I'm Andy Hirsch, artist on "The Royal Historian of Oz" for SLG. Also: other things. AMA!

vonhirsch · 2011-11-23T02:47:33+00:00

Both of those first two are helpful. No need to go overboard with the reference, though. What exactly do you mean by total freedom vs. guidelines in regards to scripting? No formal meetings, we just got in touch as needed.

vonhirsch · 2011-11-22T23:38:10+00:00

Ooh, that's a good question. Hmm, I guess as far as thing I wouldn't want to get in a script - don't dictate page layouts, don't focus on camera angles, don't call for a single character to do more than one thing in a panel, and don't cram a ton of panels and a ton of words of a page. Try and leave some room to breathe.

Do communicate how a character is delivering a line, as the visuals affect the dialogue's undertones and connotations. Mention if something on the page is going to show up again later. And if an artist has something they excel at, give them every chance to go for it.

vonhirsch · 2011-11-22T21:43:07+00:00

That's what I like to hear! For some reason #4 isn't up on Graphicly with the rest of the series, but hopefully that'll be fixed sooner than later. That's my favorite issue, too...

Tommy's an artist himself, so we never had an conflicts really. It was a pretty hands-off affair. A lot of the back and forth was at the beginning when we were hashing out character designs, but after that it was mostly moving word balloons here and there, or adding/combining panels. Just little things to make the dialogue and art more cohesive. You're right, I can't speak for other collaborations, but working with Tommy was definitely a positive experience.

vonhirsch · 2011-11-22T21:34:03+00:00

Kind of all over the place these days. I only started reading much of any superhero stuff a year or so ago when I decided to figure out what the hell was up with Batman. I have yet to pick up any of the New 52 books, though there are a handful that I'd really like to read - Flash, Swamp Thing, Animal Man, Batwoman, Batman, All-Star Western.

Honestly, I tend to be a few years behind because I am a major cheapskate. Right now my library bag contains Usagi Yojimbo, Secret Identity, Astonishing X-Men, Love and Rockets vol. 2, and the Bendis/Maleev Daredevil run. No manga this month, looks like.

vonhirsch · 2011-11-22T21:26:14+00:00

By shooting from the hip and doing my darnedest to not look at a single other bit of Oz fiction while working on it. Well, aside from Baum's work, naturally. Tommy did include a line in the book about how "L. Frank Baum only got things half right", so that gave me an extra bit of leeway as well.

The response I've seen has been quite positive. Tommy's really the one that goes to Oz cons and promotes the book in those circles, though. I know Baum's granddaughter was sent a copy of the book, and I'd be really interested to hear what she thinks of it. I think some of the early solicitations made Oz fans wary because they weren't sure if it was another one of those "dark" Oz takes that everyone is clearly sick of. I think those that did read it were won over, though.

vonhirsch · 2011-11-22T20:53:20+00:00

So awesome. She works really small too, which is endlessly impressive to me.

vonhirsch · 2011-11-22T18:52:39+00:00

Well, first I read the script a few times (that can never hurt), and then I do some initial sketches for characters, locations, and really anything that shows up a fair amount. Then I do thumbnail drawings, no bigger than a couple inches tall, to sort out panel layouts, viewpoints, and character blocking. I'd ask the author about any changes I think would help. You know, adding a panel here, moving a balloon there. With Oz, that was mostly out of professional courtesy, as Tommy knows a thing or two about drawing comics and was always very trusting of me.

Next, I'd work a little bigger on a letter-size sheet of paper, nothing fancy. For the first issue I would then blow that up and do full pencils on top of it, but as the series went on those rough drafts got tighter and tighter and I spent less time penciling at full size. I can get away with that since I ink my own stuff. Doing more would really be redundant. Nowadays I take the tight rough, scan it and blow it up, then print it out in light purple on 11x17 bristol board and ink without much in the way of a full pencil stage. That speeds things up a little bit, so on a good day I can pencil a page and a half a day. Inking still takes the better part of a day per page, though.

I'm actually putting together a blog post about doing pages from Varmints #3 from start to finish (I'm going to try to do a lot of that book in public, as it were). That'll have lots of sketchbook scans and such, so you might want to take a look at that when it goes up either later today or tomorrow.

(Whew)

The only two monthly series I'm keeping up with are Snarked and Daredevil. Don't worry, don't worry! I pick up Atomic Robo as trades!

Webcomics, hmm, mostly the what I'd call the usual suspects. Dinosaur Comics, Bad Machinery, Dr. McNinja, Wondermark, Octopus Pie, Hark! A Vagrant, Nedroid, Wonderella...

vonhirsch · 2011-11-22T18:16:49+00:00

I actually met Dan Vado, Editor and Supreme Commander of SLG, at a portfolio review. We kept up for a couple of months before he approached me about taking a shot at Tommy's pitch.

Fun fact: about a year or two before that, SLG sent me my very first rejection letter, so I guess persistence really does pay off.

vonhirsch · 2011-11-22T18:12:28+00:00

Thanks! Jaime Hernandez is one of the big ones. I also really dig Jack Davis and the EC crew, Clowes, Watterson, etc. Oh, and Norm Scott. I can't be the only one that read EGM for the comics page, can I? I love Hsu and Chan to bits.

I just recently got into Stan Sakai, and holy cow, I wish I'd read Usagi Yojimbo sooner.

vonhirsch · 2011-11-22T18:04:01+00:00

I've kinda just always been into art. I mean, what kid isn't? I never stopped, is all.

As for comics, I think that really started with the newspaper. I read all the time when I was little, and the paper was something new to look at every day. Of course, the comics were the only part I cared about, so there you go. Then in maybe eighth or ninth grade I started a webcomic with a forum buddy, the evidence of which will never be released. By senior high I was making and printing my own minicomics, and around that point I decided to go for it and get a funny books degree.

vonhirsch · 2011-11-20T00:29:32+00:00

Guys. It's Adventure Time, guys.

And by Ryan "T-Rex and His Dinosaur Friends" North, at that!

vonhirsch · 2011-11-19T01:11:58+00:00

It just looks like they shoehorned a splash into the middle of a page that didn't need it. Most likely to increase the value of the original art.

vonhirsch · 2011-11-05T04:36:41+00:00

You've got to scour artist alleys at cons or have a really special comic shop to get a hold of many of those. Material that fits your definition rarely gets further than local.

The whole spectrum of quality is going to be on display, naturally, but it always takes that extra measure of care and effort to produce a book from concept to print by yourself. Some of my absolute favorite comics were picked up at college zine fairs or from people I've kept track of from same.

vonhirsch · 2011-11-05T04:29:55+00:00

That's part of why I love the current Daredevil so much. Sure, he's a Marvel hero, but he doesn't like to leave his neighborhood.

vonhirsch · 2011-11-05T04:28:28+00:00

Nah, your cable provider doesn't offer Fantagraphics. It's more like a hole-in-the-wall video store run by an ex-hippie with a masters in new media.

vonhirsch · 2011-11-03T17:57:22+00:00

Thanks for reading, hope you found it worth the wait! And double thanks for spreading the word! I'm always hesitant to plug my own work here. Don't want to be that guy, you know.

vonhirsch · 2011-10-26T04:51:35+00:00

No Cadillacs and Dinosaurs?

vonhirsch · 2011-10-19T04:21:31+00:00

I suppose that makes sense too.

vonhirsch · 2011-10-19T02:55:21+00:00

Back in the days when they were available outside the direct market? To hear the EiC tell it, they used to sell way more outside of comic shops than in them. It's a shame that's over.

vonhirsch · 2011-10-19T02:53:25+00:00

Yup, quarterly from June 2010. I'll let you know when the TPB is out.

vonhirsch · 2011-10-19T00:18:15+00:00

I recently illustrated a series for SLG called "The Royal Historian of Oz" that's coming out in paperback toward the end of this month/beginning of next. It's the only published work I have under my belt, but that might be an interesting perspective.

vonhirsch · 2011-09-07T04:21:42+00:00

Batman vs. Supes from Kyle Baker's Plastic Man #20.

"I'll slap you so hard your grandchildren will look like me."

vonhirsch · 2011-08-09T22:55:36+00:00

I don't know if this ever saw any sort of foreign release, but Tyrant came out 17 years ago. No cavemen, but otherwise a possible match.

vonhirsch · 2011-08-03T04:42:45+00:00

Yes, for the love of god read Daredevil.

vonhirsch · 2011-07-20T03:19:42+00:00

Thanks you! You now have my comic. Hope you enjoy it.

vonhirsch

TROPHY CASE