The Art

[Krimson]

Walter, having finally bought the first two issues of this I wanted to comment about the art. Foremost I love the way the artwork is inked. The dip pen has always been my favorite tool for inking. Ever since I discovered the art of Moebius all those years ago, I have loved how it looks. The lines give a certain character which seems to be missing in a work inked with a brush. Sadly, this and Multiverse of MM is the only works of yours I have seen. How do you feel about the freedom which a pen can give you, as compared to inking with a brush?

Also, with regards to the coloring, Steve Oliff's work looks very much like he painted with Gouache. I love the style, as it embodies the same qualities I love about Moebius's work. However, on closer inspection I am convinced that he used a digital process (like Photoshop with a tablet). If you know, could you tell me a little about the colouring process he used?

All in all, I love the visuals. It reminds me of the first few years of Heavy Metal. If only more comics used this style.

[Krimson]

Ok - I am mistaken. MMM and Making of a Sorceror is not the only works of yours that I have seen. I did a web search on you and found a plethora of titles you have worked on, many of which I have read. With that said, I still find Making of a Sorceror my favorite work of yours to date. Though I suppose I can chalk that bias down to the fact that as much as I love comics, I love MM's works so much more. I hope that you and MM decide to collaborate on further works, the visuals are so very splendid.

[Walter Simonson]

Ok - I am mistaken. MMM and Making of a Sorceror is not the only works of yours that I have seen. I did a web search on you and found a plethora of titles you have worked on, many of which I have read. With that said, I still find Making of a Sorceror my favorite work of yours to date.

Hey, Kommando. I'm sorry I'm tardy replying to your posts. I drift through regularly but somehow hadn't realized there were new posts I should have said something about. Not paying close enough attention to my knitting, apparently. :oops:

I'm glad you're enjoying the Elric story as well as some of my previous work. I have done a fair number of comics over the years but I'm pretty pleased with the way the Elric stuff is working out myself.

Steve's coloring is all digital. He was one of the very first artists to use the computer as a coloring instrument and he's still one of the finest, IMHO. He ran one of the early computer coloring companies (called Olyoptics) for a time although I think he's gone back to working solo these days.

Like most colorists these days, Steve uses Photoshop. Years ago in the early days of the computer, he was using some other program but I don't know what. He started working in color originally with physical media so by the time the computer had reached a stage where it could be used for coloring, he knew color, color theory, and so on.

He colored a couple of comics I drew about 13 or 14 (!) years ago--a Robocop vs. the Terminator book I drew that Frank Miller wrote. Steve colored issues 3 and 4. Dark Horse, the publisher, had been coloring the book originally but that was early work for them with the computer and it wasn't very good. So we asked Steve to take over and he did a lovely job. Especially as he had to color the issues in about 30 seconds each! :)

I've known Steve for years and really like his work. So I asked him to color ELRIC once the project got started.

Best/Walter