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Brent Anderson is best known as the artist of Kurt Busiek's Astro
City. We talk a bit about his work on the book and his upcoming work
for DC's Brave and the Bold. Brent also answers questions about his
work outside of the industry, from teaching, to plays to local
politics, children's books and more.
Coville:
I know you are probably finished or very close to being
finished your 2-part Brave and the Bold story with Green Lantern and
Plastic Man. Are you doing any other comics or are you just working on
Astro City?
Adams:
I'm still relatively far away from completing the GL/Plas
B&B story. I only work on it when I have time in my schedule between
Astro City material. I am currently working on inking Astro City Book
3 Issue #4. I'm also working on TecKnight: Jar of Ashes and a
children's book project called "Good Mother
Dinosaur", both of which can be found in the Work In Progress section
of my web site if you want to see them.
Coville:
Astro City had to take a break for a while due to Kurt
Busiek's medical problems. Now that you and Kurt are doing the book
using a more "Marvel style" method how has the pace been?
Adams:
It's been stepped up. Working plot style means the pencil
art gets done sooner and Kurt then has material for scripting quicker
than doing each story full-script. Kurt and I have been working
together for about 13 years and we each have a pretty good idea of
what the other expects from the collaboration, so plot-style is good.
Coville:
I was reading an old interview done in 1996 where you said
you wanted to be on Astro City for 10 years. It's been 12 off and on
years now and I'm wondering how many more years do you plan on drawing
Astro City?
Adams:
For as long as there is still life in the old girl, or until
Kurt decides to franchise the property.
Coville:
Prior to Astro City you were out of the comic industry for a
while. What were you doing for work at that time?
Adams:
I had two major projects going on during that time; an
eighty-page project for the Cousteau Society, which was to have been
translated into as many as 46 different languages and distributed
around the world, and The Spacing Dutchman, a science-fiction spy
story being published through DC Comics. I was waiting for contracts
on both, and the contract for the DC project came through first. While
working on it, the Cousteau project fell through. The Dutchman
contract was cancelled by DC when the project was late, but was
ultimately published, in black and white, by Slave Labor.
Coville:
One thing you're really known for is your wide range. How did
you develop the ability to draw so many different types of
people/locations and do it all really well?
Adams:
Well, thank you for the vote of confidence on my artistic
range. I've always been interested in a wide variety of material
within each creative genre, from music to movies to comic books and
art, and learning to draw and paint as well as possible seemed the
only way to achieve success in my chosen
profession. That's my general artistic advise to my students; learn to
draw well, then apply it to your chosen avocation. In other words, be
an artist who draws comics, rather than a comic book artist, because
if the bottom drops out of the comic book industry (which hasn't
happened yet, thank Odin) you can find creative storytelling work in
other arenas and continue to make a decent living.
Coville:
How much of your art is done on computer these days?
Adams:
Not much. I scan my comic book pages and send them in to my
editor digitally, a practice I started earlier this year. I may do a
simple art correction or two per issue on the scans in Photoshop, but
that's about it. I need to take more digital design classes before I
will be completely comfortable producing my comics predominately on my
Mac. Maybe I'll take classes next spring at the local JC.
Coville:
You have been active outside of comics too. You did a part in
a play called the Divide. What was the play about and what was your
role in it?
Adams:
The play was an bi-lingual ensemble creation examining the
creation, effects and taking down of borders in our society; not only
physical borders, like fences and barricades and walls, but emotional,
cultural, economic and social borders as well. I played several parts
in the play and it was one of the most profound experiences of my
life.
Coville:
You mentioned doing a comic adaption of the play. How is that
going to be published?
Adams:
I hope to carry on the play's thought-provoking message
further by one day producing a comics version of the play for
publication and distribution. I've actually started laying out the
story in thumbnails. When I get something presentable finished I will
post it on my web site. As to when it will be published and by whom,
who knows?
Coville:
What is the status of the children books you and your wife are doing?
Adams:
At the San Diego Comic-con this year an editor at Roaring
Brook Press was interested in presenting it to their First Second
imprint for consideration. We haven't heard anything as of this time.
We're hopeful, but can only do a limited amount of speculative work on
the project before making a sale, but I'll keep working on it when I
can.
Coville:
Tecknight is something you've been working on a long time.
Are there any updates on getting it published?
Adams:
TecKnight: Jar of Ashes is in the same situation as Good
Mother Dinosaur. We're waiting for someone to see its potential and
pick it up. As of now, the proposal has been sent to DC Comics, Dark
Horse and NBM. Only NBM has turned it down so far.
Coville:
You are doing a comic strip called "You can't always get what
you want." Where is that being published currently and do you foresee
any plans for a collection of the work?
Adams:
So far, all that's been completed on You Can't... Are the
five strips I produced during my (failed) campaign for the local
school board, and layouts for about 60 more strips. I keep adding more
as I am inspired. I could very well start working to complete many of
these if the muse moves me to.
Coville:
I understand you've done a variety of art related teaching of
both young kids and adults. What have you been teaching them?
Adams:
Anarchy, mostly. No, seriously, I basically teach comics
storytelling as a medium of literate self-expression. I don't teach
HOW to draw comics so much as how to THINK comics. Its been quite a
journey for me to dabble into becoming a teacher who teaches comics
rather than as an artist who shows others what I do. Big difference,
and it's a lot more work on my part, but I prefer the former.
Coville:
Have you taken on any assistants from your Adult classes?
Adams:
No. I'm not really looking for assistants. And adult
students have many more specific reasons for taking my class than
merely looking for a job. There aren't many of them, anyway, and never
enough to make a full class of ten to twenty. Maybe if my classes were
accredited, I could garner more adult interest, but for now most of my
classes are geared toward kids 8 thru 1.
Coville:
You mentioned that you were running for a seat on your local
school board. How did that turn out?
Adams:
Two years ago I got 1,463 votes (more or less), about half
what I needed to gain a seat on the school board during the campaign
of 2006. This year I've been campaigning for a fellow parent at my
son's school who's running, and we'll know this coming Tuesday if he
gains one of the two seats open this year. Wish us both luck.
Thank you for the interview. It's been fun.
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