admin
22 December 2023
IF IT SEEMS LIKE DEBBIE AND COMIC ARTIST PHILLIP GREGORY GET ALONG REALLY WELL. THAT MAY HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE FACT THAT BOTH OF THEM MAKE AND APPRECIATE FABULOUS WORK. AND THEY KNOW A LITTLE SOMETHING ABOUT INDEPENDENT PUBLICATIONS.
debbie: Have you ever been interviewed before?
Phillip: No.
d: No? Not at all, huh? Alright. Well, I heard you just went to see Pearl Harbor. Was it just me or did that movie suck dick?
P: You didn’t like it either?
d: I hated it.
P: I thought it was too Hollywood. I think when you do a movie about something as important as that, it deserves a little bit more respect. But, if that’s the way they’re going to go about telling their story, they have every right to do it. I just would have told it differently.
d: Like with no Ben Affleck or Cuba?
P: Yeah. I thought it was miscast all over the place.
d: At least it had Spud from Trainspotting in it. Remember, he was the ugly guy who stuttered?
P: Yeah.
d: You see, there were ugly people in war. But, now, I guess we should talk about Darklanders, since it’s your book. I mean, we can mention it.
P: If you want to.
d: (laughs) Where did the idea for the comic book come from?
P: I started working on it in college, but it wasn’t Darklanders at the time. I didn’t decide to do Darklanders until I was out of college for about a year. We were working in one of the illustration classes and we had a whole semester to play around with the concept of Alice In Wonderland. Everybody came in with all these really cool, different concepts. I had done a really plain concept. I went home and was like, “ I can’t do that. I gotta change it.” I was really into Star Wars and Star Trek, so I thought, “I’m gonna do a science fiction version of Alice In Wonderland. So that’s what I did over the semester. But since then it’s completely warped out of anything even close to that. That’s what I wanted. I didn’t want the same old Alice In Wonderland kind of story. As the book goes on, you’re not gonna see any similarities at all.
d: One of the cool things about the first book is that the story draws from a lot of classical themes, like the whole idea of a young leader who’s unsure of himself. But you add a little twist to it by having him totally fail. In the end he loses everybody, including himself.
P: One of the things I was trying to get across was that I’m not afraid to kill people off in the story. I think a big problem today is that a lot of comic books are so character-based that, even when they’re put in a life and death situation, the reader isn’t that concerned about losing them. So, that’s one of the things I wanted to get off right away. I’m willing to build up a character and kill them for story’s sake. I think that’s fair to the reader. How many different titles does Spiderman have? Yeah, right. Like they’re gonna kill him off. When Superman died I was like, “Okay. Just wait a few months or a year.” It’s kind of pathetic.
d: So I take it you’re not a big fan of superhero comics.
P: Not really. When I was in high school, I used to read up on all kinds of garbage like that. It gets old after awhile. I don’t really read that many comic books. Just whatever people trade me at shows.
d: Have you always been interested in comics as an art form?
P: I’ve always intended to do some kind of comic-oriented artwork because I’m really into character creation and storytelling. The best way I can do that now is through comics. My plan was to get a job somewhere and work for awhile. While I was there, I would learn and perfect techniques. Then, I would get into doing my own title down the road. I had a portfolio and was showing it around to all the studios. But, then I had a fire in my room and my book was destroyed. So it was at that point I said, “Okay. I’m just going to do the book.”
d: Jesus Christ. How’d the fire get started?
P: A faulty stereo. I was living back home so everything I owned was in my room. This was right after I graduated from college.
d: It’s cool, though, that everything getting burned led to you jumping right on your own comic.
P: Well, you don’t have much of a choice. The way I looked at it was, I could take more classes, build up a new portfolio and ask somebody else for a job, or I could work for myself.
d: So you never thought to try and get your book published with someone like Marvel or DC?
P: Not really. I never really looked into it. I may, if things get bad financially. Anything could happen.
d: When you set out to do your book, how did you get started?
P: When I decided to do Darklanders, I didn’t have a clue of how to go about it. I didn’t know anybody who did comics. I had never taken any classes on it. There was a lot on the Internet about publishing. I had to call the printer and ask him about color, because I had no idea whether the colors were gonna come out right. It was lots of research, basically.
d: So how long did it take for you to be ready?
P: I just learned as I went along. Originally, I was gonna do a series. As time went on, I thought, “You know what? There is no way I’m gonna be able to put a story out every month.” So I had to rewrite the story. I thought, “I’ll introduce different characters, make short stories about this particular world, and link them together.”
d: The art in the book is really interesting, in that it relies mainly on outline, silhouette and flat color, rather than in-depth inking. How did your style reach that point?
P: Well, I think my biggest influence was a couple of guys I knew that worked for Disney. Of course, if you’re gonna do a portfolio for Disney, it’s gonna be based in line. They’d try and play off line.
d: Is there anybody else out there now whose work you dig?
P: (pointing) Yours.
d: Aww, shit.
P: I am not kissing up either. My admiration for your line work is almost to the point of being jealous. But I have a lot of art books with different science fiction and fantasy artists in them, too. I keep those out for design purposes or color ideas. But as far as line work or comic book art goes, I don’t really look at too much.
d: Do you ever get inspired by movies or good music?
P: Sometimes. I used to listen to a lot of movie soundtracks.
d: What’s with all us comic illustrators listening to soundtracks all the time?
P: The whole purpose of that is to create a mood for a movie. If you’re looking for a particular mood, what better way is there to get that out of you?
d: My friends and I are obsessed with T-NBC. You know, shows like One World, Hang Time and City Guys? Are you a fan?
P: No! I don’t really watch much TV. I actually used to watch X-Files, but I haven’t seen that in two years. I can’t keep up with it. It’s getting a little bizarre.
d: Well, you know Mulder is having Scully’s fifth baby, and aliens have kidnapped President Bush and they want their pimento loaf back.
P: Oh, now I’ll have to buy the DVDs when they come out, because that sounds pretty good.
d: What do you do with your time besides avoid god-awful television?
P: I watch movies and read. I also work.
d: Where do you work?
P: I work at a pool supply store. It’s just a small, locally-owned store. It has been incredibly slow lately. So I sit there and do nothing for four hours or so.
d: They won’t let you draw while you’re there?
P: When the owner is there, everybody just kinda acts like they’re doing something. I’m afraid that if I take artwork in there, he’s gonna walk in and see me working.
d: And what? Send you to the principal’s office?
P: I’ve been sent to the office for drawing before. I was in study hall doing artwork for art class, and I was sent to the office.
d: That’s bullshit! Where does that teacher live? I’ll go to her house and break her legs! Are there dogs in the Darklanders world?
P: There probably are dog-like creatures somewhere.
d: Alright. In your amateur opinion, do those dog-like creatures have lips?
P: (laughs) Um, there is a breed of Darklanders dogs that do have lips.
d: Just this one breed?
P: Yes.
d: So the other breeds don’t?
P: That’s right.
d: Wow. That’s like a half-and-half answer. I don’t think we’ve ever gotten one of those before.
P: Cool.
d: I figured something out this morning. Free pizza is the answer to all the world’s problems. Think about it. When you’re a little kid, you’ll have pizza parties at school and get so excited. When you’re a teenager, you get involved in these extracurricular activities, and how do they get the kids organized? By giving them free pizza. Then, in college, the kids in the dorm will want to have some kind of dorm-related thing. What do they get? They get to watch movies and eat pizza on the school's account. Look at us now. We're out of school. But if someone wants us to help or attend something, they offer us free pizza and we're there. Have you ever noticed that?
P: Nope. It never crossed my mind. Actually, I remember in school everybody was asked, "What's your favorite food?" Everybody kept saying, "Pizza." I said, "Mashed potatoes."
d: You like mashed potatoes a lot?
P: Actually, I really go for those boxed potatoes-- the ones with the spices and stuff. Those are awesome. I could eat those cold.
debbie: Have you ever been interviewed before?
Phillip: No.
d: No? Not at all, huh? Alright. Well, I heard you just went to see Pearl Harbor. Was it just me or did that movie suck dick?
P: You didn’t like it either?
d: I hated it.
P: I thought it was too Hollywood. I think when you do a movie about something as important as that, it deserves a little bit more respect. But, if that’s the way they’re going to go about telling their story, they have every right to do it. I just would have told it differently.
d: Like with no Ben Affleck or Cuba?
P: Yeah. I thought it was miscast all over the place.
d: At least it had Spud from Trainspotting in it. Remember, he was the ugly guy who stuttered?
P: Yeah.
d: You see, there were ugly people in war. But, now, I guess we should talk about Darklanders, since it’s your book. I mean, we can mention it.
P: If you want to.
d: (laughs) Where did the idea for the comic book come from?
P: I started working on it in college, but it wasn’t Darklanders at the time. I didn’t decide to do Darklanders until I was out of college for about a year. We were working in one of the illustration classes and we had a whole semester to play around with the concept of Alice In Wonderland. Everybody came in with all these really cool, different concepts. I had done a really plain concept. I went home and was like, “ I can’t do that. I gotta change it.” I was really into Star Wars and Star Trek, so I thought, “I’m gonna do a science fiction version of Alice In Wonderland. So that’s what I did over the semester. But since then it’s completely warped out of anything even close to that. That’s what I wanted. I didn’t want the same old Alice In Wonderland kind of story. As the book goes on, you’re not gonna see any similarities at all.
d: One of the cool things about the first book is that the story draws from a lot of classical themes, like the whole idea of a young leader who’s unsure of himself. But you add a little twist to it by having him totally fail. In the end he loses everybody, including himself.
P: One of the things I was trying to get across was that I’m not afraid to kill people off in the story. I think a big problem today is that a lot of comic books are so character-based that, even when they’re put in a life and death situation, the reader isn’t that concerned about losing them. So, that’s one of the things I wanted to get off right away. I’m willing to build up a character and kill them for story’s sake. I think that’s fair to the reader. How many different titles does Spiderman have? Yeah, right. Like they’re gonna kill him off. When Superman died I was like, “Okay. Just wait a few months or a year.” It’s kind of pathetic.
d: So I take it you’re not a big fan of superhero comics.
P: Not really. When I was in high school, I used to read up on all kinds of garbage like that. It gets old after awhile. I don’t really read that many comic books. Just whatever people trade me at shows.
d: Have you always been interested in comics as an art form?
P: I’ve always intended to do some kind of comic-oriented artwork because I’m really into character creation and storytelling. The best way I can do that now is through comics. My plan was to get a job somewhere and work for awhile. While I was there, I would learn and perfect techniques. Then, I would get into doing my own title down the road. I had a portfolio and was showing it around to all the studios. But, then I had a fire in my room and my book was destroyed. So it was at that point I said, “Okay. I’m just going to do the book.”
d: Jesus Christ. How’d the fire get started?
P: A faulty stereo. I was living back home so everything I owned was in my room. This was right after I graduated from college.
d: It’s cool, though, that everything getting burned led to you jumping right on your own comic.
P: Well, you don’t have much of a choice. The way I looked at it was, I could take more classes, build up a new portfolio and ask somebody else for a job, or I could work for myself.
d: So you never thought to try and get your book published with someone like Marvel or DC?
P: Not really. I never really looked into it. I may, if things get bad financially. Anything could happen.
d: When you set out to do your book, how did you get started?
P: When I decided to do Darklanders, I didn’t have a clue of how to go about it. I didn’t know anybody who did comics. I had never taken any classes on it. There was a lot on the Internet about publishing. I had to call the printer and ask him about color, because I had no idea whether the colors were gonna come out right. It was lots of research, basically.
d: So how long did it take for you to be ready?
P: I just learned as I went along. Originally, I was gonna do a series. As time went on, I thought, “You know what? There is no way I’m gonna be able to put a story out every month.” So I had to rewrite the story. I thought, “I’ll introduce different characters, make short stories about this particular world, and link them together.”
d: The art in the book is really interesting, in that it relies mainly on outline, silhouette and flat color, rather than in-depth inking. How did your style reach that point?
P: Well, I think my biggest influence was a couple of guys I knew that worked for Disney. Of course, if you’re gonna do a portfolio for Disney, it’s gonna be based in line. They’d try and play off line.
d: Is there anybody else out there now whose work you dig?
P: (pointing) Yours.
d: Aww, shit.
P: I am not kissing up either. My admiration for your line work is almost to the point of being jealous. But I have a lot of art books with different science fiction and fantasy artists in them, too. I keep those out for design purposes or color ideas. But as far as line work or comic book art goes, I don’t really look at too much.
d: Do you ever get inspired by movies or good music?
P: Sometimes. I used to listen to a lot of movie soundtracks.
d: What’s with all us comic illustrators listening to soundtracks all the time?
P: The whole purpose of that is to create a mood for a movie. If you’re looking for a particular mood, what better way is there to get that out of you?
d: My friends and I are obsessed with T-NBC. You know, shows like One World, Hang Time and City Guys? Are you a fan?
P: No! I don’t really watch much TV. I actually used to watch X-Files, but I haven’t seen that in two years. I can’t keep up with it. It’s getting a little bizarre.
d: Well, you know Mulder is having Scully’s fifth baby, and aliens have kidnapped President Bush and they want their pimento loaf back.
P: Oh, now I’ll have to buy the DVDs when they come out, because that sounds pretty good.
d: What do you do with your time besides avoid god-awful television?
P: I watch movies and read. I also work.
d: Where do you work?
P: I work at a pool supply store. It’s just a small, locally-owned store. It has been incredibly slow lately. So I sit there and do nothing for four hours or so.
d: They won’t let you draw while you’re there?
P: When the owner is there, everybody just kinda acts like they’re doing something. I’m afraid that if I take artwork in there, he’s gonna walk in and see me working.
d: And what? Send you to the principal’s office?
P: I’ve been sent to the office for drawing before. I was in study hall doing artwork for art class, and I was sent to the office.
d: That’s bullshit! Where does that teacher live? I’ll go to her house and break her legs! Are there dogs in the Darklanders world?
P: There probably are dog-like creatures somewhere.
d: Alright. In your amateur opinion, do those dog-like creatures have lips?
P: (laughs) Um, there is a breed of Darklanders dogs that do have lips.
d: Just this one breed?
P: Yes.
d: So the other breeds don’t?
P: That’s right.
d: Wow. That’s like a half-and-half answer. I don’t think we’ve ever gotten one of those before.
P: Cool.
d: I figured something out this morning. Free pizza is the answer to all the world’s problems. Think about it. When you’re a little kid, you’ll have pizza parties at school and get so excited. When you’re a teenager, you get involved in these extracurricular activities, and how do they get the kids organized? By giving them free pizza. Then, in college, the kids in the dorm will want to have some kind of dorm-related thing. What do they get? They get to watch movies and eat pizza on the school's account. Look at us now. We're out of school. But if someone wants us to help or attend something, they offer us free pizza and we're there. Have you ever noticed that?
P: Nope. It never crossed my mind. Actually, I remember in school everybody was asked, "What's your favorite food?" Everybody kept saying, "Pizza." I said, "Mashed potatoes."
d: You like mashed potatoes a lot?
P: Actually, I really go for those boxed potatoes-- the ones with the spices and stuff. Those are awesome. I could eat those cold.
artid
213
Old Image
4_1_untapped.swf
issue
vol 4 - issue 01 (sep 2001)
section
untapped