising in pencil. Why did you decide to ink the book?
TM: The pencil technique wasnt ready. I needed more time to experiment, but I began Rachel the day after I finished Echo. So, time for R&D isnt on the schedule. Maybe later.
AD: You described your pencil technique as not quite ready to print the book from your pencils. What were you interested in doing and what have others done that showed you what was possible?
TM: Sometimes, when Im having a good day, I get a look in pencil that is gorgeous and cant be inked. Id love to do a book like that. But I dont always pencil that way, so I cant trust myself to get the look at will. I need more time with the drawing process to become reliable, especially on a deadline. Thats the bottom line, the deadline. Im making these comics every 6 weeks, so I dont have time to retreat and regroup. I have to produce printable work every day. Its the Jack Kirby way.
AD: What do you enjoy about working in black and white as opposed to color?
TM: What I see is what I get, and its fast. If I color it, it would take me twice as long to make a book. If somebody else colored it, I would need them in the studio with me. But having somebody else color your art is like having somebody finish your sentences. Brian and I have a system for the covers, but he will be the first to tell you, Im a pain in the ass to work with. Imagine that times 24 interior pages.
AD: Now when you start a project like this or Echo, do you have the whole story roughly mapped out in your head or how do you work?
TM: I have it all in my head like a movie. As I begin making the book, new things pop up, so its always changing. Thats the fun of it, really, to see where you end up.
AD: You mentioned that you have the story in your head - the story beats at least. Do you have a rough idea of how long the story is, or does that always change as you move forward?
TM: I guess at a how long it will take, then work towards that with an open mind. Everything is changeable for me in the working process.
AD: It often seems with creators, that every new project is on some ways a response to the last project. How is this a response to Echo?
TM: Well, all three of my series have the same theme, a simple woman facing frightening challenges. With SiP it was a woman overcoming abuse. With Echo it was a woman overcoming science. With Rachel Rising its a woman overcoming death. These are all matters of life that puzzle me, and anyone else who takes time to think about them. So I think Rachel Rising is a natural progression from the first two series. The search goes on, you know? Life is weird. Lets write about it.
AD: What is the challenge in telling a longform story at a time when spoilers and information gets leaked online constantly but the story really depends on not knowing what happens next?
TM: I find Im more private with my storylines than I am my personal life. Since I dont collaborate with anyone, its easy to keep it to myself, I just have to watch my mouth. When it comes to requests for advance peeks, I just say no. For Diamond solicitations, I lie and say something generic. Its justified if I can get the reader to experience the story fully when they read the comic. Spoilers suck. Somebody on Letterman spoiled The Sixth Sense for me 3 days before I went to see it and I never forgave them for it. Asshole. Ruined that wonderful process of watching and thinking and trying to figure it out.
AD: What do you enjoy about serialization?
TM: The steady income, the excuse to indulge in vices to keep me going, working in short bursts instead of a daunting 900 page deadline.
AD: Can you talk a little bit about your How To Draw books that are coming out?
TM: There are a million books out there on how to draw, but Ive always found I learn better if I know why Im doing something, not just what to do. So I had this idea to share what I know about the drawing process. You know, with any achievement, once you learn the basics, the rest of the way to greatness is in your head. A lot of people draw well, but only a few are irresistible to us. How they make art that is appealing is beyond technique, it has a lot to do with whats going on in their mind when they work, what theyre striving for that is not found in an anatomy book. So my first chapter, How To Draw Women, doesnt show you the skeleton and musclesbecause there are a ton of great books on that alreadyinstead, it talks to the accomplished artist and guides them toward what to do with the technical information they wield to make art that is human and beautiful.
The plan is to make the How To Draw book one chapter at a time and release these chapters, as they are made, in comic format. I plan to make 3, maybe 4 chapters a year until I get enough for the book. So it may be 2-3 years before the book is ready. Meanwhile, people can read and use the material sooner, as its made.
Moore has written some comics for DC and Marvel including Birds of Prey and Runaways, but his focus continues to be his black and white comics which he publishes through his own Abstract Comics. Since Strangers in Paradise ended, Moore produced the science fiction adventure series Echo which has just been collected in a complete volume. His new book, which has just started being released, is Rachel Rising. The book opens with a lengthy, creepy sequence where the titular character climbs out of her own grave. This fall Moore also begins to serialize a book How To Draw. A regular at many comic conventions this year, we conducted this interview over e-mail as Moore bounced between many states.
ALEX DUEBEN: I guess just to get started for people who dont know, could you talk a little about what Rachel Rising is?
TERRY MOORE: Rachel Rising is a comic book series based on the mystery of Rachel Becks murder. The story opens with Rachel climbing out of a shallow grave in the woods to investigate her own murder. Its creepy.
AD: Climbing out of ones own shallow grave is definitely creepy. Was this image the genesis of the book?
TM: Actually, the first images in my head were more urban. A woman at night, meeting her end. The next night shes back on the streets. WTF? How could you not get a story out of that?
AD: The book opens with a gorgeous nine page wordless sequence. What was the thinking behind starting the book off that way and how much of a challenge was it?
TM: Ive written a lot of dialogue in my career, but this was one of those moments where there are no words, just nature waking up and something god-awful pushing through the dirt. I thought about having a Sunset Boulevard narrator, but its been done so much. I think the Psycho approach is creepier no sound but the shower running, the blade hitting bone.
AD: Are you a big horror fan?
TM: Of sorts. I like the smart stuff, meaning, I like when the creator steps away from the formula. For instance, if youve been watching horror films for 50 years, like me, its not that intriguing anymore to see a bad guy do bad things. But if the church lady is Jack the Ripper, Ill watch. Serial Mom is a favorite of mine, by the way.
AD: I remember you spoke about how you were originally thinking of doing Rachel Rising in pencil. Why did you decide to ink the book?
TM: The pencil technique wasnt ready. I needed more time to experiment, but I began Rachel the day after I finished Echo. So, time for R&D isnt on the schedule. Maybe later.
AD: You described your pencil technique as not quite ready to print the book from your pencils. What were you interested in doing and what have others done that showed you what was possible?
TM: Sometimes, when Im having a good day, I get a look in pencil that is gorgeous and cant be inked. Id love to do a book like that. But I dont always pencil that way, so I cant trust myself to get the look at will. I need more time with the drawing process to become reliable, especially on a deadline. Thats the bottom line, the deadline. Im making these comics every 6 weeks, so I dont have time to retreat and regroup. I have to produce printable work every day. Its the Jack Kirby way.
AD: What do you enjoy about working in black and white as opposed to color?
TM: What I see is what I get, and its fast. If I color it, it would take me twice as long to make a book. If somebody else colored it, I would need them in the studio with me. But having somebody else color your art is like having somebody finish your sentences. Brian and I have a system for the covers, but he will be the first to tell you, Im a pain in the ass to work with. Imagine that times 24 interior pages.
AD: Now when you start a project like this or Echo, do you have the whole story roughly mapped out in your head or how do you work?
TM: I have it all in my head like a movie. As I begin making the book, new things pop up, so its always changing. Thats the fun of it, really, to see where you end up.
AD: You mentioned that you have the story in your head - the story beats at least. Do you have a rough idea of how long the story is, or does that always change as you move forward?
TM: I guess at a how long it will take, then work towards that with an open mind. Everything is changeable for me in the working process.
AD: It often seems with creators, that every new project is on some ways a response to the last project. How is this a response to Echo?
TM: Well, all three of my series have the same theme, a simple woman facing frightening challenges. With SiP it was a woman overcoming abuse. With Echo it was a woman overcoming science. With Rachel Rising its a woman overcoming death. These are all matters of life that puzzle me, and anyone else who takes time to think about them. So I think Rachel Rising is a natural progression from the first two series. The search goes on, you know? Life is weird. Lets write about it.
AD: What is the challenge in telling a longform story at a time when spoilers and information gets leaked online constantly but the story really depends on not knowing what happens next?
TM: I find Im more private with my storylines than I am my personal life. Since I dont collaborate with anyone, its easy to keep it to myself, I just have to watch my mouth. When it comes to requests for advance peeks, I just say no. For Diamond solicitations, I lie and say something generic. Its justified if I can get the reader to experience the story fully when they read the comic. Spoilers suck. Somebody on Letterman spoiled The Sixth Sense for me 3 days before I went to see it and I never forgave them for it. Asshole. Ruined that wonderful process of watching and thinking and trying to figure it out.
AD: What do you enjoy about serialization?
TM: The steady income, the excuse to indulge in vices to keep me going, working in short bursts instead of a daunting 900 page deadline.
AD: Can you talk a little bit about your How To Draw books that are coming out?
TM: There are a million books out there on how to draw, but Ive always found I learn better if I know why Im doing something, not just what to do. So I had this idea to share what I know about the drawing process. You know, with any achievement, once you learn the basics, the rest of the way to greatness is in your head. A lot of people draw well, but only a few are irresistible to us. How they make art that is appealing is beyond technique, it has a lot to do with whats going on in their mind when they work, what theyre striving for that is not found in an anatomy book. So my first chapter, How To Draw Women, doesnt show you the skeleton and musclesbecause there are a ton of great books on that alreadyinstead, it talks to the accomplished artist and guides them toward what to do with the technical information they wield to make art that is human and beautiful.
The plan is to make the How To Draw book one chapter at a time and release these chapters, as they are made, in comic format. I plan to make 3, maybe 4 chapters a year until I get enough for the book. So it may be 2-3 years before the book is ready. Meanwhile, people can read and use the material sooner, as its made.