The Small Press Magazine 1- What project(s) are you currently working on? I'm currently drawing and inking issue #7 of "Shades of Blue" for Amp Comics, www.ampcomics.com. I'm also about to start an 8 page story for a three story anthology called "Slight of Hand: Three in the Fold" for Digital Webbing, www.digitalwebbing.com. 2- What was your first professional gig in the industry? Issue #3 of the above mentioned "Shades of Blue" offered to me by Jim Harris, who co-created and co-writes the book. So the world has Jim to blame for getting me my first published work. I of course have him to thank. Hey, thanks Jim! 3- How long have you been working in the comics industry? That book was first published in November of 2000, so I started drawing it a couple of months before that. 4- Who are your biggest inspirations or influences to your work? Jack Kirby, Mike Grell, John Byrne, George Perez, Neal Adams, John Buscema, Dick Dillon, Jim Aparo Those are some of the guys I was really into growing up. Every comic book artist owes something to Kirby though, we was just amazing and ground breaking. But I'm not saying anything you don't already know. I think Aparo and Dillon were really underrated. Aparo on his Brave and the Bold run was great as well as Dillon on Justice League. 5- When did you discover comics? I really can't remember, they were just always a part of my life. I guess my older brother had some laying around. I've been drawing all my life, I still have drawings of Superman that I did in kindergarten. I can't remember not drawing or not being into comics. 6- What is your favorite comic book? Man, that's a tough call, I don't think I really have one. My favorite character growing up was Batman. I love the Lee/Kirby run of Fantastic Four, those were some off the best comics produced. I was also really into the Claremont/Byrne run of X-Men, that was big influence on me. I really can't pick. 7- What is your favorite movie or tv show? TV show is probably the Simpsons, I love that it combines low brow and high brow comedy, often in the same line. Can you find a funnier character than Ralph Wiggums? You really can't. A favorite movie is too hard to choose: Goodfellas, Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, Swingers, Se7en, Fight Club, Fargo, those are my type of movies. 8- What is your favorite book? Man, you didn't say this was gonna be so hard. Well, the authors whose books I have most of are Stephen King and Jim Thompson, if you haven't read Thompson, check him out, he did "The Grifters". Other than them...I loved "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Catcher in the Rye" 9- What music are you currently listening to? Fu Manchu, The Strokes 10 - What do you do in your time off? Draw comic books. I actually still have a full time job and I do comics on the side. I would love to do comics full time but it just hasn't happened for me....yet. I also read, watch movies, hang out with my girlfriend. 11- Where do you see yourself in 20 years? Hopefully doing what I just said....doing comic books full time. I'm not looking to get rich off comic books, because first of all it's hard to do, but I just want to be able to make a decent living doing what I love and being creative. 12- What is the strangest thing that's happened to you in the industry? Had a freak show interested in doing a comic book but it didn't pan out. Would've been interesting though. 13- What would you like to see happen in the industry or your career? In the industry, I'd like companies to stop ruining classic characters by redesigning their costumes, thinking that will make the book better. That's just a pet peeve. I'd love to see "Shades of Blue" take off. As far as my "career" goes...someone offering me a job in industry that I can make a living on. Working with DC or Marvel, being able to draw characters that I grew with....Batman, Spidey, the icons. I think drawing a character that Kirby created would be a dream come true. 14- What kind of advice would you give to someone trying to break into the industry? Get a website. I wouldn't be this far If I didn't have one, that's how Jim found me. He lives in Chicago and I live in Dallas, we would have never met without the internet. And if you design your site, make it nice and clean, don't try to jazz it up with bells and whistles, it's there to represent you, like a resume. It should basically say..this is who I am, see what I can do, here is how you can reach me. Keep it simple. But first and foremost is draw all the time. Practice, draw from life, all the basics. Always look to improve. I hope to look back in a year on the stuff I'm drawing today and say, "That stinks." I'm always looking to get better. I'm nowhere near the level I want to be. 15- So what do you prefer monkeys or robots? And why? Well, robots are really cool but I have a friend, let's just say her name is Mary, who is very monkey-like, so chimps hold a special place in my heart. I don't expect anyone to understand.