MattBrady
05-10-2008, 04:42 PM
<a href="http://i.newsarama.com/DarkHorsenew/EndLeague/anete/TEL05_cover_send.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.newsarama.com/DarkHorsenew/EndLeague/anete/t_TEL05_cover_send.jpg" border="0" align="right"></a><i>by Chris Arrant</i>
Drawing the end of the world can be a tough thing.
In Dark Horse series <B>The End League</B>, writer Rick Remender and artist Mat Broome broke new ground depicting a group of superheroes with their backs against the wall trying to survive in a world where the villains had won. Its first issue marked one of the highest rated debuts of a superhero book in this tough comic book market, proving there's more to superheroes than Marvel or DC.
Writer Rick Remender a announced today in a panel at Emerald City Comic-Con that illustrator Mat Broome is taking a break and that artist Eric Canete (<B>Iron Man: Enter The Mandarin</b>) and colorist Naomi Baker will be coming in as of the fifth issue. Fans of Broome's expert artwork won't be disappointed long, after seeing the exclusive first look pages of Canete and Stewart's work,. And as an added bonus, <B>The End League</B> will begin shipping as a monthly from Canete's debut on issue #5.
There's a lot of questions to be asked, and creators Rick Rememder and Eric Canete are ready to give the answers. Let's not put it off any longer, shall we?
<B>Newsarama:</B> Let's get right to it, Rick. What led to Mat Broome departing the book?
<B>Rick Remender:</B> Mat has a full time job at Sony and a family and so I think he needed some time to catch up. He’s been working like a manic doing all of these jobs. We always knew he was just killing himself and that he’d eventually need to take time off. He’ll have completed the first trade paperback worth of material (issues 1-4) before he leaves. We all wish Mat the best in his future endeavors.
<B>NRAMA:</B> And what led you to tapping Eric Canete to join you on <B>The End League</B>?
<B>RR:</B> He’s one of the greatest artists in the world. Anyone who knows anything about art looks at his work and sees the next generation of brilliance.
<a href="http://i.newsarama.com/DarkHorsenew/EndLeague/anete/TEL05_pg06_color_final_send.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.newsarama.com/DarkHorsenew/EndLeague/anete/t_TEL05_pg06_color_final_send.jpg" border="0" align="left"></a>The energy in his work explodes off of the pages, his characters are fluid and dynamic, his short choices and storytelling are flawless and exciting. He’s just one of those guys I’ve always dreamed of working with and when I was thinking of guys to join me on <B>The End League</B> he was choice #1.
<B>NRAMA</B> Eric, you're coming onto this after a great run with the <B>Iron Man: Enter The Mandarin</B> miniseries. What led you to <B>The End League</B>?
<b>Eric Canete:</B>First off, I'd like to thank you for the interview, Chris. It's few and far between I get to do something like this, so this is a real treat.
Thanks for the compliments regarding the <B>Iron Man</B> mini. I had a blast doing it and I hope it showed in the issues as they came out. And I guess it was through those pages that <B>The End League</B> came across my e-mail box. That's not meant to sound self-important or anything. It's actually quite the opposite. I didn't really have anything lined up after <B>Iron Man: Enter The Mandarin</B> and I'm just very lucky and grateful that Rick came along and asked me participate. I don't really know anything about what's cool out there by way of comic books right now because I've been asleep doing animation related stuff for however many years now. I'm seriously out of the loop.
Then Rick Remender comes along and says (and I'm either paraphrasing or totally making this up - I can't recall which), "Hey, Rip Van Winkle, you wanna do this book with me? Yeah...it's cool. Cooler than anything you've got going on. So, do it. "
<a href="http://i.newsarama.com/DarkHorsenew/EndLeague/anete/TEL05_pg07_color_final_send.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.newsarama.com/DarkHorsenew/EndLeague/anete/t_TEL05_pg07_color_final_send.jpg" border="0" align="right"></a>And so, yeah... after that sales pitch, and after a couple of conversations with him, listening to what he's got in mind - the concepts, the storyline, the characters, I was eager to get started.
All kidding aside, it was Rick, by his invitation and his good graces, who allowed me to participate with this project. I really hope I don't let him down.
<B>NRAMA</B> Eric, you're taking over for artist Mat Broome, who's a dramatically different artist than you. What's it like coming in and making your mark without being "too" different from the previous artist?
<B>EC:</B> I have to be honest and say that I haven't put too much thought behind that since I took on this project. It's not a slight against Mat or anything that he's done thus far, I just I haven't had too much free time to think about that aspect of the book. Which is good, I guess.
I once joked with Rick and asked him about his questionable decision-making in asking me to come in and help considering that my style is so different by comparison, but outside of that I've just been doing my best to live up to his great, challenging scripts.
<B>NRAMA:</B> Eric, how'd you first become aware of <B>The End League</B>, and what did you think of it?
<a href="http://i.newsarama.com/DarkHorsenew/EndLeague/anete/TEL05_pg08_color_final_send.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.newsarama.com/DarkHorsenew/EndLeague/anete/t_TEL05_pg08_color_final_send.jpg" border="0" align="left"></a><B>EC:</B> Like I said, I didn't know anything about current comics. It's terrible to say, but that means I didn't know anything about<B> The End League </B> either. Rick has been very generous with his time and patience and broke it down to me. Then the Dark Horse Editorial office forwarded me the two issues that have been done thus far and that really helped me with the visualization of the concepts that Rick was talking about over the phone.
Talking to Rick is easy. One of our saving graces is that we have an animation background so when the initial stuff I was doing was in play - the character designs, environments, and other visual related stuff - we had the code-speak down. Things like strong silhouettes, heroic iconography, and simple but recognizable design were the longer parts of the conversation.
And Rick isn't over-protective about the stuff he's done. That's the most exciting aspect about working with him - he's organic and open to incoming ideas. There are the basics, of course; the stuff that's been done already. And I use that as the premise for a lot of design work I do. But outside of that, Rick's attitude, the one that I picked up from our conversations, is that if it works, then we'll use it! He really makes it simple and easy and completely stress-free. That's the part that really sold me that he's a good egg.
<B>NRAMA:</B> I understand the book will be going monthly now. Is that right?
<B>RR:</B> Yeah, Eric is already well underway with his first issue and it’s breath taking. Don’t take my word for it, these sample pages should be enough to wet your whistle. With Eric on the book full time and taking the book monthly I expect the amazing sales and buzz we’ve generated so far to only grow.
<a href="http://i.newsarama.com/DarkHorsenew/EndLeague/anete/TEL05_pg09_color_final_send.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.newsarama.com/DarkHorsenew/EndLeague/anete/t_TEL05_pg09_color_final_send.jpg" border="0" align="right"></a><B>NRAMA:</B> Eric's first issue is #5. What's it about?
<B>EC:</B> I have this terrible joke with myself for years now about how to make a good story into a better one. And that to stick either Nazis or little people into the mix. In the first issue, Rick coincidentally wrote in BOTH! This thing should be received like gangbusters!
Seriously though (actually the things I just mentioned ARE in the first issue, but that's not the important part), the part that I really fell in love with is a portion of an origin story I get to tell about one of the main characters. I don't know if I'm at liberty to talk about which one, so I'll leave out that specific detail. But the kid's background is so tragic and so sad I was instantly intrigued and excited
to draw that part of the story.
<a href="http://i.newsarama.com/DarkHorsenew/EndLeague/anete/TEL06cover_Color_ver03_send.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.newsarama.com/DarkHorsenew/EndLeague/anete/t_TEL06cover_Color_ver03_send.jpg" border="0" align="left"></a><B>RR:</B> Eric’s first issue is #5 and it ships in August. It has two parts; part one is a flashback to WWII in which we see the origin of a cast member. In part one we get a look at where Astonishman was during the Great War and meet Uncle Sam’s fascist fightin’ thirty-third airborne division. We also meet Wolfsangel, the second most powerful villain in the <B>End League</B> universe and the man Dead Lexington has been at war with for the past decade. What happened in Germany in 1943 has a huge impact on the state of the current world stage.
In part two we follow the hero known as Black on a journey into The Smiling Man’s carnival island city of Lore (formerly Los Angeles). The oceans have risen and LA is little more than a 4-mile by 1-mile strip of island surrounded by ocean. The entire island is an insane carnival world. The buildings are high tech and super modern but all architecture is carnival in theme and design. Think about Six Flags mixed with Circus-Circus in LA and that’s exactly what this place looks like. It’s a city built on the philosophy of anarchy and LSD is pumped into the water supply too help keep the place entertaining to its overlord. We get to see Black’s battle armor as he takes his way through this mad, man world on his journey to find the hammer of Thor.
<B>NRAMA:</B> Before we go, I have to ask one last thing Rick. Looking at your expanse of creator-owned projects, and you have enviable talent of partnering with some great artists in their prime. How do you make it happen?
<B>RR:</B>I’m an appreciator of art and an artist myself so I have many artist friends. I could fill another five titles with top-notch guys I’ve been lucky enough to strike up friendships with. I think as a professional who spent ten years animating, penciling, and inking comics I have a trained eye. In some cases the artists are just old friends (Kieron Dwyer, Tony Moore) some are guys I’ve been in the same scene with and was fortunate enough to scoop up before anyone else (Jerome Opeña) others were referred to me by friends (Eric Nguyen) or in the case of Eric Canete, Hilary Barta, Peter Bergting, Nick Stakal, or any of the other brilliant bastards I’m fortunate enough to work with, I just followed their work as a fan and eventually we became friends who worked together. Collaborating with guys of this caliber is the reason I do this. I have to work with guys who can draw much better than I can in order to live vicariously through their pencils and brushes.
Drawing the end of the world can be a tough thing.
In Dark Horse series <B>The End League</B>, writer Rick Remender and artist Mat Broome broke new ground depicting a group of superheroes with their backs against the wall trying to survive in a world where the villains had won. Its first issue marked one of the highest rated debuts of a superhero book in this tough comic book market, proving there's more to superheroes than Marvel or DC.
Writer Rick Remender a announced today in a panel at Emerald City Comic-Con that illustrator Mat Broome is taking a break and that artist Eric Canete (<B>Iron Man: Enter The Mandarin</b>) and colorist Naomi Baker will be coming in as of the fifth issue. Fans of Broome's expert artwork won't be disappointed long, after seeing the exclusive first look pages of Canete and Stewart's work,. And as an added bonus, <B>The End League</B> will begin shipping as a monthly from Canete's debut on issue #5.
There's a lot of questions to be asked, and creators Rick Rememder and Eric Canete are ready to give the answers. Let's not put it off any longer, shall we?
<B>Newsarama:</B> Let's get right to it, Rick. What led to Mat Broome departing the book?
<B>Rick Remender:</B> Mat has a full time job at Sony and a family and so I think he needed some time to catch up. He’s been working like a manic doing all of these jobs. We always knew he was just killing himself and that he’d eventually need to take time off. He’ll have completed the first trade paperback worth of material (issues 1-4) before he leaves. We all wish Mat the best in his future endeavors.
<B>NRAMA:</B> And what led you to tapping Eric Canete to join you on <B>The End League</B>?
<B>RR:</B> He’s one of the greatest artists in the world. Anyone who knows anything about art looks at his work and sees the next generation of brilliance.
<a href="http://i.newsarama.com/DarkHorsenew/EndLeague/anete/TEL05_pg06_color_final_send.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.newsarama.com/DarkHorsenew/EndLeague/anete/t_TEL05_pg06_color_final_send.jpg" border="0" align="left"></a>The energy in his work explodes off of the pages, his characters are fluid and dynamic, his short choices and storytelling are flawless and exciting. He’s just one of those guys I’ve always dreamed of working with and when I was thinking of guys to join me on <B>The End League</B> he was choice #1.
<B>NRAMA</B> Eric, you're coming onto this after a great run with the <B>Iron Man: Enter The Mandarin</B> miniseries. What led you to <B>The End League</B>?
<b>Eric Canete:</B>First off, I'd like to thank you for the interview, Chris. It's few and far between I get to do something like this, so this is a real treat.
Thanks for the compliments regarding the <B>Iron Man</B> mini. I had a blast doing it and I hope it showed in the issues as they came out. And I guess it was through those pages that <B>The End League</B> came across my e-mail box. That's not meant to sound self-important or anything. It's actually quite the opposite. I didn't really have anything lined up after <B>Iron Man: Enter The Mandarin</B> and I'm just very lucky and grateful that Rick came along and asked me participate. I don't really know anything about what's cool out there by way of comic books right now because I've been asleep doing animation related stuff for however many years now. I'm seriously out of the loop.
Then Rick Remender comes along and says (and I'm either paraphrasing or totally making this up - I can't recall which), "Hey, Rip Van Winkle, you wanna do this book with me? Yeah...it's cool. Cooler than anything you've got going on. So, do it. "
<a href="http://i.newsarama.com/DarkHorsenew/EndLeague/anete/TEL05_pg07_color_final_send.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.newsarama.com/DarkHorsenew/EndLeague/anete/t_TEL05_pg07_color_final_send.jpg" border="0" align="right"></a>And so, yeah... after that sales pitch, and after a couple of conversations with him, listening to what he's got in mind - the concepts, the storyline, the characters, I was eager to get started.
All kidding aside, it was Rick, by his invitation and his good graces, who allowed me to participate with this project. I really hope I don't let him down.
<B>NRAMA</B> Eric, you're taking over for artist Mat Broome, who's a dramatically different artist than you. What's it like coming in and making your mark without being "too" different from the previous artist?
<B>EC:</B> I have to be honest and say that I haven't put too much thought behind that since I took on this project. It's not a slight against Mat or anything that he's done thus far, I just I haven't had too much free time to think about that aspect of the book. Which is good, I guess.
I once joked with Rick and asked him about his questionable decision-making in asking me to come in and help considering that my style is so different by comparison, but outside of that I've just been doing my best to live up to his great, challenging scripts.
<B>NRAMA:</B> Eric, how'd you first become aware of <B>The End League</B>, and what did you think of it?
<a href="http://i.newsarama.com/DarkHorsenew/EndLeague/anete/TEL05_pg08_color_final_send.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.newsarama.com/DarkHorsenew/EndLeague/anete/t_TEL05_pg08_color_final_send.jpg" border="0" align="left"></a><B>EC:</B> Like I said, I didn't know anything about current comics. It's terrible to say, but that means I didn't know anything about<B> The End League </B> either. Rick has been very generous with his time and patience and broke it down to me. Then the Dark Horse Editorial office forwarded me the two issues that have been done thus far and that really helped me with the visualization of the concepts that Rick was talking about over the phone.
Talking to Rick is easy. One of our saving graces is that we have an animation background so when the initial stuff I was doing was in play - the character designs, environments, and other visual related stuff - we had the code-speak down. Things like strong silhouettes, heroic iconography, and simple but recognizable design were the longer parts of the conversation.
And Rick isn't over-protective about the stuff he's done. That's the most exciting aspect about working with him - he's organic and open to incoming ideas. There are the basics, of course; the stuff that's been done already. And I use that as the premise for a lot of design work I do. But outside of that, Rick's attitude, the one that I picked up from our conversations, is that if it works, then we'll use it! He really makes it simple and easy and completely stress-free. That's the part that really sold me that he's a good egg.
<B>NRAMA:</B> I understand the book will be going monthly now. Is that right?
<B>RR:</B> Yeah, Eric is already well underway with his first issue and it’s breath taking. Don’t take my word for it, these sample pages should be enough to wet your whistle. With Eric on the book full time and taking the book monthly I expect the amazing sales and buzz we’ve generated so far to only grow.
<a href="http://i.newsarama.com/DarkHorsenew/EndLeague/anete/TEL05_pg09_color_final_send.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.newsarama.com/DarkHorsenew/EndLeague/anete/t_TEL05_pg09_color_final_send.jpg" border="0" align="right"></a><B>NRAMA:</B> Eric's first issue is #5. What's it about?
<B>EC:</B> I have this terrible joke with myself for years now about how to make a good story into a better one. And that to stick either Nazis or little people into the mix. In the first issue, Rick coincidentally wrote in BOTH! This thing should be received like gangbusters!
Seriously though (actually the things I just mentioned ARE in the first issue, but that's not the important part), the part that I really fell in love with is a portion of an origin story I get to tell about one of the main characters. I don't know if I'm at liberty to talk about which one, so I'll leave out that specific detail. But the kid's background is so tragic and so sad I was instantly intrigued and excited
to draw that part of the story.
<a href="http://i.newsarama.com/DarkHorsenew/EndLeague/anete/TEL06cover_Color_ver03_send.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.newsarama.com/DarkHorsenew/EndLeague/anete/t_TEL06cover_Color_ver03_send.jpg" border="0" align="left"></a><B>RR:</B> Eric’s first issue is #5 and it ships in August. It has two parts; part one is a flashback to WWII in which we see the origin of a cast member. In part one we get a look at where Astonishman was during the Great War and meet Uncle Sam’s fascist fightin’ thirty-third airborne division. We also meet Wolfsangel, the second most powerful villain in the <B>End League</B> universe and the man Dead Lexington has been at war with for the past decade. What happened in Germany in 1943 has a huge impact on the state of the current world stage.
In part two we follow the hero known as Black on a journey into The Smiling Man’s carnival island city of Lore (formerly Los Angeles). The oceans have risen and LA is little more than a 4-mile by 1-mile strip of island surrounded by ocean. The entire island is an insane carnival world. The buildings are high tech and super modern but all architecture is carnival in theme and design. Think about Six Flags mixed with Circus-Circus in LA and that’s exactly what this place looks like. It’s a city built on the philosophy of anarchy and LSD is pumped into the water supply too help keep the place entertaining to its overlord. We get to see Black’s battle armor as he takes his way through this mad, man world on his journey to find the hammer of Thor.
<B>NRAMA:</B> Before we go, I have to ask one last thing Rick. Looking at your expanse of creator-owned projects, and you have enviable talent of partnering with some great artists in their prime. How do you make it happen?
<B>RR:</B>I’m an appreciator of art and an artist myself so I have many artist friends. I could fill another five titles with top-notch guys I’ve been lucky enough to strike up friendships with. I think as a professional who spent ten years animating, penciling, and inking comics I have a trained eye. In some cases the artists are just old friends (Kieron Dwyer, Tony Moore) some are guys I’ve been in the same scene with and was fortunate enough to scoop up before anyone else (Jerome Opeña) others were referred to me by friends (Eric Nguyen) or in the case of Eric Canete, Hilary Barta, Peter Bergting, Nick Stakal, or any of the other brilliant bastards I’m fortunate enough to work with, I just followed their work as a fan and eventually we became friends who worked together. Collaborating with guys of this caliber is the reason I do this. I have to work with guys who can draw much better than I can in order to live vicariously through their pencils and brushes.