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Thursday, September 2, 2010
An Artist Unmasked
I/SP creator Rick Smith on working with his wife, foreign travel, and collaborating
 Rick Smith’s Baraka and Black Magic in Morocco will finally be released in print in October. The book details a trip taken by Smith and his wife through Morocco. When I say “details,” I don’t mean how your Uncle Marty talks about his most recent trip to Disneyland. Instead, Smith takes the reader into his experiences as a foreigner in a confusing land where societal rules aren’t clearly spelled out for visitors. Everything from the law to the cost of merchandise is up for discussion, and never clearly defined. And Smith leaves no detail out – everything from looking for marijuana, avoiding shady merchants and spending time talking with other travelers is included. Readers may be familiar with other works by Smith, including Shuck. Shuck is an adventure into fantasy, but Baraka and Black Magic in Morocco is grounded in realism. Smith doesn’t try to force his experience into some over-arching plot, and the end result provides an accurate depiction of a tourist’s experience in pre-9/11 Morocco. In fact, it’s a credit to Smith’s talent that he is able to produce such a wide variety of work, and produce it well – and I think Smith’s just going to keep getting better as time goes on. His other upcoming release, Temporary, is a collaboration with writer Damon Hurd that shows Smith’s promise even more. Temporary balances the realism of Baraka with a healthy dose of surrealism. Comic World News’s Ed Cunard chatted briefly with Smith on his comics work, on working closely with his wife on comics projects, and the collaborative process that took place while working on Temporary with Hurd.
ED CUNARD (CWN): BARAKA AND BLACK MAGIC IN MOROCCO was originally published on the web in order to drum up interest in a printed volume. Were there any unexpected difficulties in translating something designed for the screen to something in print form? RICK SMITH: I designed BARAKA for print and just used the web to market it. I even set up the original website that featured the book to look like a comic book - with a cover, pages, etc. The webcomic had a sandy tan color that accented the black lines of the artwork and looked nice on the screen. When Jeff Mason picked it up for publication, the book was originally supposed to be in the same colors on paper - black line with a tan overlay. Very expensive in print (though cheap in pixels). CWN: How did you hook up with Alternative Comics’ Jeff Mason? Did you approach him with BARAKA, or did he seek you out from the on-line version? SMITH: I believe I begged him to do it. Jeff was in the mood to grow his business and so accepted it. CWN: Why did you and your wife decide to visit Morocco in the first place? Was the graphic novel a planned part of the trip, or did the idea for it come afterwards? SMITH: I helped run a dotcom that sold unopened trading card packs: sports cards, media cards, anything that was on a trading card went through our site. That went bust in the summer of 2000 (although we did have funding for awhile!). Tania's company was going through the same dire straits as most others were as well, so we decided to ditch it all and travel. Tania has always wanted to take time off to travel and I figured this was as good a time as any. Tania had a lot of the itinerary mapped out as soon as I suggested acting on the idea. When we left I took a sketchbook with me. And drew in it sporadically throughout the trip. The first drawing was a sketch of the Dublin skyline from our hostel window. But I spent most of the trip bemoaning my 'artist's block.' I had nothing to draw - no stories. So I vented creative energies by recalling my dreams in a detailed journal I kept the entire six months we were on the road. There are a couple sketches of Shuck in the book, but he looks weird and primordial compared to what blossomed after we returned to the States and moved to Denver. And he was just a head - he hadn't introduced himself yet. CWN: What would surprise people about the culture and lifestyle in Morocco? I admit that my entire view of the area is based largely in part by watching CASABLANCA over and over again.  RICK SMITH: Well, I suppose the first thing that comes to mind is that women are just not in the picture. There are women - we saw them - but not many in public. And those that are, are usually poor and thus HAVE to be - to make a living. We talk about this in the book. Morocco's a big fraternity party - great when you're a male traveler - more difficult when you're female. And it's not the harassment aspect you get in, say, India. It's more just the isolation that Tania felt that seemed tied to her being a woman.
A few other things: 1. Our taxi cab drivers filling the gasoline tank with a lit cigarette - the ashes dangling over the open gas spicket. Danger is the middle name of a lot of Moroccans. A lot of countries we visited had men who had a death wish (which typically involved tobacco or vehicles) but Morocco seemed to shine in this regard. There's a scene in the end of the book where I catch a glimpse (while riding a bus) of a child lying on the highway dead. The family and townsfolk are about to beat the shit out of the taxi cab driver who killed the kid. It was chilling - a joy ride gone wrong. 2. The Berber culture is SO much more welcoming and laid back than the predominant Arab culture. I need to learn more about their culture - but what we did come in contact with in Morocco really warmed me to the Berbers. 3. You can verify this, but it seems like Morocco supplies Europe with much of the marijuana smoked there. They seemed a bit alarmed by the amount of paranoia I exhibited before taking the plunge and smoking the stuff there. A lot of Moroccans seemed to enjoy smoking. Maybe just where we were or who we hung out with. I don't know. CWN: BARAKA doesn’t seem designed specifically for the average comic fan – while accessible to people familiar with the medium, it really seems to be looking for an audience outside the direct market. How are you advertising this book outside the comic book industry? SMITH: I'm not sure what efforts were made to get it into the hands of distributors outside Diamond. This is a blessing and a curse when you work with a publisher (as opposed to self publishing your work): a publisher probably has more contacts than you but you don't find out about them until the end of the process - since that's their role (in this case, Jeff's). I know review copies will be sent out to the mass media once the book is printed, but by then it's really too late and you've already gotten preorders in. CWN: Your wife has been actively involved in your comics career, working on your books with you. What does that feel like, having someone not only supporting your artistic dreams but also taking part in them? SMITH: Well, she'll deny it, but she really made Shuck the book it is today. Her ability to plot out our stories and add a human dimension to them is amazing. I'm good at the monsters and the scenery and the quirky dialogue - but she puts the story together and makes it hum. We work nicely together. Typically, we'll work on plot points and overall themes of each story while on a walk. And when we get home, I take all her notes and construct an outline. Then I add the dialogue and scene cuts, etc. Then she edits it. It's fun working with her, though I know I could go on forever talking about upcoming stories and she'd prefer not to. She'd rather get it all done with in a focused period of time. She's disciplined, and it shows in the work.  CWN: The first work I’ve read of yours, SHUCK, is still one of those comics I go back to read from time to time. For those who haven’t read SHUCK, what’s the concept behind it?
SMITH: Wow. That's great. I recently have come to the conclusion that what makes a good comic is one that rewards multiple readings. So that means a lot. Shuck is a devil who's trying to retire peacefully in suburbia but keeps getting pulled back into the troubles of hell - all told in a charming and whimsical manner... and in an odd dialect of my own making. There were four issues self published in 2002 and Top Shelf put out the collected trade paperback that included 48 pages originally slated for issues #5 and #6. The book functions as whole or as six separate stories. The first is about Halloween and Shuck keeping the dead at bay, the second is about Shuck homebrewing some soul ale and on and on. It was a joy to write and draw. CWN: How did the character of Shuck come about, both visually and in terms of characterization? SMITH: When my dotcom had gone bust and I was spending my time doing contract work, smoking dope, attempting to quit cigarettes and basically despising myself for the stupid mistakes I'd made in the last year or so, I came up with Shuck. I just drew a sketch of a devilish character eating the soul of a dotcommer. It worked for me. It felt good. So I drew him over and over again for the next few months - through Tania's and my travels. Of course, I didn't have a story yet, but I did have Shuck's head! The stories came later, when I was hunting for employment in Denver (upon our return to the States). CWN: One of the things that really drew me to SHUCK is how you play with language in it – the dialect is hard to place, but seems incredibly authentic. Where did the dialect in the book come from? SMITH: Just from my head. I did it for two reasons... 1. It's how I heard the characters speaking to each other the night I sat down to write the dialogue off the script Tania and I had put together for Hallowed Seasonings (#1). I was just transcribing at that point: listen to voice in head, then write out dialogue. And 2. I had recently read that a lot of $2.95 comics are read in five minutes and readers were pissed. So I thought that the dialect would slow the reading of the book down to at least twenty minutes.. What I've found is that after five minutes, half the readers seem to give up on it all and the other half dives deeper, spending upwards of an hour or more with each 24 page issue. CWN: Who or what are some of your influences, from art or the world around you?  SMITH:Depends on the project. When I started drawing my dreams in comics format, I was deeply influenced by Chester Gould's Dick Tracy and Sunday comic strips in general. Tracy was so odd that I thought mirroring its style, panel layout and font would lend some foundation to Sawlogs (the name of the dream comic I do) because Lord knows the 'stories' themselves are odd enough as it is.
When it came to Shuck and Temporary, I just draw the way I draw. I guess people compare my style to Kochalka or Seth, but I've always drawn that way - long before I discovered either of their works. I suppose it's a combination of copying Kirby and Gould when I was little. CWN: You and Damon Hurd have teamed up recently for TEMPORARY, which debuts at SPX. How did the two of you join together? SMITH: Damon posted a thread on the TCJ message board back in 2002 and asked if anyone wanted to share his table with him at SPX that year. I took him up on it - I had four issues of Shuck printed and had never been to a comics show. It was a blast. We got along really well - sharing stories, talking business, art, craft, etc. We ended up talking and writing frequently about our various individual projects and eventually Damon asked if I wanted to work together on something. I agreed and suggested doing a book on a temporary worker. Damon came back with a bunch of stories and we worked on them over the phone and through email and IM (when we should be working). He's an amazing writer and the two of us worked very well together on TEMPORARY #1. I figured if it wasn't working, we would have stopped by now - but we're roaring ahead with issue #2. He's really crafted an amazing world for Envy Saint-Claire and coming up with new stuff together is what makes working together so great. CWN: TEMPORARY is both grounded in realism (often surrealism as well) and infused with the fantastic. How much influence did you have in the story creation? Did Damon provide the script on his own, or was it more of a co-writing process? SMITH: Our working relationship is interesting and (fingers crossed) has worked beautifully so far. Here's how our creative process works: Phone Call #1: Damon proposes an idea for an issue (and typically it is part of a longer story arc that might span six issues). I respond with an initial gut reaction. We toss it around for a while, adding and subtracting to the story, the characters, etc. Lots of instant messages follow while we should be working. Phone Call #2: We work on the actual plot. He gives a synopsis to me, scene by scene, and I edit as we go - asking questions, acting incredulous, challenging him on certain points. We work out each issue and I (suspect) he notes all of what we discuss. I'm outside having cigarettes in the dark so I can't write. It's a point-counter point type conversation. We keep filling each other's holes. I fill his plot holes, he fills my plot holes. We keep each other on track and honest. Damon works up an outline. Phone Call #3: We work on some of the details and then say “go.” Damon writes the entire script - dialogue, scenery, cuts, etc. It's like reading a screenplay when he's done. Originally he used labels like 'Page 23' and 'Panel 4' but he liked how I paced the book and trusted me going forward (with issue #2). Then I draw the book, giving him roughs to look over and ensure I've got everything and didn't misinterpret something in the script. Then I pencil, ink and scan for him to review.  CWN: I first read the minicomic preview of TEMPORARY at MoCCA, and recently had a chance to look at the full first issue. It certainly isn’t going in the direction I had thought it was headed. If it isn’t giving too much away, what happens to Envy Saint-Claire?
SMITH: What direction did you expect it to go in? I'm curious! CWN: I'm not sure where I thought it was going, exactly, in terms of plot. Really, the sudden change in visual is what shocked me. – it really was the last two pages (well, the last two panels, specifically) that threw me for a loop. If anything, it's a greater incentive for me to keep buying to see what is actually going on. I won't ask you to spoil it for me, but I was expecting the surreality to be situational, rather than visual or actual. SMITH: The last two pages are a bit surreal - we're going into Envy's head and pulling out what's going on in there. We'll be exploring this more and more and in the same artistic vein as the isssues progress. We'll see Envy's world grow... for good and for bad. CWN: What work do you do outside of comics? Do you see any similarities in the surreal office space of TEMPORARY to your day job? SMITH: Hell, yeah. Who doesn't? I work in corporate America as a web producer. CWN: All the books of yours I’ve read have these really great, graphically appealing covers. What are the challenges in crafting an excellent cover? SMITH: I like to feature the characters in the book. Damon actually suggested the cover for TEMPORARY #1 and I built on his idea and incorporated the same kind of look you see on the original SHUCK covers. Someone said the covers look like old Harvey books. I just like to keep it simple - the characters doing something that represent what's happening inside. If it doesn't say OPEN THE BOOK, it doesn't work. I also like the covers because it’s a place I get to experiment with color, which I'm not too good at, so it's good practice. CWN: You attend small press-oriented shows like MoCCA and SPX to promote your books. Is there any part of the convention experience that really stands out to you, positively or negatively? SMITH: I guess it’s a little disheartening to know that a lot of the attendees are interested in becoming comics creators themselves. In that regard, it doesn’t seem as if the indy comics scene has a real audience at all – we just all buy each other’s books. It’s the proverbial $20 circulating the show. On the other hand, I am so glad I attended that first SPX and subsequent shows. I get to meet the creators who I admire, talk about comics non-stop and meet new folks and find new works. CWN: What books first made you an active reader of comics, and what books are you enjoying today? SMITH: I read early Marvels – scouring the back issue bins looking for Kirby stuff. Then I dove into Gould’s work and other newspaper creators’ stuff. Today I’m enjoying Cerebus (which I only discovered a few years ago), Neil the Horse (by Arn Saba) and David Heatley’s DEADPAN, a dream comic. I also am in the process of acquiring Harvey horror titles - Black Cat Mystery in particular. Just reading copies, mind you - are these reprinted anywhere? And I'm looking forward to the next Kramer's Ergot, I'm enjoying Tom Hart's Hutch Owen dailies, and I return again and again to Kochalka's Sketchbook Diaries - so many of his strips remind me of my own life - especially now that he has a child. CWN: It seems that half of the comic book fans one comes across aspire to creating comics of their own some day. Do you have any advice for hopeful future comics creators? SMITH: Yeah, that's the nature of an insular community like alternative / independent comics. The folks in front of the tables are but a table fee away from being the same as the people behind the table. In the end, we'll all just pay dues to come to the party and trade the books we brought with us. I know there are probably casual comics readers or curious onlookers who come to shows like SPX or APE, but really, what percent of the total tickets are sold to these folks? 30%? It seems like that, based on the conversations I have with folks at my table at each show. The majority are people who are waiting to find dough to get their own table, or are looking for words of encouragement, or are people waiting for a sketch in hopes that they can say they knew you when. There aren't just people looking for interesting books. Advice? I guess I'd tell them to try and get a gauge on what others think about your work. The web is good for this. Put together a website and advertise the works you have posted there. You'll know fairly soon what kind of reception your stuff is getting and it will help you steer where you want to go, in terms of your artwork, your ideas, etc. CWN: What has surprised you about the comic book industry now that you are a part of it? I suppose I was first surprised by how small it is. Of course, my only experience is with the small press / indy / alternative scene. I don’t know what it’s like with larger companies. CWN: When you aren’t working on comics, what do you do professionally and recreationally? SMITH: As above, I go to work every day in the Internet space. But if I’m not working and I’m not creating or consuming comics, I’m spending time with Tania and our daughter, enjoying Colorado. CWN: What turns you on outside of comics? What would you suggest to someone looking for a really great book, movie or album? SMITH: I’m reading HARD AMERICA, SOFT AMERICA by Michael Barone. Great book on how challenging a populace instead of coddling it has proven over and over again to be better for the society at large and for a longer period of time. I’ll start ON PARADISE DRIVE by David Brooks next, which sociologically dissects the makeup of modern America. And I’m listening to Adam Green’s “Friends of Mine” (which was suggested in an AMERICAN ELF comic - thanks for the suggestion, James). You can find Shuck, Baraka and Black Magic in Morocco amd Temporary at better comics shops everywhere. Rick Smith will be at the Small Press Expo October 1st, 2nd and 3rd.
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April 22, 2008:
February 4, 2008:
November 20, 2006:
A Comic-Con without the Captain
