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No. 9 SUMMER 2008

$6.95

Celebrating the ART of Creating Comics!

Featuring

JOE JUSKO MEL RUBI SCOTT WILLIAMS ROB HAYNES FOUR Interviews! FOUR Galleries!

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

INKERS: WHO NEEDS ’EM?! by Bob McLeod ROUGH CRITIQUE

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Volume 1, Number 9 Summer 2008

Celebrating the ART of Creating Comics! EDITOR

Bob McLeod PUBLISHER

John Morrow DESIGNER

Michael Kronenberg PROOFREADERS John Morrow and Eric Nolen-Weathington COVER ARTIST

Joe Jusko

CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Bob Brodsky, Cookiesoup Productions

ROUGH STUFF INTERVIEW 3

Rob Haynes

Joe Jusko

Mel Rubi

Scott Williams

SPECIAL THANKS Rob Haynes Joe Jusko Mel Rubi

ROUGH STUFF FEATURE 56

Inkers, Who Needs ’Em?! Bob McLeod

Scott Williams Tim Townsend Rudy Vasquez Ruben Azcona

ROUGH STUFF™ is published quarterly by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Bob McLeod, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: ROUGH STUFF, c/o Bob McLeod, Editor, P.O. Box 63, Emmaus, PA 10849-2203. E-mail: mcleod.bob@gmail.com. Fourissue subscriptions: $26 Standard US, $36 First Class US, $44 Canada, $60 Surface International, $72 Airmail International. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Central cover art by Joe Jusko. All characters are copyright Marvel Comics. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2008 Bob McLeod and TwoMorrows Publishing. ROUGH STUFF is a TM of TwoMorrows Publishing. Printed in Canada. FIRST PRINTING.

ISSN 1931-9231

ROUGH STUFF DEPARTMENTS 2

Scribblings From The Editor Bob McLeod

Cover Stories Joe Jusko reveals the process of creating a cover.

PrePro Art by Rob Haynes, Joe Jusko, Scott Williams, and Mel Rubi, done before they turned pro.

Rough Critique Editor Bob McLeod critiques an aspiring penciler’s sample page.

Rough Talk Comments and opinions from our readers.

SUMMER 2008 • ROUGH STUFF

SCRIBBLINGS FROM THE EDITOR:

elcome! I hope you’ve been enjoying Rough Stuff as much as I have these past two years. There are so many super-talented artists drawing comics and I’ve really enjoyed putting these issues together. Although our main focus will always be primarily showing you the preliminary art of comics, some peo-

ple have asked for more reading text in Rough Stuff, so I decided to break format a bit this time, and bring you an interview with every artist, in addition to their comments on their art. When I was interviewing Tim Townsend for issue #7, he mentioned what a big fan he was of artist Rob Haynes. So I thought, who better to interview an artist than their biggest fan? And since Tim’s an artist himself, it’s a double treat! He was a bit nervous about it, having never interviewed anyone before, but he went after it with gusto, and I’m sure you’ll agree he hit a home run his first at-bat. I wasn’t very familiar with Rob Haynes, myself. It’s cool to see an artist throw out convention and totally go his own way. I’m sure you were as wowed by our beautiful cover this issue as I was. Joe Jusko has been painting covers and other comic-related scenes for decades, and just keeps getting better. It’s so great to see an artist who just knows his stuff cold, and serves it up so hot. Joe’s a big John Buscema fan (who isn’t?) and really did up his famous Silver Surfer #1 cover scene in style. Not that he needs Big John’s help to come up with dramatic images. He shows us plenty of his own in this issue, and also shows us the rough stuff underneath the smooth finish, and talks all about it with me in our second interview. Speaking of hot, I was introduced to artist Mel Rubi’s work by his art rep, Ruben Azcona. He was telling me Mel was one of the few newer artists whose pencils still gave an inker a lot of room to contribute, rather than trace. It’s great to see that in a new artist, and it was a pleasure to talk with him a bit. Only trouble is, Mel’s art was being printed directly from the pencils! It seems that practice is becoming more common every year, and I decided to tackle this controversial subject this issue with an article titled “Inkers: Who Needs ’Em??” I’m squarely in the camp that wants inkers to stick around, but you can’t ignore the clouds on the horizon. Well, there’s at least one inker I think we need. I was very happy to interview the man so many other inkers consistently name as the inker they most admire, Scott Williams. One terrific benefit of interviewing an inker is that not only do we get to see his impressive inks, but also the pencils of the artists he inked over! Double the pleasure double the fun, as they say. Then we finish up with my Rough Critique of aspiring artist Rudy Vasquez, who I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to see working for the majors real soon. We close this issue with some of your letters of comment. But as usual, there’s never enough room for everything in these pages, so be sure to check out the Rough Stuff pages of my web site at http://www.bobmcleod.com/roughstuff.htm And don’t forget that Twomorrows is now offering this magazine in digital form as a PDF download at http://www.twomorrows.com, including many images in full color, for just $2.95 (free for subscribers!). Rob Haynes and Scott Williams don’t have web sites, but be sure to visit Joe Jusko at http://www.joejusko.com, and Mel Rubi at www.comicbookartgallery.com. Bob McLeod Editor mcleod.bob@gmail.com www.bobmcleod.com PO Box 63 Emmaus, PA 18049

ROUGH STUFF • SUMMER 2008

INTERVIEW

ROB HAYNES I think I had just finished about five or six characters from

ROB HAYNES

Tim Townsend’s commission list, that I wanted to hand to you all at once. And I remember thinking that they might not

By Tim Townsend

seem like the most

n an industry driven by trends and big name-artists there exists a subculture, one that flies under the radar of the average fan but is well known amongst its peers. This group consists of artists who, for one reason or another, have avoided the limelight or do not have countless volumes of high profile work on the shelves. This group also happens to contain some of the best talent our art form has to offer. Many brandname profes-

exciting characters of the bunch, so I added in this Hellboy to spice it up.

sionals have been intensely influenced by these individuals and regularly refer to them and their work for inspiration and knowledge. One of these quiet geniuses goes by the name of Rob Haynes. Rob has not only influenced an entire generation of artists but has also pioneered a particular style and approach to comic book illustration that has caught on like wildfire. There are those who have been influenced by his work without even realizing it, having been influenced by someone who was influenced by Rob. We [comic artists] are an incestuous lot. In 1998 I had the distinct pleasure of having Rob and his partner in crime, colorist David Self, move into my home as roommates, having been introduced by mutual friend and artist, Casey Jones. For the next four years I witnessed, first hand, Rob’s coming-of-age. I watched him find his voice right before my eyes. At the risk of sounding melodramatic, it changed and influenced me as an artist forever. Rob is not a shy person, but is a man of relatively few words unless he has something to say. He is motivated by neither fame nor money. He is, quite simply, driven to draw “cool pictures.” I realize that a good interviewer does not interject themselves into the subject matter. The focus should be solely on the interviewee. The nature of this conversation with Rob as well as the rich past we share lent itself to personal anecdotes and familiar insights on my part. I wanted to let you, the reader, eavesdrop on one of our classic late-night four-hour blab sessions. SUMMER 2008 • ROUGH STUFF

ROB HAYNES This is a piece I did for Randy and Laura Martin because I heard I might be able to trade them for a copy of the hardcover Authority book she colored. I’ve probably dragged my feet too long to get a copy of that book, but I haven’t finished the Edward Scissorhands picture I did for Randy yet, and I have this stupid idea that I need to send them together. Anyway, this is typi-

TIM TOWNSEND: Tell us a little about yourself,

cally how I work. I

Rob. When and where were you born? Who

started with a doodle

were you as a child that put you on the road to

of these two lovers

creativity and, more in particular, comic books?

fighting back-to-back,

ROB HAYNES: Hey bud! I’m a ’70s kid from

and just kept adding

Charlotte, North Carolina. My mother and father

chaos from there.

were both writing and voicing in radio, and my father created and played a character on TV

BOB McLEOD

called, “Dead Ernest.” He put on face-paint

Laying out this type

with fangs and hopped out of a coffin every

of complex scene

week to host horror movies on local stations in

really baffled me

Charlotte and Atlanta, I think. So, I was around

when I was starting

colorful, creative folks from the beginning. So

out. Where does one

every day I can remember as a child, I was fas-

begin? Neal Adams

cinated with larger-than-life characters with

explained it to me:

superhero costumes and superpowers. Still am.

Decide on the viewpoint and place the center of interest. Then, as I studied John Buscema, I

TOWNSEND: Under those circumstances, how could you be anything other than a comic book artist? That’s fantastic! Which came first, the drawing or the comic books? Usually one seems to lead to the other but not always in the same order.

learned to design

HAYNES: My love for comics definitely came

everything using

first. I drew about as often as any other kid growing up,

who would choreograph ninja fights with me on the roof

diagonals, with large

but a handful of my childhood friends were more artistic

of my garage which always ended with one of us getting

shapes balancing

and polished than I was. I desperately wanted to have the

pinned and suchlike. Also, when you get silly ideas in

small shapes. Finally,

skill, but didn’t have the patience for it. I was more into

your head that everyone around you is better than you at

as I studied Tom

playing outside any chance I got back then. I played

drawing, then you might not put as much time into it.

Palmer, I learned to

some sports, but I also like playing “war” with all the

Know what I mean?

balance blacks

neighborhood kids and their toy guns (my step-dad didn’t

throughout the scene.

allow toy guns for some reason), and I had a girlfriend

ROUGH STUFF • SUMMER 2008

So, I was sure that I would either become a lawyer or an actor. I took some law classes in high school and loved

went to the Outward

ROB HAYNES

years. But I was also at the comic store every

Bound School in the

These were some of

week. A friend of the family who collected

****ing steep North

the first few images

comics, Ruth Castleberry, set up a trip for me to

Carolina Mountains. I

from the animated

Marvel Comics in New York when I was about

was put with a group of

it, and acted in stage plays for about six or seven

15 years old. I did the tour and got

kids who really wanted to be

some free comics out of

there. Some of them applied for

the spinning

scholarships. Me, I was miserable for most of it. I think I was cured of my love for the outdoors. No tents; no cabins; just hike every day with close to

if Flash and Adobe Streamline could handle the style I was finishing my drawings, without degrading the

sixty pounds on your back, and wherever

line quality. Even

we stopped at night, hang up a blue plastic

though I was inking

tarp over ten of us plus the ten million bugs

rack in the lobby — I have

sequence I did to see

most of my work with

for about a month. Actually we all did a lot of

a simple dead line,

great things there, but I just had a typical teenager

that Daredevil pose

attitude about the whole thing.

was one of the first

that comic rack now, thanks to you Tim — and got

Long story short, I got my attitude adjusted. And, I

times I felt that I didn’t

a quick education about how comics were made at

learned maybe my best personal lesson about drawing.

leave too many extra

Marvel. I never thought of it as a real job until then; a cool

We were all spending a 48-hour period solo — no con-

job. But I didn’t have the skill or the practice, or the drive.

tact with each other at all — in some very dense forest. I

I got the drive very soon after in an unlikely place. I

was almost always able to keep myself entertained with

think it was the next summer after visiting Marvel when I

my own thoughts as a kid, but not for 48 hours in a row. We were allowed pencil and paper, but no music or books. And, all I could think was that I wish I could draw well enough to keep myself entertained. Writing alone

shapes and lines out of fear that there wasn’t enough there.

just wasn’t cutting it. It was frustrating. So after that experience at age 15, I really put all my thought and effort into learning how to draw. I sort of thought I would have to explain that lawyers and actors lie for money, and that drawing stories might be a little less dishonest. My parents were mostly hands-off because they both had careers, but on this I received encouragement from them. They even paid for my first trip to San Diego Con a few years later after I graduated high school so I could get advice from editors and artists. TOWNSEND: I love the fact that, of all the various sources of inspiration and stimuli, the one that affected you the most, Outward Bound, had the least to do with art or comics. I can relate in a roundabout way having gone through a very structured and militant

training in art school. When you’re pushed to your limits, things have a way of falling

SUMMER 2008 • ROUGH STUFF

INTERVIEW

JOE JUSKO By Bob McLeod

orking as a NYC police officer wasn’t tough enough for Joe Jusko, so he decided to become one of the best fantasy artists in the world. He set the standard for painted trading cards with his 1992 Marvel Masterpieces cards, and his awesome 1995 Burroughs cards. He’s won two “Favorite

Painter” Wizard Fan Awards, several trading card awards, a Burroughs Bibliophiles Golden Lion Award and a Chesley Award nomination for best cover in 2001. He also recently painted a graphic novel based on Lara Croft and won a Certificate of Merit from the Society of Illustrators. And to really rub it in, he’s a very nice guy.

JOE JUSKO

BOB McLEOD: Hi, Joe.

JUSKO: Every graduating

Welcome to Rough Stuff,

class had awards granted

and thanks for that beau-

from different companies

tiful cover! We all have to

to the top student in each

start somewhere. What

of the art majors that the

was the first pro painting

school taught. I was an

you ever did? Do you

Illustration major, but

remember?

somehow received the

JOE JUSKO: I got really

Cartooning award from

lucky in that regard! I had

DC. It was a congratula-

just graduated from

tory letter from Sol

NYC’s High School of Art

Harrison on DC letter-

& Design, and despite

head and a $25 gift cer-

Sketch

winning DC Comics’

tificate to an art supply

I was looking for an

“Award of Excellence” in

store. I still have the letter

image that evoked

cartooning I had decided

framed in my studio, and I

memories of the orig-

that I wanted to paint,

used the gift certificate to

inal Enric covers

instead.

buy my first brushes and

Vampirella Tree

tubes of paint! $25 went

from the Warren magazines. It’s

McLEOD: Whoa! Tell me

a long way in 1977!

become the most

about this Award of

(laughs) The award was

Excellence. What was it,

incredibly reassuring and

and what did it mean?

obviously much appreciated,

popular Vampi image I’ve painted.

ROUGH STUFF • SUMMER 2008

of the sample pieces I painted for a cover! I was 17

JOE JUSKO

years old at the time. I don’t remember what they paid

Heavy Metal

me (I think it was $250) but I would have given them the

June ’78

painting for free had they asked, as Heavy Metal was the

My very first pub-

“It” magazine of the time and getting a cover was a very big deal! By the way, Chaykin hates the name “Howie”! I’m sure wherever he is, his ears are perking like a Dachshund hearing a dog whistle! (laughs)

lished cover. Were I to paint this today the only change I would make would be to

McLEOD: Yeah, I know. I think of him more as a

shoot a model for the

Doberman, though. Hi, Howard! Wow, 17 years old! I’m

figure. The composi-

impressed. Do you remember what issue of Heavy Metal

tion still works fine.

that first painting was used for?

It’s actually been

JUSKO: As I remember, it was the June 1978 cover. I

cropped by about 4"

know who owns it, and I’ve been trying to track him

on the top and bottom

down to get it back. It would be nice to have for senti-

to fit the magazine.

mental reasons if nothing else.

evidenced by the fact that I still have it all these years later! The irony for me has always been that DC has given me almost no work in the past 30 years. One of those things that make you go “Hmmm?.” McLEOD: Don’t get me started on irony in the comic book business. So what did you do next? JUSKO: I spent the gift certificate money I received on a sampling of paints; everything from watercolors to oils. I played with them all over that summer and ended up with a couple of decent mixed media pieces, since I was teaching myself and didn’t really have a handle on any particular medium. McLEOD: How did you transition from talented amateur to published pro? JUSKO: That fall I met Howard Chaykin in a Greenwich Village comic shop, and was hired as his assistant based on those few painting samples. McLEOD: Meeting the right people can really be key. If I hadn’t met Neal Adams, I’d probably have had an entirely different career. So Howie helped you? JUSKO: During that period I was doing backgrounds and painted effects on Empire, Cody Starbuck and various comic stories, including all of the backgrounds on a Red Sonja backup story for Savage Sword of Conan. Eventually, he sent me up to Heavy Metal magazine to meet with editor Julie Simmons and she purchased one SUMMER 2008 • ROUGH STUFF

INTERVIEW

MEL RUBI By Bob McLeod

el Rubi is yet another in the long line of great Filipino comic artists. There must be something in the water over there. He’s worked for Valiant, Marvel, and Dark Horse and just keeps getting better with every job. If you’re unfamiliar with his work, as I was, you’re going to be glad you picked up this issue of Rough Stuff.

BOB McLEOD: Thank you for agreeing to this interview, Mel. I just recently discovered your work when

McLEOD: 1993! I didn’t realize you’d been around that long. What was your first assignment?

Ruben Azcona mentioned you to me, but I

RUBI: Dr. Strange was my very first series to have

know you’ve been working in comics for a

drawn as a rookie. At that time, I wasn’t

few years now. How did you first break

that thrilled to work on this title. I

into comics? Was Marvel the first publisher

would’ve preferred something along the

to give you work?

X-Men line. Who wouldn’t, right? But after

MEL RUBI: It took almost three years to finally

awhile I started to feel the character and

break in. I remember standing in line for

began to have fun with it.

many hours for a portfolio review and just when it was

McLEOD: Did you have a favorite prior Dr.

my turn to show my work the

Strange artist?

editors would say that they will no

RUBI: I would have to say Michael Golden

longer review for the day.

was inspiring when he took on Dr. Strange.

McLEOD: Yes, I’ve seen that

McLEOD: Yes, he’s always inspiring on whatev-

happen before at conven-

er he does, but my favorite Dr. Strange artist was

tions! How frustrat-

probably Gene Colan, inked by Tom Palmer. So

ing for you!

what happened to cause you to leave Dr.

RUBI: It was awful!

Strange?

But with patience and

RUBI: Just when I got comfortable with the book

endurance, I succeeded with

they pulled me away to work on a cooler charac-

not only one publisher but two

ter called the Punisher. Well, hopefully, there’ll

at Wonder Con back in 1993.

come a time for Dr. Strange and me to reunite.

Marvel and Valiant loved my art! And the rest is history.

McLEOD: Well, I think Dr. Strange is way cooler than the Punisher, so I hope

ROUGH STUFF • SUMMER 2008

BOB McLEOD I can definitely see the Michael Golden influence in this Dr. Strange commission piece. But the more realistic anatomy

Courtesy Ruben Azcona

makes it his own.

SUMMER 2008 • ROUGH STUFF

Inkers, Who

N By Bob McLeod

o doubt the vast majority of comic book readers probably haven’t even noticed, but with the advent of computer coloring in recent years, more and more comic books have been printed directly from the pencils, with no bothersome inking involved. The colorist gets scans of the pencils and simply adjusts the gray pencil line to appear black. Some cleanup is required, but it’s much less trouble than inking

the page. A good example of this phenomenon is the recent work of artist Mel Rubi, who’s featured in this issue. His Spider-Man/Red Sonja miniseries was printed directly from his pencils. It looks pretty similar to any other current comic, except that the rendering is a bit lighter, but the coloring more than compensates for that. This begs the question, is inking at all necessary anymore? Are comic book inkers doomed to extinction? Will they soon be shown the door and asked to turn the lights off in the ink room as they leave? Well no, because there is no ink room. All comic artists either mail,

n’t the inker add anything to the pencils? Usually and

e-mail or upload their work these days. But publishers are

hopefully they do, yes, but not nearly so much as they

always looking for ways to cut costs, and using an

used to. I love this Rumsfeld trick of asking and answer-

inker adds anywhere from $2500 to $3000 to

ing my own questions, don’t you? Well,

the cost of producing a comic. I’ve been told

no, er, maybe... but just what does

Marvel pays the colorists extra for the clean-

the inker do, anyway? Sadly, to my

ing-pencils trick, and they also pay the pen-

eternal chagrin, few people real-

ciler extra to pencil so clean, so if that’s

ly know the answer to this mys-

the case there’s probably not much

terious question. More than once

monetary advantage to skipping the

I’ve told someone I inked a comic and

inks. Yet the number of uninked comics seems to be increasing, and

their reply was “You mean you colored it?” Or even worse, “You mean you traced the drawing with

less rendering-intensive styles could

ink?” How did we ever get to this sorry pass, anyway?

be developed that are much easier to

Just what is an inker? Or maybe the question will soon

print uninked. Rendering styles are

be “what was an inker?”

constantly changing anyway and the

Traditionally, before computers and digitalization, the

market would adjust to whatever style

printer’s camera couldn’t discern a gray pencil line well

is adopted.

enough, so inking was necessary to make a clear black

“But waitaminit” you say; or if you don’t say it I will. “Hey, waitaminit here!” Can the penciler really draw

cleanly enough to do without the inker? Well, many can, sure, if they want to take the time and trouble. But does-

ROUGH STUFF • SUMMER 2008

line that would print well, and the inker made clean, hopefully attractive rendering lines in ink and added or

Needs ’Em?! Gil Kane and Tom Palmer Man-Thing #10 (Marvel, 1974) In the ’70s, Gil Kane’s dynamic pencils became increasingly more open with sparse rendering. Tom Palmer’s lush thickthin ink style added layer upon layer of intricate detail that was not in the pencils. It was this kind of detailed rendering that inspired me and others as inkers, and also inspired the next generation of pencilers.

Scan courtesy Heritage

SUMMER 2008 • ROUGH STUFF

INTERVIEW

SCOTT WILLIAMS D

By Bob McLeod

oes anyone who reads comics not know who Scott Williams is? He’s of course best known as Jim Lee’s long-time inker, but he’s of course inked several other top artists as well. Other inkers use him as a

study guide, as he’s generally considered the “inker’s inker.” He’s also a great guy, and I was excited

to get a chance to interview him for Rough Stuff.

BOB McLEOD: Scott, welcome to Rough Stuff! Many

although I also use Rotring Rapidoliners as well. They are

other inkers tell me that among the inkers working today,

rapidographs with disposable cartridges and tips, which

you’re the one they most admire. They’ll all be dying to

aren’t nearly the maintenance

know so I must ask: I assume you use the usual Hunt 102

nightmare that tradition-

nib and Raphael 8404 #2 brush, but if not, can you tell us

al rapidographs

what tools and ink you typically use and prefer? SCOTT WILLIAMS: You are correct about which tools I use specifically,

ROUGH STUFF • SUMMER 2008

usually

SCOTT WILLIAMS Wolverine trading card From an X-Men card set circa mid ’90s. Looks okay, but now I think Wolvie should be beefier. I guess I was thinking that this is Wolverine using his tracking skills, but I have no idea what he’s looking for. Wolverine TM & ©2008 Marvel Characters, Inc.

are. The problem is that they are no longer made, and

always hated rapidographs until I found them, because

I’ve been trying to buy what I can off of eBay, where the

they always clogged. I can leave the cap off my

supply is really dwindling. If anyone out there has a

Rapidoliners for weeks and pick them up, shake them a

stockpile of .17 or .25 cartridges, drop me a line and I’ll

little, wet the tip a bit and they’re up and running. I use

make it worth your while!

the .25 and .35. I’m really sorry to hear they’ve been discontinued. I used them for panel borders and straight

McLEOD: Well you can’t have mine! I thought I was the

lines. I could even get some line variation with them by

only one who had discovered those Rapidoliners! I

pressing down harder or easier. I love those pens.

SUMMER 2008 • ROUGH STUFF

Rough Stuff #9