torquemada a gogo

talking with Micah Gunnell

posted on January 27th, 2009 in Interviews

Micah Gunnell is one of the greatest illustrators to come along in recent years. His credits include work on the Heroes comic book series, Wireless, The History of a Secret, Normal Lives and a host of others. Currently working for Aspen Comics, Micah took the time to chat with our very own Richard Caldwell.

Micah, with your fluidly dynamic style and composition, you are a rising star in the here and now. How were you initially noticed, and do you remember much from your very first gig?

First, thank you for the kind words, and for the opportunity to do this interview. As far as my career impetus, the very first published work I did was in a back-up story in Across the Pond Comics’ “Government Bodies #2″. I believe it was a five page story which had about 8-12 panels on each page. It was a nightmare trying to fit all those panels in, but a lot of fun too. That was maybe a year or two prior to going to the Kubert School, which I attended for the one year. After I finished my first year at the school I decided I would get serious about finding a job. A few months after school I tried out for “Comic Book Idol 2″, the online contest hosted by Comic Book Resources. I was lucky enough to be selected as one of the ten contestants, and although I only made it to the third round of elimination, it did get me noticed by the folks at Aspen Comics. I received an e-mail from Aspen VP Frank Mastromauro asking if I’d be interested in submitting some work to them, to which I responded something equivalent to “Hell yeah!”.

I sent some horrible samples to them the first time which were a bit rushed because I didn’t know how much time I had, but I guess they saw something in the other work I had done and asked me to do some more and take my time, which I did. The result was something I would never show anyone, but was still a little better than the first set. Frank asked me to come to the San Diego con to meet Mike Turner and him, which I did. I was so nervous!

An interesting sidebar- Mike was actually the very first comic book artist I met when I went to my very first convention in Pittsburgh at age 15. He was my favorite artist at the time, and although my stylistic tastes had changed a bit since that point, he was still very iconic to me and really was and is a bona fide star in comics. I later talked to Mike about this first meeting, which he said was also the very first con that Top Cow had paid for him to attend so it was a kind of interesting synchronicity speaking for me and for him. He also remembered a horrible drawing that I showed him there at which he commented that I had a “good start”. I remember that meeting fondly, particularly now with his passing. He was a gentleman and very friendly, which is something that at that age really made an impression on me and how I want to treat people that enjoy my work. Who would have thought 9 years later I’d be working for him?…Sorry for the long tangent!!

Back to what I was saying…
Mike looked through my portfolio and stopped on one particular piece which I had spent several days on and was probably the most detailed piece I had done up to that point. “How would you like to do work like this on every page?” he said, to which I responded that I was too slow to do that on a daily basis. Regardless of my nervousness and lack of pencilling speed, I guess they saw enough potential in my work to offer me an internship, I flew over to their Marina Del Rey studio a few times, then moved to L.A. permanently, crashing on Peter Steigerwald’s couch the first four months. It was a really exciting time.

Sticking to your guns, I think, and the bravery to show some honest self-critique is a rarity nowadays, where everyone feels the need to sell themselves round the clock to any ear that might pay heed. Your work was good enough for Heroes, right?
How did that deal go down for you?

I agree, there are quite a few people out there that feel the need to trumpet their skills. Honestly though, most of the professionals who I have met and admire are very humble. In my opinion you should let your work speak for itself. As a sports fan I always admired the players who were the most humble, yet were also extremely talented. That’s something I try to keep in mind, though I feel I have a long way to go.
With Heroes, the way that happened is Aspen was contracted by NBC to do the artwork for many of the online comics. I wasn’t specifically hired by them, but when they made the deal with Aspen, it happened by proxy. Obviously with the show being such a big hit its been a cool thing to be a part of and its been good for broadening my exposure.

I admire how the Aspen clan has really circled their wagons in the past year. There seems to be a growing amount of focus and determination coming from the studio.
So what is the new book you’re handling?

Yeah, I’ve heard talk of people saying with Mike’s passing we were finished as a company, but honestly I think we’ll prove quite a few of the cynics wrong in that prediction. This year is going to be a big one for us as a publisher, with lots of new books coming out, as well as other big announcements. I’m really excited about the future of Aspen and I know everyone else is too. One of the great things about us as a company is that we’re a lot more than that. Mike and Frank always strived to create an atmosphere of family at Aspen, and its never been something forced. Every person working here was hired on not only for their talent, but also based on their character; and as a result Aspen consists of a bunch of great people that all want to create great comics.

As far as my upcoming project is concerned, I can’t say anything yet. There have been a few teaser ads in recent books from Aspen, but the name of the series and details about it have not been released. I can say it will be out sometime in late spring/early summer of this year. I’m very excited about it and I think it will show a side to my artwork that many people haven’t seen yet. Most people know my work from Shrugged, which is a very lighthearted work; however this new book is much darker and more mature in its themes, and therefore I’ve tailored my style to fit that mood.

As far as tailoring styles, is there a certain atmosphere you need to do what you do? Like an all-out sensory deprivation tank, or just some good tunes?

It depends. I’ll usually listen to music while I’m doing the layouts because it takes more thought and problem-solving. Once I start the finished pencils I usually will listen to talk radio because its more entertaining. It really just depends though. Sometimes I’ll put on a movie I’ve seen a million times so I can listen to it as background noise. You tend to come up with different ways of entertaining yourself when you have to sit at a desk 10-12 hrs a day. Sometimes if I’m trying to get into a certain mindset for designing something in particular I’ll try to listen to music that reflects the mood I’m going for. Regardless, I’m always listening to something while I’m drawing because complete silence is really boring!

If not for funny books, what would you be doing for a living? And where would you wish to be in ten years?

It would have to be something involving art. I’ve been drawing since I could hold a pencil, and before I discovered comics I never really knew what specifically I wanted to do. I used to want to be a book illustrator when I was a kid. Lately I’ve been getting more interested in visual storytelling and cinematography; and I know its not something easy to get into, but maybe if I hadn’t chosen comics I would have chosen film. I’m kind of a creative control freak so maybe I’d make a good director.

Thinking ahead ten years is a little hard for me to wrap my head around. I guess if I could have my way I’d be creating my own stories and illustrating them. The reason I got into comics is because I wanted to draw my own characters and create my own worlds for them to live in. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to draw Batman, Wolverine, the X-Men, merely because I grew up on those characters and it would be amazing to work work on those books, but my real love is creating. Like I said- I’m a control freak, and I want to be able to have as much creative oversight as possible. I have several creator-owned projects that I would love to see come to fruition in the next few years. If I had to name one person’s career that I would like to emulate it would probably be Mike Mignola. From an artistic standpoint, he’s held in the highest esteem by his peers, and creatively, he’s living the dream. Not many people get the opportunity to draw their own characters and make a nice living out of it, but that’s exactly what I would love to do.

Micah, thank you for sharing; and judging from the hints on your deviantart profile, I cannot wait to see the new book.