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Home ¦ Features ¦ Chris Blythe part 2

24th November 04 Back to Part 1

How would you coach an artist moving from traditional colours into computer colours for the first time? What are the potential pitfalls to avoid?

I'm not sure I'd encourage it. I love traditional colouring - it'll make a come back, mark my words! The pitfalls are getting carried away with what a computer can do. It can produce snazzy effects with the touch of a button and that can be intoxicating when you start out. I look at my old stuff and shudder!

Judge Dredd (colouring Henry Flint)

I still draw commercially, just not in comics. Mostly cartooning, which is how I started out. I have thought about producing a short story from top to toe, but to be honest, while I can work with some of the best artists in the business, why bother!?

Sequential art is a difficult discipline. Very few do it well. I don't think I'd be one of them.

Whose work influences you, and what have you been particularly impressed with recently.

I love John Burn's work. His mix of pen and paint is the perfect balance. I'd love to try and use the computer more like that. I'm also a big fan of Cam's water colours.

What made you make the move into writing? Colouring and writing seems an odd mix - do you see yourself sticking with both?

I've always written - just not for comics. I don't think there are many colourists writing, but there's no reason why not. There are plenty of writer/artists. I wanted to write Angel Fire as a novel originally, but Steve and I were having more and more talks about producing our own book, and then it dawned on us that Angel Fire would be a good opening gambit. I wrote some short stories to cut my teeth as it were before tackling the longer script.

You've done a few Future Shocks in 2000AD. Are these a useful testing ground?

I think it's accepted that a 5/6-pager is a bugger to do successfully. It's a brilliant place to learn. Frustrating, but worthwhile.

Chris Blythe's first Future Shock (writing and colouring Cam Kennedy)

Maybe. It's not on the agenda particularly. I'd struggle with telling a tale in 6-page sections. That's a real skill, and the Wagners etc of this world do it in their stride. It's not really for me. I like the European approach of telling a story in a longer chunk.

You have tended to write in collaboration with artists you have previously coloured - Cam Kennedy and Steve Parkhouse for example, how has the shift to a different working collaboration been?

They're all artists that I admire greatly. I tended to colour them because I begged the editors to let me, they later illustrated my stories because I asked them. I'm a control freak, and the thought of handing a script over without knowing who was going to work on it would be purgatory! Much like handing your artwork over to someone to colour - I don't know how they do it so graciously.

Would there be any particular existing characters that you'd like to write, or do you prefer creating original works?

I'd struggle stepping into a character. It doesn't appeal at all. I've got several projects waiting in the wings, all designed as one-off graphic novels. Whether they come to fruition depends greatly on how well Angel Fire is accepted.

How would you describe Angel Fire, and how did the book come together, including the collaboration with Steve?

Steve and I wanted to produce a one-off book of our own. Something we could really put our all into. I mentioned an idea I had kicking around for a ghost story, and Steve said go for it. So I spent four months putting the first draft together (this was about three years ago) and Steve was producing sketches after his first read. It snow-balled from there.

Angel Fire is a cautionary tale of looking after what's important in your life. It's about a rising star in the corporate world who has his sights set on the trappings of success to the detriment of his marriage, life and sanity. It's about vanquishing personal demons, and confronting real ones. It's an old-school ghost story, more about what's not seen than what is.

I'm a fan of horror, but I wanted to produce something that wasn't just about blood and guts. I wanted Angel Fire to be under-played and creepy. Think of the original 1960s Haunting as opposed to the 1990s Jan de Bont abomination. It stays with you once you've finished it.

Angel Fire from pencils to the final pages. Click on each image for a larger version or view animation

Why did you go the graphic novel route over the individual series route?

Firstly, I love the format. I did as a kid, and I do now. It's far less transient. Secondly, it doesn't have a shelf life. For a self-published book, that's very important! Thirdly it gives us one deadline instead of on-going deadlines. One deadline is stressful enough. Lastly I think it's the way the industry is heading.

Go to part 3