Walter Geovani Interview

I went around to all the comic shops in NYC on Wednesday (or as it is known in nerd circles, “new comic book day”), looking for copies of Red Sonja: Blue. I myself had not yet seen the final product even digitally, much less held it in my hands. I was eager to see it on shelves, and pick up copies for myself and a friend while I wait for my author samples (currently at my agent’s office).

Sadly, I was a bit disappointed. The first four shops I visited were sold out before I got there. On one hand, that is awesome, because it means my loving readers were out in force snatching them up, but on the other hand… dammit! I wanted one! And it was a shame, because it meant a lot of other people who would have bought it missed out. It’s a sad fact that comic shops, which often operate on tight profit margins, are very conservative in their ordering, lest they end up with too much unsold stock. Someone should have warned them about the amazing wave of Warded Fans coming their way.

I did eventually get my copies and sign 26 more at the Midtown Comics flagship store on 40th and 7th, just off Times Sq. As I mentioned in my last post, that is my store, and the owners had my back. I signed four more at Forbidden Planet by Union Sq.

Hopefully the shops have all had time to reorder, and after I go to the doc and get my stitches out tomorrow, I will try to stop in and sign a few more. If you missed out, don’t give up! If your local store was sold out, please ask them to order more, or order online!

The stellar artist for RSB is the amazing Walter Geovani. He is a Brazilian artist who has been working with Dynamite Comics for four years doing their flagship Red Sonja book and others.

I used to have half-assed dreams of being a comic book artist, and still love art and am fascinated with the process, so I couldn’t resist asking him a few questions. Walter was happy to answer for the Peephole:

P: You work incredibly fast, especially considering how much detail is in your work. Your turnaround time for Red Sonja: Blue was even more impressive because I hear you were ill at the time. What can you tell us about your creative process from the receipt of the script to submission of completed pencils? How much preliminary work do you do before starting the actual pages? Do you have samples of sketches or thumbnails?

W: When I receive a script, I read it once, and then I read it again, sketching shot by shot at the side of each panel (on the script). After that, I make the layouts for the whole issue and send them to the editor. The layout is the most important part of a the page, in my opinion. When they’re approved, I start on the pages. For the pages, I sketch on a bristol paper, A3 size, drawing a thousand lines, erasing and fixing (it’s not a clean work) and then, using a light box, I draw over it with very tight pencils. I sometimes take pics of myself to draw poses and expressions. Even for Red Sonja sexiest poses:

The reason I made Red Sonja: Blue so fast is that I didn’t stop one day to rest until I had all of the issue done. Yes, I got ill for two weeks in the beginning of the issue, but when I got better and started to work again, I didn’t stop. And the other (and main) reason, is my wife. Without her help and support, I really couldn’t have finished the book.

P: What sort of materials do you work with? How much of your work is done by hand, and how much on the computer? What art programs do you use?

W: I use pencils and mechanical pencil 2.0 and 0.5 Leads HB, B, 2B, 3B and 6B. It’s all by hand. I’m traditional. I’m a dinosaur hehe.

My wife then uses Photoshop to clean the pages and make the pencils darker.

P: Your pencils have the look and feel of inked work, and I notice you receive full art credit on your books, meaning the pencils go directly to color without inking. This is a very different process than the standard I grew up with where two artists, penciler and inker, worked as a team. What can you tell us about this? Has the use of computers made this easier, or do you think this is just a benefit of your particular style?

W: When I started with Dynamite, I thought: “Oh my God, how can I draw without an inker!?” It took me a while until I got used to it. Just on Red Sonja: Wrath of the Gods I found a way to make my pencils look like inks.

I have to make very tight pencils and then my wife fills the blacks, scans the page, cleans it and gets the pencil lines darker. It looks like it’s inked. But I don’t like to call it “digital inks”.

Without my wife, that would not be possible.

P: She sounds like an amazing partner (note: Walter’s beautiful wife, not wanting to steal the spotlight, declined to have her name or picture included with the interview). How did you feel about this project? Was it different from other Sonja books you’ve done? Could you tell it was my first comic book script?

W: What I have to say about this book is what I said to everybody I know: “I was tired of drawing Red Sonja, but working on RS: Blue, I fell in love with the character again.”

I worked with five different writers since I did my first issue and I had fun with all of them. Every one with his style. In this issue, I could draw Sonja in funny situations, which I never did before. I always drew her serious, rarely smiling. And it was very fun to draw her this way. I love it.

When I read the script I didn’t believe that this was your first comic book script. I thought you were going to put 10 panels each page, because I had a bad experience with a writer who had never written a comic book. But it was easy and fun to draw, and it’s the kind of story I like to read. Congratulations, you did a great job! I hope you keep writing comic books and I hope we work together again soon.

P: I hope so too. I requested you specifically by name when I first started the project and had a fabulous time working with you on this book. I’m hoping it sells well enough to justify my filling the next three Sonja books in my Dynamite contract with more “blue” stories with you. In the meantime, what upcoming projects are you working on?

W: I´m doing some covers and I’ll work on Red Sonja #61. You can check it out here: http://geek-news.mtv.com/2011/04/28/mtv-geek-exclusive-first-look-red-sonja-61/

P: Thank you, Walter, for the interview.

You can find more of Walter’s work on Deviant art, follow him on Twitter, friend him on Facebook, and he has his own blog here.

Here are the amazing initial character sketches Walter did based on the scans of the old 80’s Sonja books I sent him. I was very specific about the look I wanted, and he friggin’ nailed it!

Walter’s Deviant Art page has some great comparisons of his finished pencils and the final art with colors by Ivan Nunes. it really shows how much depth is added in the digital coloring process, it’s an art in and of itself (click to enlarge):

If you read the book, I would love to hear what people think. You can comment here on the blog, on my Sonja forum, or on the Dynamite Red Sonja: Blue message boards.

Posted on June 17, 2011 at 12:25 am by PeatB
Filed under Craft, Interviews, Red Sonja, Writing
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