CRACKING THE WHIP: Artist Steve Scott on Indiana Jones and The Tomb of the Gods

[MichaelDoran]

by Chris Arrant

Last week we caught up with Rob Williams, writer of the upcoming Indiana Jones & the Tomb of the Gods. And there's one thing that readers wanted – art.

Newsarama listens, and went straight to the source: Tomb of the Gods artist Steve Scott. Fresh back from a vacation with his family – we think he went to Egypt and claimed it as a business expense for this book - Scott was enthused when the opportunity came up to wax about this upcoming series.

Do we need to explain it anymore? Indiana Jones. New movie. New comic. We have the art. And the artist.

Newsarama: Thanks for talking with us, Steve. Indiana Jones and the Tomb of Gods, an all-new Indiana Jones story. That's big unto itself, and doing the comic – that had to make a lot of Indiana Jones' fans jealous. What's it like being able to work on this?

Steve Scott: Indiana Jones has been a favorite of mine since childhood. I would have never believed that I would one day be working on the franchise and better yet, that it would be such an incredible story. This is really going to feel like an Indiana adventure should.

NRAMA: One thing that some people harp upon, rightfully so, in comics based on live-action characters is the character likenesses. How'd you go about getting Harrison Ford's look down?

SS: I also love to see likenesses of the characters. It takes a bit longer at the board each day to try to nail the look and feel of the actors but, for me, it's worth it in the end on something like this.

Fortunately, for me, I have been doing several movie and TV-related projects this past year for Warner Brothers and ABC Family. These have required me to get approval on actors' likenesses before landing the gig and as a freelancer with children, I have to land the gig.

Al Williamson has always been one of my favorite artists. I can remember years ago seeing these crazy pictures of him in all these costumes and poses. I believe they were published in his "art of" book. Anyway, I now do similar things as that. My wife and kids often laugh as they see me pose or make faces in the mirror with my desk lamp shinning on my face (I love casting black shadows).

As for Drawing Harrison Ford, It's not really as difficult as it may seem. I first went through and dissected the first two movies almost frame by frame. I plucked as many still shots as I could of the actor so that I could nail not only his facial likeness but also how he stood and even walked. We all have our particular characteristics about us and Ford is no exception. Marcus is in this story as well so that actor had to be studied as too.

NRAMA: Sounds like an artistic version of a psych evaluation.

"The Tomb of the Gods" – it sounds right up Dr. Jones' alley. What's he after?

SS: He is after the Tomb of the Gods, silly.

NRAMA: … I walked right into that. Can you give us a bit more, Steve?

SS: I really do not want to spoil it for anyone. When you pick up issue one you are going to be hooked into the mystery of it all. In the end, you will be amazed.

NRAMA: Okay, okay ... you run a tight ship. Can you tell us about working with writer Rob Williams then?

SS: As I mentioned before, Rob has captured the feel of the characters and the time period as no one has before. We are going to be dropping you right into 1936 and we are going to be bringing you along on what I feel is one of the best Indy adventures ever.

That being said, it's now in my hands to recapture that feel visually and produce the most appropriate way to present it. Hopefully all will be happy. I know that I am really excited to be given the task.



NRAMA: The Indiana Jones movies are known for his dynamic action scenes, and based on Dark Horse' track record – the comics will be no different. What goes on in planning out an action scene to make it believable and exciting?

NRAMA: A lot of research. This is really like being the director, stunt man, set designer, ...etc… etc… of a film staring Harrison Ford. The only difference is that it is going to be presented in a sequential format. My days are long and involved but it's all worth it in the end. I love this stuff.

This is an amazing story about one of pop cultures most exciting adventure heroes. It will be read for many years to come and I only have one chance to get it right.

NRAMA: Indiana's main tool besides his mind is his trusty whip. Come on, level with us…. Did you buy a whip and practice, just to get the character down?

SS: Practice in the back yard every morning. [laughs]

[Blackbeard]

Wow--that is some gorgeous linework! I'm really looking forward to this.

[Equinox]

Holy mackeral! Indy looks like Indy? Brody tagging along for the ride?

Beautiful artwork plus intriguing plot equals one of the few Indiana Jones tie-ins that I'll be picking up.

[DaVeO]

Man, does this ever look good. Definitly a trade worthy addition to my library. Now, c'mon. Give us what everybody wants. Indiana Jones/Hellboy team-up.

[Hulksmash100]

A Hellboy/ Indy crossover would be really cool. FUnny how initially that sounds like it might not work, but in actuality that would be freaking great to see! Both explorers of a kind, both adventurers, both with casts of characters in tow, meet up on an epic adventure in the middle of nowhere searching for long lost treasure. Cool Stuff. Make it happen DH!

[jedifish]

Very good job on the likenesses. I'll have to check this out.

[wordballoon]

Steve is a great artist, and I can't wait to see the finished product!

[Bullrunner]

This looks great! I put it on my pull list as soon as issue #1 was solicited. Indy alone was enough to hook me, but putting a Grumman Duck on the cover? Pure awesome! Practically everything in those pencilled pages is a callback to the original movies. Can't wait for this!

[Not From Around]

Not a big Indiana Jones fan myself, but that is some fine-looking art. I hope for his sake the Tomb of the Gods he's looking for involves regular pagan gods and not something out of H.P. Lovecraft.

[J O R Z A C]

Man, I'd be so damn jealous if he wasn't such a really nice guy. Met Mr Scott in N.Y. several years ago, an knew from looking at his stuff he was destined for gigs like this.
Congrats Steve, and boy, beautiful pages!!

[Starbird]

Nice pencils!

[grendel25]

Never really heard of Steve Scott until now, but those pencils are amazing. Great stuff. I've already got this on my pull list.

[kryptofan1]

Steve is a great artist and one of the nicest people I have ever met. (I actually met him because he listed Rex the Wonder Dog and Detective Chimp among characters he had drawn in a convention biography .) I loved his work on Shadowpact and Mystic Arcana: Magik

His current run on Marvel Adventures Hulk (featuring Doc Samson and a monkey, among others) is excellent. I think that Indy may be his best work yet.

[pjlara]

Have the announced the inker or will he be inking his own pencils? If he's getting inked by someone else, I hope they get someone good. A lot of the times, an excellent pencil job like this is ruined by a sub-par inker when the publisher is looking to cut costs...

[sidebardude]

Originally Posted by Blackbeard

Wow--that is some gorgeous linework! I'm really looking forward to this.

Steve's awesome! Check out this podcast interview he did recently:
http://www.sidebarnation.com/my_webl...scott---a.html

[brianwhitley]

Yep, Steve is tru;y an amazing artists and we are lucky to know and work with him. We represent Steve for all of his original art sales. For a listing of what Steve is cuyrrently offering go to http://www.acosmicodyssey.com. We also work with Craig Hamilton, Ray Snyder, Kevin Stokes, and Ben Towle! Look for our booth at the upcoming Heroes Convention in Charlotte!

Regards,
Brian Whitley
A Cosmic Odyssey
Join us on a journey with Southern Comic Creators!