Issuu

M O D E R N

M A S T E R S

V O L U M E

F I V E :

J.L. GARCÍA-LÓPEZ

Edited by Eric Nolen-Weathington

MODERN MASTERS VOLUME FIVE:

JOSÉ LUIS GARCÍA-LÓPEZ edited and designed by Eric Nolen-Weathington front cover by José Luis García-López front cover color by Tom Ziuko all interviews in this book were conducted and transcribed by Eric Nolen-Weathington proofreading by Fred Perry

TwoMorrows Publishing 10407 Bedfordtown Dr. Raleigh, North Carolina 27614 www.twomorrows.com • e-mail: twomorrow@aol.com First Printing • June 2005 • Printed in Canada Softcover ISBN: 1-893905-44-6 Trademarks & Copyrights All characters and artwork contained herein are ™ and ©2005 José Luis García-López unless otherwise noted. Alfred Pennyworth, Aquaman, Atom, Batman, Black Canary, Blue Devil, Brainiac, Brent Wood, Captain Marvel, Catwoman, Cheetah, Cinder & Ashe, Clark Kent, Deadman, Dinah Lance, Dr. Sivana, Elongated Man, Firestorm, Flash, GeoForce, General Zod, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Harley Quinn, Hawkman, Hercules, Homer Glint, Ilda, John Starker, Joker, Jonah Hex, Karel Sorensen, Killer Moth, Lex Luthor, Lois Lane, Martian Manhunter, Mr. Mind, Mxyzptlk, Outsiders, Penguin, Phantom Stranger, Prankster, Red Tornado, Riddler, Robin, Scarecrow, Star Hawkins, Superman, Titans, Tommy Tomorrow, Two-Face, Wonder Woman, Zatanna ™ and ©2005 DC Comics. Abomination, Hulk, The Leader, Rhino, Ringo Kid, Spider-Man ™ and ©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc. Dr. Strangefate, Jade Nova, Myx, Skulk, White Witch ™ and ©2005 DC Comics and Marvel Characters, Inc. Atari Force, Star Raiders, and all related characters ™ and ©2005 Atari, Inc. Nexus ™ and ©2005 Mike Baron and Steve Rude. Tarzan ™ and ©2005 Edgar Rice Burroughs Estate. Eternity Watch, Roland the Corsair, and all related characters ™ and ©2005 Editoral Columba. Big Ben Bolt, Flash Gordon, Juliet Jones, Prince Valiant ©2005 King Features Syndicate, Inc. Steve Canyon ™ and ©2005 Milton Caniff and News America Syndicate USA. Lt. Blueberry ™ and ©2005 Jean-Michel Charlier, Jean Giraud, Dargaud Editeur. Demolition Man ™ and ©2005 Warner Bros. Barbie, Star Riders ™ and ©2005 Mattel. Elvira, Mistress of the Night ™ and ©2005 Queen B Productions. Founding Fathers, Mort Cinder, Torpedo 1936 ™ and ©2005 respective owners. Editorial package ©2005 Eric Nolen-Weathington and TwoMorrows Publishing.

Dedication To the memory of Stacy J. Evans, the best grandfather I could have asked for. Wherever you may be, I hope the fishing’s good. And to Donna and Iain and the little one on the way. Acknowledgements José Luis García-López, for being so gracious. His English is much better than he thinks it is. David Roach, for being such a big supporter of José’s Charlton work, and for sharing it with me. Tom Ziuko, not only for his great coloring on the cover, but for being a packrat and sending me some great pencil art from José’s early years. his greh Terry Austin, speaking of packrats, for his continued help and support.

Special Thanks Spencer Beck (José’s official art dealer—www.theartistschoice.com), Mike Burkey (www.romitaman.com), Scott Burnley, Ray Cuthbert, Andy Helfer, George Khoury, Steven Lee, Mike Manley, Kevin Nowlan, Walt Parrish, Fred Perry, Jeff Scott, Aaron Sultan, Enrique Villagrán, Rick McGee and the crew of Foundation’s Edge, Russ Garwood and the crew of Capital Comics, and John and Pam Morrow

Modern Masters Volume Five:

JOSÉ LUIS GARCÍA-LÓPEZ Table of Contents Introduction by Andrew Helfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Part One: Argentina, Pirates, and Being a Teenaged Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Interlude One: Under the Influence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Part Two: “I Really Felt Very Welcome at DC”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Interlude Two: License to Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 PartPart Three: From Outer Space to New Orleans and Back . . . . . . . . . 46

Interlude Three: Twilight Gallery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Part Four: Other Worlds and the World Beyond. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Part Five: Storytelling and the Creative Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Art Gallery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Part 1:

Argentina, Pirates, and Being a Teenaged Pro

MODERN MASTERS: Though everyone thinks of you as Argentine, you were actually born in Spain. Where in Spain are you from, and when were you born?

with his hands; he’s what you would call an artisan. When he retired, he surprised me with a variety of small sculptures he did—very primitive, or very “naif,” but nevertheless it is art to me.

JOSÉ LUIS GÁRCIA-LOPÉZ: I was born in 1948 in Pontevedra, which is in the northwestern part of Spain, in Galicia. We lived in a very small, rural town.

MM: Did you have any problems adjusting to life in Argentina? JOSÉ: Not at all. Everyone was an immigrant or a son or grandson of immigrants—from Europe and from neighboring countries, different cultures, even different religions—but everybody get along fine and most importantly, you did not feel like an outsider. The public schools were the great integrators there.

MM: How old were you when your family moved to Argentina? JOSÉ: It was in 1953, so I was about five years old. MM: Why did your family move? Was it for financial reasons?

MM: You were exposed to comics at a very early age. In fact, you even learned to read from comics. Did you have any favorites you would ask for, or did you just look at anything that came your way?

JOSÉ: It was very hard in Spain at that time. In the small villas there was much work, but little prospect towards progress. Because Galicia was the least developed region of the country, a lot of Galicians moved to other parts of the world—this started in the beginning of the 20th century—mainly to South America: Argentina, Uruguay, Venezuela, Cuba.... Argentina was the principal destination— Buenos Aires in particular. Half the population there is of Spanish descent, the other half being Italian.

JOSÉ: Anything, from Donald Duck to Tom & Jerry and all the local funnies. We’re talking about the early years, five to seven years old. Later on, all the adventure strips and books. Yes, I did read Batman and Superman. Time plays tricks with the memory, but I guess I liked Batman more. I was a compulsive reader—I am still. I don’t remember having any favorites, I’d devour all the stuff I could get. I just simply enjoyed reading stories.

MM: What did your parents do for a living? Did either of them have an artistic background?

MM: I read somewhere that you started working professionally in comics at the age of 13. Is that true?

JOSÉ: In Spain they cultivated the land. In Buenos Aires, my father was an official carpenter in a cigarette manufacturing company. My father did and does all kind of things

JOSÉ: There were some small companies in Buenos Aires at that time. They would publish a few issues and then close shop, most of the time owing a bunch of artists money. 6

That’s what happened in my case. I was around 13 and I got a couple of short stories to do. I remember not being paid and giving up on seeing my work in print. Then, a year or so later I discovered one of my stories published in another comic book— it was a western—and that was my first published job. MM: How did you get that first job? Did you have an apprenticeship? JOSÉ: Just being bold and going to companies to show my work. Some places gave me good advice and encouragement and the chance to come back later to show my progress, if any. Others gave me small scripts which I drew, delivered, and never heard about afterwards. Those were the dues you had to pay, but I didn’t complain because I got the chance to practice and get experience. MM: Had you any art instruction in school before working professionally, or were you still strictly self-taught up to that point?

JOSÉ: I was self-taught, I guess. My sister bought me a correspondence art course— Continental School—when I was about ten, but it was all humor stuff. I remember going sometimes to the school offices to deliver the lessons and I would take my “serious” stuff with me. I suppose they realized I liked that better and advised me to show my work to the various companies— and that’s what I did. MM: What was a typical day like for you during those early years of your career? JOSÉ: Well... when I was 14 and making my numerous wanderings trying to break into comics, I got this offer to work at the office of a small comics publisher. I lived in the suburbs with my parents and had a 45minute trip to the city. At the office I did a lot of things, and it was good for me because of the learning involved. At one time it had been a big company, but it had financial trouble and was bought by a person related to the printer. I was, at one point, the only employee, so I did lettering 7

Previous Page: José, the pirate king. A selfportrait. Above: A festive panel from “Roland, el Corsario.”

Above: Panel from “El Doncel.” Right: Pages from “La Profecia” (1969) and “La Devocion de la Cruz.” Next Page: Two splash pages—one from “La Guardia Suiza,” and one from “El Arpa Rota.” All characters and artwork ™ and ©2005 respective owners

and paste-up, drew some covers, retouched negatives for offset printing, went to the printer, ran errands, etc., and every time I could, I went down to the basement where their comics archive was at my disposal. When I was 16—after learning a lot there—I realized it was not enough, so I went to art school. I went three times a week from 6 pm to 9 pm. Those days I didn’t go home until night, and between 2 pm—the time I left work—and 6 pm, I went to different bars near the school and worked on the scripts I was getting on the side. I remember doing a whole comic—seven pages—in those bars. Sometimes I even inked there. Now... this thing with the bars needs a little explanation. The “café bar” in Argentina was something similar to those in France, Spain, or Italy. If you know those places or have seen European movies, you’ll get the idea. I could spend hours there with a couple of coffees

and a sandwich. So, I was a “regular.” I sat in the bar section, where people played cards and billiards, and there were plenty of characters to do sketches of—I even used them in my stories—they were very good for Western saloon scenes. Everything went fine until the bar owner discovered I was under age. So, I had to move to the “family” section, usually a place for couples—quieter and better for working, but boring. When not working in the bars, I used to go a lot to the movies and to bookstores—used bookstores mainly. One year later, I left the comics publisher for a small advertising company, and because it was near the school, I enjoyed more time in the city. About a year after that, I finished school and left the ad company and started to work freelance for Squiu, a Catholic publisher, where I did a science-fiction story. Then Charlton, through an agent, and later Columba, where I did most of my professional work in Argentina. I did not have to commute at that point; I was working at home, getting up late and working until very late, the day before a deadline not sleeping at all.

JOSÉ: Breccia taught illustration for fiction, children’s books, and advertising. I remember having to illustrate James Joyce; it was hard, but worth the effort, and an example of the kind of assignments he asked for.

MM: Was this art school the Escuela Panamericana de Arte? JOSÉ: Yes, it was. MM: Was it an all-ages school?

MM: What do you consider to be the most important lesson you took from art school?

JOSÉ: Yes, it was. I guess that most of those who attended were 15 to 30 years old, but there were a few more mature people, 50-year-olds or so. I remember a middle-aged lady who was an excellent painter—but with no training in drawing—who took courses there.

JOSÉ: With the perspective of years: the idea that you never really learn everything in a few years. It takes more—a whole lifetime. In the school we had veteran professionals who were actively working in advertising, publishing, and comics, but they were still evolving, doing things better from one job to the next. With that example you realize that you have to learn the basics... and then you have to continue the learning by yourself. Let’s call it a continuing education.

MM: Were you studying drawing only, or were you taking classes in different mediums, like painting or sculpture? JOSÉ: The first year was the basic curriculum: anatomy, perspective, drawing from casts and live models. Later on, the use of different tools and mediums, and then the practical application of illustration, children’s books, advertising, comps, lettering, etc.—and even comic books.

MM: Did you enjoy the job at the ad agency, or was it just a matter of convenience to work there? JOSÉ: Yes, I did enjoy it. Before that I had an almost paternalistic relationship with my boss in my former job.

MM: Didn’t you have Alberto Breccia as an instructor there? What class did he teach? 9

Part 2:

“I Really Felt Very Welcome at DC”

MM: What made you decide to move to the United States?

here, and besides—and most importantly—I didn’t have a deadline to finish this job by.

JOSÉ: The movies, the TV series, the comic strips, the music, and all the social and cultural changes going on at that time, first in places like New York, and then influencing the rest of the world. But then, I grew up with a large amount of American culture, so it was almost natural to decide to come here.

MM: Luis Dominguez introduced you to DC and Western when you arrived. Did you know Luis beforehand? JOSÉ: Only his work. I first met him in New York, the same day he brought me to Western, DC, and Marvel. MM: How did you get in touch with Luis?

MM: When did you make the move?

JOSÉ: When I arrived here, I had with me a couple of phone numbers. One was for Luis Dominguez and the other was for the cartoonist Arnaldo Franchioni, “Francho,” who used to work for Mad magazine among others. I didn’t know them personally, but I got their phone numbers from people I knew in Argentina. I thought it would be good to have someone to call if I had problems. The first person I called was Franchioni, because I was staying in a hotel and basically I wanted to find out if there was an apartment for rent in the area. Five days later, I rented an apartment near Times Square in the area that was known at the time as “Hell’s Kitchen.” After I got the apartment I started looking for work. I had the address for National Publications— or DC—which I got from the old comics I had in Argentina. The address led me to 3rd Avenue, but when I got there I was told they had moved to 75 Rockefeller Center. So I went there, but I couldn’t find their office. I didn’t know that Rockefeller was a complex of buildings—it was very difficult for me. I was frustrated because I couldn’t find DC. Then I called Luis Dominguez, and I told him that I was trying to get to DC to show my samples and to

JOSÉ: At the end of 1974. MM: Did you have work lined up before you moved— perhaps with Charlton—or were you just hoping things would work out for the best? JOSÉ: No, I didn’t make any contact ahead of time. I just trusted my luck. MM: How long did it take for you to adjust to your new environment? Was there any culture shock? JOSÉ: It didn’t take long. I don’t honestly remember having to adjust. If I ever experienced a culture shock, it was gradual and not a problem. Remember that globalization is not a new thing, so I was ready for New York. MM: Was there ever any time when you thought about moving back to Argentina? JOSÉ: No. MM: Did you continue to work for Columba or any of the other Argentine publishers after you moved to the US, or would that have been too difficult? JOSÉ: In the ’80s I did a mini-series for Columba. At that particular time, their rates were superior to those 20

look for work, but I couldn’t find the office. My English was so limited that I couldn’t understand the directions I had been given. Dominguez told me that that was the day he was going to the city. He had to go to Western, to DC, and to Marvel. We met up at Western Publishing on 5th Avenue. He took me into their office and they gave me a script. He introduced me to the people at DC and I got a job to ink over Curt Swan. After that he asked me if I wanted to be introduced at Marvel, and I said, “No, please, I have enough.” [laughter] I didn’t know Luis Dominguez. I was familiar with his work—I even copied some of his work when I was a kid. He was a wonderful person who helped me in so many ways, especially by introducing me to the manners and customs of the city: what to eat, what not to eat, where I should work, where I shouldn’t work. At that time in the ’70s the neighborhood near Times Square wasn't as nice as it is now. [laughter] MM: Who did you talk with at Western?

JOSÉ: I met two people. One was Wallace Green, who was editor-in-chief of that department of Western. The other was an editor whose name I cannot remember. He had a moustache and thick glasses. It’s a pity I forget his name, he was very kind to me. Later on when I went to Western I tried to go at the same time Luis would go, so he could help me with the language problem. I didn’t dare to take the subway—I thought I would get lost. What I did was walk from 9th Avenue and 45th Street to 3rd Avenue. I thought it would be a short walk, but it actually was a long walk. The blocks in Manhattan are very long, and I would always forget about the other avenues I had to cross along the way, like Lexington Avenue and Park Avenue. So I usually was a little late. The editor asked Luis if I was reliable, because I was always late. [laughter] MM: What did you have in your portfolio? Did you have your work from Argentina or your Charlton work? 21

Left: From mildmannered Clark Kent to Superman, the Man of Steel. DC style guide art from 1998. Above: Pages from the Eternity Watch mini-series, published by Columba in the ’80s. This series is the only work José has done for an Argentine publisher since his move to the US in the early ’70s. Superman ™ and ©2005 DC Comics. Eternity Watch ™ and ©2005 Editorial Columba.

Above: These Big Ben Bolt samples didn’t win José a newspaper strip, but they did help him get work from DC. Next Page: During his early days at DC, José was often paired with Filipino artist Ernie Chan. Here José inks Chan’s pencils for the cover of Flash #238. Inks Flash ™ and ©2005 DC Comics. Big Ben Bolt ™ and ©2005 King Features Syndicate, Inc.

JOSÉ: Basically what I brought from Argentina were the historical stories, the book adaptations, things like that. MM: So you took the actual printed copies of your work. You didn’t have samples of your inks or samples of your pencils? JOSÉ: No, no, I didn’t bring any pencils. I did do a few things especially for my portfolio. I did three sample strips of Big Ben Bolt, because I was aware that they were looking for someone to replace John Cullen Murphy, who at that time was taking over Prince Valiant. The people at Columba had told me about it, and I went and tried my luck at King Features. [laughs] 22

Back in Argentina, we felt that syndicated newspaper strips were more important than comics. We knew all the syndicated characters there, so for us the comic book characters were secondary. I also did two to four pages of continuity—something with gangsters or spies, I think—just to have an example of my work. But I guess the most important thing for the editors was to see what I already had published. It was a good amount of work, and I suppose they liked it. MM: Who did you talk with at DC? Most of your first work for DC was for Julie Schwartz, so I assume you talked with him that first day.

I had brought in to show. Those Ben Bolt strips and the continuity pages, with good-looking girls and guys, some romance, some action—I suppose my inking style was okay for that story. It was a short story—five pages, I guess—of “The Private Life of Clark Kent.”

JOSÉ: My first experience at DC was terrific, because I met everybody that day. I met Joe Orlando, Julie Schwartz, Murray Boltinoff, Sol Harrison, Infantino, Paul Levitz. I don’t know, a lot of people. I think the first person we saw was Joe Orlando. Then he started calling everybody over to look at my samples.

MM: Your first jobs for DC were inking jobs. Were they just making sure you were reliable before they gave you penciling assignments?

MM: It makes sense that you saw Joe Orlando first, since Luis did so much work for his mystery books.

JOSÉ: What I remember is the first job I did for DC was the “Clark Kent” story. Then after that I did a short story, pencils and inks, for Joe Orlando.

JOSÉ: Yeah, yeah, you’re right. But Dominguez used to do stuff for everybody over there, not only Orlando. But basically you are right, most of his stuff was for Joe Orlando.

MM: Was that for Weird War Tales?

MM: That must have been a whirlwind of a day, meeting so many people in one day.

JOSÉ: Yeah. And then I did a 17page story, pencils and inks. At the same time I did some inks here and some pencils there.

JOSÉ: Oh, yeah. [laughter] It was terrific, because it was not the way I was used to working in Argentina, where you met the president of the company after many, many months of working for them. I really felt very welcome at DC. I felt very, very happy with the reception I received. [laughter] And especially because they didn’t know Dominguez was bringing someone up to show their samples.

MM: Okay, I guess your work wasn’t published in the same order in which you worked on it. In your first year or two at DC you inked a few Ernie Chan jobs, Dick Dillin, Irv Novick, and we already mentioned Curt Swan. How did you feel about inking other people? Was that a difficult adjustment for you? JOSÉ: Well, it was something new for me. It wasn’t the way things were done in Argentina. There you did the whole thing. If you had an assistant, you would ink the figures and the important backgrounds, and leave everything else for the assistant to ink. But I don’t think I had any problems inking another penciler. Besides, those other pencilers

MM: Well they must have liked you quite a bit to immediately give you an inking job over Curt Swan’s pencils, even if it was a back-up story. JOSÉ: In this case, I suppose it was because of the work 23

Right: “The Music of Minox”—a six-page story published in Starstream #1 in 1976—was José’s only job for Whitman. Below: Detail from the splash page of Hercules Unbound #2. Next Page: Page one, page four, and a detail, all from “Mister Mxyzptlk’s Circus Caper.” This story had actually been written off before being pulled out of inventory to be published as a back-up in Superman #351 in 1980. Of course, the credits had to be updated, as Denny O’Neil had long since stopped using his Sergius O’Shaugnessy moniker. Hercules Unbound, Mxyzptlk, Superman ™ and ©2005 DC Comics. The Music of Minox ™ and ©2005 respective owner.

I only remember a few of the regular books I did at that time. There was “Jonah Hex” and Hercules Unbound. But everything else, I would start something, and the deadlines would catch up to me and they would give me something else. MM: Like the “Hawkman” back-up stories in Detective. JOSÉ: Yeah, I remember those. MM: Did you like “Hawkman” a little more than— JOSÉ: No. [laughter] MM: You didn’t enjoy “Hawkman”? JOSÉ: No. MM: What about it did you not like? JOSÉ: I don’t know. I was having a hard time with super-heroes. It wasn’t what I liked to draw. I was okay doing westerns; I was okay doing Hercules Unbound. I was okay, I guess, even doing Superman, but other characters... I just didn’t have the feel for them. MM: What made Hercules Unbound more enjoyable for you? JOSÉ: I guess, it was because I had the chance to create something. I could do

things with those characters that I could not do with the established characters. At that time, I did several Superman stories and covers also. Superman was sacred; you had to kneel before the character and do him in a certain way. That was very hard for me. When I had the chance to create something myself, I felt a sense of freedom. MM: How did the book come about? Did they approach you with the idea of a new book, or did you ask for something new? JOSÉ: They offered it to me. I don’t remember asking for any specific job. Everything I’ve done is because they felt that I was able to do it. MM: So you designed the Hercules character? JOSÉ: Yes.

MM: Did you do a lot of sketches of different costumes, or did you know what you wanted from the start?

Jack Kirby, so I thought you might have seen that. JOSÉ: A lot of very good artists I came to know better once I was here in America. I might have heard their names in Argentina, but I never had a chance to see their stuff.

JOSÉ: It was a very simple costume. I don’t think we spent too much time on it. MM: Was the approval process fairly easy?

MM: What did you think of Wood’s inks over your pencils? He tended to make everyone’s pencils look like Wally Wood, and he did that to some degree with you, as well.

JOSÉ: Yeah, it wasn’t a big deal. Later on with other characters, it was different. For instance, Atari Force took a long time and had to go through a lot of people before we were given a go-ahead. But in this case it went pretty fast. I did two, three, four sketches of the character and gave them the chance to choose one. It was the same process I went through with the covers.

JOSÉ: The only thing I regret about it was to not have the Wally Wood from a few years earlier. To be honest, Wallace Wood was a great artist, and great artists can be very good inkers and improve another penciler’s work, but I don’t think Wally Wood at that time was at his best. It was an honest job, but for my

MM: On Hercules Unbound you worked with Wally Wood. Were you familiar with his work before you came to America? JOSÉ: No, I became familiar with his work here. Remember, in Argentina we knew a lot about the comic strips. MM: Well, he had worked in comic strips. He inked the Sky Masters strip over

From Outer Space to New Orleans and Back

MM: Star Raiders was the first graphic novel published by DC, and the first time you colored your work for an American publisher. Did you use colored pencils for the figure work and then go in with watercolors? JOSÉ: When I first started, I didn’t have a clue how to do it, really. I did color at art school, but the coloring we did at Columba were only guides for the printer. You would put a sheet of paper over the original, and with color pencils you would show what colors you wanted. Most of the

time the printer would use some other colors or the wrong intensity of the colors. [laughs] In this case, it was direct color, and the first 20 pages I was just figuring out what to do. After those pages I knew more or less what I wanted and how to get the results I was looking for. I’m really happy with the drawings, but I’m not happy with the coloring. If I had to color again, I would prepare myself better beforehand. But, you know, it was something they put in front of me. I told Joe Orlando I had never done coloring, and gave him every reason I could think of

why I shouldn’t do it. I told Andy Helfer, too. I met Andy over the phone at that time. MM: He was a special projects editor then. JOSÉ: Yes. But they convinced me. Joe told me, “No, you can do it. Go ahead, I trust you.” And so I did the job. MM: That says a lot about their faith in you that they would give you a job doing something you’d never done before. JOSÉ: What happened was it wasn’t originally meant to be a graphic novel. First of all, this was related to Atari and their video games; they had a game called Star Raiders. The idea was to do comic book stories with painted art that were related to the games. There was a list of four to six projects they were going to do at the same time. I remember Ernie Colón was doing one, which later on was published as a graphic novel, also. Atari was supposed to publish the stories in a magazine with two or three stories, 20 pages each, in each issue. While all this was getting started, I don’t know what happened, but DC decided to publish the stories themselves, only as graphic novels, and they chose the one I was doing to be the first one.

just drawing the story. Then they called and told me they were going to publish it as graphic novel and they were going to have to change part of the story and the ending. MM: Did you have to change anything in what you had already finished? JOSÉ: No, I had only done about 20 pages, and the changes they had to make were later in the story. At that point I only had the script for the first chapter, which was 20 pages—I didn’t know how the story was going to end yet. MM: How did you prepare for the job? Did you do a lot of preliminary work since you were coloring the book, too?

MM: So it was originally intended to be serialized in a magazine—something similar to Heavy Metal?

JOSÉ: Yes, I did a lot of warm-up drawing, especially with the coloring. But before that, we created the characters, and because it was in the beginning solely an Atari property, they had to approve everything. We had to pay special attention to the design of the characters—we worked closely with Andy Helfer on that. He provided me with ideas, suggestions, photostats, to help me understand the look that they wanted. Then I did several color sketches and eventually we agreed on the look for the two central characters. I got photostats of the Hukkas;

JOSÉ: Yeah, something like that. MM: Had you already started work on the story before they switched formats? JOSÉ: Most of the book I did while I was in Miami Beach, so I wasn’t aware of a lot of what was happening—I was 47

the proper preparation. I was learning on the job. MM: Did you start on Atari Force right after finishing Star Raiders? JOSÉ: I think so. MM: You had to go through the approval process all over again, right? JOSÉ: Oh, yeah. By that time I was back in New York, so I went to the office every week and was more aware of what was happening than I was while living in Florida. But, yes, for Atari Force I did a lot of sketches, and those sketches were revised by everybody, from the editor to the writer to the publisher. We spent several days working on this—meetings with Andy Helfer and Gerry Conway. MM: Was it your idea for Professor Venture to always be smoking a cigar? JOSÉ: I think that was my idea. [laughs] You know what? When you aren’t sure what to do with a character’s hands, it’s always nice to put something in their hands. At that time it was still okay to show someone smoking a cigar. But I think it was my idea. I don’t think Gerry was smoking then. [laughter] MM: I think it also added to her personality. She didn’t get a lot of face time, but when she’s there she really stands out. Did you have a favorite character in the series?

they were already created by Ross Andru and Dick Giordano for the mini-comics. MM: So the Atari Force mini-comics had already been done before you started Star Raiders?

JOSÉ: Morphea and Dart. Tempest to a lesser degree. Babe was fun to do as well—and Pakrat.

JOSÉ: Yeah. In Atari Force I had to use Martin Champion and the spaceship from the mini-comics. MM: You used a couple of the other characters, too, but they were only around in a few panels. Looking back, did you enjoy the coloring process? Would you like to try it again sometime? JOSÉ: Yeah, I enjoyed it. I worked twelve hours a day on that story, with the help of my wife, but I was into the job and the story and the characters. I really enjoyed it. It was hard work, but it was something new for me— something I had never done before. I remember reading a comment from Bill Sienkiewicz about the coloring—and he was right—“too many colors.” [laughter] But, you know, I was trying to find my way, and it was difficult from one day to the next without time for

MM: What was it about those particular characters that made them favorites? JOSÉ: I guess that the characters I enjoyed most were Morphea and Babe. I don’t know why, because I usually feel more comfortable 48

with a very classical, human form. Perhaps because I was able to play with those characters. Andy scripted one story devoted entirely to Babe, and it was the most fun I had on the series. I wish I had had a similar chance with Morphea. MM: You were on the series for twelve consecutive issues. You obviously had more of a commitment to this series than to any other you worked on. Did you add anything to the plots? Did you have input into the stories? JOSÉ: Well, working with Gerry I had more input than with any other writer, because practically everything I did with him was from plots. I had the freedom to pace the story and use different layouts on the page. Usually I try to see what is important to the story in the plot. I try to follow the writer, of course, because he knows better than I where the story is going. When I see a chance to do something in a different way, sometimes I'll take a chance and change things. Sometimes I’ll talk to the writer first. But it was very, very easy

to work with Gerry and Andy. I don’t remember ever having any problem of any sort. MM: What was it about this book that enabled you to stay with it for so long? JOSÉ: You have to remember that two of those issues were penciled by Ross Andru and I only inked. That gave me a little more time. When we got to the tenth or eleventh issue I was already a little late. They wanted 22 pages, but the reason I was able to keep up was I did 17-page stories and they put in back-up stories. MM: In the letters page, Andy wrote that inking Ross Andru had been one of your professional aspirations. Did you have any input in having Ross come in to pencil those two issues? JOSÉ: No. MM: Was inking his work a pleasant experience? JOSÉ: It was a good experience—and educational— because his pencils are very, very strong. You get everything; you don’t have to change anything. All you have to do is figure out how to bring forward the power of those pencils in the inking. He used to use a very broad pencil stroke, and sometimes you had to choose the width of the line. The only thing I regret is that I never knew what he 49

Far Left: Page 6 of Atari Force #3. Inks by Ricardo Villagran. Left and Above: Pencils for “Fact File” pages which appeared in the back of Atari Force— Pakrat, Morphea, and the Dark Destroyer. Atari Force, Dark Destroyer, Morphea, Pakrat ™ and ©2005 Atari, Inc.

Part 4: MM: For the next few years you worked mostly on the Elseworlds books. Between the historical settings and the finite lengths of the stories, the Elseworlds line really seemed to be tailor-made for you.

Other Worlds and the World Beyond freedom even though it was written full script? JOSÉ: Yeah. You know, I take a lot of liberties when the writer is not clear; when that happens I try

JOSÉ: They certainly kept me busy with those. [laughter] Again, for me it’s easier to work on books that don’t have a deadline. And I liked the storylines. They were more interesting to me than the regular Superman and Batman characters—they were different. MM: The first one you did was Superman: Kal, which was set in the Middle Ages. I guess this gave you another opportunity to pull out your old reference files. JOSÉ: Oh, yeah, sure. MM: What did you use for the painting on the cover? Is that a watercolor? JOSÉ: I used the same tools I used when I worked on Star Raiders, but I was a little more confident by that time. They didn’t use it for the whole cover. MM: It only took up a quarter of the page and ended up being just an element of the cover. JOSÉ: Yeah. I like it. After Star Raiders I didn’t do any coloring until this cover and a cover for The Spectre. It was a nice to do it for a change. MM: How was your working relationship with Dave Gibbons? JOSÉ: Oh, terrific. Because if I were to write, I would probably write in the same way he did. We were on the same wavelength. It was a full script, but only with the obvious indications. MM: So you still had a little 67

This Page: The opening splash page to Atari Force #3. José clearly drew Dart sleeping in the buff—notice the swirl pattern on her skin—and Ricardo Villagran dressed her in the inking stage. Next Page: Twilight promotional art. Twilight and all related characters ™ and ©2005 DC Comics. Atari Force, Dart ™ and ©2005 Atari, Inc.

from two or three centuries ago here in present-day New York, or somebody from one culture transplanted to another, that kind of thing—the differences between cultures. MM: During the early ’90s when Image was so successful and comics were booming, did you consider doing a creator-owned project? Did you think about creating characters you could control without having to worry about what editors thought or what financial troubles Atari was having?

JOSÉ: Oh, yes. I try not to look back, but to look forward. But sometimes you look back and see that a lot of those years were lost, because hopes were not fulfilled. And, of course, I would like to do a project where I could say, “These are my characters,” but you have to just do it. There is a saying that goes something like, “I never made any money, because I spent all my time working.” This is more or less the same thing. That doesn’t mean that if I had done something which I created myself that I was going to make money yesterday, today, or in the future. But perhaps I might have been happier. But I can’t complain, and I don’t regret anything I did. Everything is an experience, and if it’s not useful in this life, then perhaps in the next.

García-López

Art Gallery

Modern Masters Vol. 5: Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez