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What makes Steve Epting different from the standard penciler is that he had a long run in the 90s, then went to work for a smaller publisher and then came back and became much more popular. I first started reading Steve's work when he was doing the Avengers in the 90s and was happy to see that he didn't fade away like many pencilers do. Today's readers know him for his long and excellent run on Captain America. Steve is currently working on The Marvel's Project, a retelling of the Golden Age of the Marvel Universe.
Coville:
Your first main Marvel work was a long run on the Bob Harris written Avengers. How did that start?
Epting:
I had been working for First Comics for a couple of years and suddenly found myself out of work when they went belly up around 1991. I began sending out samples to every editor I could find and one of the packages landed on Howard Mackie's desk at the exact moment he happened to be looking for someone to draw the bi-weekly Avengers book that summer. He asked if I would be interested and it took me about half a second to say yes. It turns out that Howard was stepping down from his editorial chair and Ralph Macchio would be editing the book, but several weeks went by during the transition where I didn't hear anything. Finally Ralph called and asked if I could do the first issue in 10 days. I said yes, and somehow actually managed to do it. I think the original plan is that I would do the book during the summer for the bi-weekly schedule and that would be it, but I managed to stay on The Avengers for 3 years.
Coville:
CrossGen had a negative effect on a lot of creators. How did their downfall effect you?
Epting:
I'm not sure I agree that Crossgen had a negative effect on a lot of creators. It certainly turned out disastrous for the freelancers that were used in the last year or so and never got paid and caused hardships for staff members that were laid off, but when you look at how many artists became much more popular after leaving Crossgen, I would say that at least from an artistic standpoint it benefited many people. I think all of us there became better artists than when we went in due to the time we spent with the company.
I got to work for 4 years in a studio with some of the best artists in comics. I learned a lot. It was a very inspiring place to be. On the negative side, I also learned more about office politics, backstabbers, and human nature than I cared to know, but hey, that crap goes on in pretty much every office. I steered well clear of most of it and simply tried to concentrate on my work.
Also, I didn't go in as a naive, starry eyed dilettante. I never expected it to survive long term. I had seen First Comics go down and I knew the odds were a million to one against any lasting success. But I wanted to try something different (working in a studio environment), and at that time I was sort of just spinning my wheels at Marvel and DC. I figured it would be rewarding from an artistic standpoint to be part of the Crossgen experiment and I was right. It was the first time as an artist I had any actual control of the art. The philosophy at CG was that the pencilers were the quarterbacks and they called the plays for the inker and colorist, and having all us there in the same room was a great advantage.
The only regret I have about my time there was the way it ended and seeing people get screwed.
Coville:
While at CrossGen your work changed to a much more detailed style. What prompted the change?
Epting:
I'm not really sure the style changed to being more detailed. I've never been one to skimp on backgrounds. It became more refined I think, and that is mainly due to being able to work with my inker and colorist directly. It may have also been a by product of being in the studio. This was part of the philosophy there - that the friendly competition between all of the artists would inspire us to do our best work. We each posted our pages on the walls as we finished them (pencilers, inkers, and colorists) so everyone could see what everyone else was doing. No one wanted to have the worst looking pages up on the walls.
Coville:
Does the "new" style take more time to draw?
Epting:
What takes me a bit longer now is that I'm penciling and inking the pages myself, but that's what I've been shooting for since I first started drawing comics. I know there are a ton of talented inkers out there, but no one can interpret your art the way you do, and I'm glad I finally have the chance to do it.
Coville:
How are you drawing pages these days? Are you doing it pencil to boards then scanning them in or are you drawing all on computer now?
Epting:
First I do roughs on 8 1/2 x 11 paper, mostly with pen and markers. I enlarge these to 11x17 and tape them to the back of 2 ply Bristol. Then ,using a lightbox, I go straight to ink on the Bristol board. This is scanned and then further effects and corrections are done in Photoshop. You can read about it in a bit more detail here -http://steveepting.blogspot.com/2008/07/page-process.html
The covers are a bit different. I usually start with a more finished drawing. Sometimes it's just pencil, sometimes pencil and some ink, sometimes pencil and ink wash, sometimes all ink - it just depends on how I'm feeling I guess. This is scanned and then painted digitally in Photoshop. I've had a couple of cover paintings that had to be turned around quickly and they were done entirely in Photoshop. I usually like to have a traditional drawing to start with though.
Coville:
Bucky was one of those characters that was "really dead" along with Uncle Ben and Gwen Stacy. How did you react when you realized he was being brought back?
Epting:
I was speaking to Ed on the phone after reading his outline for the first year of the book and said something like "You realize everyone is going to hate our guts don't you?" I figured there would be a lot of negative reaction, and there was, mainly from people who just heard about what was happening in the book. The people who were actually reading the book were loving it, and it just gained more and more acceptance as the audience for the book grew. Of course there are still people out there who hate the fact that we brought Bucky back, but there's no way to please everyone, so you just try to tell good stories and hope they resonate with the readers.
Coville:
Winter Soldier has become a popular character on his own. How emotionally attached are you to the character? Would it bother you if he ends up like ThunderStrike or Azrael 5 years from now?
Epting:
I wouldn't say I have any emotional attachment to the character. After all, he's not someone Ed and I created out of whole cloth - it's Bucky. Nothing is permanent except change, so I won't be surprised when gives up being Winter Soldier, or dies, or marries a stalk of asparagus. It's comics after all, and the just the way it is. If he stays popular I'll be happy, but if not, it won't bother me.
Coville:
You've done a mix of team books and solo titles, do you have a preference with the two?
Epting:
Early on I got pegged as a 'team book' artist simply because I did a run on Avengers. Personally I prefer a solo book. Keep in mind that even in a 'solo' book there is often an ensemble cast that makes it similar to a team book in a way. In the case of Captain America for instance, we had Cap, Bucky, Sharon, Falcon, Black Widow, Nick Fury, etc...
Coville:
At your blog you've been posting a lot of sketches, some of it really nice non superhero work. Why are you doing this?
Epting:
That's the stuff I do in my spare time or just for the fun of creating art. I like superheroes as much as anyone, but it's like pizza - I love pizza but I sure don't want to eat it every single meal.
Coville:
Are you the sole artist for The Marvels Project?
Epting:
I'm doing all of the pencils and inks. Dave Stewart is doing the colors.
Coville:
With the Marvels Project you will be drawing a number of lesser known Golden Age heroes. Will you be tweaking their costumes any?
Epting:
I'm trying to stay as close as possible to the original versions of the Golden Age costumes. We have made a small alteration to the Angel's costume (adding the Two Gun Kid's mask), but it was done for story reasons, not as an attempt to modernize him. The book is taking place in the 40s and I think we should embrace the sensibilities of the era, including the way they designed their comic book characters.
Coville:
Stories about Marvel's Golden age has been done before. In particular Captain America's origin was fleshed out in The Adventures of Captain America, Sentinel of Liberty (1991) by Fabian Nicieza and Kevin Maguire. Do the Marvels Project take those types of stories into consideration?
Epting:
Over the decades there have been so many versions and retellings of the Golden Age stuff, particularly Captain America, that you sort of have to pick and choose what you're going to use. This is especially true since many of these stories contradict each other. I think that Ed is probably using what he feels works best for the story he's telling and making sure that the spirit of the original material is still there.
Coville:
There is a Captain America movie coming up. Are they involving you in any way with story boards or designs or anything?
Epting:
I actually have spoken to one of the producers, but no, as of now I'm not involved with the movie. It is nice to know that they are fans of what Ed and I did on Cap though.
Coville:
Mark Gruenwald once said "If your hobby becomes your profession, find a new hobby." What do you do outside of drawing comics? I
Epting:
Mark was right about that. I play guitar and goof around with Garage Band. Also, as I mentioned above, I like to draw and paint for fun instead of work.
Coville:
Are you planning on doing some creator owned work eventually? Considering the potential for big Hollywood money the temptation must be strong.
Epting:
It's always there in the back of my mind, but I'm currently under contract with Marvel, so that's where it will have to stay for now.
Coville:
One aspect of Disney buying Marvel is that Disney already owns CrossGen properties. Do you have any interest in going back to El Cazador or Crux if the opportunity came about?
Epting:
I'd love to do more work on El Cazador. That was really one of the most enjoyable projects I've ever worked on. Crux was a different story. It was a preconceived concept that was handed to Mark Waid and me to develop, not something that we were necessarily passionate about. That doesn't mean we didn't do our best, but it's not something I care to revisit.
Coville:
Like most artists I'm sure you still see flaws in your work. What are you are trying to improve on?
Epting:
All I see are the flaws. Once in a while I'll finish something and think "well, that's not too bad", but generally speaking, I'm not happy with anything I do. I keep working at it though, trying to improve.
Coville:
Comics are now being done for iPhones and other digital devices. Have you thought about and figured out how you might draw a story for something like that? Where readers see one panel at a time and not the entire page?
Epting:
This is something that's been more and more on my mind, especially with the recent announcement of Apple's iPad. I think it will be interesting to see what can develop from the opportunities presented by the new technologies. I haven't figured anything out yet, but I do have a few ideas I wouldn't mind experimenting with when I can find the time.
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