Archive for the ‘Gavin's Underground’ Category

Tlyer Kirkham is currently known for his work on the Marvel crossover series Fusion, but his career has had him working on titles such as Strykeforce, Ultimate Fantastic Four, Broken Trinity, Spider-Man and about a dozen others. Today you can read about his career and his look at local and national comics as he chats with Gavin Sheehan of City Weekly.

Tyler Kirkham’s interview on Gavin’s Underground

Gavin: How did the opportunity come about to work at Image Comics?

Tyler: I got really lucky I think. I started going to more conventions and really trying to pursue comics. I had a really cool art teacher in high school. He let us do what we wanted. So and few friends and I worked on our own comics. So what happened is I had a friend on a church mission is California. He was living in a house with another guy that also liked art and comics. I would send my friend my art and he would show people. The other guy that lived in the house said, “I know where a comic studio is that’s real close.” He took my art to the Top Cow offices. He showed one of the editors there. She saw promise in my art, but I still wasn’t ready. Now I had an in though. I would always do new work and show this editor, or if I went to a convention I would talk to her. So what happened is she was working with a the writer of The Gift. He was looking for a young artist. I wasn’t ready to work at Top Cow yet, but this was something good for me to wet my feet and grow as an artist.

Gavin: Going national, what’s your take on the comic book industry as it stands right now?

Tyler: I like the comic scene right now. I really love what Marvel and DC are doing as well at Top Cow. I love seeing all the films coming from comics. I think its great for comics. There are a lot of great stories and creators in comics and I think its smart for Hollywood to notice and take advantage of all the talent.

Been a while since Gavin’s Underground has had a chance to go back to the geek with dozens of other tidbits happening in our local scene. But today he returns to BSR posting an interview with Greg Gage, owner of the Sugar House store Black Cat Comics.  The two chat about the shop as well as his thoughts on Utah and national comics.

Gavin’s Underground interview with Greg Gage

Gavin: Who are some local artists and writers should people check out?

Greg: Dave Chisholm’s Let’s Go To Utah is fantastic. Derek Hunter’s Pirate Club is a lot of fun. A new book that just came out, King Of Pain, by Nick West and Sam Rodriguez is great. Ryan Ottley’s artwork is astounding. He works on some big books, such as Haunt and Invincible from Image Comics. Banana Panic from Chris Hoffman is a ton of fun. A secret agent monkey. How can you lose? There’s just so much good stuff, and I’m sorry if I left anyone out. It’s just such a big comic community here. And in the interest of full disclosure, Sam and Nick are on the podcast that I do, but that doesn’t color my enjoyment whatsoever.

Gavin: Going national, what’s your take on the comic book industry as it stands right now?

Greg: Hollywood, for better or worse, has such an impact on comics. Iron Man and Batman sell incredibly well. Catwoman and Elektra got canceled. Any questions? The publishers have wisely decided to print to order now, which is to say if there are 200,000 orders for Green Lantern, that’s what they’ll print. This demonstrates a fiscal responsibility that wasn’t there in the 1990’s, which consequently saw Marvel Comics going bankrupt and more small press companies going out of business that ever before. I also think that with Disney’s recent purchase of Marvel, we’re on the precipice of something huge. American comics have never had global recognition. Merchandising, yes, recognition of the properties as comic books, no. Depending on how Disney handles things, we could see another huge boom. Right now things are pretty good, but they could always be better.

City Weekly’s own Gavin Sheehan got an opportunity to sit down and talk to Brandon Dayton, the creator behind one of the most talked about Utah comic book series of 2009, Green Monk. The two go in-depth about the book as well as Dayton’s careers and his thoughts on comics.

Green Monk on Gavin’s Underground

Gavin: How did the idea for Green Monk come to mind?

Brandon: Like most ideas, it started with bits and pieces of cool images that started to form together over the years. I liked the idea of blade of grass as a sword. I remember reading a Native American folk tale when I was kid about a hero that uses a leaf as blade to cut a villain’s throat. That might have planted the seed. The thing that tied it all together though, was seeing Tarkovsky’s “Andrei Rublyev”. It’s one of the greatest films ever made, and its vision of Medieval Russia just totally electrified me. I knew that’s where I wanted to Green Monk to take place. Visually, Green Monk is all Andrei Rublyev, with the exception of some of the fantastical elements.

Gavin: More national, what are your thoughts on the comics industry today?

Brandon: I think there is a lot of growth to be had. Just look at the demographics. It’s adult males. Young males aren’t targeted like they could be comics aren’t even close to touching female audiences in a significant way. There’s so much potential, and it just require someone who figures out the right way to do it. There have been some attempts. Marvel published comic versions of Pride & Prejudice, but my wife and I were unanimous that is was pretty crummy. I’d like to see some of the stigma of comics to change, for more people to see that’s its just a medium. It would be great if there were more people willing to venture out and open new markets with comics. I think it probably has to happen with the younger generation.

This weekend David Mack will come to Salt Lake City as part of the SLC Main Library’s “Literary Luminaries” showcase on Saturday. His finer works are currently on display in their gallery, and he’ll be on hand from 2-3PM to talk to the crowd. But before then, City Weekly’s own Gavin Sheehan got a quick interview with the man about his work on both Kabuki and Daredevil, plus talking about his art style and approach.  A read definitely worth checking out.

Gavin’s Undergound interview with David Mack

Gavin: The artistic styling and even writing are very different to that of traditional comics. What made you want to design it out this way?

David: I start with the story first. I’m a writer first. Then I find a way to use the art as a tool of the story. I try to choose the visual approach that best fits with each individual story. I like to design a new look and storytelling style for each project. I like that comic books and graphic novels are a limber and fertile enough of a medium to do this each time. When it is done best, the art and story are indistinguishable from one another.

Gavin: Something that sets you a part from most current artists is that you don’t really do computer graphic design, you do actual artistic pieces. What made you go in that direction when most everything is being done digitally to some degree these days?

David: Its just my natural approach. I don’t have anything against a computer design approach. I respect what people are doing with it. And I may try it some time for a specific project. But so far I haven’t felt the urge to do so, and I like working with my hands, and that approach seemed right for the stories I was doing. But I bet there will be a story some day that may make me want to experiment with it. Alex Maleev is doing a great job with it on his Daredevil work and his new Spider-Woman series with Brian Bendis. That said, I never get tired of making art with my hands and the handmade approach of dealing with 3D materials.

City Weekly’s blogger Gavin Sheehan got an opportunity to chat with Chris Hoffman, creator of the locally produced comic series Banana Panic. Prominent for the ideal of having his comic free to the public, both published and in the form of an iPhone application. Gavin and Chris chatted it up over his work and national comics in general.

Gavin’s Underground interview with Chris Hoffman

Gavin: You’re one of the few artists around to offer it in the form of an iPhone app. Why did you choose to go that way with it?

Chris: Comic books, like much of old media, are trying to find their place in a world ruled by iPhones, Kindles, and netbooks. Mainstream publishers have been trying experiment with electronic-publishing formats by shoveling the old comics format onto new devices. I took the approach of keeping the electronic medium in mind as I created the comic. In the future I want to take advantage of the medium by adding interactive elements that allow the reader to experience the comic however they want…

Gavin: Did you decide to go with traditional drawing styles or computer drawn, and why?

Chris: I use a hybrid approach. First, I draw all of the pages in pencil then scan all of the ages into Adobe Photoshop. I export those pages into Smith Micro’s Manga Studio then use it with a Wacom tablet to digitally ink the pages. Then I go back to Photoshop to do the shading and lettering. I’m glad digital art programs have evolved to where they are. Before I started using Manga Studio, the inking phase is where my artwork would fall apart. Inking digitally is much more forgiving and has an undo button.

Downtown Salt Lake City officially becomes overcome with costumed fans of the Japanese artform this morning with three days of celebration at the Sheraton Hotel, including viewings and interviews and even gaming (both card and arcade) to be had. Two of the festival’s organizers sat down and chatted with City Weekly’s own Gavin Sheehan for a chat about the convention and all that can be expected. Check it out at the link below, and if you’re int he area… go!

Gavin’s Underground interview with Anime Banzai

Gavin: For this year who will you have on hand as guests for panels and interviews?

Tyla: This year we’re happy to announce Michelle Ruff, a voice actress who has done voice work in both anime and video games. A few of her more popular roles would be Rukia in Bleach and Yuki in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. She will be in a few panels as well as an autograph session. Coming back again this year is Steve Nunez, aka Warky T. Chocobo. He is a local talent who can recreate video game music on his piano. I believe he will be performing a concert as well as playing the background music for our Banzai Brawl which has become a very popular event at the convention.

Gavin: Speaking of panels, what have you got lined-up in that area?

Chris: There are a ton of different panels taking place throughout the weekend from costuming panels to individual fan panels. There are also several events in the main events hall, the most attended of which are the AMV contest and the Cosplay contest both of which take place on Saturday afternoon and evening. The convention schedule was just uploaded to our site and can be found here.

Busy geek week for Gavin on his blog, as today he took the opportunity to chat with the writer and leading actress behind the new locally produced web series “Raising Kayn.” Touching on the sci-fi and fantasy a tad, the series looks at the lives of a family knee-deep in the paranormal. And of top of this, all locally made. Head over to check out the full interview with Taunya Gren.

Gavin’s Underground interview on Raising Kayn

Gavin: What eventually led you to moving out to Utah?

Taunya: A combination of my oldest daughter living here and the cumulative effects of the writers strike and threatened actors strike in Hollywood. You know it’s bad when the person next to you at the temp agency is a name actor from “ER.”

Gavin: Where did the idea for “Raising Kayn” come from?

Taunya: The original story was actually a concept myself and my kids worked on together. A very wacky comedy… but from there it actually grew to become somewhat of an autobiographical piece about how my family has needed each other to get past the hard times, to fight off the monsters of our world. It’s a fun and funny story, but underneath there is a foundation of real issues. Loss of a father and a husband. Betrayal, reacting to hurt and pain in different ways and how we work through that together.

This week Gavin chatted with comic book and television writer, Jake Black. The two discuss Jake’s breaking into television on “Smallville,” writing for Tales Of The TMNT, Ender’s Game and Legion Of Super-Heroes. As well as other television shows “Ben 10: Alien Force” and “Chaotic.” And touches on the topic of his recent diagnosis of Hodgkin’s Disease.

Jake Black Interview

Gavin: You also got involved with the show “Smallville.” How did that opportunity come about?

Jake: As the show premiered I was looking for an internship. Having been a Superman fan since the Super Friends days, I thought I’d see if I could get an internship with that show. This was in the earlier days of the internet, and finding the right people to talk to was a little challenging, but I tracked them down, and ended up getting on the show as the writer’s intern halfway through season one.

Gavin: Recently you were diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Disease. When and how did you find out?

Jake: Just over a year ago, I developed a lump by neck. Doctors were a little concerned, but took more of a “let’s watch it” approach. In March of this year, I found a second lump, at which point we ran several tests, and started surgeries, and chemotherapy.

Over on City Weekly’s website today you can find an interview on Gavin’s Underground with the team of Steve Lieber and Jeff Parker, creators of the new comic Underground. The duo will be coming to Dr. Volt’s in SLC this Saturday for a signing and chat, but you can learn about their careers and thoughts on comics before you go.

Gavin’s Underground interview with Steve Lieber & Jeff Parker

Gavin: What was the big breaking point for your career in comics?

Steve: Definitely Whiteout. I’d been working in comics professionally for six or seven years, but nothing I’d drawn had really clicked with readers. My skills weren’t in tune with most of the projects I’d been working on.

Gavin: How was it for you working on the Whiteout series when it first hit?

Steve: It was a dream project. I loved the story, the setting, and the character, and I got to control the look of it. Most comics from big publishers are done in a sort of assembly line, where the art gets handed off from one artist to another to get it done. Not this book. Every mark on the page was mine- my virtues, my quirks, my faults.

Gavin: The most recent series you’ve been working on has been Agents Of Atlas. How did that opportunity come about, and what’s it been like working on such an interesting title?

Jeff: Mark Paniccia at Marvel first asked if I could pitch the Secret Avengers from What If #9 because he had a hunch that we could do something cool with it. It took a while, but it got approved and Leonard Kirk came on as the artist. Not many people read that miniseries, but those who did were loud about it- it really stuck with them. The good buzz kept building and finally the set up of Dark Reign gave us a natural entry point for a new series. Carlo Pagulayan and Gabriel Hardman both came on as our main artists and suddenly the book took on all kinds of gravity. I know a lot of artists who have Atlas on their pull list because they have to see what these guys will draw next. I try of course to push the stories into scenarios that appeal to me as an artist so they’ll enjoy it. Atlas is an odd balance. On one hand it should feel comfortable and hit your nostalgia buttons, but at the same time it’s all about subverting expectations. I want the readers to not feel like they know where things are going. That’s established in the first series when instead of defeating the Yellow Claw and his empire, Jimmy Woo decides to take charge of it. From that point you should know that you’re getting on a ride without a familiar map.

An interview on Gavin’s Underground blog over at CityWeekly.net had an interview up today with Dave Landa, owner of SLC’s own Dr. Volt’s Comic Connection. An extensive chat with Dave about his history and purchase of the store, as well as thoughts on both local and national comics. You can check out the full interview at the link below.

http://www.cityweekly.net/utah/blog-1966-dr-volts.html

Gavin: You’ve been one of the longest running shops in the city. What’s your view on the changes in both comics and readership over the years?

Dave: I think that over the years comics have transitioned from when the were mainly for kids and teenagers to now when the majority are marketed to adults. Story lines are now more interwoven throughout the books and require more time, not to mention money, to follow. Overall I believe that most comics today are much better that they were even ten years ago, however the flip side is that the comic companies are now charging much more than they used to. When I first started running the store the majority of comics were around $1 to $1.25, now the average is $3 to $4 dollars.