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Monday, August 27, 2007

Aquaman Shrine Interview with Jim Calafiore - 2007

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As soon as I saw Jim Calafiore was at the last Philadelphia ComiCon, I made a beeline to his table to ask him for an interview. After mumbling something to him that at some point contained the words "Aquaman", "Blog", and "Interview", he generously agreed:

Aquaman Shrine: Did you read comics growing up?

Jim Calafiore: Of course, from the time I could read. The first comic I remember picking out and buying myself was Incredible Hulk 127.

AMS: Were you familiar with Aquaman much when you got the book?

JC: Yep, big fan of the character. He was in some of the samples I sent to the editor Kevin Dooley, and I didn't even know he was editing the book.

AMS: Were there particular artists you saw (in comics or not) that inspired you to be one?

JC: A lot of artists have influenced me, but I don't think you see it in my work. Sometimes John Byrne slips in to my faces. My biggest artistic influence however is without question the french illustrator Girard/Moebius.

AMS: What was it like working with Peter David?

JC: It was great; Peter's a good guy. At that time his plots were less than complete scripts, so I had room to play with page breakdowns.

AMS: You did a really beautiful, poster-like cover for Aquaman #36. That's not a question, I just wanted to say that.
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JC: Yeah, one of my favorites; an iconic shot.

AMS: A lot of your work ended up on merchandising (a postcard, the DK Guide to the Oceans book), did you ever do stuff especially for licensing?

JC: Not that I can remember, but it's cool that the stuff lives on. And DC does pay for re-use!

AMS: Any favorite characters you'd like a chance to draw but haven't yet? Or any writers or artists?

JC: I don't think there are any writers or artists I'd like to draw...we're a generally ugly unkempt bunch. (Although here's a little secret: I did use Grant Morrison as the model for a character in an issue of Exiles. I'm not saying which one...) Seriously, the list of writers I'd like to work with is too long.

As for favorite characters, I've pretty much drawn everybody in one way or another, if not in their own book. I'm doing a Batman mini right now, and he's too cool.

It was so cool to meet Jim face to face at the con, and it was great of him to take some time away from the drawing board to talk with me for the Shrine. Thanks so much Jim!

4 comments:

chunky B said...

Great interview, that cover is really cool... do they make a poster of that? That would be sweet!

Doug Slack said...

I like his taste in comic books.

Diabolu Frank said...

Yes, but was he a fan of the pirate Aquaman he ended up drawing?

Anonymous said...

Jim is probably my favorite Aquaman artist. I've met him at Philly a bunch of times and he's always been great. I was lucky to buy some of his original art (a two page spread from Aquaman 34 - Triton choking Aquaman with a chain). I also have a commissioned sketch of Thor by him. Personally, I think he was born to draw Superman. Check out the Superman story he drew in the Aquaman Annual #1 (the Year One stories).