Welcome to the weekly feature MATT CHATS. I’ve been doing regular interviews for awhile now, but now they have a name! Every Tuesday I chat with someone involved in the making, distributing, marketing, selling, etc. of comic books. For this inaugural edition, I spoke with cartoonist Rob Guillory.
Six years into a run pencilling, inking and coloring the almost-monthly Image series CHEW, Rob Guillory has started to illustrate interior pages for other titles. Most recently Guillory added his artistic flair to a story written by CM Punk in the Thor annual and a backup story in Howard the Duck written by Chip Zdarsky. I spoke with Rob about the toll of a 60-issue epic, collaborating with writers other than John Layman and a whole lot more.
Six years in, have you been getting antsy to do interiors for comics other than CHEW?
Not really antsy, so much as just excited at the prospect of starting something totally new. It’s also a bit scary. CHEW‘s been my backyard for a long time now, so jumping into a new world with new characters is challenging and pretty thrilling.
A lot of writers and artists get worn down writing or drawing an epic and go on to focus mostly smaller stories. Right now, do you think you would do another 60 issue series, either in the near future or ever?
I doubt it. For a few different reasons. First off, 60 issues is a massive commitment, obviously. So I can’t really grasp committing another 6-8 years of my life to one series at this point. That may change, but that’s where I’m at right now.
Plus CHEW was in the rare position of having the sales to sustain such an extended run. It’s very, VERY rare for a book created by two virtual unknowns to have a loyal monthly fanbase big enough to warrant 60 issues, and that’s been a major blessing. These days, books typically debut with high numbers and major press attention, then peter down quickly and quietly. That never really happened with us. Our monthly numbers over 6 years have been very steady, and our TPB and digital sales continue to grow. Could we have the same luck with another 60 issue series? Who knows, but it doesn’t happen much for creators that aren’t at Kirkman or BKV levels of name recognition. Time will tell, but I sort of lean toward doing 20 issue stories in the future.
How anxious are you to draw that last page of CHEW?
Not anxious at all, really. It’s not really something I think too much about. There’s still 15 issues of CHEW left, so I’m just focusing on making those better than the 40-something issues that came before. We’ve had a strong run, and we need to end it in a way to honors what we’ve built. The last page will be here soon enough, though.
What was your relationship with CM Punk prior to working together on Thor?
We were mutual fans of each other’s work. I’m a big wrestling fan, and CHEW is one of Punk’s favorite books. At some point, we crossed paths and hit it off. I never expected that friendship to eventually lead to me working with him at Marvel, but life is weird that way.
Can you describe what CM Punk’s script was like?
Punk worked Marvel Method, with a lot of general scene description, but no panel-by-panel work. So I got to handle all the pacing and layout for the issue, which is very different than my CHEW work, but it worked well on this story. Punk’s really good with words, so his script was very conversational and super-articulate, and I got what he was going for right from the beginning. And he was smart enough to play to my strengths with a ton of physical comedy and character acting. He did good.
You’re at a kind of similar stage of your career as Chip Zdarksy, coming off successful Image books and starting to do work for Marvel. With that in mind, what was it like drawing from his script?
Well, at this point, after 40-something issues of drawing John Layman’s scripts, drawing anyone else’s is always a little weird. But Chip’s script was great. Brimming over with absurd, silly detail that was right up my alley. Plus, using Luke Cage and Iron Fist was a personal request of mine, so that was fantastic.
You’re known for adding a lot of extra elements to CHEW. Did you add any to the Thor or Howard the Duck stories?
Yeah. With Thor, there are a few little background gags in the tavern where it takes place. Nothing crazy, just a few subtle Easter Eggs. My personal fave is getting to change Mjolnir’s inscription to “DO YOU EVEN LIFT, BRO?”, which I’m not even sure the Marvel guys caught. Plus, I came up with all the Marvel-themed drinks that Thor and Mephisto are chugging. Sorta my love letter to various Marvel characters.
And with my Howard story, which takes place in a court setting, Cage and Iron Fist’s lawyer is basically Ben Matlock, and Howard’s is a skeevier Saul Goodman. These are all little details that very few people would catch, but they’re there, and it’s always super-rewarding to see readers catch them.
Do you enjoy handling all the art duties, or was that more something that was necessitated by the low budget for CHEW?
Well, finding dependable creative partners was nearly impossible when I was a young, aspiring artist. So early on, I just decided to do it all myself. I never thought it would turn into a creative advantage, but it really has. Nowadays, I have a color assistant, Taylor Wells, that handles my flatting and cleans up my rough shadow work. But I still handle the bulk of my coloring work, and I love it.
Do you ever want to either just draw or just color a comic book, or has total control over art duties become kind of addictive?
It’s a give and take. On one hand, I love the creative control. On the other, I love the idea of taking the week that I usually dedicate to coloring and napping instead, because it IS an intense work schedule. I can see myself hand-picking a colorist for a future project, just to see how it feels. We’ll see.
Is there any inclination to start writing comics, either for you or other artists to draw?
Yes. I wrote a lot of my own pre-CHEW work, and I’m already in the rough stages of writing my own post-CHEW work.
Do you know what your next big project is after CHEW?
Not yet. Layman and I have toyed with the idea of doing something else, and I’m sure we will eventually. I expect to pitch Marvel a mini-series at some point in the next year. After that, I’m expecting to do another creator-owned series. Again, we’ll see. Part of me wants to take a little time off after CHEW ends, but I’m a workhorse, so that may not happen. I may jump right into new work the day after I draw the last page of CHEW. Who knows.
Aside from earning a living, this is just something I’ve always done. I was beating myself up for a self-imposed deadline for a mini-comic that only I would see when I was age 9. I’m built for comics. It’s a love-hate relationship sometimes when the deadlines get hard or some comic outrage blows up on Twitter, but I’ve been on a path to make comics from the very beginning. I just love it.
You can follow Rob Guillory on Twitter and buy original art and more at his online store. I encourage you do both.
Comics is an unpredictable world to wander through. One day everything is understandable and safe, Chew sits on the shelf next to Revival, and the world is as you’d expect. But then one day Mike Norton, Tim Seeley, John Layman and Rob Guillory announce that this May, rather than having everything in its right place… Chew and Revival will be crossing over into the same comic?!
Madness, clearly. But is there a method in that madness? To ask more about May’s flipbook issue which throws Tony Chu into Em Cypress’ world, I spoke to Norton about how the issue came about, what we might expect from the stories, and also what to expect from the next arc of Revival itself.
And – because it would be rude not to – we also spoke about the upcoming fourth volume of his series Battlepug!
Jenny Frison’s cover for the issue
Steve: Who first floated the idea of Chew and Revival crossing over?
Mike: I believe it was John Layman. He posed it to Tim Seeley last year.
Steve: How long did it take to get onboard with the idea? Were you immediately keen?
Mike: I thought it was a terrible idea! Tim brought it up because he believes a good writer can make the craziest ideas work as a story, but I thought it was insane. Revival lives in a place were I didn’t want it disturbed, y’know? We have the whole thing mapped out, and any crossover with and outside property (especially one as wacky as Chew) didn’t make sense.
After I thought about it for a while, I started remembering all the team-ups from indie comics I liked when I was a kid. I remembered how First comics did a whole month where all their titles crossed over with each other and how weird and fun it was.
So, I went back to Tim and told him that if he could make a story that made sense and had no bearing on the actual canon we’ve set up in Revival, I’d be on board. Now, I think we have something that is unique and represents both books well. It’s fun.
Steve: So, the question everybody has been asking me to ask – does this mean that, all this time, eating chicken has been banned in Wisconsin?
Mike: I believe in John and Rob’s book chicken is indeed illegal in Wisconsin… but that may not be stopping the good people of Wausau from eating it.
Steve: The book will be split in half, is that right? How did the plotting and scripting of the story break down? Did you work on the whole story together, or did you each take a half and write that?
Mike: The comic is designed as a flip book, so there are two stories. Since it was John’s idea in the first place, he had his story already done. It’s awesome. Mine and Tim’s has taken a little longer to figure out.
Rob Guillory’s cover for the issue
Steve: Revival and Chew are massively different in style, not least in the art styles of Rob Guillory and yourself. What are you planning to do with your art style for the issue? Are you going to try and mesh your style somewhat with Rob, or do you want to try and create as much of an artistic clash as possible, or?
Mike: We are going to do things the way we always have. I think the fun of the project is seeing how we interpret each other’s worlds. Their story will be very “Chew”, while our will be much darker and more disturbing.
Steve: The big clash in tone is one of the big appeals of this crossover issue – nobody knows how you’re going to pull this off, which is pretty exciting. How has it been to get your hands on the Chew cast, restyle them, and enter them into the insular world of Revival?
Mike: It’s fun as hell. I’m not trying to restyle as much as I am seeing how Tony and co. Look in a more “realistic” environment.
Steve: Were there any characters in particular you knew you wanted to pair up?
Mike: Not exactly – but I love John’s take on Martha Cypress (Em).
Steve: Revival has been told in a town which is roped-off from the rest of the world, with a set cast who are under pressure all the time, and the dramatic stakes rise each issue. Was it a relief to get to puncture that bubble, if just for one issue, and throw some comedy into the story?
Mike: Not exactly. Our part of the story isn’t going to be too lighthearted. But the book itself is a nice break from the darkness of our series.
Steve: The crossover issue aside, Revival’s third arc has concluded, and the trade will be released in just over a month from now. The story has recently started turning to some of the longer running mysteries of the series, such as the identity of Em’s murderer. How far out do you have the series plotted, at this point?
Mike: We have a firm outline for up to around issue 24, which is our approximate halfway point. We have the whole series loosely mapped out after that. We’re just allowing to see where characters may push us to go.
Steve: With the next arc ahead of us, it looks as though you’re going to be exploring several of these threads even further, with a story focusing on Dana, Em, and Cooper. What can we expect from the series going into arc 4?
Mike: Arc four is about our core characters becoming more isolated. Not just the isolation of quarantine, but the alienation that results when people keep secrets from each other. Em’ situation will also be getting worse.
Steve: Chew and Revival are both established, acclaimed series which are now far down their respective stories – if you want to start on either, most people would recommend you read in trades. Does it get difficult when you reach a certain point in the life of a series, where new readers are less able to jump on? Is there a point where sustaining a readership grows harder
Mike: We’ve been talking about this a lot lately. Our book has been doing okay, but the monthly sales are definitely down. I think it’s kind of hard for an ongoing indie book to maintain an audience BECAUSE most people see that it comes out in a timely manner and just take for granted that the book will continue to do so.
A lot the time readers think they’ll maybe wait for the trade or buy all at some point down the line. Hell, I do that myself!
Also, there’s a LOT of great stuff right now. Lots of big names have started doing books at Image since revival started, so I’m sure we’ve probably got a little lost among all the choices out there right now.
We decided from the beginning that we’re going to see this project to the end. We have a great story we want to tell, and luckily reader support seems to be there for it.
Steve: Have you been surprised by some of the directions the series has gone in since it started?
Mike: Sort of, but not really. We’ve known where the story is going, but sometimes Tim throws in some stuff that just makes me think “Wow!” I think he’s allowed for the characters to dictate where he takes it. He’s a very underestimated writer, in my opinion. The guy is really good at what he does.
Steve: Do you think there could be room for other crossovers in future? Battle Pug/Revival?
Mike: I think we’ll leave it at this Revival crossovers. Battlepug can team up with anybody, though!
Steve: Speaking of! Battlepug has now been running for three years, and you’re about to launch into the fourth volume of the story. Where next for the hero and his companions?
Mike: We’re over the halfway point in the Battlepug story at this point. The next (and last) two volumes are going to be about answering some of the questions I’ve set up in the story so far. Things are going to lead up to a big finale, and hopefully people won’t figure out any of the surprises.
Steve: What else do you have coming up in the near future? What can we look forward to?
Mike: I just started a mini series for a publisher I haven’t worked with in a while, but I’ll let them make the announcement for it. Dennis Hopeless is hard at work writing up a new mini- series for our creator-owned superhero book, The Answer!
Other than that, more Revival and Battlepug!
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MARC-OLIVER FRISCH: Do you enjoy eating?
JOHN LAYMAN: I do and I don’t. That is, I’m not a gourmet, and I’m not super particular. I could eat at Taco Bell every day and be happy. I am, however, married to someone I would consider a gourmet and a food enthusiast, and it was through her I sort of discovered that foodies have their own world and interests and language, and are in their own way every bit as passionate and obsessed as comic book fans. Surely that was part of the seeds that inspired Chew.
Since you mention Taco Bell, I presume you’re not a vegetarian. Would you say eating is a guilty pleasure for you, in terms of where the food comes from and what it takes for it to end up on your plate?
Honestly, I think I
One of my favorite artists. I loved those drinks in Thor, cool to hear he came up with them.