Hey there, my name’s Wes Craig, best known as the artist / co-creator of “Deadly Class” with Rick Remender. I’m also creator of “Kaya,” a fantasy-adventure series I’ll be writing and drawing at Image Comics this fall. “Kaya” will be available for pre-order later this summer, but for now you can follow me on social media at @WesCraigComics, and you can sign up for my free newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/cWo1gf
I’ll be doing a series of interviews here at Multiversity over the next few months with some of my favourite creators. A lot of writer-artists like myself, but also other people who have an interesting perspective on the industry.
For my first interview I was able to convince the artistic juggernaut (and lovely person) known as Fiona Staples. She’s the artist and co-creator of “Saga” from Image Comics, which just came back a few months ago to universal acclaim. There was dancing in the streets, parades, a few orgies, and joy throughout the land. There have been a few torch-bearers over the years that have brought comics to the non-comic reading masses: “The Walking Dead,” “Sandman,” and today that book is “Saga.” It’s a wild, heart-felt, and beautiful comic.
You can find Fiona on Instagram (@FionaStaples), and “Saga” comes out monthly via Image Comics. The first post-return collection, Volume 10, hits stores in October.
Wes Craig: So “Saga” is finally back, and we’re all very happy. But I was curious, what did you do on the break? Catch up and get a bunch of issues done? Or just take time off to relax and live life? Some of this may be personal stuff so feel free to answer that question as much as you feel comfortable.
Fiona Staples: Getting a bunch of issues done in advance would have been very wise, but nope! I played a few video games to completion, picked up time-consuming hobbies like quilting, and worked on some yet-to-be-announced other projects. I also had two kids! That was and is my most major endeavour.
WC: I first met you back when there was a Wildstorm section at the DC Comics booth in San Diego, and I think you were doing a Jack Hawksmoor book? I was impressed by the originality of your work back then, as I am now. And I feel like we’ve had similar career paths over the years. We did some Wildstorm work, had our cup of coffee at the major companies, but to me it felt like “journeyman” stuff, until I got a call from Rick Remender to do “Deadly Class,” and then things blew up. I feel like it may have been a similar ride for you? Had you been a fan of Brian K. Vaughan, and were you excited about this take on sci-fi?
FS: Yes, we were both at Wildstorm at the same time! As a young artist with a weird style, I couldn’t believe there was a place for me at a DC imprint, but there I was and I felt like I’d “broken in.” I didn’t exactly pick and choose my jobs back then; I took what came along and I had time for. But I was lucky enough to do some really cool projects with writers like Mike Costa and Steve Niles. When Brian came along with “Saga,” I’d been working for about six years and liked to think of myself as a seasoned pro. Now my decade of “Saga” absolutely dwarfs my prior body of work! So yes, in retrospect, I was kind of apprenticing at different publishers before starting my big career-defining thing.
I was a fan of Brian’s, especially “Y: The Last Man” and “Pride of Baghdad.” I probably would’ve done any story he pitched me, but this sci-fi/fantasy mashup particularly appealed to me for its breadth of possibilities.
WC: “Saga” is both wild in its design, like some of the worlds and ships, but also grounded in terms of fashion and culture. Was that deliberate, or did it just happen organically as you started designing.
FS: It happened organically in the sense that I didn’t think about the choice too much. The wacky locales and “tech,” if you can call a jellyfish spaceship that, are essential and very much baked into the story. There’s more flexibility with the appearance of the characters because Brian isn’t super specific in their descriptions. But their dialogue feels so naturalistic it made sense to me to give them familiar clothes and realistic proportions. I think it’s a way to make the wild fantasy trappings easier to digest.
Continued below
WC: Another parallel our careers have is just before we started our major current works, we both played around with doing an online comic. I remember you had a sci -fi comic you started just before “Saga,” right? Does that idea still interest you?
FS: Wow, thanks for remembering! The tragically short-lived webcomic I was doing with my brother was basically Archie in space. I only drew eight strips but we had piles of scripts. Now I’ve done lots of space and a bit of Archie, so I’ve kind of scratched that itch… but it might be worth revisiting for the teen drama element!
WC: I find your characters are always very “on-model.” They’re so real and specific. On a long work like “Saga,” how do you keep that so consistent? Do you do a lot of character studies before starting? Are they based on real people?
FS: Thank you for saying so! I do a pitiful amount of preliminary work before introducing a new character; a page of sketches if they’re going to be part of the main cast for a while. And I do reference those often, but to keep on model, I mostly just look back at old issues. Some are based on real people, but I try not to make it too glaringly obvious!
WC: Your covers are always bold and eye-catching and a big part of that is your choice of colour. Do you start with colour in mind right from the beginning?
FS: Brian will give me a loose concept for each cover, and colour is the first thing I plan after I know what I’m drawing. I love it when cover runs have a design motif, like the awesome two-colour diptychs on “Deadly Class!” With a sprawling series like “Saga,” the solid-colour backgrounds seemed like the most doable thing to repeat for infinite issues.
WC: Thanks for that, Fiona. Is there anything you can say about those other projects you were up to while you were away?
FS: Afraid they’re still under wraps! But my other major project is something all-ages, which is a nice complement to working on “Saga.”
WC: “Saga” is wildly successful as I’ve mentioned, it’s also going to be just over 100 issues. That’s a long time working on one project. Brian always gives you a lot of fun stuff to draw and the worlds and situations keep changing so I’d imagine that keeps you fresh. But I was wondering, after it’s done (and this is a long way away so maybe you’re not thinking of it yet), but after, do you have an idea about what you’d like to do? I mean, I’d imagine you could just sit back and take it easy for however long you wanted to when it’s done. But what do you see for yourself down the line?
FS: The end of “Saga” is probably a decade away (sorry, compendium-waiters) and I have no idea what will interest me at that point! It will likely be something small that I write for myself and take my time on.
WC: One more question I’m asking everyone for these interviews: If “Saga” had a soundtrack, who would be some of the artists on there?
FS: Stompin’ Tom’s “The Moon-Man Newfie,” aka Ghüs’ Theme.
WC: Wow. Deep cut from Fiona. Go Google Stompin’ Tom, all you non-Canadians!
