JIM: Trades make books like 100 Bullets possible so I'm all up for that.

RICHARD: Of course there's a few other things in your in tray I understand. Any advance on Comet Ranger, the book we last heard you were drawing for the ABC line?

JIM: Alan has said that he will finish this up before he leaves on his much-rumored sabbatical, so it's still very much a "go," and I am looking forward to the project. He's given me 12 pages of single spaced script for 3 pages of story, and I can honestly say the work involved will be like no other book I've worked on. But I would feel a failure if I never got the chance to work on this type of project with arguably the best comics writer this industry has ever produced, so I'm still very much fired up to do it.

RICHARD: Okay, aside from leaving a large hole in my bank account if either of those projects come to pass, what legacy do you believe you will leave on the comics industry? Without Jim Lee, what are the differences customers would see in the industry around them and the books they read?

JIM: Ugh... I knew this was coming. On my gravestone--it will read: Here lies Jim Lee: nicer guy than Bill Jemas. [laughter] Actually, I've known Bill back from the days he was heading up Fleer, and I kept running into him over the years as the merry go round of CEOs filed through Marvel. Personal styles aside, I'm glad he and Joe have revived Marvel back from the comatose state it was in.

RICHARD: Yeah, say what is Bob Harras doing these days. no hang on.

 

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS HARDCOVER – SIGNED VERSION

JIM: Yeah, it was his decision to buy Heroes World, destroy the direct market distribution and burden the company with tens of millions of dollars of debt. Bob also happened to preside over the company's greatest period of prosperity. Bit unfair to lay it all on his feet. But to address your question, I would want people who look at my work to be inspired to become artists themselves. I think a lot of young people are looking for that spark, that indefinable "something" which will give their life a focus or direction. I know I was when I was a kid and comics and academics were that to me. I think it's great that readers can be inspired to enter into the creative arts, whether it be comics or film or literature or webdesign.

For a job to be ultimately fulfilling, there has to be something more to it than just collecting a paycheck, something more than "it's just fun"... and while nothing I draw is going to change world politics or save the whales or anything on that level, I am lucky to meet fans who are now adults who tell me they got into their chosen profession because they picked up a comic of mine way back when. And that's a great feeling when you hear that. It really is.

But as far as what would be different in comics if I had become a doctor, say, instead of a comic book artist? Hmm... probably a lot less crosshatching.

RICHARD: Inkers of the world owe you their livelihood. Thank you, Jim Lee, and I'll see you in Bristol.

JIM: Thanks, Rich Johnston.

RICHARD: No, thank you, Jim Lee. Damn it, this could go on all night.

Batman is published monthly by DC Comics, and much of Jim Lee's X-Men and WildCATS work is widely available in trade paperback. My rumor column, Lying In The Gutters is currently free of Wildstorm rumors, but is never-the-less worth a click.

Next week, if he's still up for it, Joe Quesada.

The Waiting For Tommy Archive

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