Ron Garney has been one of the top artists in the industry since 1989. Having worked almost exclusively for Marvel in that time, he’s had renowned runs on: Uncanny X-Men, Incredible Hulk, and Captain America. Early in 2004 Ron signed an exclusive two-year deal with DC Comics.
Ron’s first project for DC is a six-part JLA story arc entitled “The Pain of the Gods.†Following on the heels of the book’s 100th issue, and written by Chuck Austen, the arc promises to be something a little different.
I recently had a chance to talk with Ron about his run on JLA, working with Chuck Austen, Howard Porter, and a whole lot more.
411: July will see the start of the twice-monthly six-issue JLA arc that you’ll be drawing with Chuck Austen doing the writing. Can you give us a little background on the arc and why it’s so different for the JLA book?
Ron Garney: Well—It’s a six-issue arc focusing on each of the characters–they are all self contained stories that work with each other in any part of regular continuity. I know that sounds confusing but the stories are for the most part introspective in that we get to see how each hero deals with his or her trial on an emotional level–something that in a team book is hard to do on a month-to-month basis without being dominated or distracted by the amount of action taking place. I can recall past titles working this way but reversing that process, and taking on too much of a soap opera feel as a result. I think there’s a nice balance here for these six issues. It was a story concocted by some ideas that Mike Carlin had, with the format being something contributed by myself, and then the story fleshed out by Chuck.
411: In order the six parts of “The Pain of the Gods†feature: Superman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, and Batman. Since each story seems to have a slightly different tone did you vary your style with the different parts?
Ron Garney: Yeah I think so–but I think I tend to do that anyway–I just seem to get a different feel depending on the character each time, but hopefully it will still feel consistent. I think it does, but there was a definite evolution in the art. When I started on the first issue with Superman, I think I became excited about all of my favorite looks that he’s had over the years and that showed through on some of the pages. The Martian Manhunter story is a detective one, so I added a real noir film feel to the spotting of blacks in areas.
411: Of the six characters featured, which has been your favorite to work on?
Ron Garney: Hmmm, I’d have to say that it’s been the most fun drawing the Flash–there’s something about trying to create a kineticism when drawing him that’s really challenging. I enjoyed drawing the Martian Manhunter for the story. It has a real old detective story, noir kind of feel to it. And hey, who wouldn’t want to draw Wonder Woman?
411: Since you are inking your own pencils on JLA, perhaps you can give us some insight into your work process? Do you fully pencil and ink each individual page as you go, or do you breakup the penciling and inking?
Ron Garney: Hmm, for the most part, I was trying to pencil and ink each page. But the luxury of having the pages to ink as well is to be able to put them aside to go back to them with a fresh eye in the pencilling stage and correct or change whatever you feel needs to be. As far as the finishing–I didn’t need to go in and fully pencil, I would do mostly a tight breakdown at times, then finish with the ink and other times I found myself penciling with the brush, the images I felt confident about doing that with. Over time it became easier. And I deliberately wanted to approach the job with that confidence of being able to go right in with the brush and ‘pencil’ with the ink.
411: Considering your use of inks on JLA, was there a decided difference in the length of time it took you to complete an issue for that arc as opposed to books that you pencil for another inker?
Ron Garney: Actually, for me it tends to be easier inking it and maybe depending on what’s in an issue it can be quicker. With another inker you have to be pretty definite about what you’re trying to achieve and that can be time consuming, tedious and fatiguing, not to mention costly. You’re really inking in the pencils and trying to get through the gray areas a lot can change. When inking yourself, you already know what you’ll do with a texture and don’t need to go heavy into the backgrounds to make it clear for another inker to understand. So, really, you end up simply inking in pencil for the inker to follow anyway. That’s why I’ve always gravitated towards guys who can handle looser pencilling, like Klaus Janson, say, because I know what I can depend on.
411: The upcoming JLA arc is going to be your first work after signing an exclusive contract with DC. It seems pretty cool to get the opportunity to work on six of the “Big 7” right from the start! So after this chance to play with the big guys (and girl), what characters or type of story would you like to work on next?
Ron Garney: Absolutely! It’s so much fun working on these characters because there aren’t so many that you don’t feel you can get into a visual groove with each. That’s the downside (for me) of doing a thousand characters, is that you don’t really get to create an intimacy between yourself, the character, and then finally the reader. There’s too much distraction, and I think that we like to project a bit of ourselves into particular characters, and it’s difficult to do that when every page there’s a different distraction from one to the other. So any more than five I think becomes a distraction from that intimacy and , you run the danger of the reader not caring (as much) about them. As far as after this–I haven’t given that enough thought as of yet but as soon as I do I’ll let ya know!:)
411: What was it like working from Chuck Austen’s script? Did he leave you storytelling room to interpret the scenes or was each panel thoroughly scripted?
Ron Garney: Hmm, well Chuck’s scripts are very clear–however they left me a lot of room to play with the visuals or pace the story, add, subtract etc. as long as his story’s integrity was intact. I think that’s the important thing. We talked a lot about what the story was going to be and tossed ideas around well before hand, so I knew what was coming down the pike anyway and was excited about it.
411: JLA #101, the first part of “The Pain of the Gods,†is due in stores on July 14th with the arc shipping twice monthly from there. What stage of the project are you working on now?
Ron Garney: Oh, I’ve been done with it for awhile now. So there’s no danger of it shipping late, if that’s what you mean. (laughter)
411: If you’re done with the JLA arc, is it safe to say that you’re already working on your next DC project? If so, can you give us any hints?
Ron Garney: Yes, I’m already working on it–but I think DC will make a formal announcement.
411: It’s no secret that you share a studio with Howard Porter and work together on a daily basis. What’s an average day at the studio like, and does it bring you added inspiration working alongside a fellow comic artist?
Ron Garney: Let me tell you–it starts off tough everyday. In the morning we do a daily one hour exercise regimen that consists of two hundred and fifty bounces on individual pogo sticks to warm us up, then, we have a ‘who can blink first’ stare off which lasts usually for about two and half hours and twenty four seconds–then we try to bend spoons with our minds and that can take us up to about four hours. We use special wormwood spoons imported from Transylvania and whoever comes closest to bending them first pays for the pizza and milkshakes that day that top off our dietary supplements. After we’ve fully replenished our bodies with such refreshing nourishment we then are in a creative enough mode to start drawing for about twenty minutes where we get most of our work done for the day–then it’s off to the bar to get totally annihilated, high-fiving each other for a hard day’s work. We get a lot of angry calls from editors though, which I don’t fully understand, I mean we ARE doing our jobs, y’know?
But really–I truly do recommend the studio situation. At least the one we’re in. To have someone to bounce ideas off of or to help problem solve saves a lot of time and frustration. I worked at home for about fourteen years and after so long you start to feel like Howard Hughes walking around your house talking to yourself with Kleenex boxes on your feet. It’s made a world of difference in our enthusiasm, and has renewed our enjoyment of it.
411: In the past you’ve talked about a creator owned project you’re developing named Rex Ringo and the Robot Wranglers. I’m sure you don’t want to tip your hand too much, but can you tell us a little about the project? Also, will you be writing as well as handling the art? Any idea when we might see it on the shelves?
Ron Garney: Yes, I’ll be writing it. The art will be switching between Howard and myself. It’s an idea I came up with years ago, that I invited Howard to join me on. He’s added a lot of his own ideas and together we came up with what I think will be something unique and innovative. If time becomes a constraint I’ll ask a writer to help in scripting it. It’s a sci-fi story that I don’t want to give anything away on that blends super hero, with sci-fi fantasy. It’s all copyrighted already. It’s just a matter of time. I hope to see it launch within the next year and a half to two years.
411: Besides your run on JLA, is there a comic that you’d highly recommend to our readers?
Ron Garney: The Flash–with Geoff Johns and Howard Porter–some great stuff–and I’m not just saying that because Howard’s my office partner!!
411: A big thanks to Ron for taking the time out for the interview!
JLA #101, the first part of “The Pain of the Gods†will in stores on July 14th featuring Superman. Subsequent issues will ship bi-weekly through September.
