TERRY DODSON: EXCLUSIVE & ON UNCANNY

[MattBrady]

by Matt Brady

If the covers to Young X-Men, Ms. Marvel and Captain Marvel weren’t big enough hints, today’s X-Men panel at WizardWorld: Los Angeles confirmed the news – Terry Dodson is back at Marvel, under an exclusive contract. Not only that, Dodson will be moving to Uncanny X-Men, where he will split the art duties with Greg Land, working from scripts by the freshly announced co-writing duo of Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction.

For Dodson, the move is a return of sorts after illustrating Wonder Woman at DC for the series' schedule-hampered relaunch. Prior to working on Wonder Woman Dodson had worked on Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do with Kevin Smith, Marvel Knights: Spider-Man with Mark Millar, and Trouble, also with Millar. The artist had also cut his teeth, artistically speaking, at Marvel, having worked here and there on various X-titles, including Generation X and Pryde and Wisdom as well as fill-ins on X-Men.

But now – it’s the real deal.

We sat down with Dodson to talk about the exclusive, the workload and why the offer of Uncanny was one he couldn’t say no to.

Newsarama: Let’s start off with the exclusive, Terry – how did this come about? Just recently at WonderCon, you were talking about how your plan was to dive in and complete the next Coraline book for Humanoids before really digging in to any further work. A little misdirection?

Terry Dodson: It’s all wrapped up together. My deal with Marvel only extends to US work, and the idea was that I would be able to work both on books here in the US and on the next Coraline as well. After a while on Wonder Woman, I was trying to find a way where I could make it work – to continue working on the books for Humanoids and to do stuff in the US. I kept having so many offers to do projects here in the US to do things, and a lot were things I just didn’t want to turn down, so I was able to work the deal out with Marvel to do both. I just wasn’t able to do that with DC. That’s what the exclusive really came down to – the opportunity to be able to work on both projects.

NRAMA: So basically, you’re equally committed?

TD: Yeah. I really enjoy being able to work on the graphic novels for Humanoids, and when I went on to Wonder Woman, I knew full well that it was going to be a year and a half to two years before I could get back to Coraline. When the time came to re-up with DC I told them that the only way I could do it is if I could take six months off to draw the graphic novel, and it just didn’t work out. That’s fine – no ill will, it was just something that we couldn’t work out.

And yeah, I’ve known about the exclusive with Marvel for quite a while, but kept it quiet. [laughs]

NRAMA: So the deal was more production related, in that it was an ideal fit for your schedule, rather than being related to any specific project?

TD: Not entirely. I have to be excited about what I’m drawing. When I started looking for something to work on after Wonder Woman, I got a call from Axel Alonso who had been my editor while I was at Marvel from 2002-2005 on all my projects there. He mentioned working on Uncanny X-Men and listed all the reasons why he felt it was a good fit for me. It’s a book that I would be interested in under the right circumstances, and all of the right circumstances seemed to be there.

As far as why sign the exclusive – I get paid more. I mean, I’m going to do the project regardless, but they’ll pay me more to do it [laughs]. Why not do it for more while at the same time I’m able to work on the European stuff? I think working on something like Coraline really benefits Marvel in the long run anyway – in doing it, I’m learning all about how to color that I can bring back to the work that I do in the US. I’m a much better artist now than when I left Marvel – I’ve got all this experience from illustrating and coloring the first Coraline book, so in the long run, it’s a good thing. In fact, I was doing the first Coraline book at Marvel when I was there the last time – it was the exact same agreement that we have now.

NRAMA: You mentioned that the conditions are right for you to work on Uncanny. What are those conditions – aside from being able to work on Coraline at the same time?

TD: Well, the same thing happened with Wonder Woman that happened when I worked with Kevin Smith on Spider-Man and when I worked with Mark Millar on Spider-Man – they were all circumstances where it was a writer that I wanted to work with, and a character I wanted to work with…

NRAMA: Though things sometimes took a hit, schedule-wise…

TD: Right. And also, the gist behind the Uncanny “launch” was something that I liked as well. I’ve had opportunities to work on all these characters that I like, but it hasn’t been the right circumstance. Wonder Woman was something that had come up in my career a couple of times, but it wasn’t until this last time where enough things clicked that made it the opportunity that I wanted to go with.

That’s what happened on this Uncanny run – the writers, Ed and Matt, are people that I really want to work with, I like the circumstances that they’re going to be building things around; editorially, it’s people I’m comfortable working with, and Uncanny is a book that I read and loved as a kid. In fact, the Jim Lee run came out when I was in college when I had kind of gotten out of comics; it really struck me in how good it was, and not two years after that, I was working in comics. So I’ve always had an interest in Uncanny, it was just a matter of when.

NRAMA: You were never offered it before this? You had been in the X-office before, after all…

TD: It was funny, I thought that after Generation X, which was, what…8 or 9 years ago now, I was going to be asked to go onto Uncanny. But then the Harley Quinn project came up at DC, and that was something that I wanted to more than anything at that time. So I went there. It was a fun book – it was in the right place at the right time for what I wanted to do, artistically.

NRAMA: And now, Uncanny has that same feel for you: it’s in the right place at the right time for what you want to do?

TD: Right. It really goes back to the fact that these are characters that I’ve really wanted to work on, and I have faith in the scripts of Ed’s that I’ve read. They read, to me, as scripts that I could draw, X-Men-wise. They felt like X-Men scripts to me. That was the crux. I wasn’t going to take the job if things didn’t feel right.

Marvel’s really done a good job over the past year to bring the book back to the top of the charts where it used to be, and all the things are leading into the 500th issue which is where things will launch from that point on. It’s a great chance to be working on something that looks like is going to be fun and be successful with fans. It’s a big mix of things that has me on the series, but it really comes down to I want to work on something that I can get excited about. I can’t just get excited because it’s a character – there are lot of other factors involved, and if the work can’t keep me excited, that boredom that comes is one of the first things that makes it on to the page. There’s just no point in working on things you don’t believe in.

NRAMA: And the scheduling – how does that work into the mix of keeping you excited?

TD: It’s a good thing. After Wonder Woman this last time, I made the decision that I was not going to be on a book full-time anymore. It’s just not something that I want to do anymore. I have no problem splitting, sharing, or filling in, but I’m done being the full-time guy, because there are too many other things that I want to do, and it’s too big of a commitment. I think I bring more to the table by being in there half the time than being in there “most” of the time. Plus, that just means what is in the series will be better work from me, and the fans will be happier.

NRAMA: And the breakdown for the schedule?

TD: Greg and I will be working on issue #500, and then Greg does the first arc, which will give me the time to finish up the second Coraline graphic novel, and then I will start with #504, I think, which is September/October. I’ll do a three-issue arc, and then a break, and then another arc. That’s the plan – to rotate us through on those arcs, and ideally, I think the plan is to do a little bit more than 12 issues in a year…maybe 14. And again, that was all part of the appeal of the project – it’s not all resting on me. I can be part of a team, which I am perfectly happy with.

NRAMA: Speaking of teams, I assume all of this is copacetic with your inker [Terry’s wife, Rachel]?

TD: [laughs] Oh yeah. Rachel’s fine with it. She’s so out of the loop in so many ways on this, and really tends not to care about the characters themselves, but more about what makes me happy and excited, which makes her job easier. She was pushing me to take this when I told her the gist of it, and how it would work between me and Greg, so it’s all good.

[IAmBatman]

where's the Deadpool news?

[Wormdrink]

dodson and land on uncanny?? is it christmas already???

[themanyouhat]

Originally Posted by Wormdrink

dodson and land on uncanny?? is it christmas already???

Half Christmas.

Half complete garbage day.

[GLX]

Congrats. Glad to have you on Uncanny.

[BarryJordan]

as long as it's on-time...I'm onboard starting with #500

[SpaceButler]

I am already greatly enjoying Uncanny, but Fraction and Dodson can only make it better. I have to say however that I wish Choi was sticking around too.

[Wormdrink]

Originally Posted by SpaceButler

I am already greatly enjoying Uncanny, but Fraction and Dodson can only make it better. I have to say however that I wish Choi was sticking around too.

agreed. Choi's work is awesome.

[Crump's Brother]

Terry Dodson's drawing X-Men. That's awesome.

[Tomwaitsfan]

I'll miss him on Wonder Woman. Best of luck to Terry.

[Alextron]

Good luck, man.

We X-Men fans are very emotional about who works on the books. So, you better do good.... or else.

[RedRonin]

I'm glad Dodson will be on Uncanny.

I'm pissed he's sharing a book with Land.

[CaptainCanad]

After the news of the hack and thief Greg Land coming on, Dodson also drawing is the only thing that might convinced me to stick around.

Perhaps I'll just buy his arcs.

[BoosterGold]

garbage. bring back morrison's genius run.

[SpaceButler]

Originally Posted by BoosterGold

garbage. bring back morrison's genius run.

I loved Morrison's X-Men as much as anyone, but Brubaker and Fraction on Uncanny is nothing to scoff at.

[skl183]

UNITED WITH LAND!

Hey you, dont tell me theres no hope at all
Together we stand, divided we fall.

[Question86]

I guess Uncanny wont be comming out on time anymore

[TheWay]

Originally Posted by RedRonin

I'm glad Dodson will be on Uncanny.

I'm pissed he's sharing a book with Land.

You took the words right out of my mouth.

[KryptonSite]

Two consistently good artists on Uncanny looks to be very good news.

Though, a part of me was hoping Uncanny was going to take on a "Brand New Day" type 3-issues-a-month schedule. I really am loving that with Spider-Man.

[Ken B.]

the 2 big companies seem to be taking different approaches to scheduling:

DC seems to have in place a "get you stuff in on time or we won't use you (except for Jim Lee and the Kuberts, it seems)" approach, while Marvel is putting slow artists on books in short arcs. I don't really know which way will work best. I just have a feeling Dodson is going to be slower than Land, and we'll see a switch soon into the team.

[PhilipAMoore]

Originally Posted by themanyouhat

Half Christmas.

Half complete garbage day.

how is it half garbage? I like Greg Land. His art is very photographic.

another question how come this art for the artical has a preview from land ?

[StrongSaveen]

Originally Posted by PhilipAMoore

how is it half garbage? I like Greg Land. His art is very photographic.

His "art" is very photographic because he's a hack who traces photographs.

Between the orgasm faces on every woman and the same 10 poses for everyone else, color me completely unenthused.

One can only hope a good amount of people will get fed up with Land's hackery and drop his issues so that he'll be replaced by a good artist.

[CaptainCanad]

Originally Posted by PhilipAMoore

how is it half garbage? I like Greg Land. His art is very photographic.

Land is a thief who steals from other artists and photographs taken from magazines (a lot of them pornographic), and pastes them all together.

His work has no sense of dynamism or weight, the expressions of the characters don't correspond to what the script says they should be talking about, or, for that matter, the other people around them, and he steals different images for different poses for the same character, resulting in character models changing wildly within the span of an issue, even as he uses the same images for many, many different characters.

[budpaul]

Land performed admirably, schedule-wise, during his several-issue run on Ult. Fan. Four. I look forward to this effort.

[Ken B.]

Originally Posted by budpaul

Land performed admirably, schedule-wise, during his several-issue run on Ult. Fan. Four. I look forward to this effort.

He did the first few issues of the run fine, but then he went off a bit, with a delay and then Marvel brought in Breitweiser to do half of each remaining issue of Land's run.

And then there was Ultimate Power or whatever that 9 issue mini series was called that everyone forgot about. Delays galore.