This week in the Nexus, Will sits down to chat with one of Britain’s hottest artists, Boo Cook.
Boo Cook is one of the hottest young artists in Britain today having shot to prominence due to his work on such series as A.B.C Warriors, Asylum and Dead Men Walking. He is now working on his most high profile work to date with his scintillating work on Judge Dredd: Descent. Last month he kindly agreed to take time out of his busy schedule to talk with The Nexus’s own Will Cooling.
The Nexus: Thanks for agreeing to do an interview with us Boo.
Boo Cook: No probs…
The Nexus: To start with can you tell us how you broke into comics?
Boo: It was a dark cold night, my stealth catsuit was chafing a little, but the guard dogs soon made me forget all about that……then in the year 2000 , after a deluge of art samples had been sent spanning many years , Tharg finally bit and gave me a future shock…..
The Nexus: What artists have influenced you?
Boo: Have you got a big website? No prizes for guessing some of these but; Brendan McCarthy, Moebius, Frank Quitely, Frank Miller, Henry flint, Masamune Shirow, Manara, Mignola – anyone who’s added to the vast pantheon of artists who’ve worked for 2000AD over the years….er…Gerhardt Richter, Max Ernst, Killing Joke…definitely Jack Kirby, gotta mention him. But not Richard Corben. Ever.
The Nexus: Until recently you were well known for having a cartooney, exaggerated style. Recently however you’ve adopted a more naturalistic style as seen in Asylum 2. How difficult is it to balance artistic licence and innovation with the (perceived?) Need to maintain some resemblance to everyday life?
Boo: Hhmmm…..fine question….well i guess essentially, realism is not always required to tell stories in the comic universe – a swift look at Kirby or Mignola will demonstrate that . But sometimes a more realistic approach can a) be very nice to look at and b) its also a lot of fun to do. My initial decision to “go painty” arose from having formularised(!?!) my art style to death on Dead Men Walking. For me anyway, with a given style of working there comes a point where you stop thinking through and resolving artistic problems, and just do things automatically the way that has become ingrained in your head after billions of repetitions. In fact its getting a bit like that now with my painty Dredd stuff, but I’m happy to continue going painty for a bit, as it’s a really satisfying way to portray the film in my head. It’s also very time consuming.
The Nexus: You’ve attracted plaudits for your excellent colouring with either the vibrant, bold colouring of your earlier work or the more subdued, almost pastel-esque colouring on Asylum 2. What method/tools do you us to colour?
Boo: Heh heh – the printers do a fine job of re-colouring most of my stuff for 2000AD. You do a bit of work, you’re vaguely happy with on screen and then you see it in print! Asylum 1 came out hugely over-saturated and Asylum 2 totally under-saturated, which just goes to show you never really know how stuff will print. So now I’m over saturating in a hope that will come out normal – we shall see…. With regards to methods; at the mo, i do really dirty grimy big pencil pages, which I scan into Photoshop and colour using a brain frying system of semi-transparent layers. And stuff.
The Nexus: In what ways do you think colouring your own work increases your control over the look of the story?
Boo: Well, 100% i guess. It is quite satisfying being responsible for the whole look of the page – not sure how I’d go with just pencilling or inking a la the Marvel bunch. I’d be really happy for 2000AD’s Chris Blythe to colour my stuff, but Matt Smith tends to want me to do it myself. And whilst I like to think its because he likes my colouring, dare I say it, I only get 30 quid more for the colouring and I’m sure Chris Blythe gets paid a fair bit more per page, if you catch my drift…sound editorial business sense. I love doing the colour anyway, so it’s cool.
The Nexus: Your first major work for 2000AD was a story in the troubled ABC Warriors series “The Third Element”. What was your reaction when you were told you were doing such a high profile strip?
Boo: My reaction, (as was still present when I got offered the Dredd strip) is to put the phone down and do a crazy little mojave/leprechaun dance going “hee hee hee hoo hoo hoo” for up to half an hour.
The Nexus: Were you aware of the tensions between the writer Pat Mills and 2000AD’s editor Andy Diggle? If so did it effect you?
Boo: I wasn’t aware at the time so no…but the tensions of drawing badly had me weeping like a rancour keeper.
The Nexus: The ABC Warriors story is one of the few that you’ve done in black and white with even your Future Shocks done in colour. As an artist famed for his colouring did working in black and white frustrate you?
Boo: I think I’d only done b/w for 2000AD up to that point so it wasn’t frustrating in that sense, but b/w is always tricky for me personally. I’m not one of these folk like Jock, Dom, Mignola and Miller who can just splozz the black around like they invented it, i always seem to need that 3rd tone – which for the ABC’s i chose the ink and toothbrush spatter effect, which when printed gave the unique result of the pages looking like they had been found on the floor in abattoir…
The Nexus: Your next work was Asylum, which centred on the efforts of Holt to free aliens held in an off-world penal colony. What did you make of the story when you first read it?
Boo: I was dead chuffed! Now I’m not exactly right on, but there is some crazy shit in this world that needs addressing and comics is a great place to do it -the script was a fine romp.
The Nexus: Asylum was a highly political story, with some readers complaining that it insulted and belittled their political beliefs. Did you have any problems with these elements?
Boo: Well, as well as being political, I think it was also ” a bit of a larf”. And not handled with massive amounts of maturity to be honest, we saved that for Asylum 2.
The Nexus: Some readers complained that your exaggerated style wasn’t best suited for such a harrowing tale. Did this influence you to change your style for the second series?
Boo: I didn’t know i had an exaggerated style, but really it was a few comments on the 2000AD message board about cutesy cartoony aliens that made me realise my style wasn’t really convincing in the “nasty” genre. As I recall, at the time I didn’t really think about style, you just draw and see what comes out. What came out were little aliens that would be happy alongside Charlie Brown and his pals. They will never come out again.
The Nexus: The change in style for Asylum 2 was seen as a significant change from your earlier work. How did you prepare and test this new style? Do you consider it a success?
Boo: I think I had a month off or something after Dead Men Walking, and having felt I’d really exhausted the ink line/computer colour avenue. I was checking Frazer’s stuff in From Grace, and thought “hey i can rip that off!” (sorry Fraze) – his style is pretty unique so I don’t think I was ever in danger of ripping him off wholesale. It was more the fact that he finely demonstrated the fact that you can paint quite happily in Photoshop. So i did some experimenting, and quite hurriedly put it into action on Asylum 2 – the grittiness of the pencils seemed to allay my fears of Charlie Brown turning up. You might notice how the art in Asylum 2 evolves over its run – basically you get 9 months of style evolution published in 9 weeks, and for me the difference between the start and end is pretty clear. I hope i got away with it…
The Nexus: The second series sees Holt caught between the Human Government and extremists within his own camp with the political commentary being subtler. Did the complexity and ambiguity of the strip create problems when it came to “dramatizing” it?
Boo: It certainly made for lots of method drawing – acting out the dialogue and capturing the most expressive moment. But Rob Williams is a real good tension builder too, and it was great doing some of his no dialogue panel runs. I loved the ambiguity throughout, and some of the events even shocked me. He doesn’t pull his punches, that Mr. Williams….
The Nexus: Asylum 2 seemed to have a very definite ending. Did the series finish with the second story or could you see yourself coming back for a third?
Boo: That’s a tricky one….I’m not entirely sure that anyone was sufficiently blown away by it to merit a 3rd run. Plus Rob would have to be fired up to write it and I’d have to be fired up to draw it. Personally if it was a choice between Asylum 3 and say, Dredd I’m afraid the chin would win…
The Nexus: In between the two Asylum stories you worked with David Bishop on the poorly received Dead Men Walking. What did you make of the script when you received it?
Boo: Hhmmm, going to have to be honest here, whilst it had some tasty stuff in there – space prison zombies, fighting ladies, mayhem, etc . It was kind of basic; I saw it appealing to the younger generation of readers, so drew on happily. I will say though, that my mouth went like a cat’s bumhole as I read all the ‘vucks’ and ‘shivs’ in the script … I’m top bitch now !!! Raaargghh!!!!
The Nexus: Despite the critical panning of the story your art was almost universally praised. How did this split reaction to the story make you feel?
Boo: As I’m sure all artists in the field would agree, of course you want people to love the writing too. It’s a slightly redundant comix experience if half of the “comics brain” isn’t being engaged, that’s a shame. At the time, it did make me think “ooooh I really want a Dredd or something and it ain’t happening.” so that also affected my decision to up the anti and go painty. That old “luuuuke…luuuuke…. Realism isn’t essential to comic storytelling” Ben Kenobi voice still keeps ringing in my ears though….
The Nexus: The negative reaction to this and the mixed reaction to the first Asylum story meant that you were often seen as “a great artist who worked on bad stories”. Did you see truth in this? How frustrating was this for you?
Boo: What a thing to be remembered for…that’s not how comics should be. First off, neither story was bad, they just weren’t everyone’s cup of tea. Secondly, I just love doing the art – hell, gimme a Charlie Brown story – I’ll do that – everything that gets produced is liked by someone, people watch Eastenders for Christ’s sake! To sum it up, I suppose editors have to commission good stories, but they must always be on the lookout to make sure every niche of their market is catered for – most work for everybody, some don’t. Never mind. Only write good things…is that a solution?
The Nexus: Your art will soon be gracing 2000AD’s Judge Dredd strip. Can you give us any details about this?
Boo: It’s a Gordon Rennie humdinger! I’ve given it 110% and it has gnarly implications for Dredd’s world. Better can it there…working on it’s been funny – I’ve been wanting to draw all those little elbow pads and shiny knuckle thingies for real, for 2 decades, and when you find yourself suddenly doing it , it can be quite a pant browning experience…quasar lawmasters…mmmmmmm…
The Nexus: Artists seem to have a love/hate relationship with Dredd as they either get him or don’t at all. Has the experience of drawing him shown you why he inspires such reactions? Which side of the divide are you?
Boo: I’d been hassling Matt Smith for a Dredd for yonks, but really thought that I must have been stylistically unsuitable. So I certainly did my little dance when i got the job. It’s amazing to be adding to the same line of stories as the Apocalypse War and the Judge Child Quest to name a couple, so i have to say I love “Dredding”. I heard John Burns isn’t a fan of doing Dredd; too many fiddly costume bits. Whilst they add about an extra half a day per page time wise, for me it’s a case of ” I’m doin the pads, I’m doin the pads I’ve just done a lawgiver, firing a ricochet! I’m doing the chin, I’m doing the chin…” kind of thing. I like it. A lot!
The Nexus: What ambitions do you have in the field of comics?
Boo: To plant crops. Comic crops, as many different varieties as you can grow in one field! I’ve got a head full of characters and stories that will one day need telling. “The oily trinity”, a tale of one mans search thru space for a place to live where no one has heard of humans. A metaphor for how the old British Empire and now Mr. Bush have f*cked the chance of me going to my favourite holiday destinations without being branded an idiotic warmongering ‘consumo-twat’, etc. Or perhaps ‘ skwod!’ real people at the real end of the world… I guess all that depends on there ever being a big enough market for it to pay my bills. If that’s what happens, I’ll do it. And then get Stanley Kubrick to direct the film trilogy. Sorry, what was that? He’s oh….
The Nexus: Is there anything else you would like to say to your fans?
Boo: Nothing that wouldn’t make me seem pompous, pious, and pretentious at a later date – I’ll save all that for my “self-published” oversized slipcase hardcover deluxe graphic novels…
Be nice to your mums…most of ’em think comic reading is evil , so they might need a bit of extra confirmation that you are a balanced human being …
The Nexus: Thank you for sharing your time with us Boo.
Boo: No worries – happy to empty my brain.
Judge Dredd: Descent is currently being published weekly 2000AD, available in all good British newsagents and worldwide through mail order subscription. Check Previews for American Direct Market listings.
