|
Darick Robertson has been doing comic books since he was 17 years old.
He broke big time into the comic book consciousness in the late 1990's as
co-creator of Transmetropolitan with Warren Ellis. Currently he's working
on Wolverine for Marvel. I met Darick about five years ago at San Diego
Comic Con shortly after Transmet broke big,. I got two sketches from him
one of Spider and one of Spider's cat. At Wizard World Texas, he was kind
enough to sit down with me and let me interview him. We covered a wide
variety of subjects from his work, his influences, his opinions on how to
get kids back involved with comic books, and where he sees himself in ten
years. Read and find out for yourself.
Sidra:
So, what got you interested in art?
Darick Robertson:
I've always been interested in art in the regard that I've always drawn just to entertain myself even as a little boy. I can't remember a time when I wasn't drawing or trying to draw or interested in trying to recreate what I saw in comic strips or comic books. So, it's a lifelong attraction.
Sidra:
How did you get interested in comic books?
Darick Robertson:
My earliest memories of comic books were at the barber shop my dad used to take me to. While he was getting his haircut I'd find all these Gold Key comics up on this ledge in the waiting area, and those are the earliest comic books I remember reading. Plus my sister was into Richie Rich and Archie, and I used to read hers and sneak hers out of her room because she was protective of them. So, I remember that. But the first comic book I remember really collecting or wanting was the Flash. I saw this great cover by Jose Garcia Lopez, and that really made me want to have that comic. When I opened it up it had Alex Saviuk inside. It's funny. I look back it and it's really not all that remarkable of a comic. It's just some random issue, but for whatever reason this one just really grabbed me. He'd drawn the Flash running down from this power tower, and every third figure was a different motion. It was like looking at still animation that I could follow along with my eye and see the character in motion. That sequential story telling really began to speak to me at that point, and it's telling me this story and it's a still image. I really love that. I love capturing motion. So, that issue of the Flash really grabbed me -- I think it's like issue 173 or 176. I can't remember, but I remember that being the first time I really wanted to get every issue of the Flash. I didn't even know there were comic stores or back issues. I was just getting all of my comics from the local drug store, when my dad would do his shopping,
off of one of those "Hey Kids . . ." comic racks. A lot of people complain about how kids aren't into comics anymore, and I just think about how much less assessable they are now. I discovered comics, because they were in places where I was bored. If they could distribute them there again, places where mom and dad do their shopping, kids would seek them out because they're far more interesting than anything else that's on a magazine rack to a child. So, those are my earliest memories of getting into comics.
Sidra:
Who are your comic book influences?
Darick Robertson:
Early on it was people like Neil Adams and Joe Kubert and Bernie Wrightson. I can remember some of those guys from the 70's being really outstanding, but I also remember not really putting together the artist with the art. So I wasn't really seeing them, I was involved in the characters and what the characters where doing. It was many years later that I really started to associate one artist with a title. Early in high school I started getting to stuff like Camelot 3000 and from then on Brian Bolland has been the most influential to me -- the artist I aspire most to emulate even though it doesn't show in my work, ironically. He still is the pentacle of what you can achieve as a comic book artist.
Sidra:
What would be your ideal art job?
Darick Robertson:
I'm doing it. I'm living it. It was what I wanted to do when I was 13. I guess, ideally, it would be doing Wolverine and owning the rights and being able to do whatever I want with him. I could make it a max title, and then all of the royalties come to me, but that would be the ideal. Considering what I wanted to do when I was 13 this is certainly the closest compromise I'm gonna get.
Sidra:
What was your first professional comic job and how did it come about?
Darick Robertson:
My very very first I mean professional in that I got paid and published was a comic called Space Beaver, that I kind of created as a joke out of summer school my senior year when I was like 17. I was just doodling in class and the right person saw it and was going to publish it. As I started to work on actual original art for it, a comic shop owner in the middle of the black and white boom saw it and he told me he would like to publish it all on its own and pay me. So, of course I was going to go for that. So we created a company, and we called it "Ten Buck Comics". We put out Space Beaver and I did about eleven issues of it over two or three years. It started out strong and then it kind of lost momentum after a while. In the end I learned a lot. What I was doing wrong, what I wanted to do, where my style was, and things like that. I always had my sights set at getting into Marvel and DC. I never saw Space Beaver as anything more than a stepping stone. In a lot of ways that's what it was, but it's also something that I can look at and take credit for writing, creating, and getting published. It's something I'm still proud of in that regard. That would be my first professional job.
Sidra:
How did the Transmet gig come about?
Darick Robertson:
I'd done some work with Warren Ellis at Ultraverse, when Malibu was still going strong and we did a book called Ultraforce. He'd written three scripts with someone else doing dialogue with what were otherwise pretty stupid superheroes. They weren't very well thought out. They were very gimmicky and very marketing oriented. In Warren's hands, he was able to take these characters and really make them interesting. He came up with some really grungy and original plotlines. I remember reading these scripts and calling him up and saying "Look, you've got to be the best unrated writing in comics right now." And I was extremely aware that he was going to break out and I said, "If you ever want to do a monthly book together, I am all over that." He said," Well, thank you. I like your work too. I'll keep that in mind." Another job came along called Man of the Atom for Acclaim Comics and I didn't know it at the time but Warren had kind of asked for me on that job. He wanted to see how I would handle a lot of sci-fi and talking head stuff, and was very very pleased with how it came out. He gave me a call when Helix started up and said, "Hey look, you said you wanted to do a monthly book together and I have this idea for a book called Transmetropolitan," and he told me the idea. I loved it immediately. I thought it was great, and as we discussed it, he said, "Do yu want to do the first three issues because I see this thing as having a different artist every story arc" And I said "I'd love to do this as my monthly book." He said " Well, if you want to stay on and do this monthly, I wouldn't have expected that of you. If you want to sit down and do this monthly I'll make you co-creator." At that point he did and he was good on his word. Warren's good that way. He went from there and then I started coming up with designs and I felt free to contribute my own ideas. And little things that I would come up as asides, he would like so much that he would put in the plot, like the cat that he worked in as a character. Or the glasses because I felt he needed something distinctive about his face and I also had the idea of him taking pictures with glasses. He liked that and he ended up using that a lot as a tool in the stories. The design and overall look of the thing was pretty much me with me bouncing ideas off of Warren. There were certain things he didn't want like for one no trenchcoat. I said "Okay no trenchcoat," because everyone was in trenchcoats in 1997. The whole thing ended up being a really smooth collaboration. So, that's how it ended up coming about. It was basically Warren's idea, but by the time we got it to press it was an definitely a merging of both of us. I often say to people, "We planted a cherry tree together. We don't point out to people which cherry is Warren's and which cherry is mine. We did the whole tree together. It was a mutual effort." He was a great guy to work with and I still consider him a friend.
Sidra:
Did you expect Transmet to be the huge success it was?
Darick Robertson:
No, one of the funniest things about this was that we had a good laugh early on when he was telling me about plotlines and he was telling me about what we were going to do and I was throwing him ideas. We would just break into mad laughter on the phone, because we were like," They're never going to let us do this." And I'd go "There's the end of our career. Nobody is gonna buy this." But the whole comics market seemed so bleak at the time that we were content with just doing it for the fun of doing it. I think that's one of the most rewarding aspects of that book is that we didn't think it was going to be a huge success. In many ways we really thought it was going to kind of be our swan song in comics. Maybe Warren didn't but that's how I was feeling. I had a choice at the time of doing that or being the regular artist on Marvel Team up, which at the same time meant I could draw Spider-man and a variety of characters, which was appealing. So I really had to decide what I wanted to do. A friend of mine said very accurately, "You know, Darick, if you do this it'll always be Transmetropolitan by you. Your name will always proceed the character, but if you do Spider-man, you're gonna be yet another guy that's worked on Spider-man." And he was right and I thought even if this fails I'll have created something, and I had some bitter experiences with Malibu. I was fresh out of patience then too with creating things that I got ripped off for. I created this character called Nightman that went on to become a TV series and I never saw a dime of it because the writer kind of stabbed me in the back after offering me the same kind of deal Warren had "Look we'll be co-creators". Then he ended up changing his mind, and they said that was his right. And then they offered me "you can write and draw your own character." I said "I've got this thing called Ripfire that I've got some good ideas for," and it kept getting stopped and stared. So I was feeling kind of bitter about the whole creator owned thing, but I ended up believing in Warren. I felt like this was a good idea and I felt like had very little to lose. When all was said in done, I was glad I'd trusted my better instincts because it was a very rewarding book to work on. It got way more critical acclaim and attention than I ever expected. It's attracted some of the most original and intelligent fans I've met in the industry. People that come up to me who are big Transmet fans are always fun to talk to. I really like the impact it's had, even if it was a small one. It's definitely kind of a niche. It was worth it. I was always proud of it. I was very passionate about doing every issue, even though it was killing me toward the end and I was getting very little time. It was something that I really believed and to see that it succeeded was very gratifying and validating. So in the end if was worth doing. I'm glad that it happened.
Sidra:
How do you cope with the sudden name recognition you got from it?
Darick Robertson:
It's pretty easy. Even on my best day in comics, it's still pretty small. It's a pretty small arena. It's not the kind of fame that anybody enjoys in any other type of entertainment industry. It's just enough that I'm happy with it. It helps me get work. People know that I have something positive to associate my name with that I created. It seems to have elevated the way people perceive my work from what I was doing. Most people don't even know I worked before Transmetropolitan. A lot people are like "Oh you did that?" They don't even associate me with my old work. So, in a lot of ways that ended up being the milestone or the touchstone of my career. So, coping with it is not a problem. I'm enjoying it more than anything.
Sidra:
Were you sad to see Transmet end?
Darick Robertson:
In some ways some, in some ways it was a relief. I had good things lined up afterward. My career has been very very rewarding since the book ended. I miss it occasionally, but the only thing I felt released from though was the deadlines. If I ever want to sit down and draw Spider and Shannon and all those characters there's nothing stopping me, and at the same time, I worked on it for five years, so I certainly got my fill. If anything, I kind of miss Warren's scripts because I was enjoying working in that world and putting my imagination in that world. The scripts were challenging. I kind of miss the collaborations with Warren, but I don't miss the pressures of working with Warren. Very very talented man but deadlines are not his forte. I would find myself getting stuff at the last minute all the time with very little time to put into the issue what I thought I could. I regretted that a little bit, but in the big picture it was just enough. I was glad we ended it. I think having a beginning, middle, and end arc to it was smart because I when you're trying very hard to maintain a status quo of a character, it limits what you can do with that character plotwise and storywise. With Spider we got down to issue 59 and people were really sure he was gonna die, because the series was ending that was a very real threat. People got more emotionally involved than they would have if it was Spider-Man or Batman or a character you knew was going to be back for issue 61. Of course they're not going to kill him, they have to come back and keep the series going. It seemed to be the right way to handle it. And now that it's done people have asked if we're going to do prequels. You know, I don't know if we're going to or not. We talked about it midway through the series and now that it's ended neither Warren nor I seem very interested in doing it at this time. Sometimes I think it's better just to let it lie and let it be what it is.
Sidra:
What prompted the move to Marvel Comics?
Darick Robertson:
They simply invited me. They showed me more attention than DC did at the time which I didn't quite understand, but I was certainly grateful for. Axel Alonso was my editor on Transmetropolitan for two years and when he moved over to Marvel he made it real clear to me that he wanted to keep working with me over there. When Fury came about and ended up being a successful collaboration with Garth, which led to more jobs at the end of that. I was already all booked up for a year with Marvel when they offered me the exclusive, so I had no reason to say no. They were offering me everything I wanted and DC was offering me nothing. So DC had basically made no counter offer what-so-ever. When I told them of my exclusive they were like "Good, good for you. See you in a couple years." I was like alright if I'm not going to burn any bridges there's no reason for me not to take advantage of this and plus I was getting to work on Wolverine, which had been my dream for a while. I'm very happy with the way that series has been going, and Marvel's been good to me overall. I don't have a whole lot of complaints.
Sidra:
Was Wolverine one of your favorite characters before starting to work on the title?
Darick Robertson:
Oh yeah, from the time I was a little boy 12-13 and I first discovered X-men and Wolverine. He was always the standout character. Him and Nightcrawler were the stand out characters to me. I have artwork from when I was a little kid, stories I did with the Wolverine in them. It was just such a great power to fantasize about. It's like he was the small guy. There was way more to him than you saw on the surface. Those claws were just such a great . . . being able to pop six knives out of your hand and scare the hell out of anyone who was messing with you was such an appealing power, plus being invulnerable. They couldn't break your arm. They could shoot you and you could just keep coming. There's something very primal about doing somebody in with claws that are on your hands. When you're a kid and you're getting picked on and life sucks and you're angry anyway, it was a really great escapist fantasy. Like: I'm powerful, invulnerable, and I can hunt and smell and I have all these keen senses, but he was an outcast from the X-men. So you know he's easy to identify with if you feel like an outcast. Wolverine's an outcast. You can relate to Logan. He's a great character in that regard. So, yeah, I've had a lot of ideas and I've wanted to work on this character for a long time. I'm very happy with Greg's scripts. I think he gets it, too and we were both on the same page from the first day. I like what Greg's been doing and I've been trying to give the script 100%. So, yeah, I'd wanted this shot for a long time and I'm real happy that I got it. Now it feels like I'm trying to figure out what my next plateau is going to be, because I tried so hard to get where I am. And now I'm here so I've got to figure out where to go from here.
Sidra:
What's the best part about working in the comic industry?
Darick Robertson:
At this stage, it's working at home and getting to be around my baby boy, watching him grow up, being close to home, and being able to make enough money that my wife is able to stay at home with him too. I'm really happy for that because I don't know a lot of kids in this current economy who are able to be with both parents everyday all the time. I think that's made a difference in him. He's two years old now. He seems very secure and very outgoing. I like that and I really want him to have a lot of confidence and know that he's loved. Being able to be home with him all the time while I work, even if I'm behind a door for hours throughout the day. I can still come out and see him when he wakes up, put him down for naps, and just be a part of his daily life, rather than being that dad who's an absentee until the weekends. That's what I really like about the industry. Plus, I get to do something creative for a living and even on the worst day, doing comics on a deadline and the politics involved, it's till a good job, and I wouldn't want to do anything else. I used to fantasize about using this to get into something more glamorous, like I don't know, movie storyboarding or something like that, but now, I'm just really happy to do what I do. I want to do this as long as I can.
Sidra:
When would you like to work with?
Darick Robertson:
Right now Benis and I are friends and we've been wanting to work together. So, I'd like to work with him. Bruce Jones and I get along real well. In my fantasies I dream about doing Batman series with Frank Miller. Some ongoing new character with Alan Moore, like I would have loved to have been in that group with the ABC guys, but Alan Moore is going to retire from comics. Frank Miller's got his own agenda and I don't think working with me is anywhere in there. It's a nice idea but as far as realistically, I still want to work with Kurt Busiek and Mark Waid. I've always been busy whenever we talk about working together and it's always been "When a window opens up" and very rarely do they. Something might happen. Right now there's a few people I'm talking to about doing another series while I do Wolverine, because I'm ahead enough on Wolverine that I can take on some side projects.
Sidra:
Do you have any other projects in the works currently?
Darick Robertson:
Right now I'm just working on Wolverine.
Sidra:
Where do you see yourself ten years from now?
Darick Robertson:
Living in California. I'm about to move back there right now from the East Coast. It's where I was born and raised, so I'm kind of looking forward to going home. Realistically, in my career or in my personal life?
Sidra:
Darick Robertson:
Either? Well, I guess raising a twelve year old and still doing comics. I don't really know. Hopefully, I'm out of debt. Hopefully, I'm in better shape. Those kind of things. Hopefully, my marriage is still good and I'm enjoying what I do. That's what I hope for, but a wise man once said," The best way to ensue a good future is to make sure today goes smoothly. Take care of today and the future works itself out." That's kind of my philosophy. I'm better off than I was ten years ago. I'm much happier at 35 than I was at 25. So hopefully, at 45 I'll be happier than I am at 35. Boy, that's happy because things are pretty good right now. Hopefully it's good things ahead. I'd like to create some more stuff. Planning on do another creator owned book. I think the next one I'll do if I can work it out money and schedule-wise I'll be writing and drawing my own thing and seeing if anyone bites. That's in my agenda. I want to keep working for Marvel in the foreseeable future, but eventually, I'm going to want to break out on my own again and do my own thing. Right now I'm kind of getting my superhero fix. Things like that, we'll see what happens.
|
