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This interview was conducted by three people: Sidra Roberts, Lonni
Holland and Jamie Coville. Stuart Immonen has been a sought after
penciler for many years now doing work on Superman, Legion of
Superheroes, ShockRockets and more. This combined interview goes down
history lane from his beginnings to what he's doing today.
Coville:
How did you become interested in art?
Immonen:
I've always had an interest in drawing, literally as far back as I
remember. I've also been reading comics for most of my life. I suppose it's
natural that the two would eventually come together in some form, although
I did nothing to pursue a career in the industry until I was nearly in my
twenties.
Coville:
This is your thirteenth year in the business. Congratulations.
Where did you get your formal training?
Immonen:
I have no formal training. I pursued a degree in Fine Arts at York
University in Toronto, Ontario for one year following high school, but the
curriculum and I didn't see eye to eye, so I left. In hindsight, I probably
would have been happier in a vocational environment, with lots of applied
studio time. I've learned as I've gone along, and, I think, am still
learning.
Coville:
What made you want to draw comicbooks?
Immonen:
It seemed to be the thing to do in the summer of 1988. There was a wealth
of independent black and white material on the stands. Writer Kathryn Kuder
and I thought we had something of value to contribute. We formed One Horse
Leadworks and self-published two titles; Playground, a punk murder-mystery
of sorts, and Headcheese, and anthology showcasing local Toronto creators.
After three issues, Playground was picked up by Caliber Press, who
published an epilogue.
Coville:
How did you get the job of drawing Legion of Superheroes for DC?
Immonen:
This is detailed on my website. I submitted samples of my work for a number
of years to DC. In early '93 Neal Pozner saw Ron Boyd and I in his office
and liked our samples. I got a 10 page Martian Manhunter story out of him
for Showcase, which landed me a fill-in on Legion. Regular artist Jason
Pearson was leaving Legion,and incoming editor KC Carlson asked me to come
on board.
Coville:
Had you ever read Legion of Superheroes before drawing it?
Immonen:
Never. I had no idea who anyone was.
Coville:
Did you get tired of drawing all those various characters for
Legion of Superheroes?
Immonen:
No, the variety kept it interesting. We ran into trouble when we tried to
ease out of the post-hero Giffen material into more action-oriented
stories. We tried to do things only half-way, and fumbled a bit.
Legionnaires was far more successful. Similarly, Legion Lost has been the
shot in the arm that the titles badly needed.
Coville:
Everyone has his or her favorite Legion character. Who was your
favorite Legionnaire?
Immonen:
Coville:
What led to your Superman assignment?
Immonen:
This is also mentioned on my site. I did a two issue fill-in for Superman,
which went over well. When my contract was up on Legion, I wanted to do
something different, and Barry Kitson just happened to be leaving
Adventures of Superman. I got the offer and accepted.
Coville:
How did you like working on Superman?
Immonen:
Very well. I did it for nearly four years. I enjoyed the expanded
collaborative process that the closely-knit titles provided. I enjoyed
working with the four editors I had. I enjoyed writing. I enjoyed drawing.
Coville:
There are a lot of very successful Canadian artists in the industry
but many of them move to the states to be close to the big
companies. Has staying in Ontario made things harder for you and
how?
Immonen:
I don't know of very many who have moved since the use of couriers became
prevalent. Now with fax and internet added, I don't think physical distance
is any kind of barrier.
Coville:
So here you are in southern Ontario and there Kurt is in the Pacific
north-west. I know you meet at cons but how does the physical
separation affect your work? Or are your phone bills just
outrageous :)?
Immonen:
The phone bills are, on occasion, enormous. But we communicate frequently
by email, which is less expensive. In all the time I've been drawing
professionally, I have yet to meet a client before working for them. That
is to say, I've never know it to be any other way, so I find it difficult
to tell whether it affects my work or not. Kurt has many other
collaborators, and is no closer to any of them than he is to me. I'm sure
he feels the same way. It's just the way it is, and I expect the way it
will continue to be.
Coville:
There was a double page spread in Shockrockets 2 which was computer
produced. How much computer generated stuff do you use and what
software are you using for it?
Immonen:
There was a short sequence in ShockRockets 2 which I produced entirely on
computer, but the only reason we chose to include it in the story is
because we came up with a reason to include it first. This was not an
attempt at escaping the drudgery of background drawing, nor was it a
control issue. We had an experimental idea, and figured out a way to
integrate it. That being said, you can't escape the influence of computers
in mainstream comics-- they're virtually all coloured, separated, or
lettered using computers. I would think that, perhaps apart from Alan
Moore, they are all written on computers. It's inescapable. Most of the
time the confluence works. Sometimes it doesn't.
Coville:
Speaking of computers... that's quite a nice website you have. Did
you do all of the design work yourself? And if you did have you
considered doing any of your animation using Flash?
Immonen:
Thank you. Yes, I designed, coded and uploaded the whole thing. I have a
passing interest in Flash, and to my mind, it's a useful tool for things
like animations, but Flash navigation is problematic and more often than
not, distracting. I'm working on a few other sites now, including Cryptic
Press' realmsend.com.
Coville:
Immonen Illustrations, Inc. has a nice ring to it. Is it all just
you so far, and are you planning to add others like Deodato Studios
did?
Immonen:
I have had a few interns, but I've found that I dislike the company, and am
unsatisfied with their work. Clearly, it's all my fault. I have had a
writing partner in Kathryn since the One Horse days and have a studio
assistant who has nothing to do with drawing. I don't think it'll every
grow beyond that. The company was formed for purely legal reasons.
Coville:
According to your bio you live in Obscurity, Ontario with your 2
footed and 4 footed friends. Four footed?? Dogs? Cats? Horses?
Fellow apes?
Immonen:
Ha ha ha. Two cats, Emmett and Ernest, and a rat named Sweetie are the
four-foot types. The two's are my family.
Coville:
Rumor has it that Blockbuster's computer just can't seem to get
your name right. Exactly how do you pronounce your name?
Immonen:
???? It's pronounced EE-moe-nen
Coville:
I must say that you and the other apes are looking pretty healthy
for a bunch of dead guys. Care to make any comment on Wizards
rather premature report of the death of Gorilla?
Immonen:
There's still Gorilla material coming out, but the company is basically a
non-entity at this point. Tellos will continue to be published by Image,
and there may be more from Kurt and myself after Superstar, and Section
Zero may yet proceed, but that's it. For the most part, we made good on the
promises we made, even after it became clear that we would all have to do
other work to support Gorilla projects, and then that we would eventually
have to abandon the idea of Gorilla altogether. I'm pleased with the comics
we did. There may yet be more.
Coville:
Shockrockets is finished and Superstar is on the way. When can we
expect the first issue?
Immonen:
It's out! Superstar is a self-contained 48 page one-shot. Kurt and I have
plans for more but nothing concrete at the moment.
Coville:
Is this another miniseries and would you like to tell us a bit about it?
Immonen:
It's really Kurt's pet project; one he's been trying to get off the ground
for a long time,and one that's been percolating for decades. I'm just the
latest in a series of artists that have been associated with Superstar, but
I'm the lucky one that helped finally get it in print.
Coville:
George Perez had a model of the Scarlett Witch's MG, you had
computer models of the Shockrockets ships. Any handy visual aids
for Superstar?
Immonen:
Just the usual morgue of photo reference. I have a resin model of Mark
Hammill's head which I use frequently, but I don't think there's much
resemblance.
Coville:
Has Mark Waid's contract with Cross Gen had any affect on the
running on Gorilla or is business in the jungle continuing as
usual?
Immonen:
Coville:
It's just been announced that your doing a few issues of Thor. But
you are careful to tell people your only doing 3 or maybe 6 issues.
Do you have something specific planned after your work on Thor?
Immonen:
I've just finished an issue of Rising Stars and one of Fantastic Four. Now
I'm doing at least three issues of Thor, and as many as six as far as I
know. Kurt and I have another project lined up for Marvel. A big one, but
not one I'm prepared to talk about....
Immonen Illustrations, Inc.
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