Hi, guys! Adam Messinger here. I’ve got a new column setting up shot. It’ll go down every Friday. It involves asking a creator 4 or 5 questions about their work. This first installment features a writer/artist I’ve admired since my teen years. Andi Watson is one of the most prolific writer/artists of all ages material currently working in comics. His credits include Love Fights, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, 15 Love, Glister, Geisha, and quite a bit more. I’ve recently enjoyed his return to one of his first projets, Skeleton Key, in the pages of Dark Horse Presents. Without further adieu…an interview with Andi Watson!
Tamsin, Kitsune, and Mr. Racoon from Watson's Skeleton Key
Adam Messinger: Skeleton Key was first published back in 1995. What was the inspiration behind it?
AM: Skeleton Key started back up again with Dark Horse Presents #5. Even though it’s been published on and off since it started, what is it like coming back to those characters again?
AW: Pretty easy, Tamsin and Kitsune’s dynamic isn’t very complicated, it wasn’t a struggle getting “into character”. Also, because it was a short for an anthology, I knew it had to have the minimum of background before getting stuck into a story. So each time there’s a sentence or two of set up “Using the magical Skeleton Key to open doors to…” and bang, we’re on with the story. I’ve been working on Gum Girl for quite a while and those stories have a lot to fit in, so I’ve had a lot of practice at being even more concise than usual.
AM: One interesting aspect of the book is that although it reoccurring, there isn’t a continuing story. Why choose the stand alone format over having a larger story serialized like most other strips?
AW: I can’t quite remember if at first I was offered one story? Brendan, the editor liked it and then some space opened up in the books and I was offered two more. I think that’s what happened. Anyway, with an anthology, I think it’s best to give a self-contained story with a definite beginning and end. I’m guessing there are ongoing or serialised stories in DHP, but I think a story that gets down to business and wraps up has more impact. Also, cramming a decent idea into eight pages is good discipline.
AM: How many Skeleton Key stories did you plan to have published in DHP?
AW: There were three: “Lost Property” in DHP#7, “Room Service” is in DHP#6, and “Dead Can’t Dance” in DHP#5. It was a lot of fun to work on, drawing those characters again, Mr Raccoon, for instance, and to get the chance to draw a bunch of different things. I’m particularly proud of Lost Property, that’s one of my faves.
AM: Is there anything we didn’t touch upon that you’d like the readers to know?
Gum Girl out March 1st
AW: I have a new series coming out March 1st, called Gum Girl, published by Walker books, the same people who published Glister in the UK.I’ve been working on this for ages so it’ll be great to have them on the shelves.The first one is subtitled “Catastrophe Calling!” and there will initially be four in total. Each book contains three complete stories and the cool thing is they’re in colour. Not only is it my first superhero book, but it’s also my first book in full colour. So yeah, I’m pretty excited about that. The story is about a school girl, Grace Gibson who moves to a new town, Catastrophe, where disasters are an everyday occurrence. Villains have free rein and so when she finds an old chemistry set and accidentally makes a new gum formula, she sets out to right the wrongs disguised as Gum Girl! Gum Girl can be ordered with free international shipping from here: http://tinyurl.com/44srg7y I’m also launching a Webcomic with the Saturday Morning Webtoons crowd. We’re all making comics for kids with updates each Saturday. My own contribution is a colour version of Princess At Midnight. I’ve created fifty pages of new material that I’ve been sitting on for awhile, so brand new stuff will follow the old. It looks really nice in colour. We launch of the 14th Jan and you can keep up with the news on Twitter @satmornwebtoons
