PHILIP TAN ON FINAL CRISIS: REVELATION

[MattBrady]

by Vaneta Rogers

As Newsarama readers have now found out, Philip Tan's first project at DC is a doozy.

Tapped by the publisher to pencil one of the two main tie-in stories to Final Crisis, Tan will be drawing Final Crisis: Revelation, a five-issue mini-series by Greg Rucka that starts in August. This puts the artist next to J.G. Jones, the Final Crisis penciler, and George Perez, the legendary artist who is drawing Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds -- a list of peers that comic fans will tell you ain't too shabby.

Yet the buzz among those who have seen his initial pages is that Tan's work on Revelation (as well as his pages that will appear in DC Universe #0) is meeting the challenge of such a high-profile book. The dark, moody style he established while most recently working for Image Comics is now being put to use in Revelation, which focuses mainly on the Spectre, the DCU's embodied spirit of vengeance.

Comic readers know Tan best for his recent work on Spawn and Spawn: Godslayer, where his renditions of eerily flowing and life-filled capes seem an ideal training ground for drawing the Spectre. But the artist started his career with Wildstorm on books like Taleweaver and Everquest, then worked with Marvel for awhile on Uncanny X-Men and Iron Man. After penciling Mutant Earth for Stan Winston at Image, he spent the last three years on the publisher's Spawn titles, and that's when his work caught the eye of DC's Dan Didio, leading to a DC exclusive contract for the artist.

We called up Tan and talked to him as he sat in a coffee shop drawing, working off Rucka's script for Revelation, to find out more about his approach to the miniseries and what he thinks of the work he's doing for DC so far.

Newsarama: How did you find out that you were getting this series and what was your reaction?

Philip Tan: I first got in touch with Dan Didio about maybe doing some work with DC Comics. And for quite some time, Dan was looking for a project for me at DC. This was during the time I was finishing my last two issues of Spawn: Godslayer. After awhile, I hadn't heard from Dan, and I was actually kind of depressed that nothing was happening. So a good friend of mine, Dustin Nguyen, who is the artist on Detective Comics, got me hooked up with Adam Schlagman, who is Eddie Berganza's assistant editor. And Adam followed up on the situation with Dan and found out that Dan had been looking for the right project for me and really wanted to make sure that I would be working on something with which I'm comfortable and something that would be fun for me. So Dan, Eddie and Adam had samples of my work where I had drawn a lot of capes and cowls and darker superheroes, and they thought this big event book might fit perfectly for me.

Eddie called me up and asked if I was interested in working on this huge Final Crisis tie-in book about The Spectre. And I was thinking to myself that it might be a good project. And then he said I'd be working with Greg Rucka, and I was like, "Holy cow! Of course I'd love to!" I'm a huge fan of Greg. And that's how it started. As soon as I found out it was Greg writing it, I was like, "Yeah! Yeah! I'm in!" Greg being involved literally got me to say yes on the spot.

NRAMA: Since DC was obviously looking for the right project for you, why do you think they believe this is the one?

PT: Well, the samples I sent depicted a lot of darker moods, with superheroes wearing cloaks and cowls. And that fit the theme of this book. And at the same time, they also thought those were my strengths. That's also why I sent those samples. I'm really strong at drawing superheroes with capes and darker settings for characters.

NRAMA: You're saying this comic has a "darker" mood. Can you tell us more about what mood you're hoping to achieve and why?

PT: Not only is this a big tie-in for Final Crisis, but it's also a series where we're hoping to bring Spectre from handling of smaller street-level crimes into a wider scope where you're dealing with powers beyond the capabilities of small-time heroes.

NRAMA: So you're trying to emphasize the scope of the Spectre's powers?

PT: That's part of it, yes. We want to show that he's a huge cosmic powerhouse in the DC Universe. He's not just a superhero that's going to save the guy next door or the kids being abused down the street. Spectre should be used to his full potential. So to be able to bring Spectre from the small scope to a much grander scene, we want to make sure we have a smooth transition not only in the visual storytelling, but in the mood, design and look of the book. So the mood goes from a darker, closer and more moody atmosphere into a much grander scale.

NRAMA: Has the series been a challenge for you after being away from superheroes for awhile, Phil?

PT: Well, I haven't been drawing superheroes for a long time. I've been drawing fantasy, sword and sorcery stuff on Spawn: Godslayer, and I kind of want to prove to myself and the audience out there that I can also handle a superhero book. This book gives me the opportunity to do both. Also, an example of a moodier, darker superhero book would be, say, Batman or Daredevil -- that kind of stuff -- and the more action-packed, grand superhero books would be JLA or Teen Titans. So this book actually, through the series, will have both of those kinds of things. It will allow me to draw both. It definitely plays a lot to my strengths as a visual storyteller, but it also challenges me in ways that I think I can show more of what I can do, and haven't had a chance to explore before.

NRAMA: When you're drawing the Spectre, are there any influences that you have in your mind?

PT: I'm a huge Batman fan, and a lot of my approach and visual influences came from all the cool stuff I've seen and enjoyed on Batman comics from before. Also, I do a lot of research on the characters I draw. I've looked at a lot of depictions of Spectre by different artists that I admire, such as when Alex Ross did Spectre in Kingdom Come, and the Tom Mandrake version of Spectre, which are some of the coolest visuals the character’s being handled that I've seen. So those are things I've factored into my take on the Spectre, and obviously I would use my own style and put my spin on it.

Plus, there are a lot of the characters in here that are going to be portrayed very differently. They have never been portrayed like that. It's definitely one of those things where I think it challenged my art to the next level.

NRAMA: "Portrayed differently." Does that mean you're getting to redesign some characters?

PT: I wouldn't say redesign. But saying anything more than that would really be spoiling it.

NRAMA: So they're just being portrayed in a different way.

PT: Very different way. And I don't know if they're ever going to be portrayed ever again like that.

NRAMA: Now with the Spectre involved, are a lot of the characters you're drawing from the supernatural realm of the DCU?

PT: Not particularly. But I can tell you there are appearances by a lot of the DC supervillains -- not just supernatural villains in particular.

NRAMA: Can you tell us any of those?

PT: No, I don't want to say too much about which characters. But I can tell you that we have almost 10 supervillains in the first issue alone. And it might be even more than that.

NRAMA: And that explains the "darker" feeling you were talking about earlier.

PT: Exactly. Exactly. Like I said, Batman is one of my favorite characters, and a lot of the approach that I would do if I were drawing him, I can use on drawing the Spectre, which has the same type of feel to it.

NRAMA: You said the main reason you said yes "on the spot" was because Greg is involved. But now that you're into drawing the series, are you still excited about what you get to do in this story? Is the story Greg is delivering the type of project you expected?

PT: Oh yeah. "Excitement" is an understatement right now. I'm very, very excited and thrilled to be working with Greg on this kind of book. Working on this script and seeing what he's doing with the story has just been a thrill. It's more than I expected. It's better and bigger than what I even imagined.

NRAMA: Have you talked to Greg a lot during the process?

PT: Greg and I have talked. Most of the communication is through email. We've been maintaining constant email exchange almost every day. We talk about the visual direction and the way I'm delivering my storytelling. We talk about little things on style and design and my art. Pretty much every day, I'm sending him the layouts and finished pages to see what he is thinking or wanting, and how both of us are going to be comfortable and enjoy the storytelling.

NRAMA: How far into drawing the series are you?

PT: I'm almost halfway through the first issue. Just from this part of the story alone, I can't wait for people to see it. It's definitely one of my strongest works in ages. In fact, it's my strongest work to date.

NRAMA: You feel like this series is the best work you've ever done?

PT: So far. And obviously, hopefully, I'm going to see better stuff coming from myself.

NRAMA: And you haven't done any work for DC before, right?

PT: No, I haven't!

NRAMA: So this is your first chance to really play in the DC Universe.

PT: Oh, yeah. And it's also one of those things, when I first approached Dan, that was up front in my mind. I've never gotten the chance to play with any DC characters. That's something I would really, really love to do. And like I said, I never imagined it would be something this exciting. I'm getting to work with Greg, and I'm getting to do this huge story with all these characters. It's just so exciting, and I can't wait for everyone to see it.

[spidey 85]

man this is going to be huge

[nietoperz]

This is the book I'm most looking forward to, and I say that as a HUGE LSH fan...

[VinnyPic]

That POS Doctor Light is gonna get it.
It's gonna be awesome.
That page is sick. You can see the hammer of god about to fall.
God, the Spectre rocks.

[Zenstrive]

MAN! That art is awesome,


and hard to color :P

[Nukeboy]

Originally Posted by VinnyPic

That POS Doctor Light is gonna get it.
It's gonna be awesome.
That page is sick. You can see the hammer of god about to fall.
God, the Spectre rocks.

Wonder what the ironic punishment is for a rapist?

[StrongSaveen]

It looks like all the speculation in the Greg Rucka interview about Dr. Light is going to happen.

[ClaudioPozas]

Originally Posted by VinnyPic

That POS Doctor Light is gonna get it.
It's gonna be awesome.
That page is sick. You can see the hammer of god about to fall.
God, the Spectre rocks.

Oh yeah!

Time to put out the Light!

Go get 'em, Crispy... er... Crispus!

[SpaceButler]

After Final Crisis itself this is the mini I am most looking forward to.

[HieuLeBui]

Great to see a great artist finally getting his due. Love the samples so far.

[Parademon]

I wonder if Dr. Light will surive, but be punished in some other way due to the referenced of 'changing' villains. Maybe castrated...

[darthlord]

Phillip Tan's art is awesome. I hope he will pencil a Batman title in the near future, but Dr. Light looks like he has been taking Venom serum. I'm not a big Spectre fan, but I can't resist will Rucka and now Tan on the title.

[Kid Vorpal]

Is it just me, or is one of those women he's firing at dressed in a Donna Troy outfit?

[Parademon]

I almost wish Revelation was coming out in B&W as that sample above with Dr. Light is amazingly characterful.

[IvCNuB4]

Originally Posted by Kid Vorpal

Is it just me, or is one of those women he's firing at dressed in a Donna Troy outfit?

Ahh. You're right. The other woman has a cape. Hard to tell what's going on in those panels. Hope it's clearer once colored .....

[mpdfuzz]

So, almost 10 supervillians featured...

10 New Gods come to stomp all over the world...

Connection anyone??

[hhbx]

Originally Posted by Kid Vorpal

Is it just me, or is one of those women he's firing at dressed in a Donna Troy outfit?

Yeah, I saw that too and I was almost guessing the girl with the cape is Supergirl

[albatross]

that's some handsome art. story sounds amazing too. i am SO ready for FC, L3W, and this to be summer EXCELLENCE.

[JLAJRC]

If it looks like the pages above, this would probably be the first time I would ever choose a B&W comic over a colored version if it was offered.

[Sevedris]

Originally Posted by Nukeboy

Wonder what the ironic punishment is for a rapist?

Hm... good question. Maybe being turned into a male sex toy.

Of course, does anyone really believe The Spectre is going to punish a supervillain? He never touches the mass murderers of the DCU. If he did there wouldn't be any left.

Speaking of which, does anyone know if The Spectre judges aliens in the wider universe, or does he only hang around Earth?

[ME5]

Hello.

I was so hoping to not get sucked into a bunch of tie-ins, but how the heck do you avoid them with art like that?!?! My wallet is crying...

Damn DC, crushing my finances!

Be Well...

[SMARTASS8]

I love the art and I love the Spectre, but I just wish they'd stop giving the Spectre masks or facial hair.

[ubuking]

Nowadays, someone can really say that an event is as strong as its tie-ins. So far Revelations and Legion of 3 Worlds are looking and sounding GREAT and I see at last some effort being put in for a meaningful story. I love being lured into tie-ins by the quality of the story other than the quantity of the tie-ins, and this is just the case.
By the way: I got the impression from this and Rucka's interview that the Rogues' Revenge is not considered a tie-in anymore.

[X-punged]

Originally Posted by Nukeboy

Wonder what the ironic punishment is for a rapist?

Every woman wants to have sex with him, but he's impotent.

[thedanofsteel]

This is going to be amazing - the Spectre is an amazing concept and this exploration of the latest hosts perspective just looks fantastic!