MattBrady
02-18-2003, 11:40 AM
<img src="http://classic.newsarama.com/DC/Tec_logo.jpg" width="374" height="125" align="right">Like so many inmates there, artist Ryan Sook has found that after leaving Arkham Asylum, the best place to go is back to Gotham City, so, after he completes the six-issue <a href="http://classic.newsarama.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=00007 1#000000" target="_blank"> Arkham Asylum: Living in Hell</a> miniseries, Sook, along with inker Mick Gray, will take over as the regular artist on Detective Comics with issue #788, later this year.
According to Detective writer Ed Brubaker, Sook’s getting the gig was a little of him pulling for the artist, and a little happy circumstance. “I've liked Ryan’s work for a while, and thought he'd do a really great Detective-style Batman. So when I first got the gig, I pushed for him, but he had just signed on to another project, so it didn't work out. When it came to picking a new artist, I was going to push, but I really didn't have to, because Bob [Schreck] brought him up before I could, and then he called Ryan up right after he got off the phone with me and offered him the job before any other commitments could come up. Needless to say, I was a very happy man that day.
“And in between the time I started on ’Tec and the day of that phone call, I'd also written a Batman: Black and White story for Ryan to draw, so he was familiar with my scripting style and liked it a lot. He's since picked up a bunch of Catwomans and is now very excited about our future together.”
And of course, so is Sook. ”To do this book was an easy decision,” Sook said. “Batman, Brubaker, the chance to be inked again by Mick Gray, and a great editorial staff. Nothing about accepting this job was difficult. Batman is my favorite comic character to draw with the possible exception of superman so there was no down side to it at all.
“I’ve followed Ed’s work on Catwoman by the suggestion of a friend and I love it. And on the Black and White story, I loved his more classic approach to a classic character. Ed’s a great writer with really cool stories to tell, so hopefully our styles will mesh well. He has a flair for dramatic character studies and intelligent storytelling, and uses action to enhance a story without falling back on it as a crutch. I can't wait to try and do his stories justice every month.”
Like Sook, Brubaker said he didn’t foresee changing his writing style, as Sook is a very good match for the way he writes. “Ryan is one of those craftsmen who are all about the mood and the storytelling, and that's what I love about his stuff,” Brubaker said. “Whenever I try to describe Ryan's work to people who haven't seen it, I always say it sort of looks like Michael Lark and Mike Mignola rolled into one guy, and while that's not fair to anyone, it highlights what I love about Ryan's work. He draws the details, and the characters, drags us across the page, and there's a ton of shadows.
“I really do think Ryan is going to break-out on Detective. He's always been good, and now that he's finding more of his own voice and keeping the parts of his influences that he likes and uses well, I think he's going to blow everyone away.”
Something Sook is looking forward to with Detective is the opportunity to firmly root his art in reality, as compared to projects like Spectre and Arkham Asylum, where he could play a little fast and loose with reality in the other two series, sometimes to the detriment of the story.
“Fantasy is sometimes more difficult to pull of because your constantly trying to create and lend reality to something people have never seen,” Sook said. “So you can sometimes feel a little lost out there. In a real setting there is no question as to what you're looking at or where you are in a scene so the focus is directly on the story. The art can only add to the telling of the story where in fantasy it can often be so fantastic that the art actually distracts from the story. With Detective, I just want to draw good comics with cool stories…though I'd love to see Catwoman and or Batgirl at some point.”
Sook’s time on Detective is open-ended, and the artist said that he’s basically planning on staying on the title as long as Brubaker is writing it – although the writer had to admit he’s fairly juiced about what’s coming between now and then.
”Before Ryan can start, we've got a fill-in arc by Patrick Zircher that’s knocking everyone out,” Brubaker said. “I think it's the best work I've ever seen from Patrick, he really got into it. And then Ryan comes on as the regular artist after that, so I've still only got the basic germs of what will happen. We're going to create a new villain, though, that I hope will become a classic. I think I've finally figured out the proper formula of twisted, weird, and fun to get a Bat-villain right. Beyond that, I'm hoping to really get into a rhythm with Ryan, and balance the mystery elements with more time spent with our main characters, too. Things are coming up in Gotham Central towards the end of the first year that will alter things about how Batman does his work, and I'm going to want to explore that a lot.”
According to Detective writer Ed Brubaker, Sook’s getting the gig was a little of him pulling for the artist, and a little happy circumstance. “I've liked Ryan’s work for a while, and thought he'd do a really great Detective-style Batman. So when I first got the gig, I pushed for him, but he had just signed on to another project, so it didn't work out. When it came to picking a new artist, I was going to push, but I really didn't have to, because Bob [Schreck] brought him up before I could, and then he called Ryan up right after he got off the phone with me and offered him the job before any other commitments could come up. Needless to say, I was a very happy man that day.
“And in between the time I started on ’Tec and the day of that phone call, I'd also written a Batman: Black and White story for Ryan to draw, so he was familiar with my scripting style and liked it a lot. He's since picked up a bunch of Catwomans and is now very excited about our future together.”
And of course, so is Sook. ”To do this book was an easy decision,” Sook said. “Batman, Brubaker, the chance to be inked again by Mick Gray, and a great editorial staff. Nothing about accepting this job was difficult. Batman is my favorite comic character to draw with the possible exception of superman so there was no down side to it at all.
“I’ve followed Ed’s work on Catwoman by the suggestion of a friend and I love it. And on the Black and White story, I loved his more classic approach to a classic character. Ed’s a great writer with really cool stories to tell, so hopefully our styles will mesh well. He has a flair for dramatic character studies and intelligent storytelling, and uses action to enhance a story without falling back on it as a crutch. I can't wait to try and do his stories justice every month.”
Like Sook, Brubaker said he didn’t foresee changing his writing style, as Sook is a very good match for the way he writes. “Ryan is one of those craftsmen who are all about the mood and the storytelling, and that's what I love about his stuff,” Brubaker said. “Whenever I try to describe Ryan's work to people who haven't seen it, I always say it sort of looks like Michael Lark and Mike Mignola rolled into one guy, and while that's not fair to anyone, it highlights what I love about Ryan's work. He draws the details, and the characters, drags us across the page, and there's a ton of shadows.
“I really do think Ryan is going to break-out on Detective. He's always been good, and now that he's finding more of his own voice and keeping the parts of his influences that he likes and uses well, I think he's going to blow everyone away.”
Something Sook is looking forward to with Detective is the opportunity to firmly root his art in reality, as compared to projects like Spectre and Arkham Asylum, where he could play a little fast and loose with reality in the other two series, sometimes to the detriment of the story.
“Fantasy is sometimes more difficult to pull of because your constantly trying to create and lend reality to something people have never seen,” Sook said. “So you can sometimes feel a little lost out there. In a real setting there is no question as to what you're looking at or where you are in a scene so the focus is directly on the story. The art can only add to the telling of the story where in fantasy it can often be so fantastic that the art actually distracts from the story. With Detective, I just want to draw good comics with cool stories…though I'd love to see Catwoman and or Batgirl at some point.”
Sook’s time on Detective is open-ended, and the artist said that he’s basically planning on staying on the title as long as Brubaker is writing it – although the writer had to admit he’s fairly juiced about what’s coming between now and then.
”Before Ryan can start, we've got a fill-in arc by Patrick Zircher that’s knocking everyone out,” Brubaker said. “I think it's the best work I've ever seen from Patrick, he really got into it. And then Ryan comes on as the regular artist after that, so I've still only got the basic germs of what will happen. We're going to create a new villain, though, that I hope will become a classic. I think I've finally figured out the proper formula of twisted, weird, and fun to get a Bat-villain right. Beyond that, I'm hoping to really get into a rhythm with Ryan, and balance the mystery elements with more time spent with our main characters, too. Things are coming up in Gotham Central towards the end of the first year that will alter things about how Batman does his work, and I'm going to want to explore that a lot.”