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The Lightsabre Interview Adam Hughes
Welcome to
Lightsabre. Our latest guest is a
world-renowned comic artist with a portfolio of works ranging from Superman Returns
to Buffy the Vampire Slayer artwork.
And thankfully hes a fully paid up Star Wars fan. Please welcome to Lightsabre Adam Hughes. Q - Adam, welcome to
Lightsabre. A -
Thanks! Glad to be
here.... it's roomier than I thought. Lotsa headroom... Q Youve become
synonymous for your fantastic bad girl art on Catwoman,
Wonder Woman and Tomb Raider but over the years have contributed some
stunning Star Wars art. What draws you
to the saga? A STAR
WARS was my catalyst, my spark. I was 10 when STAR WARS came out (not
Episode IV or A NEW HOPE, kids.... STAR WARS) and it made sure I never grew
out of the phase where we all love to use our imaginations. There can
be a danger in never growing up, a Peter Pan Complex or something like
that, but there's a difference between being childISH
and childLIKE. I think the great thing about
the STAR WARS saga is that it is all-ages (for the most part), and as an
adult I've learned ways to appreciate the thing I loved as a kid. Q Tell us something
of your career. Where did you begin in
publishing and what led you to today? A - I started out in the big black & white comic craze that was
going on in American comics in the mid-80s. There were handing out
comic assignments in vending machines in those days... Ah, the
1980s. All that Tetris and Winger. I spilled New Coke on my
parachute pants. What nostalgia.... What led me to today? A long and crooked
road. I can never see more than a few paces at any time. Can't
believe where I am, from where I started, and I probably won't believe where
I end up. I'm sure it'll all end in tears.
Q You have a unique
style. Tell us a little of how it
developed? A- A fabulous cocktail of dissatisfaction and self-loathing!
It really helps to never truly love your art,
at least it does for me. Raging self-hatred really does push you
to be a little better every time. Does it help that some other folks
get enjoyment and satisfaction from that which vexes and confounds me?
Absolutely not! Did I mention that bemused self-involvement was the
garnish on that cocktail? My bad. Seriously, if I develop, it's because I loathe drawing
the same thing twice, so I think I'm always looking for a new way to
draw stuff. I think that keeps my stuff relatively fresh. Q From the initial
concept to the finished pieces, how many stages are involved in your work? For example, what was involved in making
your amazing Celebration A Well, I guess there's conceptual stages
and then execution stages. I sit and think about what to think about,
and hopefully come up with a zinger of an idea. "What Jabba's sail barge was actually a false front, a
seemingly legitimate cruise line that is one of the many false fronts to Jabba's criminal empire? I bet I cool Art Nouveau theater poster advertising Princess Leia's
slave-girl singing & dancing debut might be different.... That's another factor, thinking about what else I have to go up
against. I knew about the STAR WARS Celebrations conventions
almost a year in advance.... I had time to think. I guessed that a lot
of artist might want to take this opportunity to do what we all would like to
do: the classic STAR WARS montage. Big Head in back, lotsa characters in front, the dreaded OK, concept done.... start sketching. Try to come up with a
good pose and design. Since I was riffing on
a century-old design movement, I studied the books. Lots of Alphonse Mucha. Try to find the recurring design motifs
and think like a master. Eventually, you hit upon the perfect
design. OR, if you're ME, you run out of time, and just do your best
idea. Execution. Find some nice reference shots of Carrie
Fisher, and really try to make it FEEL like Princess Leia.
Hours and hours of pencilling. Erase the
boobs, make them smaller, fight the natural
instinct. Even more hours of inking. Scan the line art into my
computer, in sections(!), because it's
so big. Put all the pieces together in Photoshop. Color the image in Photoshop. Age the piece in
Photoshop! Take the image to the printer, and since my life is one big
James Bond film, deal with the gorgeous blonde who is my printer's rep.
It'd be great, except for the fact that I think the James Bond film that
my life is, is CASINO ROYALE. The first one. Q What kick-started
your interest in Star Wars? A
A summer's day in May of
1977! My mom taking my cousin and I to a theater to see that new space movie. That's all it
took. Oh, and a boy, a girl, and a galaxy.
Q We were lucky enough
to have you over here in the A
CE was a hoot. I'd
been to Q Your style is impactful and dynamic, and no-one draws women quite like
you do. Do you prefer being a cover
artist, where that knockout impact can be best showcased, or a sequential
artist doing monthly books? A Well,
I'm SLOOOWLY getting back into doing
interiors. Doing covers is GREAT, but I'm a comic book artist who never
draws comic books. It's strange, and I'm trying to remedy that.
But doing comic covers is a lot of fun, especially when you get as much
creative freedom as I do. Q What other
hobbies and interests do you have? A I like travelling,
playing the guitar poorly, and collecting prop replicas.
Toys! Toys are fun! As are video games. Is that sad?
I never had any when I was a teen, so I'm taking care of lost
fun now. It's never too late for a happy childhood. Q Lucas is releasing two new television series, with hopefully
more to follow. What are you hoping to
see? A Welllll....
my hopes for the shows aren't about what I will see,
but are more about how I'll feel. I grew up LOVING Star
Trek, and I kinda gave up on TREK about a season or
two into Voyager, for no other reason than I think I'd seen enough.
It's possible to go to the well too often, and I worry that the thing that
makes STAR WARS special is the rarity of it, the spectacle of a new STAR WARS
film. I hope that with being able to tune into a new STAR
WARS story every week or so, that the magic won't evaporate from
familiarity. Also, there's a little fear I have that with so many new
hours of material, there'll be some new element introduced into the mythos that I won't like. When the 6
movies were over, I kinda breathed a sigh of
relief, glad that nothing TOO disagreeable came down the pike. Jar Jar
has faded into a mist of Ewokian proportions, so I
hope that nothing is introduced that is on par with them, LOL. Is
that negativistic? To not have hopes about the new shows, just fears
about what I DON'T want to see?
Q How satisfied were you with Revenge of the Sith? A I was glad we exited
without embarrassing ourselves too much. SITH was fun, and did its job well
enough. I personally had always imagined Anakin's fall from grace to be
a tad more Shakespearean, a bit more poetic, but I was happy enough with what
I got. Obi-wan is my favorite
Prequel character, and I thought Ewan McGregor
finally got a chance to be the young Alec Guinness he probably wanted to be
playing from Day One. I thought it a shame that Padme
was relegated to weeping and combing her hair. But, I have to
say, my jaw hit the crusty, buttery floor when Anakin burst into flames,
screaming bloody epithets. THAT was a powerful moment I'd always hoped
for, and boy, did I get it. Thanks, Unca
George! Q - What lies ahead
for you in the future? A A misery of years in the Houses of Lamentation, and a
chorus of dead voices will curse my name. Or, I'll win the lottery and you can all come over and play in my
life-size Millennium Falcon! Whee! Seriously, chipping away at ALL-STAR WONDER WOMAN,
which I'm writing and drawing, and an end to my
run on CATWOMAN covers. After that, who
knows? I hope there's gonna be some INDIANA JONES comics next year, to
go with the new film! THAT'D be fun to draw
Q A quick question
about our site, Lightsabre. Any
comments? A
I can't actually see it,
as I have a complex series of firewalls and filters that only allow my
computer to see porn. Q - It's been a great
interview, and thanks for being our guest on Lightsabre. Just one final question. You have one final Star Wars cover to draw
and a choice of three Star wars women to inhabit it Mara Jade, Queen Amidala or Princess Leia. Who do you choose? A Dear God, it's like SOPHIE'S CHOICE with blasters, all of a
sudden.... Okay, even though I would crawl naked over 9 miles of
broken Coke bottles to drink Natalie Portman's bathwater, I have to say
it'd be Princess Leia. Color
me old-school. |
