MOORE IN THE FUTURE: TALKING TO TONY MOORE

**MattBrady** · 06-09-2005, 09:23 AM

by Chris Arrant

First there was a gun-toting, cigar-chomping man of the cloth. Then there was a horde of decomposing savages. Finally, a wise-cracking British superhero secret agent. It was only a few short years ago that Tony Moore sprang onto the comics scene, working with comic writer and friend Robert Kirkman to bring something new and unique to the counters of comic stories nationwide. From the initial self-published offerings of Battle Pope on to the monthly adventures in The Walking Dead and highlighted by 2 OGNs of The Brit, Moore had made a name for himself in comic circles for for his honest (and some times morbid) sense of humanity, his ability to craft both silent and monstrously explosive moments as well as a knack for humor. But then, he stopped.

Although he continues to make his presence known with his Eisner-nominated covers for The Walking Dead, for the rabid comic fans and admirers of his work, it isn't enough. But that's soon to change with the release of not one, but two new series guaranteed to satisfy your 'Tony Moore' fix. Newsarama tracked down Moore at his studio and found out what's going on.

Newsarama: Back at 2004's San Diego Comic-Con it was announced that you were collaborating with writer B. Clay Moore on a project titled 5 Dead Men, wich Clay described as "The Searchers meets Lone Wolf & Cub". Can you tell us how you would describe the book, and when you think it'll be on store shelves?

Tony Moore: Yeah, I’m really amped about this one. I think Clay’s one of the best damn writers in the business. Five Dead Men is a straight revenge story, spaghetti western style. It’s about Frank Haggard, who is the lone survivor of a bank-heist-turned-massacre. He’s laid low for a while and bided his time, and our story is him setting out to show the thieves that their worst mistake was leaving him alive. Unfortunately for him, though, just as he’s getting started he crosses paths with a young gun out to prove himself, and Frank decides to let the kid tag along, regardless of how much a liability he may become. It should be a fun lead-filled kind of joyride once we get it rolling. We’ve done a chunk of work on it, but have kind of been forced into a holding pattern due to both our busy schedules. I like to think we’re both sharpening our claws until we can really dig back in. Our love for it should ensure that it will be out before too incredibly long, but I won’t presume to give an actual date just yet.

NRAMA: Another project coming out soon that you're involved with is Fear Agent, with Rick Remender. Described as a love letter to everything you and Rick loved about EC Comics, what led to you hooking up with Remender for this book?

TM: Rick and I met in our neighboring booths at the 2000 San Diego ComiCon and became instant friends as we watched the traffic flow stop at the porno booths across the aisle from us, look toward us and then turn away forever. We talked for years about eventually doing something together, and finally one day we were ranting to each other about how much we loved EC comics. That was basically the spark for us to create our own throwback spaceman adventure book. Rick’s a veritable fountain of exciting comic book ideas, and I think everyone will really enjoy some of the crazy stuff we’ve cooked up to fill out this title. I’m already having a blast, and we haven’t even touched on some of the great stuff we’ve planned.

NRAMA: Tell us more about the lead character in Fear Agent. According to our previous interview with Rick, he's a spacefaring alien exterminator…

TM: That he is, but that’s really just Heath Huston’s job. The man himself is a two-fisted man of action, and a hard luck hero. He’s one part Sgt Rock, and one part Sad Sack. On the ground, he’s known to shoot first and ask questions later, but aboard his ship, he finds that space is a damn lonely place. We really run him ragged in this thing, too. He’s bouncing back and forth fighting for his life and just when he settles down enough for the readers to get inside his head and feel for the guy, we take him and fling him back into the fire. No rest for this fella.

NRAMA: Speaking of relentless, when you initially burst onto the scene you seemed connected at the hip with writer Robert Kirkman, working on Battle Pope, Brit and The Walking Dead. Your friendship with him goes all the way back to middle school. Now that you've both gone your own way creatively, are there any plans for a reunion at some point?

TM: I’m certainly not ruling anything out, but there aren’t any real plans for a reunion. We’ve both got plenty on our plates to keep us occupied for the foreseeable future.

NRAMA: Image Comics is now reprinting your initial splash into comics, Battle Pope with writer Robert Kirkman. What's it like seeing that back in print, in color no less?

TM: It’s really weird, honestly. I think it’s great that there’s enough interest in that stuff to bring it back, and Val Staples has been itching to color it since the first go-round five years ago, when he was but a fresh faced lad looking for experience, same as us. He’s doing some nice stuff on it, which is good to see, because thankfully my lineart’s come a ways since those days.

NRAMA: Let's talk about your signature work, the one that made people sit up and take notice: The Walking Dead. It's been awhile now since you left The Walking Dead, but you still continue to be a part of it as the cover artist. What are your thoughts on the success of the book, and do you have any regrets or second thoughts about leaving?

TM: I think it’s great that Robert’s having such great success with the book. I’m glad I’ve been able to still contribute covers for the book I helped launch, because it wasn’t an easy decision to leave. In the end, though, it’s worked out for the best, all around. The work I did on that book has opened a lot of doors for me and presented me with some great opportunities. I don’t regret leaving, and doing the covers help me get out the zombie drawing jones I get every now and then.

NRAMA: Are you still attending the University of Louisville for your BFA in Fine Art?

TM: No, I had two freshman-level classes left to pick up when comics started offering me jobs I couldn’t turn down. I’ve more or less completed my degree, had my graduate show and all of that, though. My mom would like me to go back for the diploma, but right now little green pieces of paper in my pocket are more important than that big one to hang on the wall. I’ll go back and finish it off sometime after I’ve settled in professionally.

NRAMA: You faced a difficult choice after high school, in choosing what field to pursue in college. You've said before it was between a traditional art school and a special effects school; eventually you decided to purse a classical art education with the intent of applying it to comics. What was the draw for you towards special effects school, and what factors led you to deciding against it?

TM: Yeah, as a huge fan of horror movies, I was really drawn to the idea of attending a special effects school, really eyeing Tom Savini’s school in Pittsburgh. However, I got a great scholarship to the Art Academy in Cincinnati, OH, and with that and it being so close to home, I couldn’t turn it down. I was also really considering the forensics school in Knoxville, Tennessee, because I was a huge science nerd, and figured it would probably be a good way to make money. My personal obsession with that stuff actually ended up proving useful in comics, too, as you can see.

NRAMA: If for some reason working in comics wasn't an option for you, what do you think you'd be doing?

TM: It'd have to be something hands-on. Maybe movie special effects or even advertising, or maybe I'd starve to death trying to be a painter by trade. Or if art as a whole wasn't an option, maybe I'd go back to school for forensics or something more scientific like that.

NRAMA: In your time in comics so far, you've consistently inked, and in most cases colored your own work. What led you to go this route, and do you plan on continuing it in the near future?

TM: Well, in the beginning, it was mostly necessity, because we didn’t really know anybody, much less anybody who could ink well and would do it for free. Also, back then, I wouldn’t have trusted my crappy pencils to be interpreted by anyone else. So, I took it upon myself to figure it out. Same with coloring. In a lot of cases, it’s become easier to just ink it myself rather than try to tie everything down in pencil and hand it off, biting my nails until it comes back. I don’t get the chance to paint much these days, so coloring is a nice chance to relax and experiment, and hopefully learn a thing or two along the way. So yeah, I do plan to stay on this track. I see no reason to pigeonhole myself into just one aspect of the artistic process.

NRAMA: Seeing how you do ink and color your own work, one has to ask... do you plan on doing a book written, pencilled, inked and colored by you at some point?

TM: If I knew it wouldn’t be financial suicide for me at this point, I’d love to be able to drop off the face of the Earth for a year or so, and re-emerge with a finished full color graphic novel, totally by me. I don’t know if I really have the writing chops for it, but I’d love to try my hand at it. I’ve got some ideas for a couple westerns I want to do before I hang it up, so we’ll see. One day.

NRAMA: When did you first get the news of your nomination for the 2005 Eisner Award for "Best Cover Artist"?

TM: Image’s then-P.R. guy, B Clay Moore, told me when Image first received the news a couple days before it went public, I guess. Over AOL Instant Messenger, even. Didn’t even get the warmth of a loving phone call, just cold uncaring text and sound effects. Like cold milk from a robotic teat.

NRAMA: Looking at the field of nominees for this category, you're in some great company. Any words for your fellow nominees and for this category?

TM: It’s a mind-bending honor to be acknowledged as an artist in the same class as these guys, and almost unfathomable to be held as a candidate to have my name listed beside the guys who’ve won in the past.

And to my fellow nominees, jeez, what else is there to say but “Good luck!” You guys are some of my biggest inspirations, and I think we’ve all got our work cut out for us. If these things were decided by gladiatorial deathmatch, I’d at least feel like I might have a little more of a chance.

NRAMA: Looking back at The Walking Dead covers which you wee nominated for, can you tell us about your favorites and why?

TM: The first few, I was still mostly figuring things out, but I think I really hit a stride with issues four through six. I think my color schemes were starting to come together a little better, and I was really happy with them. But I really felt like I raised the bar for myself personally with the eyeball cover for #9. It was a tweaked version of a layout I had considered using for the volume 1 trade paperback. I started in on it thinking it was a cool layout, but wasn’t really that ambitious with the colors, just trying to get it done. Once I got into it, though, I started noodling and rendering everything, and about 4 days later, I called it quits and was really tickled with the finished product. A lot of people seemed to really respond to that one, so I guess the work really paid off. I don’t know if I’ll ever re-capture that “something” that that cover seems to have, but that’s what keeps me trying to push each new one further and further as best I can with the issue’s concept. Hopefully this year’s covers will keep turning heads, as well. I think some of my best stuff has just come recently on these.

For more information on Tony's upcoming work, check out his website at www.tonymooreillustration.com.

emo_pare · 06-09-2005, 09:43 AM

My 1st issue of Walking Dead was because of the cover. It was one of those "I'm glad I gambled on the cover cuz now I'm loving the series" stories.

Looking forward to his future works espeically the republishing of Battle Pope!

Police-dude · 06-09-2005, 10:07 AM

I was first Post!! How can THAT be!??!!?

Derek Ruiz · 06-09-2005, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Police-dude
I was first Post!! How can THAT be!??!!?

Is it that Important to you?

As for Tony, he's pretty damn great with his art of story telling.

Peagle8 · 06-09-2005, 10:58 AM

Good interview.

I'm looking foward to Fear Agent and 5 Dead Men sounds really interesting ("The Searchers meets Lone Wolf & Cub", sign me up!).

Good luck to Tony on the Eisner Award nomination!

hoarseandbuggy · 06-09-2005, 11:23 AM

Tony's also headlining issue 5 of Western Tales of Terror, alongside Steve Niles, Tom Mandrake, and Scott Mills! It's in Previews now!

Cmdr_Y · 06-09-2005, 11:24 AM

That's funny. "a wise-cracking British superhero secret agent" The Brit. ha.

DessertPunk · 06-09-2005, 11:33 AM

you rock dude. Love your work. Are the new projects mini or ongoing?

DarthBubba · 06-09-2005, 01:43 PM

"Pity the fool who don't dig Tony!"

BaronSamedi · 06-09-2005, 01:57 PM

The guy's work on "Ex Machina" is stellar. The book jumps off the shelf at you because of the sick covers, but the real beauty is within. His art really gets an emotional, viseral reaction out of me. From the opening pages of #11 (I think it was #11, where The Great Machine is trying to save the jumpers on 9/11), to the vicious subway attack on the twin brothers, to the sly look in Mayor Hundred's eye, the guy just nails it month to month.

This cover to Sword of Dracula remains in my top three to this day:

DarthBubba · 06-09-2005, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BaronSamedi
The guy's work on "Ex Machina" is stellar. The book jumps off the shelf at you because of the sick covers, but the real beauty is within. His art really gets an emotional, viseral reaction out of me. From the opening pages of #11 (I think it was #11, where The Great Machine is trying to save the jumpers on 9/11), to the vicious subway attack on the twin brothers, to the sly look in Mayor Hundred's eye, the guy just nails it month to month.

This cover to Sword of Dracula remains in my top three to this day:

dude, research is free. . .

confused much?

Peagle8 · 06-09-2005, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BaronSamedi
The guy's work on "Ex Machina" is stellar. The book jumps off the shelf at you because of the sick covers, but the real beauty is within. His art really gets an emotional, viseral reaction out of me. From the opening pages of #11 (I think it was #11, where The Great Machine is trying to save the jumpers on 9/11), to the vicious subway attack on the twin brothers, to the sly look in Mayor Hundred's eye, the guy just nails it month to month.

This cover to Sword of Dracula remains in my top three to this day:

You're thinking of the wrong Tony!

Moore <> Harris

Cow of Pain · 06-09-2005, 02:36 PM

A spectacular artist. I'll at least give anything Moore draws a look, just based on his art!!

Looking forward to seeing these new projects...

OcCaM · 06-09-2005, 04:13 PM

Tony Moore and The Walking Dead was great. Dropped it after he left.

Grasshopper · 06-10-2005, 05:19 AM

I met Tony at that 1st and only comic-con in Vegas a few years ago. You should see his take of Army of Darkness stuff. He does Ash perfectly. Love to see him do that book.

emo_pare · 06-10-2005, 12:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BaronSamedi
The guy's work on "Ex Machina" is stellar. The book jumps off the shelf at you because of the sick covers, but the real beauty is within. His art really gets an emotional, viseral reaction out of me. From the opening pages of #11 (I think it was #11, where The Great Machine is trying to save the jumpers on 9/11), to the vicious subway attack on the twin brothers, to the sly look in Mayor Hundred's eye, the guy just nails it month to month.

This cover to Sword of Dracula remains in my top three to this day:

Oh My God.

This is way too funny!

Moore ain't Harris, my man.

DarthBubba · 06-10-2005, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by OcCaM
Tony Moore and The Walking Dead was great. Dropped it after he left.

OcCaM,

Do yourself, and all of those who love well-written comics, a favor and buy Walking Dead. Sure, you don't get the Moore art on the inside, but he still does those mighty fine (Eisner nominated even)covers. The story is still strong and ever-evolving, you're missing out. Oh well, that's my soapbox moment for today.

Peas,

DarthBubba

Derek Ruiz · 06-10-2005, 03:11 PM

QUOTE] Finally, a wise-cracking British superhero secret agent.[/quote]

Is anyone going to fix that in the article. Brit is American it's called Brit because his name is Brittany.

Cmdr_Y · 06-10-2005, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Derek Ruiz

Quote:

Finally, a wise-cracking British superhero secret agent.

Is anyone going to fix that in the article. Brit is American it's called Brit because his name is Brittany.

I don't think any of them read it.

I love it when people write articles like this and realize -- oh, crap - I don't know what other stuff this person has done! They then do a quick google search or something instead of actually reading the material.

wise-cracking British super-hero secret agent, "The Brit". That's just some funny stuff.

You and I see the humor in it, that's good enough for me.

Tony Moore · 06-11-2005, 03:25 AM

a hearty thanks to all those who know who i am and/or have either read my stuff or have found themselves interested enough to hunt some down.

i appreciate the support, guys. your enjoyment is the reason i do it.

-T

illyana1 · 06-11-2005, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by hoarseandbuggy
Tony's also headlining issue 5 of Western Tales of Terror, alongside Steve Niles, Tom Mandrake, and Scott Mills! It's in Previews now!

Matty Field is in that too, yeah? Good guy, famous for the Dance Off with David Mack during Wizard's ChicagoCon last year. Buy the book and check him out.

hoarseandbuggy · 06-11-2005, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by illyana1
Matty Field is in that too, yeah? Good guy, famous for the Dance Off with David Mack during Wizard's ChicagoCon last year. Buy the book and check him out.

Correctamundo!

Tony Moore · 06-12-2005, 07:02 PM

Correct, indeed!
in fact, it's my boy Matty's story that i drew in that issue.
i'm pretty thrilled with the turnout. Nate Bellegarde's inks and Jacob Baake's toning really brought it to life.

Glad i could contribute to Western Tales of Terror. i'm 100% behind what Fialkov and his crew have got going on there.

-T

Christian Otte · 06-13-2005, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BaronSamedi
The guy's work on "Ex Machina" is stellar. The book jumps off the shelf at you because of the sick covers, but the real beauty is within. His art really gets an emotional, viseral reaction out of me. From the opening pages of #11 (I think it was #11, where The Great Machine is trying to save the jumpers on 9/11), to the vicious subway attack on the twin brothers, to the sly look in Mayor Hundred's eye, the guy just nails it month to month.

This cover to Sword of Dracula remains in my top three to this day:

AAARRRHHAHAAHAHHAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!