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3DTotal: Hi Matt, thanks for talking to us. The comic book industry has always been considered ‘cult’, with all the recent movie adaptations using big CG effects. Do you think this has changed?
Matt: Oh, I don’t think it has always been considered “cult”, as you say, as comics have a very wide appeal. I think the only real reason for it’s supposed ‘cult’ status is the US comic industry’s insistence on focusing upon super heroes. Hopefully, with the success of films like ‘ Sin City’ and ‘Hellboy’, this will change. So far, the only superhero movies that have succeeded seem to be based on those characters that people have already known for decades.
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3DTotal: 2D CG art is growing as an industry and is a hobby for thousands. How did you get started using computers for the kind of images that you create?
Matt: I bought my first iMac about 6 years ago and bought Photoshop 5, and basically just sat with it for a couple of weeks and learned all the basics. I had been illustrating comics for Marvel and DC since 1990, and realised that, if I didn’t start learning how to create digital art, I might get left behind, so to speak, so really it was out of an enlightened self-interest. I’d wanted to create digital art ever since I was a kid, watching the movie ‘Tron’, so I just had to wait for consumer PC technology to catch up with me! The single smartest purchase I ever made was getting a Wacom tablet.
3DTotal: Which medium do you prefer; traditional ink or CG?
Matt: They are both means to an end and I don’t prefer one over the other. I really enjoy inking by hand, but I’m a recent convert and still something of a novice. The comic art that I created for “Superman Returns” and “Who Wants To Be A Superhero” was mostly inked in Corel Painter IX . |
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3DTotal: What advantages does the CG work have over the traditional?
Matt: Well, in commercial illustration, producing the artwork digitally tends to make clients feel more at ease as it’s usually quicker, easier to edit, and cuts down on delivery time, since one can simply upload the finished files to an ftp site, as opposed to having to rush to the FedEx office!
3DTotal: Ask someone “comic book god?” and the answer is “Stan Lee”. You have worked with him! Can you tell us about that?
Matt: Stan’s got so much energy and optimism, I just hope I can be just as lively when I get to be 85! He is so much fun on camera, and our cast and crew just loved him. When we did our premiere panel at ‘Comic-Con International’, this past summer, we must have had 4,000 people crammed into a room who were all spellbound as Stan talked about how much he loves comics and super heroes. His enthusiasm for it all is so infectious, it really helped motivate us to get through all those long hours of work. And let’s not forget Stan’s co-creators; John Buscema, Steve Ditko, John Romita Sr. and the King of Comics, Jack Kirby. I don’t hear their names mentioned enough.
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3DTotal: Well you have now! Why do you think that this is?
Matt: Probably because Jack Kirby has gone on to the “Bull-Pen In The Sky”, and Stan is thankfully still with us. It’s probably because I’m an artist, but without the artist, a comic is just a script.‘Who wants to be a superhero’ is coming back. What kind of work have they got you doing for the show? I’m hoping to be more involved with the show production this season, but my main job will be the same as last time; creating digital artwork which will turn our contestants into comic-book panels. It’s a lot of fun, and I’m looking forward to seeing who our new cast will be. I’m also there to consult with the producers in post-production whenever they want to be sure the show is staying true to the comic-book aesthetic.
3DTotal:You have also worked for some major clients, including Marvel, Nike, DC Comics, Warner
Bros & LucasArts. Do you have some memorable projects from these experiences?
Matt: Well, doing the animation design for the “Seinfeld & Superman” American Express commercials was fun, though I did all that work by hand in pencil. The story boards I did for the “Star Wars Episode III” XBOX game commercials were all done in Photoshop and had to be done as fast as possible. I found t
he freshness that one can achieve in one’s sketches when having to do them really fast! Early on
in my career, I was strictly a “penciller”, but these days it’s enormously liberating to be able to create complete colour pieces from start to finish, like my ‘Firestorm’ covers for DC.
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