We are delighted to be joined by writer and artist Alecos Papadatos. Alecos is best known for his work on Logicomix and Democracy. With the release of Aristotle: A Graphic Biography from Abrams ComicArts, we got to chat with Alecos all about Aristotle: A Graphic Biography.
Hi Alecos, it’s so great to have you here with us.
Thank you for having me on ComicBuzz!
Could you please introduce yourself to our readers?
Well, it’s quite a story. I started as an animator. After running a production studio in Greece with my wife Annie and training a whole crew of budding animators, I started to miss the solitary joy of just me, my pencil, and the creative flow. That’s when the comic book bug bit me, and out came Logicomix, Democracy, and now, Aristotle.
For anyone unfamiliar with Aristotle, how would you describe him?
Aristotle was quite the character. Highly respected, sure, but also a bit of a lone wolf. He had a wicked sense of humor and could be downright affectionate with his close friends and family. Me, I like to think of him as a curious, energetic guy who was perpetually lost in his own brilliant thoughts. The kind of guy you’d love to grab a drink with, as long as he didn’t start lecturing you on the meaning of life halfway through!
Can you tell us about the origins of Aristotle: A Graphic Biography?
A bit after Democracy, Tassos Apostolidis came to me with his Aristotle script. He was full of enthusiasm, studying and working on it for several years. We discussed a bit, I fell in love with the subject immediately and proposed it to my publisher in Dargaud, Yves Schlirf, who took it under his wings from day one.
You created all of the art for Aristotle: A Graphic Biography. What part of that process did you enjoy the most?
The sheer number of characters we had to bring to life, each one needing to be distinct and memorable, that was a real test. But you know what they say, the more the merrier. I had a blast dreaming up all these quirky philosophers and scholars. The second challenge was to create a comfortable reading pace for the book, as there was a need for both action and original visual devices to get the ideas across. This cost me a bit of a delay! Thank God, at some point my wife, Annie Di Donna joined in helping me with the inking part with his lovely and precise line-work and I could concentrate more on the layouts and the pencils.
What was it like working with Tassos Apostolidis?
Tassos is such an old friend of mine and an open-minded guy. A mathematician as well! We had all the “method codes” established right from the beginning and the production and creative parts rolled smoothly.
Do you have a favorite scene from Aristotle: A Graphic Biography?
Lots, but I prefer these parts where Aristotle has some inspiration flash and gets lost in his thoughts, kind of ecstatic. I had so much fun drawing these expressions of his, it was like playing the part myself (I did a lot of this in front of a mirror)
Any message for the ComicBuzz readers?
I hope Aristotle will be a fun and mind-expanding read for all curious comic book lovers!
We would like to say a big thank you to Alecos for chatting with us and wish him all the best with the release of Aristotle: A Graphic Biography.
