Interview: Sal Velluto
By Jonathan Ellis

Sal Velluto is a fine arts gradute, comics artist, he's worked on video games and other forms of commercial and media art. Sal is the currently the artist on BLACK PANTHER, from Marvel Comics.

Why did you get into comics?

I definitely did it for the freebies. I guess it is the fanboy's ultimate dream to get boxes full of free comics, delivered to your door, courtesy of your friendly publishers. Actually I did it so I could have an excuse to sit at home in grubby clothes, listen to my favorite CDs and doodle all day long. My neighbors probably suspect I'm in a special witness protection program or something that involves Mafia connections to the old country or being a secret agent for the Vatican.

Most definitely, I got into comics because I couldn't make it as one of the three tenors, but that's another story. It can't be said that I didn't try other artistic venues. I did political cartoons, school text illustrations, commercial art and numerous Saturday Morning Cartoons.

It was all fine and dandy, but I felt that I was still missing the target. It was like having flashbacks of my adolescence when I promised myself that one day I would become a comic book artist. The magic moment happened when one of my drawings was published in the letter column of a Batman comic book, in my native Italy. That promise has been haunting me for all these years. I still want to become a comic book artist, someday.

How did you break into the medium?

When I look back at the kind of artwork I use to produce in my early days as a comic book artist, I still ask myself the same question: How did I manage to brake into the business anyway? If I were the person doing the hiring at that time, I probably wouldn't have given a chance to an artist of my skill level. I would have probably sent myself another rejection letter to add to my collection. (Which I still jealously preserve, by the way). Fortunately for me, the window of opportunity at Marvel Comics had been left open a crack when I sneaked in.

On the other side I found editor Carl Potts, the person responsible of discovering artists like Jim Lee, Whilce Portacio, Jon Bogdanove, Larry Stroman (to name a few). Among other books, Carl was editing POWER PACK, a title based on four preteen super heroes who suddenly realized that their book was falling behind schedule and were badly in need of a fill in artist. That's when I made my entrance.

That single fill-in issue turned into three more, than a graphic novel (POWER PACK, CLOAK & DAGGER: SHELTER FROM THE STORM) followed by my first regular series (MARC SPECTOR: MOON KNIGHT) and fifteen years of non-stop adventures in the universe of sequential art and many parallel dimensions.

Did you have any formal art training or were you self taught?

Both. I graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Bari, Italy. I studied to become a commercial artist and later acquired a certification to teach art in the Italian school system.
Undoubtedly a formal education has helped me to develop a greater appreciation for the arts as an outlet for the expression of the human spirit, however, I am learning a lot of the tricks of the comic book trade through the process of trial and error.

Who inspired you the most? (writers + artists {any medium or period- not necessarily just comics}, teachers, musicians, etc.)

My older sister was a kindergarten teacher. As a matter of fact, she was my kindergarten teacher. I looked up to her, not just for the evident difference in age and height, but for the fact that she decorated her classroom with these giant renditions of Disney characters she had drawn and painted herself. I spent endless hours watching her draw and color. She was, in my eyes, an incredible artist and certainly a powerful inspiration.
Now that I have finally graduated from kindergarten, I'm still looking up and around for inspiration. Many times I find it in my kids, which are now 11 and 7 years old. They inspire me with their talents and enthusiasm. They're lucky to have a lot of support from their mom, who is also an artist, an accomplished writer and a great teacher. Meanwhile, I'm sitting in my studio, drawing renditions of all sorts of characters and I notice that my kids are watching...

A while back you were around working on titles such JUSTICE LEAGUE TASKFORCE, FIREBRAND, BLOODSHOT, etc. but went quiet for a bit, and then all of the sudden you're back working on MARVEL REMIX: SILVER SURFER: "Loftier than Mortals", the unpublished DEATHLOK preview, some other miscellaneous works and now BLACK PANTHER. Was this blast back onto the scene a conscious decision on your part or just good luck?

I actually never dropped the connection with comics. I admit that for a while I got a little bit distracted by some opportunities in the fields of motion pictures and video games, but I tried to keep myself standing up in the comic book field while publishers were undergoing some major shake ups. It was quite a balancing act and fortunately I ended up with some very good projects.
I am grateful that some editors had faith in my abilities and gave me some good stories to work on. I certainly don't take this for granted because I've seen so many talented and established artists become casualties of multiple book cancellations, editorial lay-offs and other unfortunate events.

What's it like working in both the American and Italian Market? What sort of differences are there between the two?

My work for the Italian market so far, has been quite marginal. The most recent job, worthy of notice, is a short Silver Surfer story I inked over legendary John Buscema's pencils, for a Marvel Italia publication. This is quite unusual for the Italian market where artist are expected to provide all the aspects of the artwork, and comics created on an assembly line are considered anathema.

Given these parameters, you have to consider that an Italian publisher usually allows the artist a very extended amount of time to complete a given project. This particular approach puts a lot of emphasis on the quality of the final product, even though sometimes it ends up straining the artist's cash flow.

I know of some particular Italian artists who took two and three years to complete a 48 page story. This of course is quite extreme, but it serves to show what it means to draw for the Italian comic book market. One other important thing to consider is the currency exchange, which sets the Italian Lira at a considerable disadvantage compared to the US Dollar. This makes the fees paid by Italian publisher (although lucrative for artists residing in Italy) quite unattractive for the rest of us living in the good old U.S.A. For the foreseeable future, I guess, I'll keep working for the American market with all the excitement of pressing deadlines, artistic incompatibilities, editorial musical chairs and downsizing companies. I'm not saying this to voice some malcontent. After all, I am aware of what the rules of the game are, when it comes to drawing comics as a profession. I just wish I could retreat with my family to the Tuscany countryside and take a couple of years to draw my comic Magnum Opus. Maybe someday....

Along with the comics industry, you also do Video Games, which market do you enjoy better (if you had to decide)?

I was hired to design characters, vehicles and environments for Sony Playstation's "Jet Moto" videogame. I was there from the inception of this particular franchise and worked on the first two versions of the game. The people working on this project wanted to experiment with a "traditional" comic book look and came knocking at my door, since one of them had been a fan of my early work for Marvel Comics.
I happen to be a great lover of production design, and when it comes to drawing racing vehicles, I have a hard time restraining my pencil from going a hundred miles an hour. So I accepted the challenge and went on producing all sort of concept art for exotic flying bullet bikes, riders uniforms resembling something between a Space Shuttle astronaut and a World War I fighter pilot. Racing Tracks which defy the laws of gravity and all the accouterments of extreme motorcycle racing taken to a further extreme. Jet Moto ended up being one of Playstation's most solid sellers. I understand that, for "Jet Moto 4", Sony hired the mythical Syd Mead to do the new vehicle designs. I have never felt better being turned down, for a project which I helped to originate.

Syd Mead not withstanding, I have had a chance of submitting new designs for "Jet Moto 5", "Twisted Metal 4" and a few other new videogame concepts. It is quite exhilarating to create characters or design objects for the world of video games. I have done something similar for motion picture proposals as well. All this body of work has forced me into a position of developing my abilities and competency, by observing, analyzing and experimenting in these parallel art fields.
Today I still feel much more comfortable in a comic book environment. There are still a lot of goals I would love to accomplish, a few opportunities that I'm looking forward to exploring and many more lessons that I'm yearning to learn, to make my work better.

There are problems with the comics industry. It's a new millennium. If something doesn't happen to change it a bomb under your favorite chair will go off. You've just been asked to help out. What do you do?

Let me premise my remarks by saying that I don't see the future of comics in apocalyptic terms. Comics have seen ups and downs for the last 100 years now. I am confident that we'll see better times fairly soon.
Undoubtedly the industry will have to adapt in order to survive. It will have to find strength in the quality of the product, new and different marketing strategies as well as solid distribution outlets. As a professional in this field I also need to adapt, improve my product and market my ideas. I hope this will diffuse the bomb under my favorite chair. Actually I think I just stepped on the fuse... Maybe not.

Regular or decaf?

Actually my quandary is meat or spinach Lasagna. Actually I like them both, especially if they are cooked with besciamella and covered with real mozzarella cheese and Parmigiano Reggiano. But please don't get me started on food.

Favorite characters? Heroes? Villains? Dog that wore a cape?

As a little kid, back in the old Country, I used to read a weekly comic book anthology called "Il Corriere dei Piccoli" which was full of adventure comics with stories about pirates, cowboys and astronauts. Their names were Dan Cooper, Michelle Vaillant, and Luc Orient. Some of the best European illustrators contributed incredible material for that magazine. As a teenager I started buying comics based on how well I liked the artwork. I discovered the South American school of illustrators which included names such as Garcia Seijas, Juan Zanotto, Alberto Breccia, Salinas, Oracio Altuna. These artists were my heroes, no matter which character they were illustrating.
When Marvel Comics started to appear in the Italian market I grew very found of the Silver Surfer, written by Stan Lee and illustrated by John Buscema. That was probably one of the few times when I paid as much attention to the writing as I did to the art.

Favorite old school artist?

That depends on how old of a school we're talking about. Among the old masters I enjoy Michelangelo's power; Caravaggio's dramatic lighting and Jan Vermeer's geometric perfection. Closer to our time I would probably choose Maxfield Parrish, Norman Rockwell and Albert Dorne. Among the pioneers of comic book art, Alex Raymond and Hal Foster will always be my heroes.

Best Kirby creation?

Probably Marvel's Fantastic Four, and DC's Fourth World. I guess I have a thing for the number 4.

Most under appreciated creator currently in the biz?

Because of my close collaboration with writer Christopher Priest, I have gained a lot of appreciation and respect for his talent. I believe he has a great gift for characterization and viewpoint, which is not very common among comic book writers. Priest has received a lot of critical acclaim, but, in my opinion, he deserves to be noticed on a larger scale, by readers and publishers alike.

What has been your favorite book to work on?

I was very satisfied of my run on Acclaim's BLOODSHOT. It was one of the few times when I felt my artwork was supported by synergistic inking, high quality coloring and great production work.

Current titles everyone SHOULD be reading?

Marvel's BLACK PANTHER!
You might think I'm being biased since I'm currently penciling this title, but even if you take the art out of the equation, this book makes for a great reading. The cast of characters, the style of narrative and the incredible situations in which the reader is transported, make BLACK PANTHER one of the wittiest and most original titles on the stands today.
If transposed to motion picture, (provided the movie script reflects the current character framing) BLACK PANTHER would bring back credibility to the comic book genre in films. Okay Mr. Wesley Snipes, prove me wrong...

Favorite character(s), title(s) to hopefully some day work on?

For quite some time now, it's been a not-so-secret ambition of mine, to work on a Batman miniseries or graphic novel of sorts. Actually I have had a few artistic encounters with the caped crusader already, including an extensive series of drawings for a Batman and Robin style guide. (A style guide is a catalog of images and design elements, published by a given company, with the purpose of licensing such images to be used on merchandise).
If the occasion arises I would really enjoy working on The Bat-Man of 1939, with the characterization, parlance, fashion, look and ideals of that time period. To that, I would like to add a few secret ingredients, to make today's readers care about the story and possibly dazzle them with the visuals.

What's your dream project? If you could work with any companies, characters, writers, artists, no restrictions, no rules, complete creative freedom, crossover as many characters from as many different companies as and if you wanted without any complaints, put together whatever creative teams you wanted, and no one would stop you, what would you do?

I would like to illustrate a series of children's books, using a style of visual storytelling similar to what is used in comics. I think it would make for some interesting reading.

Advice to those trying to make it in the Biz today?

Make your work competitive. Behave in a professional manner. Don't accept advice from those who failed. Be proactive. Be persistent. Be hungry for learning. Don't spill spaghetti sauce on your artwork.

Finish these sentences; Right now in the industry we need more...people to buy comics.
and less...hair. (That way I wouldn't feel alone )

And now...
Plug time! This is where you plug as many things as you want, comics, websites, movies, home grown eggs, novels, anything old, new, current and upcoming, muffins, video games, scripts, your brand of homemade laxatives, and whatever else. Anything that could lead to a grossly obscene amount of cash in your pocket, and I mean obscene, disgusting, horrid, just lots of money. Lots and lots of money, oh God is it ever obscene. Ahhhhh. Da money, Da money, Ahhhhhh! The horror, the horror...

Just take a peek at my website, SAL VELLUTO's ART SOUP. Point your browser to velluto.com

PopImage and I would like to thank Sal for participating in this interview and recommend you be sure to check out his site and pick up your copy of BLACK PANTHER today.

All characters, titles, images mentioned or shown are copyright and trademark their respective creators.

Jonathan Ellis is the Interviews Editor at PopImage.

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