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Twenty Questions With....
Gene Ha
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Gene Ha |
This week’s featured guest is Gene Ha, whose previous work includes the
graphic novel BATMAN: FORTUNATE SON, ASKANI'SON for Marvel, Oktane
for Dark Horse, and of course Top 10. His currant project for ABC is
The 49ers a prequel to Top 10, a 96-page Hardcover graphic novel that goes
back to the founding of Neopolis.
4COLORHEORES: How did you come to be at ABC and working on top 10?
GENE: Many years back, I was talking to an artist who was working on Alan
Moore projects. I told him how much I wished I could work on one too. He thought
this was pretty pathetic. He told me to get off my ass and to try to get one.
I first contacted Maximum Press, Rob Liefeld’s imprint then. But they folded
before I could do anything.
Then I contacted Wildstorm, where Alan had moved. I sent Scott Dunbier some
samples of my work to forward to Alan. Alan hadn’t heard of me, but he liked
what he saw. And that’s how I got in on the ground level at America’s Best
Comics.
4COLORHEORES:What did you think when you found out you would be working with
Alan Moore?
GENE: Wahoo! I may not have jumped up and down, but I definitely wanted to!
My teenage fantasy was to be a comic book artist working on Alan Moore stories.
I haven’t been disappointed. Great stories.
4COLORHEORES: What was it like collaborating with Alan and Zander on Top 10?
GENE: Alan’s mind is superhero quick. He eats and spits out ideas faster
than anyone else I’ve met. I’ll throw a huge pile of ideas at him, and he’ll
parse them and shoot them back in a form I don’t recognize. It makes me blush to
realize how bad some of the stuff I handed him was, and how good it became after
he used it.
Zander is a great guy. I think he was uncomfortable being thrown into corporate
comics head first, but he’s doing great now. He’s a great guy to have around.
4COLORHEORES: How did you meet Zander Cannon?
GENE: A chance meeting at a Lafayette, Indiana, comic signing. We both were
seated at the same table. He seemed nice, and he gave me samples of his comics.
I was stunned later when I finally got the chance to read the stuff. It was his
Replacement God series. Awesome. Incredibly good storytelling.
Later on, I moved to the Twin Cities to work with another friend, but that fell
through. Fortunately, Zander was there and I started working with him. He
educated me about many things I hadn’t understood about comics. He’s done
everything: art, script, dialogue, lettering… Zander can dissect a script in a
way I never could.
4COLORHEORES: How much input did you have in the character designs and plot for
Top 10 and your latest book The 49ers?
GENE: Alan gave a basic concept, but I had to take it from there. It was a
lot of work coming up with the look for the characters. For instance, here’s how
he described Jetman:
“Now we are in the orderly and comfortable looking office belonging to the
Tenth Precinct’s captain, Steve (Jetman) Traynor, a kind of Airboy figure who
has grown up and is now in his late forties or early fifties. He’s still good
looking in a kind of older Gary Cooper kind of way, and he probably wears his
old double-breasted leather flying jacket and maybe even his old aviator’s
helmet and the goggles pushed up on his forehead. Jetman is a wise, level headed
and experienced older guy with a great record, ideal for the captain’s position,
with maybe a crack at commissioner one day. Jetman is up in the foreground,
sitting behind or on the edge of his desk…”
I decided to interpret him as my ideal of a great leader, a person not hung up
on formalities. I didn’t want to make him a martinet. If I gave him too
outlandish of a costume, he’d look like an idiot (look at my design for Shock
Headed Peter). So I gave him the casual jumpsuit of a modern fighter pilot, with
a t-shirt visible beneath it.
Alan’s fine with this type of initiative. And he then writes the character to
match how I drew him. The story is quite alive in his hands. I would never guess
that Jetman was gay, or that Peregrine was a born-again Christian.
I should point out that by the second half of the first issue, Zander and I
split up designing the look of the characters.
4COLORHEORES: After drawing 12 issues of Top 10 were there any characters you
wish you had designed differently?
GENE: Anyone with a complex costume! King Peacock and Irma Geddon took
forever to draw. I’d make them much sleeker. I’d try to figure out how Bruce
Timm might have interpreted them.
4COLORHEORES: Who were your favorites to draw?
GENE: Kemlo was always fun. My dogs provided great inspiration for him. Toybox
and Smax got to be more and more fun. I took some pride in how I was able to
pull off Peregrine. Her design was pretty silly.
4COLORHEORES: So from what I have read it sounds like there is little chance of
you coming back for Top 10 Season 2, is this true?
GENE: Yeah, I’m way too old and slow to go back to doing a continuing
series.
4COLORHEORES: Any artist come to mind that you would like to see take over Top
10?
GENE: Sure, but I don’t know if they want the job. John Paul Leon’s work on
Earth X kicked my ass. If I could draw like someone else, it would be him.
4COLORHEORES: What’s your favorite memory from your time working on Top 10?
GENE: Reading the scripts. Really, they’re better than the comic.
4COLORHEORES: Can you give us an example of what you mean by the scripts being
better than the comic?
GENE: There are lots of examples, but the script for issue one is right here
in front of me. I think I handled it pretty well, but the script is remarkable.
I’ll type up part of it when I get a chance, and send it to you.
4COLORHEORES: Could you name a couple places were you thought you completely
captured the script in Top 10?
GENE: I think I did a good job on the issue 8 splash page, “The Overview”.
That was a brutal few days.
4COLORHEORES: You’re new project for ABC is the 49ers telling the story of
Neopolis’ founding, what’s the basic storyline?
GENE: It tells the story of Jetlad, the future Captain Traynor, returning to
America after WWII and settling in Neopolis. He gets to watch the city in the
sky and the police force as they begin. I don’t have the whole script now, and I
can’t guess how Alan’s going to end it. I’ve found he can do anything to his
stories.
4COLORHEORES: Does Jetlad’s sexual orientation play a part in the 49ers?
GENE: Some part. But I don’t know how Alan intends to finish the story.
Obviously, he’s still in the closet by the time of the Top 10 series.
4COLORHEORES: The founding of Neopolis was covered somewhat in the text piece
in Top 10 #1; will we meet any of the characters from the text piece that we
haven’t seen yet?
GENE: Oh yeah. Also, all of the folks from the mural in the precinct lobby.
4COLORHEORES: Can you name a couple of the new characters we will meet in the
49ers and their relationship to the story?
GENE: There’s the original police crew. They’re visible in the lobby mural of
today’s precinct building. The Maiden, the Black Rider, the Spirit of ’76, and
Iron Gauntlet are all characters I’ve drawn recently. But I’d hate to summarize
the story, because I’m not sure what Alan will do with it all. When he sets up a
conflict or crisis, he rarely ends it the way I’d expect.
4COLORHEORES: Are you enjoying doing the full pencils for the 49ers, and on
an average how many pages do you pencil in a week?
GENE: I’m doing pencils and inks. I have some friends who have taken over the
ink washes and the coloring. I’m working at about a page or two a week. Gotta
speed up!
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4COLORHEORES: The last I heard, the 49ers was 96 pages, is that correct and
how far into it are you?
GENE: About 35 pages. Sorry fans, it’ll be a wait on this one.
4COLORHEORES: So how do you go about interpreting one of Alan Moore’s detail
heavy scripts?
GENE: It’s pretty easy. Everything is laid out perfectly. He describes the angle
of the shot, what appears from left to right in the foreground, then the
background. I kinda wish he’d throw in little sketches of the layouts. He
obviously knows what he’s doing.
4COLORHEORES: The art I have seen so far is fantastic, capturing the period
perfectly; this must have required a lot of research on your part?
GENE: Yep. It’s the level of research I applied to Top 10, now applied to the
1940’s. Just getting reference on street lamps and traffic signals from the
period has been horrendous. Finding enough characters for the crowd scenes is
even harder.
4COLORHEORES: Why did you pick Zander as your Jetlad model, and was he a good
one?
GENE: Because Zander looks like a stereotypical naïve middle American. When an
Italian or Japanese imagines an Iowa farmboy, it looks somewhat like Zander.
Zander’s in his late twenties, so I had to heavily interpret my reference.
Jetlad’s 15 or 16. But his general look is just perfect.
4COLORHEORES: How did all the in-jokes and visual references in the
backgrounds of your art start?
GENE: Alan created about half of them. He knows the back issue history of French
comics the way Mark Waid knows American comics. The other half is from me
wandering the Internet for reference and trying to keep up to speed. I guess
this is a good chance to thank all the fanboys who created web pages for obscure
comics: I’m grateful.
4COLORHEORES: You at one point wished you could work with Alan, is it
everything you thought it would be, and what makes Alan the kind of writer
everyone wants to work with?
GENE: I don’t know why other people want to work with him. But I work with him
because I want to draw stories people will still read ten years from now. I
don’t want them to just look at pretty pictures: I want them to remember, and
read it again someday. So yeah, working with Alan is everything I’d wanted it to
be.
4COLORHEORES: Which artist’s work do you enjoy?
GENE: I’ve already mentioned Leon. I also love the work of Kevin Nowlan and Kyle
Baker. And Dave McKean!
4COLORHEORES: What would be the one character you would love to draw?
GENE: There are a few. Wonder Woman comes to mind, because I think that the
definitive modern Wonder Woman story hasn’t been told. I’d like to meet the
writer who knows what to do with her.
4COLORHEORES: Who else would you like to work with?
GENE: Bill Willingham. But he’s hard to get a commitment from.
4COLORHEORES: Why Bill Willingham, and have you read his Elementals stories?
They’re very underrated I think, especially the first dozen issues or so.
GENE: Bill has a wonderful way of writing complete freaks and still making them
seem like normal people. His text stories about Beowulf are just wonderful.
Beowulf has been around for more than a millenium, and the character comes off
as completely unpretentious. I wish the movie “Highlander” had succeeded half as
well.
His Coventry series does this on a grand scale. Most of the characters are
supernatural, but nobody spends time vogueing and posing. Even if somebody does
cackle, it doesn’t seem unnatural.
I adore the Elementals series and Bill’s work in game illustration before then.
But I think both his writing and his art get better with age.
4COLORHEORES: What will you be working on next?
GENE: Sleeping.
The Following is a one page excerpt from the script of Top 10 #1, page 32. A
very big THANK YOU to Gene Ha for taking his time to let us interview him, and
for sending us this one page treat, enjoy!
PAGE 32.
PANEL 1.
NOW ANOTHER, FINAL FIVE PANEL PAGE, THIS TIME WITH THE BIG WIDE PANEL DOWN ON
THE BOTTOM TIER AND TWO PANELS ON EACH OF THE TWO TIERS ABOVE THAT. IN THIS
FIRST PANEL, WE HAVE A MORE OR LESS EXACT REPEAT OF THE LAST PANEL ON PAGE 31,
WITH TOYBOX'S DAD SITTING FACING US AND THE OFF PANEL TELEVISION IN THE RIGHT
FOREGROUND. TOYBOX PAUSES JUST INSIDE THE ROOM AND GAZES SADLY TOWARDS HER
FATHER, WAITING FOR HIM TO REPLY; KNOWING THAT HE ISN'T GOING TO. HER FATHER
JUST STARES EXPRESSIONLESSLY OUT OF THE PANEL IN THE FOREGROUND, SEEMINGLY
UNAWARE OF HIS DAUGHTER'S PRESENCE.
No Dialogue
PANEL 2.
SAME SHOT AS LAST PANEL. DAD REMAINS EXPRESSIONLESS AND MOTIONLESS, SITTING IN
THE RIGHT FOREGROUND. IN THE BACKGROUND, TOYBOX CARRIES ON BRISKLY ACROSS THE
ROOM, MAYBE PUTTING HER CARRYING-CASE OF TOYS SAFELY AWAY SOMEWHERE OVER ON THE
ROOM'S FAR SIDE. SHE DOESN'T LOOK TOWARDS HER FATHER AS SHE SPEAKS, PRETENDING
THAT SHE IS CARRYING ON A CONVERSATION WITH HIM, PRETENDING THAT HE KNOWS SHE'S
THERE.
TOYBOX : How's my DAY been?
TOYBOX : Oh, YOU know. Arrested Professor GROMOLK0, but he shot himself.
TOYBOX : The other guys are mostly DOGS, LESBIANS and DEVIL WORSHIPPERS. They
seem okay.
TOYBOX : Oh, and one of the HUEYS got melted.
PANEL 3.
SAME SHOT. TOYBOX LOOKS UP FROM WHAT SHE IS DOING AND LOOKS ACROSS THE ROOM
TOWARDS HER DAD FROM BEHIND HIM, HOPING FOR SOME FLICKER OF RESPONSE OR
REACTION. THERE IS NONE. HE CONTINUES TO STARE EXPRESSIONLESSLY OUT OF THE PANEL
AT US IN THE RIGHT FOREGROUND, SUNK THERE IN HIS ARMCHAIR.
No Dialogue
PANEL 4.
SAME SHOT. HERE, TOYBOX HAS WALKED ACROSS THE ROOM INTO THE FOREGROUND SO THAT
SHE STANDS JUST BEHIND AND TO OUR LEFT OF HER DAD'S ARMCHAIR. LEANING DOWN, SHE
TAKES HIS HEAD IN HER HANDS AND KISSES HIM GENTLY AND TENDERLY ON TOP OF HIS
HEAD, MAYBE ON HIS BALD SPOT. HIS FACE DOESN'T FLICKER OR REGISTER HER PRESENCE
IN THE SLIGHTEST. HE JUST STARES LIFELESSLY OUT OF THE PANEL AT US.
TOYBOX : Dad? Hey, Colonel? Listen, I'm going up to my ROOM, listen to some
radio and chill OUT.
TOYBOX : Yell if you need anything, okay?
TOYBOX : I love you.
PANEL 5.
NOW A, BIG WIDE FINAL PANEL TO END THIS ISSUE WITH. UP IN THE BOTTOM LEFT
FOREGROUND WE HAVE SOME OF THE DARK, NIGHT-TIME HOUSES OF THE SUBURBS WHERE
TOYBOX AND HER DAD LIVE. THERE IS THE ODD BEDROOM WINDOW LIT UP. BEYOND THIS,
LOOKING DOWN A WIDE SLOPE OF SCATTERED LIGHTS AND ILLUMINATIONS, WE ARE LOOKING
DOWN TOWARDS THE EDGE OF THE BAY. FROM OUR SIDE OF THE BAY, THE NARROW ELECTRIC-JEWELLED
RIBBON OF THE BRIDGE STRETCHES AWAY FROM US TOWARDS THE MASSIVE ISLAND THAT
RISES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BAY, A MULTI-TIERED FLUORESCENT WEDDING CAKE THAT
BLAZES AGAINST THE NIGHT, THE YELLOW AURA OF ITS SODIUM LAMPS STAINING THE STARS
AND THE NIGHT SKY ALL AROUND IT WITH A KIND OF WARM BUT VAGUELY POISONOUS
LOOKING GLOW, LIKE ALL BIG CITIES HAVE. THE TAILLESS CRACKLE BALLOONS OF THE
RADIO STATION ARE JUST ARRANGED ACROSS THE PANEL AS WE LISTEN TO THE D.J. SIGN
OFF AND SAY GOOD NIGHT TO US ALL. MAYBE DOWN IN THE BOTTOM RIGHT CORNER OF THIS
LAST PANEL WE COULD JUST HAVE A LITTLE STYLISED NUMERAL 10 INSTEAD OF HAVING
"THE ND" OR "TO BE CONTINUED" OR SOMETHING. SEE WHAT YOU THINK, ANYWAY.
TAILLESS CRACKLE: ...little before nine P.M here on Live Radio Neopolis,
listenin'to yo' Royal Ruler, KING SMOKE.
TAILLESS CRACKLE: This is one for all you LADIES out there. Playin' us out its
NIGHTINGALE BROOKER, with "CAN'T CLOAK MY EMOTIONS, CAN'T MASK MY TEARS."
TAILLESS CRACKLE: Sweet DREAMS, everybody.
TAILLESS CRACKLE: Take it away, Nightingale....
SYMBOL, UNDER : 10.
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