CATCHING UP WITH MICHAEL GOLDEN

[MattBrady]

by Daniel Robert Epstein

It’s bound to be a great year with Michael Golden now seriously back in the comic fold. Golden is best known as the co-creator of the X-Men character Rogue, turning a weird toy line known as the Micronauts into a major bestselling comic book and a lengthy run on Marvel Vietnam war comic The 'Nam. But Golden is certainly in the zeitgeist again. He is penciling numerous covers for the Big Two and even had his first gallery show open in November at the M-Gallery in Manhattan. But Golden is often reticent to talk to the press and that’s why it was best to interview him with his manager Renee Witterstaetter of Eva Ink Publishing.

Newsarama: How are you two doing today?

Renee Witterstaetter: Great, Daniel.

Michael Golden: Not too bad so far, but the day is young.

NRAMA: [laughs] Are you working on something today?

MG: I work everyday [laughs].

RW: He’s working on a Battlestar Galactica cover today for Nick Barrucci at Dynamic Forces.

NRAMA: Cool. Any interiors this week?

MG: No. But we have some coming up. The Spartan X series, as well as another creator owned project, and we are also talking with a few of the companies about doing interior work.

NRAMA: How was the opening at M-Gallery?

MG: It was packed, it was good, really. It was a busy, busy little night. Spectacular, fantastic, stupendous. I can’t think of enough adjectives. The crowd was out in the street, from what I could see.

NRAMA: Was it ego boostingly awesome?

MG: That too, yeah. [laughs] Hadn’t thought of that one but that’s a good superlative to use as well.

NRAMA: What were you expecting?

MG: Personally I had no expectations. I was just flattered that somebody was going to do a show. [laughs] I was just going to make an appearance. Renee and the gallery store owner, Bo Offenbaker, put the whole thing together. The showing itself was pretty amazing. I saw a lot of old friends in the industry that I had not seen in some time. Plus, a ton of folks that I didn’t know who the hell they were, but thanks to them for coming.

NRAMA: Was it mostly people who had grown up with your work?

MG: As far as I could tell it was across the board. There were a lot of people there that weren’t connected to comic books at all. There were a full range of comic book fans from young to old, from people who knew my work to those who didn’t and then a lot of people who, I had the impression, weren’t at all connected to the comic book industry.

RW: True. It was a good cross-section of people. There were people there that I think had grown up with Michael’s work but there were also a large percentage of people there that have only been in comics probably for the last five years or so. According to the gallery owner, the comic book pieces were so bold that he had tons of people coming in because they saw the artwork in the gallery window. It was a good group of artists, editors, publishers, media and art collectors.

MG: No wonder you wouldn’t let me look at a clock [laughs].

NRAMA: Mike, I read that you sold a number of pieces.

MG: That’s my understanding. [laughs] She handles the accounting.

RW: We sold quite a number of pieces. I think everyone was pleased including the buyers.

MG: The gallery owner extended the show because of the opening night turn out. That was nice to hear.

NRAMA: I went there about a week after the opening and I didn’t see any Micronauts artwork or any art from Avengers Annual #10.

MG: None of that was there. I don’t have any of those originals.

RW: The originals that were sold were taken off the walls and replaced with other pages and art to keep the gallery full. But no Micronauts. That’s long gone, sadly.

NRAMA: You don’t have any art from Avengers Annual #10 either?

MG: No, I’m sure I got rid of that stuff a long time ago, too. We did have art from Punisher, Fantastic Four and a good group of other DC and Marvel characters.

NRAMA: How was the Big Apple Con?

MG: It was a great convention. I enjoyed myself.

RW: He’s not a big convention goer. He’s just now getting back into going to conventions because we are twisting his arm. [laughs] But the Big Apple folks treated us really well. Allan [Rosenberg] and Mike [Carbonaro] are great guys so we loved doing that show.

MG: What she said.

NRAMA: [laughs] Do you want to start getting more active, doing more interiors and start doing more conventions?

MG: I want to do more story work. The conventions are important to that. It’s all part of the industry now. I find that it is a good networking tool and fans are really eager to meet me for some reason [laughs].

RW: The convention going is beginning to grow on him, I think. We have a lot planned now, including several visits to Europe. He has a big following over there.

MG: So I hear. [laughs] I’ll have to make sure my passport is current.

NRAMA: Did you see the X-Men movies?

MG: I’ve seen the first one. I hide out in my studio and work most of the time. When I catch something it’s usually on DVD.

NRAMA: What did you think of how Rogue looked?

MG: I’m assuming that you’re asking this question in the context of her original appearance in Avengers Annual #10 and my answer to that is that it was irrelevant. She’s evolved over time and is a character with many levels, that part hasn’t changed. She was always a multi-layered character.

RW: Yes but I’ve heard you say before that it is interesting to see how the character has evolved over time.

MG: I said that?

RW: Duh. He’s taunting me now [laughs].

NRAMA: Was there much description of Rogue in the script that Chris Claremont gave you?

MG: It was a pretty involved process. At the time when I was working with Chris, I didn’t need much in the way of description and I think he knew that. He knew I’d run with the ball. I think all I had was a sketch that had been done by somebody else. It didn’t matter, because I changed the look altogether.

RW: You designed the costume and the look of the character.

MG: Yeah. I had an idea of what I wanted her to look like. Chris and the powers that be seemed to like the ideas. It was a collaborative effort.

NRAMA: In Uncanny X-Men Annual #7, the Impossible Man is destroying the actual Marvel offices and everyone is going nuts there except for you and Larry Hama. The two of you were just sitting there while all the insanity was going on. I always wanted to know why you and Larry were the ones who kept calm.

MG: I don’t know what you’re referring to. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that.

NRAMA: I asked Larry the same thing a few years ago and he didn’t remember it that well either.

RW: [laughs] Someone must have remembered them that way for them to be portrayed that way. I’d like to see that. Golden is calm unless he’s really riled about something. I could see him and Larry sitting there though and observing and perhaps laughing at the chaos.

NRAMA: Michael, do you still speak with Larry?

MG: Sure, I talk to Larry quite often.

NRAMA: Have you heard about the Bucky O’Hare movie?

MG: Sure, just heard about that recently. About time. I haven’t talked to Neal [Adams] much about it yet, but I’m sure he’s really pleased.

RW: Yeah it’s been optioned for a movie via Continuity. Vanguard Productions is actually putting out a Manga sized Bucky O’Hare trade paperback and my company Eva Ink is doing the signed artist volume. A limited number of them will also be available with a sketch.

NRAMA: Michael since some of your most famous work was not superheroes, were you ever interested in superheroes or were you just good at really drawing them?

MG: Well, that’s a loaded question. I don’t have any particular dislike for superheroes as far as the genre is concerned. Pardon my ego, I’m just very good at drawing them [laughs].

RW: And of course, modest too [laughs].

NRAMA: How did you get into comics?

MG: I did commercial work for a long time. Then in the late ‘70s I did a job for a guy who off the cuff said, “Well your work is inclined to be comic bookish.” He was a friend of a friend of a friend who knew somebody who knew somebody who was working in comic books. I don’t remember what company he was working for. So I sent up samples and a week later that person contacted me and said, “Well you need to come up and show your stuff around. People are really interested.” Then I had another friend of a friend of a friend who offered to pay for a plane ticket. I flew in got work at DC then turned around the next day and got work at Marvel.

RW: I think it was like 25 dollars a page or something back then?

MG: No it was less than that [laughs].

NRAMA: Do you remember the first Marvel and DC work you did?

MG: I’m pretty sure that the majority of the beginning work was done in the anthology books for both Marvel and DC. Within a couple of weeks of me starting, they gave me that Batman job.

NRAMA: I think what people found most striking about your artwork when you began is that you didn’t seem too influenced by [Jack] Kirby and [Steve] Ditko which was relatively rare at that time…

MG: I didn’t have any influences. I was not a comic reader until I got into the business. But I was a storyteller. I’ll have to concede that I was aware of these guys’ work but I wouldn’t count them in any shape or form as influences. That is until I went to work full time over at Marvel. The Marvel house style was the Kirby style and they made active efforts to steer most of the artists that worked for them into that art style. So in that context it became an influence.

NRAMA: It sounds like you learned how to do comics by actually doing comics and working with writers and editors and things like that.

MG: Right. That’s true.

NRAMA: Was it common at the time for people to come out of commercial illustration into comics?

MG: No, I think Jim Sherman and I were the only ones who did it [laughs].

NRAMA: Are you writing anything now?

MG: There is Spartan X and we’re are completing the final story to that one even as we speak and there are several other projects that I hope to be self publishing, all of which I’m doing from the ground up as mentioned before. I’ll be writing those as well.

RW: It’s a singular vision when he gets to do everything himself. It will be exciting.

NRAMA: A lot of people from your generation are having trouble breaking back into comics, have you encountered any trouble like that?

RW: I don’t think Michael was ever out.

MG: Yeah, I was going to give some snide remark about explaining the context of your question because there’s been no difficulty breaking back in because I don’t think I was ever really out or conversely, I wasn’t in enough to where it was relevant whether I was coming or going. [laughs] I always have done my own thing no matter if it is comics or otherwise.

NRAMA: I wanted the snide answer.

MG: [laughs] Give me a second and I’ll come up with something.

RW: The interesting thing was that Michael was off doing design work and some other illustration work but he was always doing comic work as well. I’ll give an example. I’ve known Michael for ages, but I only started repping him a few months ago. I had called DC to get cover work for other artists in the past but DC would never give me assignments for those folks. But when I started working with Michael I called up DC and they said, “Oh, Michael wants to do covers? Great. How soon?” He got an assignment to do Batman covers the same day. So it's not hard to get work for Mr. Golden.

MG: But I do understand that some guys have had that problem that you mentioned, Daniel, and unfortunately I don’t have any insight into that since I haven’t really had to go through it.

NRAMA: Do you still do commercial illustration?

MG: Yeah, but not recently. We’re focusing on the comic book stuff right now.

RW: He does have some projects but we have non-disclosure agreements on them so we can’t talk about them right now. I will when I can.

NRAMA: What’s the next thing you’re working on?

MG: At the moment, we’re focused on finishing DC, Marvel and Battlestar Galactica covers. So I’m doing mostly cover work at the moment but there’s some story work coming up. I’m going to be doing a Spirit story and some Nightwing covers. I just finished four Iron Man covers for a miniseries. We’re talking to one of the companies about drawing interiors for a miniseries with one of their top writers.

RW: We also just signed a contract with Vanguard Productions for a hardcover art book entitled Excess: The Art of Michael Golden—Comic’s Inimitable Storyteller (and how he does it). That will be written by myself and edited by David Spurlock. With lots of input from Michael of course.

MG: I love the title “Excess.” We’ll explain why it applies to me [laughs].

RW: Yeah, but I wanted to use the word Raconteur instead of Storyteller. It has that alliteration with “rakish” [laughs].

MG: Yeah, yeah. That’s me stylish and dashing.

RW: Stylized for sure. The Golden style is hard to copy.

MG: [laughs] Good thing for me.

RW: We also have a sketchbook coming out from Image this year entitled Michael Golden—Heroes and Villains. That’s a softcover book much like the Barbarian art books that I’ve published via Image and Eva Ink over the last few years. We’ll follow this up sometime in the future with another sketchbook entitled Femme Fatale—the Girl Art of Michael Golden. I want to say the “Kickass Girl art of Michael Golden,” but I don’t know if I can get away with that.

For information on the works of Michael Golden, contact: evaink@aol.com and request to be put on the newsletter list.

[Pack]

Any indication that we'll be seeing more art from Golden is, dare I say, "golden" news. (I'm sorry. Really, really sorry.)
Golden is such an original talent. I doubt we'll ever see him doing a regular series but I would really like to see him do his "New Frontier" or "Marvels," a signature series that really shows off his work and can be printed at a really good size and on good paper.

[Drew Melbourne]

Michael Golden is a brilliant artist. I'm glad to hear that he's got some interiors in the works.

[7thunders]

I loved Goldens art. The Micronauts is a given. I loved the issue with ManThing. His ManThing made me a fan of the old moss monster. I really liked his Marvel Team Up he did with Spider-Man and Ghost Rider. That was the first time I realized that Ghost Rider was a full skeleton and not a Blazing Skull on a mans body.

[delawarejoel]

I still say that Micronauts 1-12 is still one of the most outstanding comic book story arcs in history. Golden's art is truly remarkable and if there was ever a storyline that deserved a high-end, color "Masterworks"-style republication its that one. I'm sure there are copyright issues, or licensing, whatever. The Micronauts book throughout Bill Mantlo's long run was an amazing set of stories, but the only time it ever got close to having the same level of art as Michael Golden's was perhaps when Pat Broderick took over. I remember my friends and I looking for anything with Golden art after that and when I got back into comics a few years ago one of the first things I did was re-acquire Micronauts 1-12. If you havent read it, you are in for a rare treat.

[nweathington]

Michael is a great talent, and it's good to see him putting more of his energy into comics again. Everyone might also want to keep a look-out for Modern Masters Vol. 12: Michael Golden, due out in June, and the Modern Masters in the Studio with Michael Golden DVD, due out in July — both from TwoMorrows.

[stvnhthr]

This is great news! It sounds like Michael has had a change of heart on many things from coming back to comics, to allowing himself to be photographed, to displaying his originals instead of destroying them, etc: this is all great news for us fans.

I can't wait for the conclusion of Spartan X. I collected it in both color and black and white and both times was disappointed to see it go unresolved. Maybe Marvel could do an oversized reprint of some of Michael's best work like Avengers annual 10 and Dr. Strange #55, plus wrap it all in that fabulous Marvel Mayhem poster he drew with every character of the Marvel Universe.

[stvnhthr]

Originally Posted by nweathington

Michael is a great talent, and it's good to see him putting more of his energy into comics again. Everyone might also want to keep a look-out for Modern Masters Vol. 12: Michael Golden, due out in June, and the Modern Masters in the Studio with Michael Golden DVD, due out in July — both from TwoMorrows.

Eric you da man.

[artiepants]

Michael Golden's old airbrushed GIJoe covers stand out as some of my absolute favortite pieces of comics art: each one looked like a poster for the best action movie you ever saw...

[Crusader K]

Originally Posted by delawarejoel

I still say that Micronauts 1-12 is still one of the most outstanding comic book story arcs in history. Golden's art is truly remarkable and if there was ever a storyline that deserved a high-end, color "Masterworks"-style republication its that one. I'm sure there are copyright issues, or licensing, whatever. The Micronauts book throughout Bill Mantlo's long run was an amazing set of stories, but the only time it ever got close to having the same level of art as Michael Golden's was perhaps when Pat Broderick took over. I remember my friends and I looking for anything with Golden art after that and when I got back into comics a few years ago one of the first things I did was re-acquire Micronauts 1-12. If you havent read it, you are in for a rare treat.

I cannot agree with you any more - Micro's 1-12 was unreal - I remember reading it at the time, I was 12 and being stunned because I was into all things "Star Wars" that year (cause it was THAT year) and it felt like I was reading a movie. I do remember being annoyed tho at the fact that Man-Thing was wedged into issue 8 but whatever.

Marvel - we need a Masterworks or oversized hardback - please give Wolverine a rest and get this out!

I agree that Golden is an awesome talent, but this interview makes me think he's a tad . . . arrogant. Did he have to have his editor there? I mean, it's like having Diddy's (Puffy, P Diddy, Puff Daddy . . whatever) entourage on hand. If I'm offbase some enlighten me please.

[Marc Hammond]

Michael Golden will be appearing at the FX Comic and Toy Show in Orlando, Fl. The dates are January 26th-28th. I am definitely looking forward to meeting him. I love his work, and he seems incredibly personable.

www.fxshow.com

[Robot H Brian]

I know Avengers Annual #10 is one of his most popular works, but it seems kind of odd to show the cover, seeing that Al Milgrom drew it (and, as solid a draftsman as Milgrom was, it's not really his best work).

The amazing thing about Golden is that he's one of the unfortunately few artists of the mid/late '70s era whose work is even better now than it was then.

I would desperately love some high-quality collections of his work, as well as some high-quality new stuff.

Here's hoping.

[Street Carp]

Wow... His art looks just as good now as it ever has.

(ian)

[nweathington]

Crusader K, trust me, Michael is a salt of the earth kind of guy. I spent several hours with him in his home and never detected a hint of arrogance. Just keep in mind that until very recently, Michael hasn't really given interviews, and unlike a lot of his contemporaries his ultimate goal in life wasn't necessarily to become a comic book artist. He really just wants to tell stories, and comics provide him a great outlet to do so, given his natural artistic ability. And Renee is not just his editor, publicist, and art rep, but a long-time friend of his.

[Gail Simone]

One of the brightest, most talented artists the industry's ever had. I had the pleasure of working with him once, on a Birds of Prey issue, and it was one of the greatest joys of my career.

I salute you, Michael!

Gail

[Redmond]

Mike's awesome, but frankly, I'd like to see him create more comics. Covers just aren't enough!!!

[kalorama]

Golden is at the top of my list of artists whose work is too seldom seen. I'll echo the sentiments about the Micronauts stuff being outstanding, and the Avenger's annuual was great. But My favorite Golden work is probably an issue of Marvel's Star Wars comic (#38) that he pencilled, inked, and colored himself. Amazing visuals. One of those books you find yourself flipping through long after you've memorized every detail of the story just to absorb the art.

[D-ski]

Avengers Annual # 10 counts easily among my top five comics to come out of the 80's.

I had read and enjoyed Micronauts and his occassional fill-ins on Dr. Strange, but this issue was so over-the-top with its layouts, composition and battle scenes that I'm still impressed to this day. Way ahead of its time.

Check out his Dr. Strange portfolio, if you can find one. Simply stunning.

[Crusader K]

Originally Posted by nweathington

Crusader K, trust me, Michael is a salt of the earth kind of guy. I spent several hours with him in his home and never detected a hint of arrogance. Just keep in mind that until very recently, Michael hasn't really given interviews, and unlike a lot of his contemporaries his ultimate goal in life wasn't necessarily to become a comic book artist. He really just wants to tell stories, and comics provide him a great outlet to do so, given his natural artistic ability. And Renee is not just his editor, publicist, and art rep, but a long-time friend of his.

Ahhh I see - thanks for the info! I've never met the man but anyone who produces the quality of work he does has to be cool, hence my confusion. I Always thought his work was exciting.

[Acroyear]

Michael Golden's art thrilled me when I was younger and it continues to impress me to this day. I'm glad to see that not only is he still producing comic art but that he's still producing great comic art.

[Vaudevillain]

I agree with kalorama--Star Wars #38 was a great book. I think it came out right after the Empire Strikes Back adaptation---drastically different style from Williamson and Infantino art that had been prominent in the series. I still feel Micronauts #12 is my all time favorite Golden work. His Defenders and Rom covers are amazing. Can't remember the issue #, but the Jack of Hearts appearance on a Rom cover was amazing. Does Michael have a website or plan to?

[Nat Gertler]

Originally Posted by Robot H Brian

I know Avengers Annual #10 is one of his most popular works, but it seems kind of odd to show the cover, seeing that Al Milgrom drew it (and, as solid a draftsman as Milgrom was, it's not really his best work).

Al was an editor, and thus was the guy who was around the office when they suddenly needed something done in far too little time.
I'm not saying that this is the case here, but it kinda looks like the cover one might put out if it had to be out the door in an hour. Yeah, not the talented Al at his best... and it certainly made the content inside a delightful surprise!

[grphxkindaguy]

Originally Posted by kalorama

Golden is at the top of my list of artists whose work is too seldom seen. I'll echo the sentiments about the Micronauts stuff being outstanding, and the Avenger's annuual was great. But My favorite Golden work is probably an issue of Marvel's Star Wars comic (#38) that he pencilled, inked, and colored himself. Amazing visuals. One of those books you find yourself flipping through long after you've memorized every detail of the story just to absorb the art.

that IMO was THE single best issue of the entire Star Wars Marvel run. Just beautiful artwork...

(similar to how GI Joe #21, the "Silent issue", was the best issue of that series...)

Michael Golden is also a fave of mine. IIRC I have most of his Marvel and DC work, he's just that damn good. Is there anywhere that has a definitive list of all MG's work?

[RedRonin]

Originally Posted by Street Carp

Wow... His art looks just as good now as it ever has.

(ian)

I think it's better now.

[jasinmartin]

Mmmmm… Golden.
He is without a doubt, my all time fave.

Breaking into comics via licensed properties of the late 70’s early 80’s, I devoured his Micronauts, marveled at every new cover of Rom, and like so many others have mentioned, placed his lone issue of Star Wars on a mental pedestal!

It’s good to hear that perhaps we’ll see more comics work from him then the occasional covers and work of recent years, and also good to see he’s making convention appearances! The man is a comic art legend.