GERRY ALANGUILAN INTERVIEW 3/3
April 2008
I would be always grateful to Gerry Alanguilan to leave me as much freedom and time to share his passion and his art.
Sébastien Lecocq (SL) : 21 - And finally how do you choose between computer technology or "traditionnal" paper for your production ?
Gerry Alanguilan (GA) : The tools I use depend on the project I'm working on. For ELMER, I made the conscious decision to do the drawing, as well as the lettering, right on the paper together. For Humanis Rex and Timawa, I still draw on paper, but I color and letter on the computer.
With Elmer, I already have an idea of how the entire story is going to go. I'm working on the fourth and last issue now, and the way I do it is finalize in my mind the specific scenes that would go into it.
I would then write the dialogue (and all the other text that will appear on the comic book itself) for the entire issue continuously. I don't make page/panel breaks or panel descriptions. I just write down what I would read if I was reading it as a finished comic book. I do this non stop until I finish the entire issue. I don't think about correct grammar and spelling. I just go ahead and finish it and put everything down. I'm doing it on the computer anyway so I can do plenty of corrections later.
I then print that out on paper, lie down on the bed and read it. I then go back to the computer and fix things. I edit scenes by adding scenes, deleting scenes, expanding or shortening scenes, moving scenes around, trying to get the pacing right. Pacing is very important to me on Elmer so I go through this process several times until I get all the elements I want in it and it reads well.
I then start to draw it. Even in the drawing stage, I still continue to edit the dialogue, depending on what sounds right in my head. And quite soon (or not quite soon), I'm done with an issue. I make the cover and lay it all out in the computer. I then bring the files to the printer, who is a friend of mine and within a week the comic book is out. I myself deliver the comics to the comic book stores and do my own promotion on my blog and other sites.
SL : 22 - So this means we don't see you working anymore in the Us mainstream market for Dc or Marvel Comics ?
GA : Going back to work for DC or Marvel is something I certainly want to do again, but no longer as solely an inker. I would want to preferably pencil and ink my own work. It makes the goal much more difficult, and to be honest, I have a lot of eggs in the basket in case that plan doesn't pan out. The only reason I would want to do it is so I can draw the characters I loved to read as I was growing up. I certainly would like the chance to draw Superman. But I won't be too disappointed if I don't.
SL : 23 - That's make me think, we don't speak about your meeting with Whilce Portacio, Leinil Yu or Roy Allan Martinez and how do you begin to work with them mainly for the Wildstorm Universe prior Marvel ?
Gerry Alanguilan (GA) : Meeting Whilce Portacio amusing story which I relate so colorfully in a video which you can find here.
There's a span of 4 years between my meeting Whilce and my being hired by him. In the meantime, I found work with Entity Comics whose star artist was Jae Lee. Jae went to the Philippines for a convention and I was one of the judges in an art
contest in conjunction with the convention. Leinil Yu entered and I was immediately impressed by his work.
When I was hired in Whilce's studio many years later along with Roy Allan Martinez, I recommended Leinil to Whilce. Whilce at first didn't like Leinil's work because he felt Leinil was copying him a little too closely. Leinil developed a unique style of his own that it impressed Whilce enough to hire him, after much prodding from me.
SL : 24 - And, What can you tell us about your cooperation with Whilce or Leinil ?
GA : Working with Whilce and Leinil is very different. Detailed Whilce's pencils may be, I find I can still play around with his pencils a bit, and have an opportunity to apply myself as an artist. Leinil's pencils are very tight and very specific, and I
just basically ink him as faithfully as I can. It took some time before I got a grasp on how to deal with their pencils and before they got comfortable enough to leave me alone. In my early projects with Whilce I was very closely supervised. But
I slowly learned how to ink him the way he wanted, and Whilce slowly allowed me to exert a little bit of myself in the work. I got along with Leinil right away because we were already friends before we started working together. I helped out finish an
issue of Wolverine that Edgar Tadeo had been inking, and it's what gave Leinil and I both an idea that we can work together.
SL : 25 - You know it's a Superman website so we have to talk about the "Birthright" maxi-series you do with Mark Waid and Leinil Yu. But before going to the details can you tell why do you choose to take this one and what do you think of Superman ?
GA : I saw your site. You really must like Superman no ? To be honest, I love Superman as a character, and I would love the opportunity to work on Superman again in the future. Working on Superman : Birthright was one of the best experiences I've had in comics.
Nope, Superman is definitely my biggest favorite of them all. I grew up not only reading the comics, but watching the old George Reeves TV series, and the Christopher Reeve movies. There's something about Superman that I find inspiring.
He's one of the rare heroes who does the right thing even though it's the unpopular thing to do, or the most difficult thing to do. That's why he's a HERO. Doing the right thing all the time is the most difficult thing to do, specially today. But he does it, and he does it unfailingly. That's what I find inspiring.
So it was an incredible honor to work on a Superman comic book. I always kept that in mind while working on it. I simply couldn't believe it. When I finally saw the first issue in print with the Superman title and Superman on the cover, and my name on it, the feeling was indescribable.
SL : 26 -The cover of issue 4 is surely an Hommage to the first film and a great stand alone picture with Lois Lane in Danger. But what's your ? Do you have a specific one or how can you envisionned what can best represent him ?
GA : The cover to #4 is surely a good one, but I kind of like the cover to #9. It's Superman in an iconic pose surrounded by Kryptonians. It's a favorite, but I don't think we've done a cover yet that best represents him, at least to my satisfaction.
SL : 27 - In this series you have the opportunity to work on the childhood of Clark Kent, his kryptonian heritage and of course the Metropolis actual era ? Is this a greastest challenge having to deal with all this stuff and not only one of them ? Is it also why the series is so interesting ?
GA : As an inker, the greatest challenge for me, really, is to try and help Leinil reach the potential of his pencils. I had no actual contribution to the design of the characters and settings. But it remains interesting because Leinil is such a talented artist that it's amazing to see what he does. I really liked working on both Metropolis and Krypton. It helped keep things from being monotonous.
SL : 28 - What do you think of the polemic on "Birthrigh" saga and the problems of continuity ?
GA : I think continuity is an important thing in storytelling. It's essential that facts that you set up earlier in a story is consistent throughout the story right up to the end.
But for a comic book like Superman, whose story basically DOESN'T end.... consider that his story started in 1938, it's still being told, and there's no sign that they'll ever end telling his stories... it's difficult to keep any kind of continuity. That would be insane. One way of dealing with it is to do a "reboot" of the character once in a while to keep him fresh, to keep infusing new ideas, no concepts, but at the same time keeping true to the essential substance of the character.
SL : 29 - To conclude, If you can have a superpower ?
GA : I would like to fly. :D
SL : 30 - And your last word ?
GA : Nothing is Impossible ! :D