Broken Frontier

There’s a magician drawing Detective Comics at the moment--one cut from the Crowley Cloth. With pen and brush, he conjures different art styles, giving his stories depth and meaning. And like every magic-man, JH Williams III leaves his audience amazed, charmed, and wanting more.

And it is magic. You see, speaking with him, you automatically realize he's a man what knows his trade--a man that controls it, and bends it to his will. Because he not only appreciates the pacing of a story, the craft...he sees through it, and is relentless when it comes to reinventing it.

BROKEN FRONTIER: You're well into your way with Detective Comics, having several issues under your belt, and it seems that the first arc fit your expertise--your interests. That is to say, there's a fair amount of magic, specifically the occult. What draws you to these types of elements; and do you believe in magic?

J H WILLIAMS III: Well, by the time I found room in the schedule to get to these questions I've put the finishing touches on our last issue of the current run.  As for the more strange elements that seem to purvey some of my projects in terms of occult ideas, I'm not quite sure what draws me to these; it seems that they find their way to me, actually. Which is fitting considering that I do indeed have certain notions about how the universe can work, or should I say how our reality can work and our roles within it.  I've always found myself gravitating towards the metaphysical, since before my comics career.  I also find it interesting that my work takes a major leap forward when I started working on projects that dealt with these concepts.  It does seem to me that some thing is trying to tell me something.  So I embrace this and roll with it to see where it leads.  I've yet to be disappointed.

BF: Your panel layout is idiosyncratic--that is, you really don't do the old four stacked, horizontal panel layout. That being said, I've seen some amazing layouts in almost every single issue you've been a part of. How did you first adopt this methodology...this technique of yours? And when you read a script, do you think to yourself "Hey, it might be cool if we have Batwoman's insignia be the central panel in this double-page spread"?

JHW 3: Yeah, I'm glad you like what I've got going with that. I'm not sure when I first adopted this idea, though.  I've always been design-minded but it wasn't so evident in my earlier comics work.  I think it took me awhile to really let go and see where things can go.  It's definitely a confidence issue I think. My earlier work didn't have that, and as I became a stronger storyteller and embraced what comics are capable of, I expanded my mind to the possibilities. It also helped that I was very attracted to many comics’ veteran artists who were of the same mindset. 

When I go back into my collection of old comics and look at what I was extremely enthused by you can find that same playfulness with design in some of that.  The process is very natural to me when coming up with designs, I just can't help myself.  So when I see something in the script that goes beyond the surface, I do my best to bring that out in various ways, and design is one them.  It's also about seeing the way the page can move differently than just regular box frames.  It can be just a test to see what can happen with it.  Some work better than others, but it still needs to be done, because it can be.

BF: Kate Kane has quickly become a very rich, very interesting character. I think for me, it's one part attitude, one part design, her competence, her confidence...really her overall approach to being Batwoman. And in your art, I think readers see that you're just as enamored with her as the fans are. What is it about the character that strikes a chord with you? And what was the idea of making her a gothic rockabilly? You just don't see that specific subculture represented often in mainstream comics.

JHW 3: I think what attracts me to the character is that she is clearly a fully realized one, but one that is slowly being revealed to the audience.  Greg and I know who she is but felt it important that we not reveal her entirety upfront, because then there wouldn't be anything to learn about her when reading.  It’s the same idea of treating her as if she was someone you've just begun to know, in real life we never know all there is to know about someone, and it can take years to understand someone.  So this is the idea of presenting that notion with showing this character. 

The other reason she attracts me is because of her just being herself, she knows she's different and that’s okay, she isn't really struggling with who she is.  She knows how to be honest in whom she is and that is very attractive, this is something we all want for ourselves.  As for her slight counterculture aspects, it was about what the character telling us who she is as we thought about her; she kind of told US who she is, not other way around.  As for not seeing a lot of that in mainstream comics, that tends to be the problem with "mainstream", conformity. 

To me, there should be characters of many creeds and types in mainstream comics, diversity is enriching.  I'm tired of things being so divided culturally speaking.  So it's about time we had a pale skinned, redhead, gay/lesbian, gothabilly, counterculture superhero with a military background running around the DCU.  It's definitely a lot of layers and a lot to express but that’s how real people are.  We all have different aspects to ourselves that get revealed depending on the situations we are in at any given time.

BF: Tell me about your decision about shifting artistic styles from the first arc to the second arc of Detective Comics. What factors or what motivations did you have to make the change in "Go"?

JHW 3: The main thing was to give a feeling of the past.  So I wanted this retro aspect to parts of the art, to convey the dramatic differences from then to now.  The style influences were geared to that idea, but also harkens back to one of the best origin stories done for a bat universe character, and that was Batman: Year One.  It just felt right to call that out.  It sort of allowed there to be this commentary of where things were and where things are now in a visual sense of what can be expected in the genre of bat-clad heroes. 

The other reason for this was really to hit home the changes in life by using style as a way of signifying past events in contrast to present ones.  It affects the mood and emotions within those scenes and in the reader as well.  Even if no-one gets the wink and nod of the style, just the fact that there is this major difference to the styles from past to present makes an emotional sense.  Much in the same way that Wizard Of Oz starts in black and white and shifts to color and then ends in black and white again, it has a specific emotional resonance that could not be gained any other way.

BF: Let's talk about Alice. Who came up with her? And why does she rock so damn much? I mean, honestly, what a great character. When creating her, were either you or Greg hesitant about the fact that there was already a Lewis Carroll-inspired villain?

JHW 3: Greg always had Alice in mind before I came into it, but she really started to come together during our conversations.  Sure there were some concerns about there already being the Mad Hatter running around, but we took it as more of a challenge.  We went in knowing how different she needed to be from Mad Hatter because we knew we were covering similar ground.  As her story becomes more revealed in the future of what we will be doing, I'm confident that she will remain very unique by comparison with the Mad Hatter.  I'm glad you think she rocks.  We've put a lot thought into her and she is going to end up being one of the more unique characters in the DCU, much like her counterpart, Batwoman.

BF: Besides doing the covers on Detective Comics, what are your plans when you're done with interior duties on DC?

JW 3: There are plans afoot that will be announced shortly.  Let’s just say that it involves everything we've just done in Detective Comics, but in a new presentation and a form of continuation.

BF: How did you first break into comics?

JW 3: As a kid I was always drawing.  I was constantly drawing different characters from superhero comics but thought very little about them, other than they were colorful, unique and fun to draw.  I remember drawing Iron Man and Black Panther a lot.  I read all kinds of comics in my youth, but never paid attention that these were written and drawn by people, that there were credits attached to these stories I was fond of.  I soon discovered the error of my ways at a pivotal moment.  In my childhood I was obsessed with a set of toys called Micronauts, I loved them and thought they were the most wonderful toys. 

Then one day I came across a Micronauts comic book in a local convenience store comic’s spinner rack, a 7-Eleven I believe.  Since I was so enamored with those toys I had to buy that comic right away.  So I did and went home to read it.  This comic made my impressionable young mind explode, the art and story were amazing to me and unlike any comic I had read before.  I'm sure part of my enthusiasm was due to my bias toward my obsession with those toys. 

This comic wasn't really superheroes, it was science fiction, everything I imagined the toy characters to be and more.  I was so fascinated by this comic that I studied every page and every panel and every little detail--this finally got me to see the credits.  I of course memorized those names, Bill Mantlo was the writer, Michael Golden was the penciler, and Al Milgrom was the inker.  This discovery changed my young life profoundly.  I was excited enough by this that I had to tell my other friends about this comic. I remember one of them saying to me, if you like that you need to see this other comic called Uncanny X-Men; this is when Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum, John Byrne, and Terry Austin were doing it.  Their work made as much of an impression on me as the Micronauts comic had, completely unique but for different reasons.  That literally is when I decided that when I grow I'm going to do this, I’m going to draw comic books.  So after many years of growing up and learning how to improve my drawing skills I began to try and show my work at conventions.  That turned out to be a very long and tedious process, and nearly impossible. 

To get anyone to give me a chance at doing the work was very difficult, until I showed some of my samples to Howard Chaykin.  I convinced him to give me a real critique, something I appreciated more than from an editor, since I greatly admired the work I'd seen by him.  He gave me a truly honest review and saw lots of problems, but he also saw lots of really good in the work as well, enough that he asked why I wasn't working professionally.  I explained to him that I just couldn't get editors to pay attention to my samples.  So he got up from his table and walked me over to the DC convention booth and began to tell any editor within shouting distance to give me a chance and that he would even write something for me if that is what it would take. 

That moment made all the difference and changed my life.  After lots of diligent follow up efforts with editors, I began to get paid professional work.  When looking back on that time and the quality of the work I was doing by comparison to today, I'm amazed that I was given that opportunity.  I look back at my old work from that period quite unfavorably.  To me a lot of it was really bad in retrospect, but Howard clearly saw something in me, so I'm forever grateful to him.

RB: What type of advice can you give to artists who struggle making it into the business?

JHW 3: The best thing you can do is never give up if comics are your passion.  Always be working on new samples and don't rely on the ones you've already done.  You've got to keep honing your skills, even after you get that first job, keep pushing yourself.  Looking back on my old work I'm surprised that I was given the chance to work at that time but I never settled for that.  I kept pushing myself to do better.  So stay diligent.

Detective Comics is published monthly by DC Comics priced $3.99. For more on JH Williams III and his work check out his website.