Hello and welcome to “British Showcase.” I am always keeping my ears to the ground for news about British artists that are making a splash. One name that came up a few times was comic book artist and illustrator, Graeme Howard. After tracking him down to his fallout shelter, Graeme took some time off from slaving away on his board and agreed to be interviewed for ComicBooked.com.
- Hi Graeme, many thanks for talking to me today. Can you please tell our readers a little bit about yourself and your career in comics?
Hi Adam, well I’ve been working in comics for about 2 years now. Before that I worked as an illustrator and after that as an animator. I’ve always had a soft spot for comics though. As a kid I would read loads of them. Victor, Battle, Warlord. I used to love the war type thing. I’d get bits of note paper and spend hours making up my own. I never really read the superhero ones though as I said just the War ones and the usual Whizzer and Chips, Topper and stuff like that.
- The comic book market is not easy for anyone to break into and make a good living. What prompted you to change your chosen medium of art and dive into comics?
Well to be honest I’m not a great animator and never really enjoyed it that much, so when my contract ended on my last job I knocked up some sample pages and sent them off and luckily people seemed to like what I was doing. My partner Jasmin had faith in my ability so was willing to be the main bread winner whilst I try and make a career for myself, fingers crossed it’s starting to pay off. Now I can spend all my days doing a job I love, there’s nothing else I’d rather be doing.
- Sometimes fate gives us the push we need to do what we always wanted. What projects are you working on at the moment?
I’ve just finished “Cancertown 2” which was written by Cy Dethan and published by Markosia. It took eighteen months to finish (although I was usually working on other projects at the same time). It comes out at Thoughtbubble in November and so far all the reviews have been favourable. Apart from that I’m working on a project called Monkeyroom which is due out later this year through Outcast Media. There’s also couple of projects in the pipeline which I can’t talk about at the moment.
- I’ve been hearing great things about “Cancertown 2” through the grapevine, can’t wait to check it out. So do you have a preferred genre of comic to work on, or will you give most styles a go?
I am more than happy to turn my hand to any genre, but I think that since I seem to have a fairly gritty style most of the work offers come from the horror/ thriller type of genre. Saying that, one of the projects in the pipeline is certainly a deviation away from the darker side of things.
- Can you tell us more about that project or is it all “hush hush”?
Sorry, my lips are sealed.
- Oh well, I tried. So, what writer or project would you most like to work with? In short, what is your dream job in comics?
Dream job? That’s easy. I’d love to do Batman. I really want to put my own stamp on him. Apart from that, I’d like to work with Cy Dethan again at some point. He’s so easy to draw for and his writing just gives you enough info without being overly descriptive. Also wouldn’t mind doing some work for 2000AD.
- Many artists adopt a very digital approach to drawing with all the technology available. Do you work like this or in a more traditional style?
I am strictly a traditional man. I use computers to scan and all that stuff but I like to get my hands inky and pencilly. I have got a tablet but I’m not sure where it is these days. I find myself feeling too distant from the art doing it digitally. I like all the little splatters and splashes you get when using a dip pen or a brush.
- So maybe one day we will see a traditional art, all new vision of Batman. That would be awesome. In the mean time can you let our readers know where they can see more of your work and connect with you?
Well, you can check out my blog at http://graemehoward.blogspot.co.uk/ to connect with me.
Thanks once again Graeme and I look forward to seeing your work in the future.
