STUART IMMONEN ON CENTIFOLIA

[MattBrady]

by Chris Arrant

Held in high regard by many in the comics community, Stuart Immonen could be classified as an "artist's artist". Possessing supreme draftsmanship and versatility, it's all bound by a professional work ethic that makes his editors sleep soundly at night. Forged in the self-publishing movement of the nineties before moving into mainstream superhero comics, in recent years he has re-forged his self-publishing efforts with long-time collaborator and wife, Kathryn Immonen, with a series of webcomics and several print editions.

New on the horizon is an expansive book taking stock in Immonen's recent work outside the widely seen illustration work for Marvel and DC. No, this is more personal.

Centifolia is a lush 128-page tome that contains a variety of material from the last five years, with 32 pages of color illustrations. You won't see Spider-Man or NextWave – what you'll see is something more personal and loose, from concept designs, sketches, finished illustrations and comics. Continuing in the self-publishing efforts that started his career over a decade ago, Centifolia is a visual autobiography of sorts, providing a rare personal look at the personal side of the professional comic artist.

There's a saying that goes "Life is what happens when you are planning something else"; if that's the case, then Centifolia is a true taste of Stuart Immonen, the artist, that you've grown to know from his work on Ultimate Spider-Man, NextWave or Superman. With this book scheduled for release this month, Newsarama.com talked with the Canadian artist by email.

Newsarama: Stuart, what does Centifolia contain?

Stuart Immonen: I started keeping a sketchbook oh, about seven years back-- well after I should have. I tried a number of sizes and formats with different types of paper, but soon found ones that opened flat, took a number of different media well, and were portable enough to take on trips. For the most part, they get filled with unfinished work-- really loose gesture poses, ideas I find funny but lack a larger context, experiments with various tools or styles, sketches "en plein air", short sequentials and more formal work that eventually gets fleshed out for my website, or some other project. Centifolia contains the "best" of that stuff.

The sketchbooks also have a lot of "real work" in them, but I don't own any of that, and therefore can't publish it. There isn't much to see, however-- a lot of it is very rough.

NRAMA: You say it like it's a bad thing; there's a lot of fans of rough gesture sketches. What led you to putting this book together?

SI: Lots of artists do this kind of thing every year, for con season; they print or photocopy a limited number, and have something to hawk in artist's alley. I only do about three shows a year on average, but also sell self-published books via my site, so I wanted something that i thought people would be willing to get through mail order. I habitually go overboard on format anyway-- I'm a packaging fanatic, and love to dabble in design, since I have little opportunity to do it in my day job-- so I included a big color section, and a spot varnished cover.

Some friends and relations who had seen my sketchbooks and online work were really encouraging, though I found it hard to select pieces which I liked well enough to include. Some of the work goes back even prior to the existence of the sketchbooks, but it's mostly been a way to retire all that, and start new projects.

I've also been inspired by what people like Ashley Wood, Duncan Fegredo, Sean Phillips and Alberto Ruiz have been doing with the published sketchbook format. It's gone way beyond what was essentially a throwaway item at cons.

NRAMA: In recent years, the con sketchbook has certainly been elevated by those mentioned as well as James Jean's Process Recess and Paul Pope's PulpHope.

This is a sideline work for you, in some respect. This is the work you do when you're not working your primary art job under exclusive for Marvel Comics, currently on Ultimate Spider-Man. How long does it typically take you to do a page, and where do you find the time and the muster to do art on the side?

SI: A page of standard superhero comics? It varies, of course, but a normal, average pace for me is to spend an hour or so on each panel. Then, with phone calls, emails, banking, taxes and general running of the business, it's a full eight hours put in. Some days go faster, some not.

But it also vitally important for me to dedicate some time to personal work-- important on its own merits, of course, but also to keep my attitude and approach to my bread and butter work fresh and invigorated. Warren Ellis went on record recently about balancing work-for-hire and personal projects-- an elaborate house-painting and -building metaphor-- which expresses adequately how I feel about it; a freelancer owes it to him or herself to take on work that he or she owns, even if it's at a loss. I think the ramifications of the Siegel case may also bear this out.

Not to say that Centifolia's any Sistine Chapel, mind you. But it is mine.

NRAMA: In the introduction to the book, you talk about your high school art teacher Mr. Pate. Can you tell us abut that class, and art schooling you've had in general, and how in played into your career?

SI: I attended a regional rural high school which serviced several disparate farming communities, but there was a pretty strong commitment to the arts, and there were lots of kids taking music and visual art. There was one art teacher for a student body numbering over 1,000. Mr. Pate was a genial guy, likeable and knowledgeable-- in retrospect; I think he must have been fighting an uphill battle in some ways as, by my final year, the attrition rate was high enough in art that the course was only offered by correspondence. As it happened, I moved away that year, and ended up taking art in a classroom and elsewhere.

Afterwards, I attended York University in the Visual Art department, but found it not much to my liking, and dropped out after a year. If anything, I feel like it stunted my interest in drawing, but I soon took up comics, beginning Playground, my first comic work with Kathryn [Immonen, Stuart's wife] that summer.

As to how my art education affected my career, I'd have to honestly say that it didn't. If I had pursued my degree, I very likely wouldn't be in comics at all. If I'd attended a technical or studio-focused college, I'd be in advertising or concept work.

NRAMA: You mention other occupations. You've got a long string of jobs you had before getting into comics - what would you say affected your comics work the most?

SI: Ah... well, I have to think about that one. I guess any life experience, if you're willing, can inform your creative work. All those jobs happened a long time ago, you know, but I suppose that working in a record store in the late 80s could have an effect on how I draw Superman...

Really, I think the most important effect is how I approach my working day. At a job, people expect you to show up, do your best, to get along with your peers and coworkers, and in comics it should be no different. I get to work by 8AM most days, put in the hours required to not hold up the process, and do my best to make the writer's work flow effectively, and make the inker's and colorist's jobs straightforward and fun, and hopefully provide an enjoyable reading experience. For me, comics is a job first.

NRAMA: At what point in your life did you seriously begin considering a career in comics, and what were the big influences of that?

SI: Way back, just falling out of the university system, I didn't have a lot of direction, but I knew I didn't want to do that. There were a lot of black-and-white books coming out at that time, and independent work in general was proliferating; it seemed possible anyway, and I coerced Kathryn into starting a comic with me, and then a business, though neither of us thought for a moment we could make that pay. After a year or so of working on our own comics, I started to send around portfolio pieces in the mail. I sent packages to everyone, and received very few responses, but companies like Caliber, Revolutionary and Rip Off Press were willing, on their terms of course, to give me work.

I actually did the calculations a little while ago; I was lecturing at a college, and a student asked me this same thing. It was when I realized that I was making the equivalent of minimum wage that I truly realized that this could be my job. It's really as simple as that. I kept trying to improve, in order to improve my chances of advancement, and kept submitting work through the mails. Finally a face to face meeting led to Neal Pozner at DC giving me a chance on Showcase, as he did many other young talents. That was my foot-in-the-door moment, back in '91, '92.

NRAMA:This is your latest in a line of self-publishing efforts, and if the genesis of Centifolia can be expanded to cover your self-publishing efforts as a whole, you've already explained yourself. But let's dig into it -- what keeps you going?

SI: I think I'm still trying to improve, to advance. A question I balk at constantly is "what character would you like to work on?" as if the goal this whole time has been to draw Green Lantern or something. That's nice, but it's better to be in the company of other people whose work you enjoy, and to develop a relationship with an editor who's interested in cultivating the best one can offer. So my ambition is primarily directed at wanting to develop and stretch my skills, and to entertain. To that end, the self-publishing is as important as my work-for-hire; the audience may be smaller, but I get to take chances and explore sides of creativity that might not otherwise be available in a mainstream context. I honestly feel like Kathryn and I are offering something worthwhile to the medium, something -- since we have the time and the means -- it would be a shame to not do.

NRAMA: You mentioned how this is an outgrowth of the conventional convention sketchbook. With that being said, what conventions are you attending this year?

SI: Kathryn and I will be at Heroes Con in Charlotte NC in June, and I will be in Calgary, Alberta on April 26 and 27 for the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo, where I'll personally offer Centifolia for the first time, though it should be in stores before that. I'll also be at the Baltimore Comic-Con in September.

NRAMA: For those that can't make it to those conventions, do you have a listing of retailers that are carrying this?

SI: Yes! In addition to being able to buy directly from our site, by mid-April, you'll be able to find Centifolia at: The Beguiling, Big B Comics, Comix Experience, Comix Revolution, The Dragon, Fanfare Sports and Entertainment, Heroes Aren't Hard To Find, Jim Hanley's Universe, Paradise Comics, Rocketship, The Silver Snail, Strange Adventures, Forbidden Planet NYC, Heroes World and from Westfield Comics.

[Weiser_Cain]

Wait, you can sell unfinished, out of context work? I'm swimming in gold here!

[MattBrady]

Originally Posted by Weiser_Cain

Wait, you can sell unfinished, out of context work?

Well, Stuart Immonen can.

MattB

[Weiser_Cain]

Who knows, I never thought to try.

[Sam Little]

I'll pick this up. I really enjoy these sketchbook kind of things from artists I like, and I have enormous respect for Immonen.

[Tom Daylight]

Stuart Immonen is brilliant. I love what he's doing on Ultimate Spider-Man now. It surprises me not one bit that he puts the same amount of attention into every single panel. I'm hoping for a long run.

[eltopo]

huge fan of Immonen,I'll be looking to pick this up

[choclitthunder]

Originally Posted by Weiser_Cain

Wait, you can sell unfinished, out of context work? I'm swimming in gold here!

That was funny.

[edcurb]

Great cover! Wonderful choice of color thru-out.

[Chris Pitzer]

I loved Stuart's 50 REASONS TO STOP SKETCHING book. I'm sure this will be just as fab. I also love Stuart's bird photography. It's fantastic!

[razorwing77]

Stuart is not only a great penciller, but he's a great graphic designer as well. I love looking at stuff like this.

[ejulp]

Being a graphic designer myself, I draw more relation to his work than most comic artists...and have been enjoying the development-adaptations of his style to comics since his run on Thor with Jurgens a few years back. Nextwave was most likely my favorite version of his style (simpler more expressive) but am really digging his current run on Ult. Spider-Man (a book I haven't picked up since 2002).

I wish in his Marvel work, he'd push parts of his pencils towards some of his "Shag-esque" illustrations I've seen on his site,; Spider-Man being a 60s creation, I think some of that influence seeping into that title would truly make for unique work, and sort of make sense. Time and "company-wise," not sure if that style would be doable.

[Jared465]

Originally Posted by ejulp

Being a graphic designer myself, I draw more relation to his work than most comic artists...and have been enjoying the development-adaptations of his style to comics since his run on Thor with Jurgens a few years back. Nextwave was most likely my favorite version of his style (simpler more expressive) but am really digging his current run on Ult. Spider-Man (a book I haven't picked up since 2002).

I wish in his Marvel work, he'd push parts of his pencils towards some of his "Shag-esque" illustrations I've seen on his site,; Spider-Man being a 60s creation, I think some of that influence seeping into that title would truly make for unique work, and sort of make sense. Time and "company-wise," not sure if that style would be doable.

Yeah i agree with you. I find his personal stuff to be much stronger and more interesting....but you're right that it might not fit a mainstream marvel book. But ironically, that would probably give me reason to pick it up - if it felt a bit different. Thats why i gave Iron Fist a chance........

[kalorama]

I love Immonen's work, esp. the diversity of styles he uses. I'll definitely be picking this up.

[Parker]

I'll pick up extras as gifts, I know many of my studio mates will be wanting this too. It looks terrific.

[Jimmy Palmiotti]

Amanda Conner and I have been fans of stuarts work for quite some time. we will be first on line to pick this up. looks amazing.

JIMMY PALMIOTTI

[matchesmalone]

Looks great ... Mr. Immonen has a great design sense and the ability to draw in numerous styles. His Superman writing was pretty idiosyncratic for such a mainstream property.


I hope he'll make enough $$$ doing Ultimate Spider-man to return to NextWave some day : )

[Casey Jones]

Really looking forward to this!

[Eobard T]

This looks lovely. Can't wait to pick one up!

[NatePetrelli]

SI: Yes! In addition to being able to buy directly from our site, by mid-April, you'll be able to find Centifolia at: The Beguiling, Big B Comics, Comix Experience, Comix Revolution, The Dragon, Fanfare Sports and Entertainment, Heroes Aren't Hard To Find, Jim Hanley's Universe, Paradise Comics, Rocketship, The Silver Snail, Strange Adventures, Forbidden Planet NYC, Heroes World and from Westfield Comics.

Woot!!!!!!!

[Vito Delsante]

And you can pick it up TODAY at Jim Hanley's Universe!

[Vito Delsante]

And you can pick it up TODAY at Jim Hanley's Universe!

[JoshAdams]

I think we're at a time where comic artists putting out art books is becoming more and more accepted, and with books like Intersections, BLVD and PulpHope who is really surprised? I can't wait to see Stuart Immonen's book. I've already got my copy from Jim Hanley's Universe and it is amazing.

[Dakion]

I was introduced to and fell in love with Stuart's work on the latter half of Legion of Super-Heroes V4 run. I've followed him pretty much since then. His work on Shock Rockets was very under-rated.

My favorite con sketch was one he did for me of Rokk Krinn (Cosmic Boy as an adult). It had been some time since his Legion work and he had a hard time remembering how to draw Rokk. He felt he didn't get it quite right (looked good to me), so he has Rokk saying "I am Rokk Krinn" in a word balloon to explain himslef to future viewers.. made me laugh.

So, yes, I'll have to pick up this little glimpse of genius. Thanks for sharing, Stuart!

[Mrfixit1]

I saw Mr Palmiotti's response and instantly thought "OHHHH, Immonen drawing Jonah Hex!"

Has this happened? Could it happen? Please?

Well anyway, thank you Mr. Immonen for your contributions to my bookshelf. I own the full set of individual Nextwave issues, your Ultimate Spider-man issues individually and in trade, your Ultimate Fantastic Four work and your Ultimate X-men work. I will continue to search for your work in comics and preach praise of you to the masses.

Also does anyone know what Superman issues he drew and if they are available in trade?

Sorry for the fanboyishness.