Broken Frontier

Welcome back to part three of three of our Adam Hughes interview. We pick his brain about his favourite novels and video games and ask for his opinion about the rise of the computer in the world of the artist.

Part One
Part Two

Broken Frontier: What do you like to read in terms of novels? Is there a cross pollination with comics reading like f.i. Tom DeHaven's Its Superman or Greg Rucka's novels or are you attracted by completely different genres?

Adam Hughes: I don't read as much as I used to, in fact I tend to reread books. Every year I reread Lord of the rings. The last book I read was the seventh Harry Potter book. I don't get much chance to read. I have a very high burn out factor. There are moments in the day that I can't draw anymore, that I can't think about stories. But I still want to do something creative. I play the guitar very badly but it's great, it has nothing to do with drawing a picture or stories.

I got to say that, for some strange reason, I got into videogames in my mid-thirties and I have become a slave to my XBOX. It can be a time waster. I play an hour in the evening before I go to bed and I found that killing a bunch of Germans can be very relaxing. (laughs) Sniping a Wehrmacht officer at 500 yards really eases the nerves. I'm slogging my way through Medal of Honour. I'm a brand whore. I love Star Wars games, I love James Bond games and World War II is my favourite brand! I don't care that it was an international historical event. WW II movies, WW II video games, WW II toys, they're swell! (laughs) Any WW II games, I get so immersed in and I find that, if I set the difficulty level to maximum, it doesn't suck your time. You get so pissed off after 25 minutes and then you find out that you only wasted half an hour on video games. It's bad for your sense of self worth but it's good strategy.

But as far as reading, I always loved crime fiction. One of my favourite authors is Raymond Chandler.  I read all of his novels, short stories and essays. I enjoy that sort of stuff.

I think that there are two types of artist in life. Whether you paint or draw, whether you make wicker baskets, there are two types. You have got the happy idiots who like to get up in the morning who do their craft and nothing can ruin their day. And then you have the people who only do their best work when they are tortured and the minute they become successful, they are not as interesting as they were when they were suffering. I think I belong to that last sort who can only work when they're miserable. I really envy the happy idiots.

I read a biography of Raymond Chandler and talk about a mixed up, tortured guy. I remember the first time I drew when I was inebriated. My roommate was getting ready to be married and she was having a bad week and we just basically got liquored up. I also did the music at their wedding and I was sort off a DJ and we spent that last week just picking music and they had this totally lounge wedding with all lounge music from the sixties. But we got completely drunk and I started drawing all this crazy stuff and I remember waking up the next morning with a hangover and I was actually afraid to look at the artwork. Just in case I would be one of those guys who did their best work when they are wasted. But fortunately the work was terrible. Liquor does not help my work. I can be tortured and sober while working. What a great way to spend the day (laughs).

BF: With the evolution that is apparent in your artwork and colouring since you're doing covers, you started to produce more digital work. Just out of curiosity, do your work on a Mac or a PC?

AH: I use a PC. I don't buy into the computer wars. To me, computers are like cars. I don't care what car I'm driving, as long as it gets me where I'm going. The only reason I have a PC is because when I decided to start doing stuff with computers, PC's had games. Ten years ago, it could be argued that Mac's were better for graphics and better for this and that. But nowadays they're very similar. I got a PC and my girlfriend who works three feet away from me has a MAC. I got my first laptop this year so I can work at conventions and I got a Powerbook. So I got a PC at home and I got a MAC I can take on the road. To me they're just computers.

It's just whatever works for you. I've always gotten frustrated with friends who are die-hard MAC users. There is this fraternity with MAC users and that's great, PC users don't have that, 'microservs' they call us. And I go to these events where I realise that I'm the only person that has a PC. And they sit around and they complain about all these people who use PC's. And I feel like I was back in school and you always had the cool kids that aren't any better than the nerd kids but they just go around knocking other kids to make themselves feel better. We don't sit around and start MAC-bashing, it's just really weird. It's part of the whole marketing of Apple, you're part of a special group of people. It's part of human nature to think that when you're part of a group, you're better than that other group of people. And I found that I got turned off by this sort of communal snarkiness.

BF: The branding can also work against the product.

AH: Yeah, and it's all alright when the branding is positive and it supports the buyers and it furthers the 'thing' but when it's basically all about 'let's tear down the competition' and that's all you're doing, I start to lose interest.

BF: Thank you for taking the time to talk with us. There's probably a long line of fans waiting to get a convention sketch. So good luck and good luck with all your future projects.

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And like a brave soldier, Adam Hughes went out of the lounge area, back into the jungle of the convention floor of FACTS 2007 where a large line of eager fans had swelled at his sketching table. The battle never ends.