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Interview with Artist Justiniano


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The following is an interview with artist Josue Justiniano or better known as just Justiniano who provides the art for two issues of the DC Universe title Doom Patrol, both of which tie-into BLACKEST NIGHT. Brought to you by the Green Lantern Spotlight Podcast.

Green Lantern Spotlight: Thanks for taking the time to do this, it means a lot. How about we start off with your start in the comics industry? Take us through the journey.

Justiniano: Growing up, I had no knowledge about anything called the “comic industry”; nor care for that fact. Comic properties like Superman, Batman, Spiderman, and The Hulk, were just part of life like having Frosted Flakes in the morning. You don’t question those things when you’re a kid, you just know they’re there in the morning and expect them the following one…

As far as how I came to grab a pencil to draw these characters, I have no recollection how it started, it was simply there when I noticed. I do believe most of my earlier images came from television; scenes I had seen in a film or serial. My earliest memory of any drawing, is one of the Lone Ranger my father drew for me before heading to work, and since he was in a rush, he drew him with his arms behind him to save some time. That wasn’t enough for me, so I added ropes to show that he was tied up. I was probably 3 or 4.

Comics were just there, and I read them often when I was able to get them. I never paid attention to who drew them, nor wrote them. I just enjoyed getting absorbed by them. If my memories are correct, I think that the first comic to simply blow my mind, was the first issue of Crisis on Infinite Earths. It had a million different characters in it, and the notion that there were hundreds of different versions of Superman and The Flash was completely amazing to me. After that, I wanted to know more, and even more importantly, the urge to create, create, create, had been ignited and I would draw, draw, draw until my eyes and fingers burned. Even still, I never had any plans to work in comics. For me, it was something I just loved doing.

Fast forward about 10 years or so, I attended my second comic convention and met the creators of the now defunct Chaos! Comics, who were on tour to promote their infant company. I learned that their next stop the following weekend was a comic store not too far from my hometown in Connecticut. For some reason or another, I dared to make some samples based on the first few pages of Evil Ernie and when they came around, I gave them copies. I did not hear from them for a while, but eventually, they put up a talent search ad in one of their comics and I sent them the same exact copies I previously gave them. Few days after, publisher Brian Pulido assigned me what became my first published piece.

A few months after that, on the same store, I met a young fellow who claimed he worked at Marvel, and insisted that I showed my stuff to the editor he worked under. For some reason I believed him and sent some stuff out to Marc McLaurin. It worked out, because he called me back a few days after, and hooked me up with an issue of What If…?

That’s how pretty much I broke in. No plans; just happened…

GLS: You’re working with Keith Giffin on Doom Patrol for a few issues. What’s your relationship like with him?

J: I’m working on those issues simply because editor Liz Gehrlein called me up and ask me if I wanted to cover those issues for regular guy Matthew Clark. I said “Hell yeah. I dig the DP!”. That project has been tons of fun, and it hasn’t been the first time I’ve worked with Keith on something. I penciled over his breakdowns on 52, and I drew two chapters of the Doctor Occult back story for Reign In Hell, which he wrote. I’m also drawing over his breakdowns on DP, to say the least. As far as a relationship, we’ve spoken on the phone a couple of times, and exchange a couple of emails as well. He’s a “straight to the point” kind of guy, or so I got from our interaction. I found him very pleasant and very smart. I think he really knows what he’s talking about.

 

GLS: So what brought you to do these two issues? Was it the zombie-like aspect, or just the chance to draw Elasti-Girl and Negative Man?

 

J: I’ve drawn the DP previously, if only briefly, and I really wanted to draw Robotman. I mean, the fact that it involved the Blackest Night bit, did not hurt that decision, sure, but I jumped on it because it was simply The Doom Patrol. It could have been DP vs The Possessed Pink Bunnies from Hell, and I still would have agreed to do it. You can never go wrong with zombies either. Rotting, flesh eating ghouls are a passion of mine, anyway…

 

GLS: Artistically I hope…If you don’t mind me asking, are you DC Comics exclusive? When can we expect more Justiniano art in the DCU?

 

J: I’ve been under contract with DC since my run on Day of Vengeance, and as far as any DCU stuff after DP, I’m knee deep into a Wonder Womangraphic novel, which I put away to cover some issues of The Spirit and of course, Doom Patrol. Now that DP is done, I’m jumping back into it. That little stunt will keep me busy and out of sight for a few more months easily. I really need to put my whole energy into into it, since I think it will be a fine piece of work and very challenging for me.

 

GLS: With Doom Patrol jumping into the Blackest Night extravaganza, there will be lots of new readers to the title. What can we expect in these two issues from you and Keith? Do you have a favorite scene you’ve drawn in the series thus far?

 

J: I hope that more readers jump into the book. The DP has got many runs, and besides the Grant Morrison days, it hasn’t stuck very long, which I find sort of sad, since they have so much potential. What I’ve read from Keith so far, has been great, and if readers allow him to bring the goods, I’m sure they won’t regret it.

 

Surely, I cannot spill the beans on really what’s happening overall with what Keith, myself, and the whole creative team have in store for those two issues, but expect a good read. I still can’t believe just how much fun stuff was wrapped in just two issues! Surprisingly, as much as I enjoyed the Robotman sequence, I really loved working on the Elasti-Woman pages the best. It’s not everyday I get to draw a giant, nevertheless a fine looking one fighting a hurricane. Also, the cliffhanger from issue one should shock readers. Or not. Who knows. I hope so.

 

GLS: Any indie projects you’re working on? Anything you want to plug or promote?

 

J: Nope, no side projects for me at the moment, though I’ve been brainstorming personal ones in and outside comics.

 

GLS: Thank you for your time, its been great.
Be sure to read Doom Patrol #4 and #5 by Keith Giffen and Justiniano, this November and December.
kuhan

Interview with TRINITY Writer Kurt Busiek


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Green Lantern Spotlight: Let us start with your previous works. After being with Marvel Comics for so long, what was it like to come over to DC Comics and work on such icons like Superman and the JLA?

Kurt Busiek: Well, I’d sold my first script to DC, back in 1982, and I’d written for them off and on — I’d even written four issues of JLA, back in the 1980s. So it wasn’t a complete shock. But it was energizing, coming over to a different universe and getting to play with their characters, their history, their little obscure back-corners and forgotten wonders. That’s always fun.

GLS: You recently finished up Trinity with your old Thunderbolts partner, Mark Bagley. What was it like working together again?

Kurt: I had a great time. He may have quit cursing my name by now.

By the end of TRINITY, there was so much going on, with so many characters, and Mark had to bear the brunt of that weekly deadline, so it was rough on him. But he’s a complete professional, and made the pages look great, even under huge pressure. There’d be times I’d tell him, “Look, I’m telling you all this stuff that’s going on so you don’t contradict it, but you don’t have to show it all. As long as we see a piece of it in this panel, we can then just do three more panels showing this, that, and this.” And then he’d draw the page and it’d have eight panels with 42 characters total in it, and it’d look wonderful.

I’m sure it was exhausting. But one of the great things about working with Mark on THUNDERBOLTS was the way he could take anything in stride and make it look great, and with TRINITY, it was just like coming home to that. But with bigger characters, and more of them. It was great.

GLS: We found it a bit amusing and interesting that you still had more Trinity in you after 52 weeks. Trinity was a fantastic comic, any chance of a sequel or connected series later on down the road, another entry in the Krona saga, perhaps?

Kurt: Glad you liked it. I think I’m probably done with Krona at this point, and happy to leave him to whoever wants to pick him up next. More with the Trinity themselves would be a blast, but I’d rather it be a new story than a follow-up to this one. I kind of view JLA/AVENGERS, JLA: SYNDICATE RULES and TRINITY as a massive trilogy, but I don’t think it needs a fourth part.

GLS: Moving onto your work in Wednesday comics. What liberties do you have to take when writing for it? Does the format strain you when plotting at all?

Kurt: The format’s very tight — you can’t waste any space at all — but I knew that going in, so I plotted the story with that in mind. Whenever I’d be working on the scripts, I’d have a pile of early 1960s Leonard Starr ON STAGE Sunday strips scattered around me on the floor, as examples of how to make a single-page chapter work well, and I’d use them as reference for pacing and scene changes and such.

So sure, it was a strain, but that was part of the fun.

GLS: Wednesday Comics seems to be pretty successful both critically and commercially. Would you be interested in coming back to the format if DC wants to continue after the initial 12 weeks?

Kurt: Yeah, I’d be glad to.

GLS: Joe Quinoes art has stunned the masses. His art is consistently the first thing readers will mention after reading. Do you tailor your writing to fit his style or just leave it to him to capture your script?

Kurt: Definitely tailored the script to his work. That’s why we decided to do an early 1960s “Atomic Age” Green Lantern series, because he’s so good with setting, with very charming human characters, that I wanted to give him a very specific setting and time period he could go to town on.

And while he started out strongest on the “real world” stuff, he got better and better at the superhero action as he went along. In the first two strips, Mark Chiarello and I had a ton of suggestions for how to adjust his layouts, make the action more dynamic. By the time we hit the big action finalé, we just got he layout in and went, “Whoa. Fantastic.” So I wrote to his strengths, but at the same time, his strengths grew and blossomed as we were working on the book.

I can’t wait to see what he does on his next project.

GLS: Do you find it easier to write a monthly series or a weekly series?

Kurt: Oh, a monthly’s easier just because there’s more time to think, more breathing space. But we don’t do this to do the easy stuff. Being challenged, trying new things, that’s half the fun of it.

GLS: Can you tell us about any upcoming projects you’re working on?

Kurt: I’m looking forward to everything! I’m going to be doing more ASTRO CITY, and a new creator-owned book called AMERICAN GOTHIC, that’s all about magic all around us in the real world, and I’m having a great time with both. I’m working on an ARROWSMITH novel, and a very strange Batman-related story as well, and enjoying all of it. That’s the great part about having reached the point I have in my career — I don’t have to do projects just because I need the work. I only take on work I really want to do. It’s always fun to spend the day writing, but having it all be stuff I love doing makes it that much more so.

GLS: Thanks again for taking the time!

Kurt: My pleasure!

w-west

The Green Lantern Spotlight Podcast Episode #14.5


Posted in: Exclusive

Green Lantern Spotlight Episode #14.5

Join Ryan, West, Andrew, Mew and Ray as they talk with acclaimed writer BEAU SMITH! Listen as they talk about everything Guy Gardner, Fringe, the industry in the 90s, Geoff Johns, Tony Daniel, DC Editorial, and of course stay tuned to the end for the latest news on the long rumored Green Lantern Corps Annual issue! All that and more on this very special episode!

GL Spotlight Album Art
GL Spotlight Album Art
w-west

Interview with Cover Artist Rodolpho Migliari


Posted in: Artist Interviews
The following is an interview with artist Rodolfo Migliari who provides spectacular covers for both Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps among other DC titles. Brought to you buy the Green Lantern Spotlight Podcast.

West: Well, first off let me say that I am a new but huge fan of your work. I believe I first saw your art when buying Green Lantern Corps #34. I’d like to know if there were strict guidelines that your editors or Peter Tomasi/Geoff Johns lay down before you get to start a cover. What’s the process like from a cover artist point of view?

Rodolfo Migliari: Thanks man!

I work directly with the editors and they usually send me a brief description of what has to be shown on the cover and character references. To give you and example, in the case of the GL Coprs #34 cover they asked me to show Voz vs. Vice with the Sciencells in the background, and Vice spitting fire onto Voz burning his hair. I made a rough sketch and once approved they asked me to add Lyssa Drak, Schlagg-Man and Quintet in the Sciencells that were visible. And I painted the final cover. Usually is a very smooth process and working with Adam and Eddie is honestly a pleasure, they are very patient with me 

West: So were you recruited by Eddie or Adam to the Green Lantern titles, or was this a project you had your eyes on? Its perfectly fine if you don’t care about GL, by the way. lol

RM: haha! No, I love to be able to draw and paint the GL universe. Specially now with so many wonderfully design new characters and old ones coming back  it’s a lot of fun. I got to work with Eddie and Adam through a very good friend of mine Sebastian Fiumara, he sent Adam some samples of my work and a few days later I was painting my first cover ever for DC Comics, the GL Corps #22 cover the one with Alpha Lantern Boodikka in it. I had worked for all the other companies but never for DC so thank you Adam and Sebastian!

West: So how did you originally get into the industry? I can only imagine how strenuous that must have been. We hear year’s worth of tales before getting that “break”. Is it any harder coming from Argentina?

RM: Well, I can’t say it was hard to break in for me, I guess I was lucky to be at the right place and at the right time. I got my first job during a comic convention here in Argentina in 2000, John Cassaday was a guest there and I got to meet him (one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet) he showed my work to two editors that were also attending the convention: Bobbie Chase from Marvel Comics and Chris Warner from Dark Horse they both liked my work and probably a week after that Bobbie Chase hire me to paint a cover for a Captain America annual. Unfortunately, after that project she no longer worked for Marvel…hopefully it had nothing to do with my cover  So, after that I just started to shamelessly send e-mails to all the companies looking for more work, eventually I got more work form Marvel and later on thanks to Chris Warner I did some Star Wars covers for Dark Horse as well. Internet is an invaluable tool for us foreign comic book artist 

West: Just as valuable to us fans looking to track down our favorite creators. I’d hate to draw comparisons, but Alex Ross is one of the industry’s most acclaimed painters. Any chance we see a Migliari painted story like Ross/Waid’s “Kingdom Come” or any other issues? I know there’s a lot of Green Lantern fans that would love to see more of your art.

RM: There is no comparison between Alex Ross and me..he is just too awesome!  I’ve tried to do fully painted interiors a few times but it takes me too long to finish a page. I can’t see it happening again anytime soon but you never know. For anyone interested there are a few painted interiors in the last DC Universe Holiday special in a Doctor Light short story written by Adam Schlagman and drawn and painted by me with a collaboration of another great friend and artist Max Fiumara.

West: Well how long is too long, we’ve waited months in between issues for George Perez’s art. Is it the painting in your work that seems time consuming or your initial sketching? Do you or have you felt that editorial mandated hand coming down upon you for tardiness?

RM: Probably a little more than a week per page…which is ridiculous I know! haha! That’s why I do covers! It’s the drawing, the painting and the gathering of reference material. When you are trying to achieve a realistic look especially when you are dealing with color, it’s always good idea to use photo reference, 3d renders or anything else that helps you get closer to the result you are looking for. Honestly, editors have been extremely patience with me. I have no complaints 

West: Ha, neither do we. If you don’t mind me asking, are you DC Comics exclusive? I only ask to know if there’s a chance to see you doing covers for other heroes in the DCU. Is there a title or project out there that you would love to take?

RM: I’m not DC exclusive. But I’m really happy where I am 

Yes, hopefully there is  I’ve already painted a cover for Superman # 682 a while ago and maybe there will be more. It’s just a matter of schedule now.
I think every character presents interesting visual challenges. Batman has always been a favorite of mine.

West: That was a great Superman cover by the way. I love the different people, and of course the Green Lantern shirt in Metropolis. Wrapping things up with Green Lantern, can you give our readers a hint at the next cover on your table? Your latest work was a great John Stewart portrait, I believe.

RM: Thanks! The GL Corps #41 the John Stewart cover has some interesting characters in the background that you’ll see once the comic is out The next cover I’m working on is related to Blackest Night and is really cool who’s in it. I wish I could say more.

It’s been a pleasure! Thank you!

West: Thank you for your time, it was well spent.

RM: Any time man!