Mark Englert is a relatively new artist that's done a lot of work with Image. Robert Kirkman fans know him from the Capes mini series. Savage Dragon readers have seen his Mighty Man and Freak Force work in the back of the title. They've also seen him a Savage Dragon: God War mini series. Englert does more than pencil so his name is starting to pop up in other comic books as inker, colourist and letterer. With this interview we learn about Mark's background, his work so far and where he's going.
Coville:
Okay we'll start with some basic questions. When were you born and in what city did you grow up in?
Englert:
I was born in Whittier, California. I spent my grade school years in La Caņada, and high school in Palmdale. I live in Hollywood, California now.
Coville:
Can you tell us about your parents background?
Englert:
My Dad is a freelance photographer and my mom is a registered nurse.
Coville:
Today you list your residence in Hollywood, California. Are you like really wealthy or something?
Englert:
Ha! Not at all. I'm part of the ever-shrinking middle class of Los Angeles. I don't have rich parents or anything and I can't afford to buy a house out here. But, I'm fine with renting and I love the city. I love it so much that I'm an author at one of the bigger city specific blog cites, Los Angeles Metblogs.
Coville:
How did you start reading comics?
Englert:
My first stepfather gave me about a dozen comics when I was around five years old. I read them over and over again. The ones that stick with me today are Amazing Spider-Man #33, where he lifts that giant wall of rubble he's trapped under and Incredible Hulk #122, Hulk versus the Thing!
Coville:
Were there any particular favorites when you were growing up?
Englert:
Batman, Spider-Man and Hulk.
Coville:
When did you know you wanted to draw comics for a living?
Englert:
I'm a late bloomer as far as drawing goes. I didn't start drawing until junior high when I became obsessed with the Ninja Turtles. I didn't really draw all that much until High School where I was incredibly bored and out of sorts.
I didn't really see it as a serious career choice until I actually started getting published... and even then the money end was fairly questionable.
Coville:
Did you get any formal art education?
Englert:
A bit. I didn't learn much that I hadn't already figured out intuitively in the art classes I took. Art history and life drawing were the classes I gained the most from.
Coville:
Prior to working in comics what sort of jobs did you have?
Englert:
I've never had any kind of retail experience. I worked in the art gallery at a local community college. It paid very little, but I got to sit and draw most of the time as well as chat up cute girls.
Coville:
We both hung out at the Fin Addicts Online mailing list. I imagine it must have been a huge thrill to have your first work be a Mighty Man story inside Savage Dragon.
Englert:
It was surreal. I had never drawn a comic more than five pages or so and decided on my own to just draw a full story on my own so I could learn how to do it. Savage Dragon is my favorite comic and I remembered a script for the long-awaited Mighty Man annual being printed in the back of an issue after Gil Kane, who was supposed to draw it, died.
I always liked the story and decided I'd draw it all on my own and teach myself how to make a real comic. At the time, I was posting a lot on Penciljack.com along with other guys just starting out. People like Sean Galloway, Khary Randolph, E.J. Su, Nate Bellegarde, Cory Walker, Tony Moore and Robert Kirkman.
Kirkman is a huge dragon fan. He noticed the pages and showed them to Erik Larsen who wound up calling me. Erik offered to not only publish the pages, but ink them as well!
I caught my breath, agreed and set to the task of breaking up the story into 8-page chunks and then drawing the thing. I got about half of it drawn and stated sending pages to Erik. There wasn't a more exciting ten months of my life than those during which I was staying up late talking to Erik while we both worked on Mighty Man and getting the scanned inks emailed to me.
Coville:
This was the Mighty Man story that Erik Larsen wrote for Gil Kane. Was that at all intimidating to be "filling in" for a beloved legend for one of your favorite creators?
Englert:
I wasn't all that intimidated. I started out doing it as an exercise and had made my mind up to finish it before I knew it would ever see print. Now, if Kane has drawn say, 5 pages or so and I was going to finish the book off, that would be a different story.
Coville:
You also drew Kirkman's Capes mini series/TPB. For all the other artists out there that want to work with Kirkman one day, tell us what the process was like with him.
Englert:
My experience with Kirkman continues to be wonderful. The scripts are always fun and exciting and he's very focused on making the comic as great as it can be.
Coville:
I couldn't help but notice a big difference in the art with your Freak Force story in Savage Dragon #115 and your other work. What changed?
Englert:
After I finished work on Capes, I spent about a month obsessed with Spider-Man 2099. I'm a huge fan of Rick Leonardi and I sat and drew poses and figures out of those books all day just trying to figure out how he went about drawing. In the middle of that process, I got a call about the Freak Force story. Rather then try to shift gears back to how I was drawing before, I just went with what I had been doing.
Eventually, things evened out. The good that came of it is my stuff doesn't look like Larsen so much these days. I learned a lot about grace and balance in a drawing whereas before I was mainly preoccupied by power.
Coville:
Were you a fan of the original Freak Force series? That backup story was funny in how disrespectful it was to the original characters.
Englert:
I loved the original Freak Force series. Vic Bridges is awesome and the Keith Giffen stories rocked.
The story I worked on was a reaction to fans wanting Freak Force to return. One fan in particular, longtime Savage Dragon letter hack Augie de Blieck, was cast in the story as a wealthy businessman intent on putting the team back together. It was an untenable situation in the current Dragon universe and he learned that the hard way.
Coville:
Who are your artistic influences?
Englert:
Gil Kane, Herb Trimpe, Jack Kirby, John Byrne, Erik Larsen, Frank Miller, Klaus Janson, Rick Leonardi, Bill Watterson, Hayao Miyazaki, Edward Hopper... I'm affected by most everything I see.
Coville:
You do a lot more than just pencil. What other books have you worked on and in what capacity?
Englert:
I've done all sorts of inking and coloring. I did finishes on Nat Bellegarde and Mike Norton on Loaded Bible. I colored some book for George Singley, including Super Crazy TNT Blast! and Hellhounds. I've also done some helping out on G.I. Joe and Transformers here and there.
I like to be able cover all aspects of making a comic so I can just do it all myself eventually. I've been lucky enough to learn in print. I'm fairly confident in everything but lettering, I'm working on that now.
Coville:
So far all your stuff has been superhero based. Do you want to do other genres at some point?
Englert:
My 24 hour comic that was printed in the 2005 Highlights collection wasn't a superhero story. I am interested in other stories and have one in the works, actually.
Coville:
How are you drawing comics? Are you doing everything on paper or computer? What is your method?
Englert:
I do most all of my work on my tablet laptop these days. I used to hate working on the computer because I was tethered down to my desk. Now, it's just like carrying around some paper and pencils. I can go anywhere I want to draw... My favorite places to hang out and draw are Disneyland and the Getty.
Coville:
Which comics you're enjoying now?
Englert:
I mostly follow creators. I generally go to the shop and pick up anything that piques my interest. The books I make sure to read whenever they come out are Invincible, Walking Dead, Savage Dragon and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Coville:
Now that you're drawing comics does that effect how you read them? Do you analyze them more, see flaws you wouldn't have noticed before?
Englert:
I notice when someone is being lazy, as it's a crime I've been guilty of plenty of times.
Coville:
Tell us about any upcoming work you have.
Englert:
I'm inking, lettering and coloring a backup penciled by Vic Bridges in Savage Dragon.
I've been toiling away on a series of Tonka Truck toy packages and My Little Pony DVD covers.
I did a 6-page story for the Emerald City Comic Con program book which I'm pretty happy with.
I've also been doing some writing on my own and have started working with a new writer who I'm very excited about.
Mark's work can be seen at his site, http://www.MarkEnglert.com
