Getting The 411: Frazer Irving

Frazer Irving is one of the biggest names in British comics at the moment with a body of work that includes such highly acclaimed series as My Name Is Death, Necronauts and From Grace. He has also crossed over into American comics with the Dark Horse’s well-received Fort! Prophet of the Unexplained and The Authority: Scorched Earth one-shot. He’s recently begun a new series in Judge Dredd Megazine with Simon (Si) Spurrier called The Simping Detective. He took some time out of his busy schedule to answer some questions for us.

411: Thanks for agreeing to do this interview with us Frazer. If one paragraph would sum up Frazer Irving to uninitiated what would it be?

Frazer: Crikey. There’s no messing about with you is there? Ok, I’m British, kinda short and I smile a lot. I’ve been working professionally as an artist since new years day 2000 and in those years have worked primarily for 2000AD in the UK. I started out specialising in b/w line art for horror strips and gradually expanded my art styles to include stories on psychedelic superheroes, film-noir crime comics, busty maidens from space and a few other different horror stories. I drew an Authority one-shot last year for Wildstorm and a 4 part series called “Fort! Prophet of the Unexplained” for dark horse. I like humour and curry, yet I do not have a favourite colour or number. That’s a paragraph, right?

411: You’ve just starting a new series with Simon Spurrier in Judge Dredd Megazine called The Simping Detective, which is a spin-off of a one part Mega City Noir story the two of you did. What are feelings on the character and why he managed to outgrow his original role so quickly?

Frazer: Well originally Si pitched the sequel at me, cos he liked the character so much he wanted to push it…so he enlisted me to help him. I don’t know why Si wanted to push it more…when I read the original script for Gumshoe I wasn’t THAT impressed by it but it seemed fun and I like Si, but once I started to draw Jack Point I realised that he was coming to life in front of me thanks to the way Si had written him. For me the character was never fully formed until I drew him, and then I saw the funny side of the strip and what Si liked all along.

411: This is your second collaboration with Simon Spurrier who has quickly gained a reputation as one of 2000AD’s rising stars. What’s your opinion on him and how (if at all) has he matured as a writer since your first collaboration, which was in the middle of his breakthrough year?

Frazer: Well I knew Si when he was a whiny little brat on usenet moaning about Diggle rejected his future shocks, so if one compares THAT memory to the mellow, enthusiastic and talented chap he is now I’d say he improved light years since the early days.

In terms of our collaborations tho, well From Grace was the first script of his I agreed to work on and once again I wasn’t THAT blown over by it initially, until I drew the characters and I realised it was all coming from the script. By this point I think Si knew how to keep the scripts succinct and yet still imprint his persona onto pretty much all of the lines, but it’s not something that jumps off the page at you; the text needs to be read, then doodled on, then read again and the juiciness seeps out after that.

I think he’s refined his writing a tad since that first collaboration, tho the main difference is that his characters are breathing and moving a lot more naturally, as demonstrated by Jack Point because he comes alive on the page for me, no extra directing needed.

411: Your artwork in the Simping Detective is very different than your usual black and white work, employing a rounder drawing style and a smoother texture yet still it remains unmistakably you. How did you achieve this?

Frazer: Photoshop. After being the brush-guy for about 3 years I kinda noticed that the line style wasn’t always the best way to go for some stories, and by accident I discovered the painting method when starting from Grace. I figured that it didn’t take any longer or cause any real problems doing painted art on the computer, so it was economically viable, but most important I discovered I had a whole new toolkit with which to craft the art for these strips.

Gumshoe was originally going to be in colour, then when it got bumped into b/w I was going to do it in line very much in the vein of Steranko’s “red tide”, but somehow I got seduced by the dark side (i.e. illustration magazines with pulp novel covers inside) and went with painting it in a loose gouachey style.

411: Its been said of you that you try to do something different artistically with each different series you do. How do you approach this changing of your style?

Frazer: It comes from the story. When I read a pitch or a synopsis, I get images in my head. After they’ve gone I can concentrate on thinking about what the story is about, and which of the different tools at my command seem to suit it best. I do a lot of notes and doodles and more notes and lists and maybe some more notes before I commit to any experiments, at which point I have no conscious idea where it’s going, and it’s only thru a process of doing a few days doodling and experimenting with actual illustrations that I finally see the path ahead.

There have been a few gigs where I regret the style I chose and aside from one which pretty much had the style dictated to me, all the others suffered mainly because of me not doing the experiments beforehand.

411: Staying with the Megazine, you recently completed your second Judge Death series The Wilderness Years, which surprisingly closed on Death “dying”. Are any more stories planned?

Frazer: Not that I know of :)

411: The story didn’t meet with the same universal approval as your first story My Name Is Death primarily because of the move back towards black comedy. Looking back how do you judge the story?

Frazer: Well as I said before, it all comes from the story, and if the art style doesn’t suit then it can be a pain to draw. With the Judge Death strips I was tuned into the “bad” death of the first series, but the art style didn’t translate well to the more humorous stuff later. I think now that if I’d been aware of the shift in tone or even if I’d taken some time out to reconsider the style I used for Judge Death then it may have gone down a lot better. Whatever the critics may say, the buck ends with the artist and it’s my/our job to make the story work, regardless of tone.

411: Moving away from Judge Dredd Megazine. You’ve frequently worked with Gordon Rennie especially at the start of your 2000AD career. Are there any plans to work with him in the near future?

Frazer: Well I call him on occasion and we always banter about stuff that we’d like to do, but he’s always busy and so am I and it seems that the opportunity just hasn’t arisen yet, tho I want to do stuff with him again. I like Gordon; he’s an excellent collaborator.

411: At the start of the year you redesigned your website www.frazerirving.com, in addition to regularly taking part in web forum discussion. What role do you think these activities can play in building a relationship with your fanbase?

Frazer: Well I think it’s important to note that the Internet counts for only a small amount of the fanbase, as I’ve discovered. I think having a decent website (for a man in my position) is an absolute must if one wants the readers to get involved in your work. The message boards less so. They can be a minefield of nastiness and petty-mindedness and I’ve learnt to keep my tongue on a leash when I go online. Some people handle it well, like Diggle, tho I’m happier to remain a casual visitor because I don’t want the whole world to know what I ate for breakfast that morning and what my favourite colour is.

411: You’ve been hinting that you’ve been in negotiations with American publishers. Is there any further information you can share with us?

Frazer: Not yet boyo. Probably not until after San Diego.

411: In an interview last year you expressed regret about not being allowed to do the colouring on The Authority: Scorched Earth. Would you be able to keep a monthly schedule on an American comic if you were allowed to colour it?

Frazer: In terms of doing a monthly book in colour, well if the money’s right then hell yeah :) It’s possible to do a monthly colour book if one has a decent game plan, tho I don’t expect to be tackling any major length gigs in full colour for a while.

411: Staying on the subject of your Authority run. You and Robbie Morrison were originally meant to be the second volume’s launch creative team. How different do you think his run would have turned out if you had have been on art duties?

Frazer: Can I say at this point that I haven’t read it! I don’t really know what would have happened to the book if I’d drawn it…things may have gone better or worse or just the same. Difficult to tell without having read it yetJ

411: Instead of the Authority you were offered Stormwatch: TA job but had to turn it down due to personal problems. Looking back at the turmoil the title has been in recently and the fact that C.P. Smith became popular using a style almost the exact opposite of yours are you glad that you didn’t take it?

Frazer: Well I wasn’t given a firm offer, let me just say. At the time I was being “sounded out” which had undertones of “if u say yes, then you’ll probably get it” but even from that vague standpoint I had to turn it down, sadly. In terms of the turmoil involved, well I don’t think I would have regretted it that much. Remember, I come from a magazine where the longest story I ever drew was only 88 pages long, so the canning of the title wouldn’t have affected me that much. I have seen the art though, and I do believe that the right artist got the gig. I don’t think I was suited to it, at least not at that time. My only regret is that I lost out on a more lucrative gigJ

411: You’ve often stated that you grew up as a Marvel fan. Has this starting point influenced your art style? If not what do you think has?

Frazer: O yes. The art expert can probably see traces of the buscemas, Gil kane, John Byrne, Gene Colan, Barry Smith, Kirby…all the guys who were doing work in marvel books when I was a kid. I’ve noticed that artists who grew up on 2000AD developed a style that echoes the artists of that period in the magazine, the same for those who grew up reading early 90’s image and marvel books. I think my style is very possible the illegitimate idiot bastard half cousin twice removed and disowned of the marvel stable of art, but only I can see that.

411: Which artists do you admire the most?

Frazer: Both the Buscemas were great, I like Barry Smith’s art, I still have a fondness for John Byrne’s Fantastic 4 stuff, Berni wrightson’s cool, my buddies Jock and Chris Weston, Si Fraser’s not bad for a lanky Scot git, and I like a load other artists whose names won’t mean a jot to comics fans.

411: What comic books are you currently reading?

Frazer: Sleeper, Alan Moore’s ABC stuff, 2000AD (naturally), swamp thing and occasionally I pick up trades of stuff. But generally I don’t read comics on a regular basis. When yer hobby becomes yer career etc…

411: A quick search on amazon.co.uk shows the following collections of yours to still be in print. Can you in sentence tell us why we should buy:

Frazer: Necronauts is a dark, spooky yet well-paced horror tale with Houdini, HP Lovecraft and some other old guys battling the dark menace from beyond, and it looks great.

Fort is 88 pages of the X-files in early 1900’s, or the Necronauts but more kid-friendly.

411: After the Simping Detective what else can we look forward to from Frazer Irving in 2004?

Frazer: Ah, that is a mystery to me. It runs for at least 7 episodes, so that’s up till Xmas I think. After that…well I’m working on it…

411: Finally is there any message you want to send to your fans before we finish.

Frazer: Yeah, hi.

411: Thanks for sharing your time with us Frazer.

Judge Dredd Megazine is available every fourth Wednesday from all good British newsagents and comic shops and worldwide through airmail subscription (email subscriptions@2000adonline.com for details) Issue 222 is out July 28th. Check Previews for American Direct Market Listings.