Interviews 

Mignolaversity Presents: Tyler Crook [Interview]

By and | June 20th, 2012
Posted in Interviews | % Comments
Image by Tim Daniel

Today, we are joined by main “B.P.R.D.” artist Tyler Crook for a discussion of all things B.P.R.D., as well as some of his non-Mignolaverse work. Make sure to check out his website for some great original art, and information about his other work. Also, be sure to pick up “B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth: The Devil’s Engine” #2, out today in fine comic shops everywhere, and digitally here.

Your first foray into comics was in 1998, yet you didn’t get a significant paying job in the industry until 2008 – during those intervening years, how did you keep yourself motivated? What advice would you give for someone who is setting out for a career in comics?

That’s a pretty funny question because it presupposes that I maintained my motivation. The reality is that I gave up a bunch of times. Typically I would come home from work after a rough day of making video games and decide that it was time that I get my portfolio together and finally chase my dream of working in comics. I would work really hard for a week or two and then I’d just run out of steam. It wasn’t until I reached my 30s that I had the patience and confidence to stick with a single project long enough to get it done.

If you want to get into comics the best advice I’ve ever heard was that you should do good work and put it on the internet. If you aren’t doing good work you aren’t going to get hired and if you aren’t showing your work no one will know to hire you. Also, remember to be nice to the people that you talk to.

A page from The Devil's Engine #2, out today

How did you first get involved with the world of B.P.R.D.? What’s the story behind you getting the gig?

I was at the Long Beach Comic Con in 2009 or 2010 and so was Mike Mignola. I decided that I needed to seize the day and show him my portfolio. At the time I was really close to finishing PETROGRAD for Oni Press so I showed Mike a bunch of my pages where Rasputin gets assassinated. He seemed to like my stuff and gave me his card and told me to keep in touch. So every couple of months I’d drop him an email and let him know what I was up to.

At the time I was doing contract work at Sony working on a video game called MLB: The Show. They offered me a full time position and I accepted. Literally two hours after I signed and returned their offer letter. I got a call from Scott Allie with the offer to take over the art duties for B.P.R.D. I guess it’s pretty obvious which job I ended up with.

Cover by Duncan Fegredo

What appeals to you the most about working on a title like B.P.R.D.?

The most appealing thing was getting the chance to work with this team. Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, Dave Steward, Clem Robins, Scott Allie and Daniel Chabon are all incredibly talented. It can be really intimidating sometimes but most of the time I find the challenge very rewarding.

Your ascent to the “main” B.P.R.D. artist must have been a nerve-wracking proposition given whom you were following on the book. How did following Guy Davis impact your approach to drawing these books?

That’s hard to say. Every day I look at back issues of B.P.R.D. I’m constantly referencing Davis’ amazing work. I don’t try to ape his style or try to match his tone or anything like that. I try hard to just be me. But I’m working from stuff that he designed so no matter what I do there is going to be a little bit of him in there.

Outside of names like Guy Davis or Mike Mignola, who and what do you look to for inspiration while working on B.P.R.D., both inside and outside of comics?

Within comics I mostly look at old stuff like Milton Caniff, Harvy Kurtzman, Frank Robbins, and Nestor Redondo. I’m super into Nestor Redondo right now. Outside of comics I really admire dudes like Andrew Wyeth, Gerhard Richter and Lucian Freud.

Continued below

You’re the artist on a book that is written by one of the most well loved artists in comics. Do you turn to Mike for any insight when it comes to your work on this book, or do you find that working with him offers any advantages to you as an artist?

Working with Mike is awesome. Just today I was working on a monster design and it just wasn’t gelling so Mike drew up a sketch that just nailed it. Every time I get feedback from Mike I learn something. And it’s really helped me up my game. Imagine if you had to show everything you drew to Mike Mignola. You’d want to draw better too, I bet.

Who is the Bureau member you most enjoy drawing? Is there anyone you’re dying to take a crack at?

That’s a tough question. It changes all the time. Usually my favorite characters are the ones I’m currently working on. I spend a lot of time trying to get these characters to express their emotions and I can’t help but feel like I get to know them a little. Fenix has been really fun in this regard because she is just a kid and she’s new to this whole world of monsters and stuff. So she gets to react to it like a reasonable person would. That is to say that she gets to freak out a little bit. Also I love drawing Bruiser, her dog.

I don’t know if there is anyone I’m dying to take a crack at. I guess Dr. Bruttenholm would be pretty fun. And I’d love to do Panya when she lived back in merry old England.

Petrograd was a stunning work of historical (mostly) non-fiction. What about a historical tale appealed to you? Would you like to do more “true” stories in the future?

I would just say that it’s historical fiction. The story is well researched and based on actual people and events but I would never use it as a source in a term paper or anything like that.

Historical stories are cool because the clothes are different and the buildings are different and it’s fun to research that stuff and imagine what it would be like in the past. I would love to do more of it. Phil Gelatt and I have a couple ideas for stuff that we might do in the future if we ever get the time.

What non-B.P.R.D. work can we expect to see in the near future from you?

Let’s see I did another fill-in issue for the 6th Gun that comes out pretty soon and I have a piece in the upcoming Occupy Comics Anthology. I’ve been working really slowly on a piece that my wife, Ma’at Crook, wrote for an anthology called “On Nights Like This”. I’m not sure when that’s going to be coming out.


//TAGS | Mignolaversity

Brian Salvatore

Brian Salvatore is an editor, podcaster, reviewer, writer at large, and general task master at Multiversity. When not writing, he can be found playing music, hanging out with his kids, or playing music with his kids. He also has a dog named Lola, a rowboat, and once met Jimmy Carter. Feel free to email him about good beer, the New York Mets, or the best way to make Chicken Parmagiana (add a thin slice of prosciutto under the cheese).

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