One of our personal favorites and arguably one of the nicest guys we’ve ever talked to, Steve Lieber is a painfully underrated artist. Sporting an immense amount of talent and having an incredibly important career within the medium, Lieber now heads up Periscope Studios (one of the most prolific and important comic studios around) and remains an important figure in the Portland comic scene.
Check behind the cut for our chat with Lieber on his artist history, creator owned versus for hire work and more!
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?
Steve Lieber: I was obsessive about comics from very early on. One of the big moments for me came while I was at the library reading their copy of Nostalgia Press’ oversized “Horror Comics of the 1950’s” reprint volume. It reprinted a bunch of great EC stories at something close to original art size. Among them was Krigstien’s “Master Race.” Most of what he did in that story was certainly lost on me, but I remember being dazzled by his manipulation of time on the page, and how panels without sound effects could still seem loud or quiet. That was one of the first times I ever found myself consciously paying attention to the choices an artist made rather than just following what a character was doing.
Who or what has influenced the development of your art?
SL: Studying from life has been the biggest influence, but that’s a given. Beyond that, there’s the lessons I’ve learned from Joe Kubert and other teachers at his school, and thousands of hours of close scrutiny of countless cartoonists and illustrators- mostly early to mid 20th century.
You are one of the founding members of popular Portland-based studio Periscope Studios. How has the creation of the studio influenced your art process, and what do you feel are the benefits of getting to work with other artists in such a close proximity?
SL: Periscope’s been hugely important for me. Just about everything I know about working digitally, I’ve learned from my studio-mates. And the feedback and support from peers with overlapping and complimentary skills and approaches is more valuable than I can even begin to say. When a drawing isn’t working, it’s a real luxury to be able to cross the room and ask Jeff Parker or Colleen Coover their opinion. And if you need to shoot photo reference, no one poses better for a cartoonist than another cartoonist.
Throughout your career you’ve done a good deal of work that is both for-hire and creator-owned. For you, what are some of the key differences when illustrating a graphic novel like Whiteout versus a one-shot Batman story in Gotham Central or Detective Comics?
SL: Books like Underground and Whiteout are always more satisfying. I being the person to make all the visual choices about a world. With shared worlds, part of me is always worrying that I must be stepping on someone else’s toes, or not maintaining the flow of the ongoing book when I’m working with characters that someone else designed. I know I’m an idiot to feel this way. Corporate comics publishers almost never even provide model sheets for their freelancers to follow, so it’s kind of weird to get stressed out about the danger of going off-model.
We know that writers have a very personal connection to the stories as they plot, but the stories cannot exist without the accompanying art. To that end, how personal is the connection you have to the visual aspect of books you work on?
SL: Totally personal. Whether you own the work or not, to do your best work, you have to treat every page like it’s your own firstborn baby.
Continued belowOne of the more unique elements on your résumé is your co-authorship of the Complete Idiot’s Guide to Creating a Graphic Novel. Given that a big part of the book was explaining illustrating for comics from the artist’s perspective, what was it like to impart tricks, tips and advice through such a unique medium? Is there anything you would explain differently now?
SL: I enjoyed working on the Idiot’s Guide quite a bit- mostly because it was a chance to formalize everything I’ve been telling artists at conventions during portfolio critiques, but without all the “um” and “err” and “hold on let me sign this guy’s book.” Given the restrictions of the Idiot’s Guide format, there’s nothing I’d explain differently in another edition, but I would like to work on another book at some point that would give me more room to go into depth on certain topics.
In the digital age, new tools are available to artists of all types. How does that affect and expand your work?
SL: There are a lot of things I once loathed drawing that aren’t a problem anymore. And the ability to save drawings at different levels of completion means that one need never fear ruining a piece by trying something different.
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?
SL: Via social media? Not at all. I work in a room full of insightful, opinionated, and merciless critics. Show them a mistake and they’ll pile on and tear me a new one even faster than Twitter.
Speaking of feedback and “social media,” last year found you entering the wild universe of 4chan when you were informed that they had been pirating your comic amongst themselves, which in turn led to a rather celebrated story of you both winning the crowd over to purchase the book before putting the comic online for free at the Underground website. How has that experience shaped your thought process when it comes to working on comics now, both in terms of creating/illustrating comics and releasing them?
SL: It’s not going to change my content at all. I do the work that I would want to read, and hope that enough people share my tastes to make my books successful. As for how I release the work, that choice usually belongs to the publisher paying me to create the work. Time/Warner isn’t interested in my opinions.
But on creator-controlled projects? Books done through Image or self-published? That’s a different matter. I’m comfortable trusting my readers to compensate me for my efforts on a personal project. Scans of every page I’ll ever draw are going to wind up on download sites no matter what, so I’d prefer that people just get the work from me, instead. At least that way, they’ll see digital files that look good, rather than mediocre 2nd generation scans from printed copies. Also, if someone pays me for a download, they should be able to read them on whatever device they want. It irritates the hell out of me when I have to jump through hoops to enjoy digital media I’ve purchased legitimately, and I hate the idea of doing that to my readers.
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?
SL: Hype doesn’t mean much to me either way, but I wish there was more critical engagement with comics’ visual aspect. A lot of comics reviews are just sports reporting: “Here’s what happened in today’s match, and here’s what I think it’s going to mean for the next bout. “ That’s the way most fans read comics, and it’s the easiest, most straightforward way to write about them, particularly if you don’t have the vocabulary for discussing other aspects. That’s fine, but it’s so limiting. It’s like a conversation about an opera where you talk about the plot without ever mentioning music or singing.
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?
SL: The family was split. I ditched a full-ride scholarship studying business at Penn State so I could pay tuition at the Joe Kubert School in New Jersey and learn how to draw comic books. My father was less than pleased to say the least, but my mother was supportive. I don’t think my dad came around to the idea I might succeed until he went on a trip and saw some Batman comics I’d drawn sitting on the shelves in a store in Hong Kong.
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?
SL: Oh man, so many dream projects: I’d kill to draw a good Western. I love all the character possibilities in a crime story. And I really want to draw a sit-com, believe it or not. As for writers, there are plenty I’d love to someday do a substantial project with: Kurt Busiek, Mark Waid, Paul Tobin, Fred Van Lente, Dylan Meconis, among others.
Who are your favorite artists working in comics today?
SL: Goran Parlov, Jaime Hernandez, Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, Carla Speed McNeil, Jim Woodring, Colleen Coover, Jiro Taniguchi, Sarah Oleksyk, Chris Ware.
Desert Island question: one book, one album, one film and one comic. What do you take with you?
SL: Book: The Oxford English Dictionary, so I’d have lots to read for a really long time. Comic: That giant collection of Gasoline Alley Sunday strips. Movie: The Big Lebowski. If I haven’t gotten tired of it yet, I doubt I ever will.
What projects do you have coming up?
SL: Next up is Shooters, a graphic novel written by Eric Trautmann and Brandon Jerwa, coming from from Vertigo next spring. And I’m going to drawing a horror miniseries for Dark Horse, but I’m not sure how much I can say about it right now.
