In today’s Artist August interview, we have the artist of Morning Glories, Joe Eisma. Making up half of the incredibly successful duo behind the book, Eisma has been gaining popularity steadily due to his affable nature and consistently improving art. And in a title where not even he has all the answers, you can be sure that we have lots of questions.
Check out after the jump as we chat with Joe about his craft, Morning Glories, social media and the Cylinder.
Can you look back on your life and recall the single moment that made you want to work in comics? Or was it more of a natural progression that led you here?
Joe Eisma: I think it was more of a natural progression. I mean, I’ve always drawn, but my earliest kid career goals were more ‘useful’ professions like Firefighter or Policeman. There was a point in my youth where I did dream of being able to just get up in the morning and go someplace and draw all day for a living. In that sense, I’ve achieved it!
Who or what has influenced the development of your art?
JE: Comics! Okay, duh. It all started with the Marvel comics I grew up with, and transitioned into the Image boom of the early ’90s. As I became an adult, I found other things were affecting my art–music, film and manga. The great thing now is I can go back and soak up all the influences from throughout my life. I can just as easily be inspired now picking up a John Byrne Fantastic Four trade as I can by getting the latest issue of The Unwritten.
Your big break in the land of comics has been Morning Glories with Nick Spencer for Image. Given the immediate success of the book with critical acclaim and an immediately passionate fanbase meeting you at the first issue, has this had any influence on your artwork?
JE: It’s definitely made an impact. In some respects, you get more self-conscious because ‘hey, people are actually seeing my art now!’ For the most part, though, it’s positive. I’ve listened and combed through the criticisms and I’ve learned what works and what doesn’t with our fans. That’s not to say I’m going to cater to every single detraction I see–but when valid points are raised, it actually does help me work to improve my art. I think early on, the big thing I heard was my work was too rough, and looking back, I agree. It’s just tricky to be able to find the time to go in there and polish things up and make things less scratchy on a deadline.
Visually, Morning Glories is very meticulously constructed to hide clues and easter eggs in almost every panel, and is often rather cinematic. What is the process for you when illustrating the book? Do you and Nick collaborate on particulars of panels, or is it mostly an intuitive element on your part?
JE: It really is a collaboration. Nick does think in a very cinematic manner, and my college degree was in film, so I think that definitely translates into the finished comic. In issue 6, for example, spending the whole issue hiding Jade’s face was a challenge. The nice thing about comics is each panel is a snapshot, which allowed me to frame things and place the characters in such a way as to obscure her face more effectively than if it were a live action story. With the clues, there are notes in Nick’s script akin to ‘okay, this will be important later..’ In those cases, I try to construct the shot in such a way that when the full gist of that particular plot point is revealed, the reader can go back and see that it was there all along.
At this point in the series with 10 issues on the stand, what would you say has been the oddest thing you’ve had to illustrate? And on that same note, what has been the most fun/intriguing?
Continued belowJE: Probably the scene with the Ram in issue 7 was the strangest. I think my reaction to reading the script probably mirrored Zoe’s thoughts at that point. I mean, I was sure Nick was going to come up with something twisted involving that animal! The most fun.. Man, there are so many! The one that leaps to mind first though is Jade’s nightmares in issue 10. It was just fun to warp reality in the book and not draw so many straight lines.
We know that writers have a very personal connection to the stories as they plot, but the stories cannot exist without the accompanying art. Given that you aren’t aware of the answers to all of the mysteries of Morning Glories yet are fully in charge of visually creating the world, how personal is the connection you have to the visual aspect of the book?
JE: Pretty strong, I must say. I’ve said many times that this is the most fun I’ve had in drawing comics, and it really is true. I feel lucky to be a part of this. I actually feel concern for the characters and hope they make it out unscathed every time I read a new script! And I really do take pride in all the different and varied locations in the book. I guess in a sense I feel the pride a set designer on a film or tv set would feel in their work. It’s all a part to bring the world of this story to life, and I’m glad to be a part of it.
What is the Cylinder? (Hey, we gotta try, right?)
JE: The Cylinder is Jorge Garcia.
No, really, it’s Steve Ditko.
In the digital age, new tools are available to artists of all types. How does that affect and expand your work?
JE: It’s opened so many doors for artists, myself included. I wouldn’t have near the speed that I have if it weren’t for digital tools. The main reason I quit drawing in the mid ’90s was that I felt my art took too long using traditional tools. With digital, you can iron out all the kinks on the screen and not worry about ruining an entire page or having to erase a lot. It saves my skin when I come to inking because I’ve already done all the heavy lifting in the digital stage. And you can’t discount the usefulness of 3d models. Ever since the advent of Sketchup and 3ds Max–backgrounds are loads easier.
Does feedback (both positive and negative) with fans and critics via social media push you as an artist? How does that aspect affect your art?
JE: It does, and I sort of answered this earlier–but I cannot say enough great things about the immediacy of the almost instant feedback of social networking. I read all the reviews, good and bad, and there are helpful things and there are not helpful things in both. Sometimes you’ve got someone who just has an axe to grind, and they’re not offering anything constructive. What helps in a negative review is when the reviewer talks about what’s not working for them and backs it up and elaborates on their assertion. On the other end, in positive reviews–you don’t just want blind praise–you won’t grow. I’m grateful when someone likes my storytelling or how the characters ‘act’ in the different scenes. Storytelling is the most important part of comic art to me, and if I succeed in it in any given issue, I’m happy.
In the average comic book criticism or review, artists are typically given a lot less hype than writers are, even though this is a visual medium. Why do you think that is?
JE: I think it’s a testament to how important story is to readers these days. It’s a complete 180 from when I was a teenager, and Image was starting up and art was king. I think that I, and a lot of readers, quickly realized that so many of those comics just felt like they were lacking. It was a lot of flash and no substance. So in that sense, I’m grateful for the writer-revolution of the early ’00s that’s carried through to today. As well, I think it’s important for the art not to distract from the story.
Continued belowComics, even with increasing acceptance amongst the mainstream, are still a niche medium. With that in mind, have your friends and family always been supportive of your pursuit of a career in this field?
JE: Yeah, definitely. My wife has always been a big supporter, and always brags to her co-workers about the book. And every time we get our comp copies of the book, she has to make sure she grabs the first one out of the stack to bag and board. My family are supportive, but I think it goes over a lot of their heads. The best man in my wedding is probably my biggest non-family cheerleader. He’s just over the moon about Morning Glories’ success. Every time we get together he wants to know what’s new, and I even think he finds reviews online.
What would be a dream project for you? Any particular writers you’re dying to work with or titles you’d like to take a stab at? Perhaps a personal project you just want to see come to fruition?
JE: I’m drawing it! Okay, outside of Morning Glories, yeah–there are dream gigs. I would have loved to have drawn Captain Britain & MI-13 if it hadn’t been cancelled. Or any X-book, for that matter. Writers I’d love to work with–Grant Morrison, Brian Wood, Paul Cornell, Brian K. Vaughan and Mike Carey. As for personal projects–there was one I’d started a few years before Morning Glories that I’d love to get back to one day. It was a superhero satire, and may have been one of the most offensive things ever.
With a tease like that, you have to tell us a bit more!
JE: Basically, it’s a twisted ode to two series I loved as a kid–West Coast Avengers and Excalibur. An unlikely pairing, I know. But I loved the off-beat humor of Excalibur, and the idea of superheroes on the west coast always seemed like a no-brainer to me. I thought it’d be fun to explore that, and with my writer buddy Jason Burns, to really ramp up the humor and just lampoon the superhero genre, as well as the current pop culture climate and emphasis on instant celebrity in the internet age.
Who are your favorite artists working in comics today?
JE: Mark Brooks, Gabriel Rodriguez, Rob Guillory, Nate Simpson, Sean Gordon Murphy, Fabio Moon, Gabriel Ba, Craig Thompson, Naoki Urasawa, Jeffrey Brown and Bryan Lee O’Malley.
Desert Island question: one book, one album, one film and one comic. What do you take with you?
JE: Book: The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein (collected edition)
Album: Heaven & Hell by Black Sabbath
Film: Rashomon
Comic: Uncanny X-men Omnibus
Aside from Morning Glories, you have on occasion teased other work on Twitter. Can you give us any hints or clues as to what those are? (Perhaps the long-awaited Detective Space Cat ongoing?)
Detective Space Cat is currently embroiled in litigation with the Heathcliff estate and the Garfield estate over likeness issues. Other than that, I’m just in the early stages of a new collaboration with Joe Keatinge, who helped spearhead the Eisner-winning Popgun anthologies. It’ll be a bit of a departure for me–as I’ve not done a book like this one yet. It’s got some definite sci-fi elements, pretty girls and guitars.
