Hot Shot of the Week Companion Feature
Ten Question About Manhunter #31 With Michael Gaydos
Russell Burlingame reporting for Comic Related
ComicRelated: You on this book feels a lot like home; it looks more like the early issues, than the five-issue "cancellation reprieve" arc did. How were you approached about working on Manhunter?
Michael Gaydos: Well I know Marc from way back. I remember at one point, while he was working on the series and I was in between projects , I contacted him to consider me for any fill-ins or one-shots. I really enjoyed what I saw of the book and thought the Manhunter character was very cool. Nothing really came of it. I eventually started work on some other book and Manhunter came to an untimely end.
Flash forward to San Diego last year and Marc and I started talking about working together and maybe pitching a project to Marvel. I also had the honor of drawing my very first Manhunter in his sketchbook.
We caught up with each other again in Spain a few months later for a con and while we discussed other projects the idea of me possibly coming onboard Manhunter came up. Needless to say, I was all for it.
CR: The work I think you're most closely identified with is Alias. After taking some time out in the middle to do some different types of books to show your range, does coming back to a female lead who's only a borderline superhero character, with an espionage background, feel like home to you, as well?
MG: Yeah, it feels great. It's not too bad a job having to draw a female lead. I hope I can bring both a sense of strength and vulnerability to Kate.
CR: Skipping ahead a little, that last sequence (with the hand) is kind of graphic. Were you a little cautious about how to draw stuff like that when real people, living in the world right now, have relatives who are still missing in Juarez? It's not like Torso, where it was all history by the time it was written.
MG: Good question. I feel that since we are dealing with some serious topics the art really ought to convey a realism and emotion in much the same way as you would see it in one of the CSI, or Law and Order shows. Yes, this is still esssentially a book about someone that goes around in a costume fighting bad guys, but it can be that as well as having a realistic darker tone when needed.
CR: This is the first time I've seen Iron Munro for more than a page, in years. Did you do a little redesigning?
MG: Not much. The look was already established. I just fleshed him out a bit.
CR: You know what else you got to draw besides superheroes? Skulls! Between Atomic Skull and Director Bones, you had a high proportion of characters with no skin. Does that make it harder to give them an animated feel or to put personality on the page?
MG: I know! Isn't that great? I'm thinking about trying to get Marc to have a few more skully people pop in every once in awhile.
At first I thought it might be difficult, but there is an incredble amont of expression that can be conveyed with lighting and body gesture. The same rules that I use when working with a fleshed out character can still be applied and I think it still comes across well.
CR: With that initial fight scene--is it a challenge to depict the metal being warped and damaged, in a way that won't have all the fans asking, "How did she not break all the bones in her hand?"
MG: It's a learning process with each new project and family of characters. Before I get a few issues out and under my belt, I'm sure I'm going to get a lot of "that's not how she used to look" or "this isn't how things used to be depicted".
I love what the previous artists did with the character of Kate both in and out of costume. I tried to keep true to much of this, while bringing in my own style and choices.
CR: The panel where Kate as a child is hiding under the bed? Great stuff. You really carried over a consistent look for the character at her normal age and as a small child, while still making the difference obvious. Is that a challenge?
MG: I think I just got lucky it worked out that way. :-) It wasn't as important for me to get a likeness as it was to get that look in her face.
CR: Once it's colored, it's a little easier...but as a penciller who's looking at lines on the page, how difficult is it to make a group of minority characters who look distinct and don't fall back on racial stereotypes?
MG: The thing again is to get the right gesture and emotion across and look beyond who or what the person is but actually what they are thinking and feeling. Because for the most part that is pretty universal.
CR: Where'd that blood come from? The head looks so much like Dylan that one would think it had to be fake, right...?
MG: I'm sure it will all be explained :-)
CR: I'm about 99% sure that Andreyko has confirmed on the Internet that Mark Shaw is going to be the new Azrael, and it's been discussed that DC is hesitant to use the original look for the character becuase of its connection to Joe Quesada. Do you get to be the guy to design the new look?
MG: Only if the're crazy. I'm sure there are many other artists that can do a better job than I. I would love to give my input, though, on things that would be fun for me to draw ;-)
Click here for Hot Shot of the Week
Review of Manhunter #31
Hot Shot of the Week Companion Feature
Russell Burlingame Interviews Marc Andreyko On Manhunter #31
Page last updated on June 7, 2008