LAST EDITED ON 09-08-03 AT 09:48 AM (EDT) by Gryphon (admin)
[Just fixing a minor typo in somebody's name. Pay me no mind... --G.]New Avalon Comics Journal
Columns
Lunching With The Creators: Dave Menard
By G'reb Shaymoos
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I met new Top Thrills penciller and Manticoran ex-pat Dave Menard at Allard's- In his own words, he's new enough to the City in the Sphere that he's still doing the tourist thing and walking around looking up, so I thought such a famous landmark would appeal. Much to my pleasure, he wasn't more than five minutes late, and dressed appropriately for the occasion in a natty-looking dinner jacket. His lady companion, -a charming, blue-haired vulcanoid(?) woman named Keyne Aqua- wore a lovely blue dress with an impressive decolletage, obviously inspired by Ishiyaman cult film star and industrialist Sumire Kanzaki. Mr. Menard described Miss Aqua as his 'model and muse', though her duties over the course of the dinner seemed to consist of puncturing his ego and 'keeping him honest', to use her own phrase.
Dinner was up to the usual Allard's standard; I had the prime rib -Perfection!- and Mr. Menard enjoyed the excellent coq au vin. Miss Aqua seemed to be pleased with her steak, but found that the three-bean salad, while interesting, was not to her liking. The interview was conducted over drinks afterwards- Menard's drink of choice seems to be Bushmill's Malt over ice, while Miss Aqua enjoyed a Derby Fizz.
GS: How did you break into the business?
DM: Kinda through the back door, actually. Truth to tell, I'm pretty much living the fanboy's dream. Up until last year, I managed and co-owned pretty much the only comics and collectibles shop on Manticore- Go Titans! (laughs) I was active in the fan press and had gotten a few letters published in the lettercol in TOTL, as well as doing some art on spec for conventions, 'zines, that sort of thing. I never imagined I'd be working for BC someday.
GS: How did that come about, then?
DM: Sheer luck. Bad or good, I'm not sure.(laughs.) One day, out of the blue, Yomiko Readman happened to pop into my store- this was some time before TOTL issue 172 finally shipped to Manticore, if it even has, yet- so I didn't recognise her. Halfway through trying to sell her a vintage Alex Toth artbook, A bunch of guys in black hoods burst through the doors and tried to take her out. I bravely tried to intervene-
KA: He was taken hostage. One of many.
DM: (grumbles) Yeah, I got taken hostage. Anyway, when all was said and done, I wound up halfway out to the Outer Rim on some kind of asteroid base. I was rescued, of course, but the whole debacle left me pretty much penniless and out of a job. The nice folks from the IPO helped straighten things out with my insurance company, so I got a good settlement on my shop, but I was sort of at a loose end for a bit.
Once again, I got lucky. In the course of hashing things out with the IPO folks, I ran into Lensman Shinohara, who happened to recognise my name from the TOTL lettercol. We got to talking, and she pretty much managed to sell me on relocating to New Avalon. Now, you may or may not be aware of this, but Lensman Shinohara knows (publisher of BC Comics and Scarlet Sentinel writer) Derek Bacon and I cleverly parlayed-
KA: You grovelled and begged her to introduce you.
DM: Yes, thank you dear. I got my foot in the door that way. Anyway, Bacon was kind enough to give me a shot working over some of Pete Rasputin's breakdowns for a run of backup features in Tales, and that, as they say, was that. When all's said and done, being kidnapped by intergalactic terrorists isn't a method I'd recommend for breaking into the business, really.
GS: How do you find Rasputin?
DM: Generally with a magnet. (laughs) Seriously, aside from the urge I get to break out into Old Earth disco numbers whenever anyone mentions his family name, he's a pleasure to work with. He's got a real talent for superhero art, and he's a heck of a nice guy. Actually, everyone I've met from BC has been really terrific. Pete is a fabulous artist, and honestly, he doesn't need me to go over his stuff- I'd say this is a pity gig, but I 'm thankful for the job, so... (laughs.) Pete's got a lot of irons in the fire, and I'm just happy to help out.
GS: Any worries about taking over for (outgoing Top Thrills triple-threat) Phil Moyer?
DM: (whistles) Well, Moyer's a tough act to follow, that's for sure. One of the greats. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous, but I'm trying to look at the job as a challenge. I've been lucky enough to see an ashcan from his new project, and I was blown away. It'll really be something.
GS: What's it like to work from a script by Derek Bacon?
DM: A hoot. Derek tends to annotate pretty heavily- he's got a very clear idea in his head about what he wants to see on the page, and does a wonderful job communicating that in his scripts. He's also hilarious- everything you've heard on that account is true.
GS: Can you tell us a little bit about your artistic influences?
DM: Geez, where to begin? A lot of the old-school Earth artists from the Pre-contact era- Alex Toth, Paul Dini, Mike Parobeck... I also like a lot of the neo-mangakas that are coming out of New Japan, Tomodachi and Ishiyama these days. Everything I learned about colour work comes from studying Phil Moyer- is there anything that guy doesn't do well? (laughs)
GS: Some folks have commented on the "cheesecake" aspect of a lot of your work. Do you feel that it's a problem?
DM: Well, as a healthy heterosexual male humanoid, I must admit I like to look at and draw 'purdy pitchers of purdy ladies'. Is that a problem? Only so far as it impedes the storytelling value, and I don't think it has so far. I promise we won't be seeing Cissie running around in her underwear all the time, though.
KA: He tried, but the editors won't let him.
DM: (grumbling) You try drawing all those bloody little doodads and thingumabobs all over her costume, panel after panel sometime. Trust me, you'd be begging for a simple bikini shot, too.
GS: Can you tell us a little bit about any hobbies you might have?
DM: Well, my hobby has suddenly become my job, so... In my not-so copious free time I've been working on rebuilding my collection of Ishiyaman cinema. Most of my comics went up in smoke, so I suppose I need to get more of those...
KA: Honestly, he never leaves the flat. It's sad, really.
GS: Can you let us in on any upcoming developments in Top Thrills?
DM: Well, not really... Non-disclosure agreements and all that. Besides, do you really want to be spoiled? (laughs) Trust in Mighty Derek and have faith that the universe will unfold as it should, that's my philosophy. I can say that Lensman Shinohara will be very pleased with some of the upcoming story developments.
GS: Any plans for the future?
DM: Well, I'm in negotiations right now with the Avalon County Robot Offensive Support Service to produce a licensed comic based on their adventures. It'll be kinda in the neo-mangaka style, if I can pull it off. I'll probably be looking for a 'gear' artist to make sure I get all the techie details right, though- that's one of the sticking points in the negotiations. That, and the fact that the ACROSS majordomo AI is a barking looney who won't let me discuss a thing with the Chief unless I call him 'Lord something-something'... Anyway, that's all up in the air right now. Basically, I'm just working at settling in to life in New Avalon, keeping my head low, and doing the best job I can.
GS:Thanks for taking the time for this interview, and best of luck!
DM: No problem, anytime. Far be it from me to turn down a free dinner.
KA: All we have at home is cup ramen.
DM: Keyne!
~~~~
G'reb Shaymoos is a freelance writer whose work has been published in Gizzard Magazine, Salusian Pop Journal, The New Comics Buyer's Guide, as well as on this site. Previous columns in the "Lunching with Creators" series are available here.
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<Wedge>: Don't merge the layers. It would be bad.
<Dave>: Define "bad".
<Wedge>: Imagine all the work you've done so far ceasing to exist and every pixel in your image exploding simultaneously at the speed of light.
<R-Type>: Total graphic reversal!
<Dave>: Okay, important safety tip, there. Thanks Wedge.
----EPU Art Crew, Photoshopping tips