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WAITING
FOR TOMMY: ETHAN VAN SCIVER
By
Richard Johnston
RICHARD:
Ha, well, um, no one reads this column you know. They certainly
never get down this far. Has this tainted working at Marvel
for good for you now?
ETHAN: I don't really care if it has. I developed a
very bad attitude during my time over there. And they'd tell
you that about me. If I never work for Marvel again, it'll
be fine with me and their loss. I hasten to add that Joe Quesada
is a great guy, and did right by me. Mike Marts is also terrific,
but I think I drove him mad. It's not them, it's something
else. It started with that one 'lunch', and then disintegrated
further with countless frustrations and problems. And some
of them seemed deliberate. I'd be interested in knowing why
each and every one of my covers was mirror-reversed in it's
final printing stage, to no apparent benefit. How come it
was impossible for editorial to find me a writer for the Phoenix
project I was promised? Nobody wants to write a Jean Grey
mini? Really? Why was the trade paperback solicited as having
a cover by me, but then released with a Frank Quitely cover
from the prior story arc? What's up with those New X-Men busts
that were based on my work, but credited to Quitely?
I just
ground to a halt. And it's my own problem. I'm not blaming
anyone but myself, because other people seem to function well
over there, and I'm sure have had similar experiences. It
wasn't for me.
RICHARD:
It may be full of bad memories, but I was just reading your
New X-Men work again in the most recent hardcover and feels
it really stands up - probably more than I gave it credit
for at the time. Bizarrely the juxtaposed styles between yourself,
Quitely and Kordey seem less jarring when reading them oversized
in one chunk. How do you look back on that work now? Can you?
ETHAN: I haven't looked at it in a long time. I don't
think I'd like it if I did. I think I'd find it static and
inconsistent. I was chasing Frank Quitely's ideas, trying
to insert my own, and going back and forth between trying
to be super fast, and super detailed. And I wasn't enjoying
it at all.
RICHARD:
Dammit! I hate it when creators don't like their own work
- especially if it's some of my favourite work of theirs.
How dare you mess with my preconceptions and irrational beliefs?
I guess your more recent work is more to your liking? What
do you appreciate in your own work, come on be a fanboy for
yourself for a second, what do you like in your own work that,
as a reader, you'd dig?
ETHAN: Oh, well, I think I put my heart into my work.
It's important to me. Very important. I still have a lot of
growing to do, and still make mistakes, but I think my work
is rich and affects people now and then. Hopefully there's
something about it that makes it less disposable or something.
BATMAN/CATWOMAN: TRAIL OF A GUN is my own little symphony.
I felt healthier drawing it, and I'm looking forward to its
release.
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