The Fwoosh’s very own Cokehead aka Brad Walker has recently taken a stint on Action Comics, which is possibly the biggest comic book you could land as an artist, for Action Comics "3-2-1 Action!" arc starting with issue #852. To celebrate this tremendous accomplishment we’ve brought you an interview with Brad to discuss his art and more importantly his…. toy collection. Yeah, we’re nerds like that. So without further rambling, here we go.
(Note: Pictures with borders are expandable)
1. So, first off is it possible to describe what it means to be handed the reins to Superman?
Well, to be fair, I don’t really feel like I hold any reins, really. I mean, it’s a three issue arc. I don’t get to re-mullet him, or anything. But, that said, it’s really, really cool for me. Aside from the fact that says DC has a good amount of confidence in me, Superman’s my favorite character at DC. I love his whole "world", and his cast, and his city, so it’s cool to get to imagine that. Then, to top it off, I’m working with Kurt Busiek, who has been one of my favorite writers for 15 years, or so. It’s really the most exciting job I’ve ever been given. Well, besides when I flew the Styrofoam planes in the mall at Christmas time. That was pretty sweet.
2. What sort of preparation did you have to do before tackling the character? (back reading, artistic styles, references, inspirations)
This was a book that I didn’t have to prepare too much for, because I was already a big fan, and the characters are so a part of all our consciousness. I did pick up the Jimmy Olsen Showcase book, to get some good Curt Swan reference of him, but other than that, I knew how I wanted everybody to look. And in some cases, Matt (Idelson, my editor) and Kurt asked for me to tweak characters to keep them looking in line with what Carlos Pacheco and Adam Kubert had been doing, since these are really their books, right now. I had all those issues, and I agree with keeping up that kind of continuity, so that was fine.
3. Now let’s hear about your work with Jimmy for a bit as he’s the focus of this story. Are there any plans to jazz him up ala Countdown with flashy mystery powers or is he just gonna kick ass old school reporter style?
This arc directly deals with what is going on with him in Countdown. So, expect to see that stuff carry over, as well as seeing him do some old school reporting. But, it’s absolutely its own story, and Kurt is very good about acknowledging continuity, but not making it essential to understand the story at hand. If you’ve got the basic premise that something weird has been going on with him, you’ll get everything else, as it happens.
4. Speaking of Jimmy, he’s got his fair amount of fans and even used to have his own book. Now with Countdown it seems that he once again is ratcheting himself up the DC popularity polls. That’s a lot going on for a supporting character with no superpowers in a world filled with heroes. What do you think makes him such an endearing character?
Well, for one thing, if you’ve been reading Countdown, you’ve seen that he’s been showing off some super powers. But, that aside, his appeal as I see it is similar to Peter Parker’s. He’s kind of the every man that we see this super-powered world, through (and yes, that says something about the genius of Spider-Man that they stuck Jimmy and Superman together and made it work so well). And I think that makes him endlessly relevant in a comic. I doubt you’ll ever see him in a comic having nothing to do with Superman, or superhero-ing, because he functions as a foil for humanity within the DCU, but as long as there are super powers at DC Comics, I think he works. I really love the character, and I have a great time drawing him!
5. Now I’d probably get my ass kicked if I didn’t ask about the Six. I loved the Secret Six work you did. Beautiful, exciting stuff. Any plans to revisit that group? By the way the only correct answer is "Yes" anything else will result in jeers.
I’d love to draw more Secret Six. Gail hates those characters, though, so we’re talking about me doing it with Bill Mantlo, instead.
No, really anything Secret Six depends on Gail’s schedule and where the characters are, at that moment. I know she loves writing the Six, but I think the plan is for her to really focus on Wonder Woman for a while. Plus, they just had a good sized arc in Birds of Prey, and then Deadshot is going to be re-incorporated into Suicide Squad for a while, so my guess is things are on hold, for those reasons.
I loved doing it, though and I’d do it again in a second, if they asked me!
6. Which of the Six is your favorite to draw? Which is your favorite to read?
I was a big fan of Catman, Deadshot, and Knockout, but Mad Hatter ended up taking the prize in both the drawing and reading department from the mini I worked on. He was so expressive, and unpredictable. I really had no idea from script to script what he would do, and that was really fun to twist and turn with him as I went along. Creatively, and as a fan.
But, the whole cast on that book is really great!
7. The Doom Patrol is another great team without a regular series and you just so happen to be familiar with them as well in those great crossover issues. Are there any plans to pick up that torch? Which DP member did you like drawing the most?
Oooo, I LOVED drawing that issue! That’s another great cast. Robot Man was my favorite, right off the bat, but then I ended up really enjoying all the others just as much! Even Vox, with that dumb outfit. The lighting possibilities with that thing on his chest made up for the Hammer Pants.
That was the first chance I’d gotten to really draw characters with super powers, and I had such a good time! I was really hoping they were gonna start talking about an ongoing with them and I could try to get on it, but I never heard anything.
8. There’s a lot of Gail Simone fans on the Fwoosh due to her work with Deadpool. What’s it like working with Gail?
I told Gail this around the time I got the third script, and I’ll say it publicly here, now. Gail’s scripts are more fun to read than anybody else’s I’ve worked with. They’re real page turners. A lot of great writer’s works are interesting in the finished form, but if you read them in the script form, the layman would be bored, or uninterested, because they aren’t written to be viewed that way. But Gail’s scripts were different. I would get really excited when I got the latest email with an attachment in it to see where we were going, and it was always fun to sit down and read them. They could publish her stuff just like that, and I’d buy it. Really!
On top of that, she was remarkably kind and creative, and supportive. I couldn’t have asked for more!
9. It’s that time of year, any SDCC plans?
Yes! Big plans! They involve going! Very much! They will also include getting the Stan Lee Spidey Exclusive Legend!
10. Now, let’s move on to the toys. Big Spider-Man fan huh, favorite Spider-man figure?
I guess I like different Spidey figures for different reasons. I know most people lean towards the McFarlane one (and that probably is the "best" figure), but as a life-long Spidey fan, I view the big-eye phase as a part of his history, rather than his definitive look.
I really liked the Spider-Strength one, although it had a few problems (the paint was too dark, and really messy, he’s a bit wobbly, and his torso’s kinda wide). But he has a nice classic Spidey look that you can’t pin down TOO specifically to any one artist.
I also really like the 1st Appearance one (except for those terrible hands), cause I’m a huge fan of the Ditko run. But I always wished that they’d made a blue and red one, cause his costume was really only dark for about two issues. So, now that’s another reason why I’m going to step on babies to get the Stan Lee one.
But, probably the main Spidey in my display is the one that came in the Urban Legends boxset. I know it’s not a common choice, but I like the color scheme, I like his build and articulation, I like the eyes, and I actually like the fact that the webs are painted on, instead of sculpted in. He’s supposed to be wearing a body suit with silk screening on it, so it makes more sense painted on, to me.
Anyway, that’s just me. Everyone else can go back to loving the McFarlane one and trying to convince themselves it’s a Campbell figure (Jesse’s a big liar)!
11. Favorite Spider-Man villain and villain figure?
Hmmmm. Favorite villain is probably a tie between Doc Ock and the Scorpion. The Scorpion is a hugely underrated villain. He’s cool looking. He has a great Spider-Man-centric gimmick and powers, and a great Spider-Man-centric back story. Love him!
Favorite villain figure is too tough to call. Spidey’s rogues got treated really well under Toy Biz. Most of them are great. Lizard, Rhino, Vulture, Doc Ock, Green Goblin…Wait Hobgoblin. SMC 17(?) Hobgoblin is probably my favorite villain figure, and possibly my favorite all around Legend, too. Unbelievable figure! I’ll go ahead and revise my list of favorite Spidey villains to include the original Hobgoblin and Green Goblin, too. Just to be fair.
12. How many Marvel Legends do you have including "classics" series?
God, I couldn’t even tell you. Tons! Most of them, I’d say, and I ended up with plenty doubles, too. I kept thinking at the end I’d commission some customs, cause I didn’t have much faith in Hasbro, but I never got around to it.
13. Favorite ML series?
Wave 15 was the strongest all around wave, I’d say.
14. What’s your opinion the Hasbro changeover?
I don’t think it’s gone too well so far, to be honest (sorry "Beast"). I’ll forgive them if they come through on this FF wave, though. I want blue and black repaints, if this blue and white garbage is true. The FF is probably my favorite franchise after Spidey (maybe tied with Superman), and they really got treated pretty poorly, so far. Mostly repaints for everybody except Thing, and not many villians to speak of.
They’re a huge part of Marvel history, but they tend to get a raw deal. I don’t think many people have "gotten" them since (about) the 70’s. People seem to think, "Oh, a superhero team? Well, let’s make them more like the X-Men, then they’ll be cool!" But then that doesn’t work, so people just assume they suck. But that didn’t work cause they’re nothing like the X-Men. It’s a Science Fiction book about a family, not a Superhero book about a team. Big difference!
I really want that whole wave to look good!
But, back to the original question: those elbows suck. Give it up, Hasbro!
15. DC Direct of Mattel? Warning no matter which you choose, someone’s gonna spout off.
I would lean towards DCD, but I’ve bought a bunch of those Mattel DC Superheroes figures, too. I think some of those are great figures, but mostly just the large bad guys. Small characters, and most of the good guys really suck. So, all in all, I think it’s a pretty inconsistent line.
Then, with DCD, I like a lot of their sculpts, but I find that I get most excited about them when I first see the pictures posted online. A year later, when they finally come out, they never look quite as good (most companies are like that, though), and they are never very exciting to open, cause you can’t pose them much, and they feel kinda brittle. I just recently swore off most of the 6 inch DCD figures, with a few exceptions. However…
16. Favorite DC Direct Series?
…I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the new 13" line! I’m All over those. I can’t recommend them highly enough!
17. What other toy lines do you collect?
Not many. I recently started going back and buying the Vintage Trilogy Star Wars figures, little by little. I was big into Star Wars when I was little, and got back into it when they relaunched the figures in ’95, but my enthusiasm burned off somewhere between Episode 1 and 2. But the more I saw of those Vintage figures, the more I thought they really had everything that I really loved about the Star Wars figures when I was little, and I felt like they were contained enough that I could buy those and not get too carried away. I mean, five, six figures a year? That’s manageable, right?
18. How did you get into toy collecting?
I don’t know. Same as everybody else, I guess. I bought toys as a kid and just never really stopped. I didn’t know anybody else was doing it for the longest time. It was kind of my secret shame. Then, I started working at toy stores in college and realized all my co-workers were doing the same thing.
19. There’s a fire in your residence with massive flames spreading equidistance from your toy collection and your comic book collection. There’s only time to grab one, which do you choose?
The comics. Easy. The toys would be much easier to replace. The toys that I really care about are relatively new. I don’t really hold onto a classic toy collection. But the comics go back pretty far. They would be REALLY tough to start over on! I imagine they would cost slightly more to replace than the doctor bill for fixing my back would cost from running out of the house carrying 30 long boxes.
20. Any more big plans you could fill us in on?
Ummmmm….no? I’m drawing my little hand off to try to finish these Action issues on time. Then, I plan to collapse for a week or so. After that, I’ll go back to the last project that I was working on. It’s Superman-related, also, and I don’t think it will come out for a long time. I’ll probably work in some more, short projects like these issues of Action while I’m doing it. But, I should have stuff on the shelves pretty consistently, so I’ll let you know…
Thanks Brad!
Thanks Hoss!
Brad Walker’s work in Action Comics starts in issue 852, even if you’re not a Supes fan, get out there and support Brad’s work as he puts his artistic touch on comic’s most iconic character. It’s not to be missed! Some of the artwork he’s submitted was simply too big and awesome to fit on the page so don’t forget to click the ones tagged with borders to see the full-size work.