The Webcomic Factory

Hey Factory Fans, welcome to another installment of “In-House Interview”. This week we profile Mike Williams, artist for Miserable Comedians!

Tony: Thanks for joining us, Mike. So tell me, how long have you been doing art? How did you get started?

Mike: That’s debatable depending on who you asked in my family because I have heard that I was drawing as early as 3 years old but it wasn’t until I was 5 or 6 that my parents came to the conclusion that I might have a talent for this. I remember as a kid, I clearly recollect at age 4, I would watch cartoons all morning while eating cereal and trying to capture the likenesses of every show on paper then made my own little comics of them once I got the references down pat. Only the cartoons I liked of course.

But I drew anything then that caught my eye as long as I had pencil and paper.

Mike’s work on a fan pin up of Captain Marvel.

Tony: Where’s your studio these days? I know you live in cold, cold Chicago!

Mike: LOL. Yeah that’s correct, Chicago, TX where winter weather’s more of a crapshoot than a sure thing. No, seriously, I currently reside in the Dallas area but I’m originally from NYC. I just drifted more and more south over the years. I do miss the cold weather though and hope to return one day for good if the opportunity’s right…

Tony: Dammit! Someone hire a personal assistant so I can fire someone else for getting your hometown wrong! It’s good you’re from NYC, because you’re drawing it. Adds to the authenticity. You do one of my favorite comics, Shylock. Can you tell the fans about it and how that project came about? What inspired it?

Mike: What inspired it? In a nutshell, my love for Goodfellas pretty much; arguably my favorite gangster film ever (yes, even more so than The Godfather). Outside of horror, the crime genre in cinema has always been something I’ve enjoyed watching.

One of Mike’s sweet covers from Shylock. Click for full size.

At first, SHYLOCK was done as a collaboration I had with a friend at Ronin Studios named Shane Welker who did all of the writing for the demo short story and issue 1 and left me to create the logo, characters, etc. Alot of the characters’ looks were loosely based off of people I know or knew of back in Brooklyn as a kid so that was my starting point. Other characters that I created were already in the back of my head for years or jotted down in my notes waiting for the right opportunity to come along and be utilized.
After the first book was received pretty well, not great, we moved onto starting on the second issue when Shane’s schedule became increasingly more conflicted which shortly afterwards resulted in him resigning from the book. I’ve been doing the book (story& art) ever since. I wrapped up issue 3 a little more than a year ago to close out that particular story arc so that I could start fresh. I’ve always envisioned a certain direction that I wanted these characters to go in so now I can.

Tony: Well, as an Italian American, your Godfather/Goodfellas comment leaves me very conflicted, so let’s change the subject. Have computers impacted the way you do art? How much of your work is digital now?

Mike: As of late they have. I’m starting to realize just how essential they’ve become in my work and I have a ways to go. I just recently colored my first picture ever digitally and while it’s far from a polished pro piece, I did better than I’d expected. I plan to keep at that and get better because it can only benefit my future endeavors in art. Does, that mean that I’m going to forsake the organic way of drawing & painting? No way. But these programs make my job alot more practical in some instances.

Tony: Tell us about some of the other projects you did before the Webcomic Factory?

Mike: Well I did a couple of stories for a friend and writer Mike SanGiacomo who had his labor of love graphic novel, Tales Of The Starlight Drive-In published by Image Comics, I’ve done work for Viper, the now defunct Speakeasy, some filler material for Invisible Hand Studios, etc. I also used to teach at an art college for awhile.

Tony: What are some of your artistic influences?

Mike: There are too many to mention really. I remember being heavily into Norman Rockwell and Ernie Barnes for their realism and use of color in paintings; they illustrated pieces that felt as if you could step into them. Neal Adams, Bernie Wrightson, John Buscema, Jim Starlin & John Byrne are the ones that probably got me hooked onto reading comic books the most growing up though. Those guys were old hat by then but their works were lasting impressions of what direction to take with my art.
And to this day I still argue that John Romita, Sr. is the best Spider-Man artist I’ve ever seen although I love Keith Pollard’s rendition. And I’m a huge fan of Bruce Timm and Darwyn Cooke’s retro-esque art style. Jim Lee, Oliver Coipel, I mean the list goes on…

Tony: Does your personality come out in your art? And if so, how?

Mike: That’s a good question really; I would say yes but it also depends on what project I’m working on and what artistic approach said project is called for. Kinda hard to explain in words, you just see it. I mean “personality”, implemented in an artists’ work, is the one thing that accentuates us from one another. Whether I’m drawing light-hearted doodles or more realistic, there’s always something there that’s signature from me. The only two fans of my work that I’m aware of can attest to that. (laughs)

One of the pages in progress for the new Shylock. Nice stripper!

Tony: What are the challenges drawing a 3-panel gag vs. a comic page?

Mike: I’m sure they both come with their share of challenges especially depending on the story and theme that one is trying to convey. Gag strips usually get to the point faster, comic pages for me at least, are more fleshed out works. A writer and/or artist on a gag, only has 1-3 panels to hold a reader’s attention and hopefully have them laugh at the gag and/or at least admire the art then you move on to the next strip which are many btw. Writing isn’t easy to begin with especially when it’s humor so things just have to click…

Tony: Tell us a little bit about your home life. Are you married? Kids, etc?

Mike: I am fortunate enough to say yes.

Tony: Ha!

Mike: I’ve been married now for 16 years to my supportive wife, Regenia and we have a son named Mac…who’s a staunch Marvel fanboy. He’s a pretty good artist himself to be so young and aspires to be an animator for Marvel Studios one day. We’ll see…

Mac’s drawing of Jimi Hendrix. He’s pretty good!

Tony: What’s your favorite strip that you’ve done for the Webcomic Factory?

Mike: At first, the strip I had the most fun drawing was when Donner got pwned with the bag of garbage because it was fun just drawing the contents of that bag and what landed where, Donner’s reaction and Villa sobbing. I already take a sort of Mad Magazine approach to the series as it is and that one was just fun to do in that art style.
The hooker alley search strip then topped the previous one because of course it’s supposed to be New York City so I could draw all sorts of weirdo hookers looking to turn tricks. No beauty queens but transvestite husbands? Yeah…
Then as time went on it had to be randomly inserting the Bennett cameo (Commando) as a sandwich shop owner in the Donner dropping a load in the restroom strip. It was a spur of the moment “what if” had he survived his ordeal with Matrix kinda thing and just accepted being awesomely pathetic. I’ve been known to put in little cameos of people in comics from time to time and most times, it’s never pre-determined who it will be. Some people catch them right off, some don’t.
You ask me again in six months and I’m sure that I’ll have a different answer.

Tony: Do you read webcomics and if so, which ones?

Mike: Seeing that I’m still pretty new to this approach to comics, I usually just enjoy reading what’s already in my backyard (TWCF I mean); there is some great talent there with alot to offer. I might brush up on a few Dick Tracy strips online or a few obscure titles that catch my eye from time to time. I would just prefer if they were in book form but that’s just me.

One of Tony’s favorite Shylock covers.

Tony: What kind of comic books do you read?

Mike: Well it’s harder to get monthlies since the nearest LCS for me is in the next little city maybe 10-12 miles or so from me. I usually save the sweat and wait for the graphic novels to come out whether at my local bookstore or somewhere on the net. I used to buy Batman faithfully for years but lately I haven’t been “kosher” with the direction he’s gone as of late and gave it a rest for a little bit. Punisher MAX series is another one I love reading alot.

Tony: What other projects do you have going on besides the Webcomic Factory?

Mike: Well when I’m not doing other commissions from clients, I’m producing my own creations including a SHYLOCK graphic novel currently in the works, my horror/action comic The Reaper Effect and about a handful of other ideas that I want to bring to in GNs or webcomic. For right now, those ideas are just notes and thumbnail sketches but they’ll come to fruition soon enough.

Tony: Where can we find your work online and in print?

Mike: Well I’m in the early stages of getting my own website going so I’ll keep everyone updated on that.

A page from Reaper.

Tony: We’ll be sure to link ya! Thanks for stopping by, Mike! Everyone check out Miserable Comedians today!