An interview with Daniel Brereton, by Jon Ellis.
PSYCHO. NOCTURNALS. THRILLKILLER. BLACK TERROR. GIANTKILLER.
Take it in, now tell me what name comes to mind. Well, the name is Daniel Brereton, and as I'm sure you already know his paintings are pretty damn amazing. Born and raised in Northern California, where he now resides, Daniel was educated in the San Francisco bay area, and went to two art schools there: the California College of Arts and Crafts and The Academy of Art College, SF. Now he's the main man behind the popular Nocturnals Series and the current DC great, GIANTKILLER. Daniel Brereton is now one of the most talented and outstanding creators currently in the comic biz. Why comics? Because.
"Comics are the purest form of storytelling for an artist-writer. Comics are a wonderland."
PI: All right, Daniel, tell us, what was your first published work?
DB: A back up serial I penciled for eclipse comics; the serial was called RANSOM, and the book was called MERCHANTS OF DEATH. I was still in school. Kurt Busiek wrote it and it was my all-time worst ever experience in comics. Working with Kurt and actually getting paid 50 bucks a page to pencil a comics story were the only two good things about. A really forgettable art job. I went to the San Diego Comicon that year for the first time, was totally ignored as an artist, and flew home early, disgusted with myself. I'd talked a little with Dave McKean, Kent Williams, George Pratt, and I saw their painted works and thought, "how bad do I suck?" I felt like I was the worst excuse for an artist that ever came down the pike. The next semester at school, I did this 7-page painted story as a semester project, and after I showed it to an editor at Eclipse and a year later, BLACK TERROR #1 came out, my first fully painted book. I haven't looked back since.
PI: Being an accomplished artist And writer, how do you feel about the comics medium, and the current state it's in? Any suggestions on how to improve it?
DB: I'm sad that comics seem to be in trouble, doubly sad because there are so many great things comics have to offer readers and fans.
The film industry had descended on us all like a (mostly welcome) plague of idea-starved executives and producers. How I wish readers loved us as much, hell even relied on us as much.
However, I'm not joining the crowd that says comics will soon expire, that the mighty dragon that spawned such greats as Jack Kirby and Alan Moore is soon to fall. I think comics will survive, possibly in another form. Online perhaps?
One pet theory I have is that if Educators of the Young went to comics to get their students interested in reading more, comics could find a new audience. I also feel that the whole video-game thing is gonna calm down. Video games that seemed so fantastic now, feel a little like yesterday's technology. Comics will, I feel, enjoy a comeback. Droughts have happened before, they pass. Internet technology with online comics stores like NextPlanetover.com or Khepri.com (to name very few) seem to be corralling actual readers of comics, reviving the cool factor and love of comics by more participation in the medium with message boards, interviews, etc. its encouraging, but it could happen sooner.
PI: Being one of the forerunners in doing fully painted comic books, how do you feel about the growing number of artists entering the comics field as painters?
DB: I don't actually see that there are many painters in the field. There were certainly more in the early nineties who aren't there now. I don't see the number as growing as much as slowly replenishing many empty seats. And how many of them are actual painters, and not computer artists? I see a big difference there.
I'm glad they are there. Moreover, I'm glad that readers are still interested in seeing some comics painted. Painted. I hate that word. Sure, I paint, but I'm an illustrator."Painted comic" never sounded right to me. The connotation is one of pretension. Phooey!
PI: Speaking of computer-generated effects in comic books, I've often felt it was a cheap substitute for an artist to do real work, but in some cases, say computer colouring, the technology has been a bonus, what do you think?
DB: I think Kyle Baker's new GN is really sharp and I think working on computer is a great thing; who's to say I won't try it myself in the future on a project. It's illustration, its not painting.
PI: Chicken or beef?
DB: Chicken, five nights, beef one. But really, its all about sushi.
PI: Your art has a very stylized feel to it. If I were an art critic describing it, I might say 'the feel of thunderstorms and rock and roll, splashes of colour like that of Pollock, the smoothness of Degas, the expression of Munch and Gericault, and the power of a big honkin' bunch of freakin' monsters - but maybe that's just me. How did this style come about? Any specific influences?
DB: I was discussing style before. How's this: personality meets limitation, fall in love, and have a child called style. Then about 18 months later, personality gets pregnant again but this time, it's a little girl.
I don't know. My "style" has always been there, it's there in the drawing of a single line. I don't think style can be faked, that's for sure, and I doubt it can be planned.
PI: Like I said, music seems to be integrated into your style. Any specific musical influences that affected your art? What do you listen to now, when you work?
DB: These days I listened to Howard Stern while I work; its entertaining banter and I find out what's going on without watching CNN. It takes my mind off the part of me that would rather be playing. But when I do listen to music (mostly while driving, cleaning house or playing with the kids, etc.) its a group that ranges from Rob Zombie to Charlie Parker (I know how pretentious this sounds, but I do like jazz and blues) to Mazzy Star to Ry Cooder to Led Zeppelin. Right now on the changer I have Powerman5000, the IRON GIANT Soundtrack, the BATMAN RETURNS soundtrack, Cibo Matto, Black Sabbath, Cranberries, Alice in Chains, Third Eye Blind. Filter
PI: Any other Elseworlds style projects planned?
DB: Working on it. Turns out Howard (Chaykin) wrote a panel-by panel breakdown of a third THRILLKILLER book. I'd never heard of it til last month. And he has a plan for a sequel series called THRILLMAKER, with Green Arrow, Green Lantern and Batgirl in SF in the late '60s. It's set in the THRILLKILLER universe so there still aren't any super powers, but it sounds great. DC's reaction to this at present is unknown, but time will tell. Beyond that, I have several pitches in with DCfor Elseworlds. plenty of them, so you never know.
PI: Here's some quick questions; who are your favourite heroes?
DB: Mathilda and Leon. Batgirl. Robin. All seven of the Seven Samurai. Thor. Kerchak. The Silver Surfer. Yellow Jacket and The Wasp. Daredevil and the Black Widow. Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. Black Bolt and Medusa. The Hulk. The Spleen and the Bowler.
PI: Villains?
DB: Vader, Maul, Jabba. Fett, Bizarro, Darkseid, Harley Quinn, Maleficent.
PI: Female androids?
DB: Call.
PI: Favourite old school artist?
DB: Gene Colan. John Buscema.
PI: Best Kirby monster?
DB: Dragon-Man.
PI: Best Kirby giant monster?
DB: Fin Fang Foom.
PI: Most under-appreciated creator currently in the biz?
DB: Kieron Dwyer. There are actually a lot of them, unfortunately.
PI: Worst fanboy experience?
DB: Learning the painful lesson that some of the best creators are the biggest dicks. Worst professional experience: being called the Ralph Kramden of comics by a glib Howard Chaykin as a retort to an actually clever jab I'd made at him. I wish I could back this up by remembering the clever jab.
PI: Proudest piece of work?
DB: NOCTURNALS. But GIANTKILLER may eclipse it. I have to step back from it first. I'm too close to make the distinction right now. I'm also proud of THRILLKILLER because the idea worked, and I really worked hard to make a period story work. Chaykin would maybe differ with me, but, you know, he's a nut. Who cares, right?
PI: Advice to those trying to make it in the Biz today?
DB: Find work elsewhere. We're full, thanks. Seriously, I'd try to get work with Lucasfilm or Sony or Warner Bros. Comics are for self-hating workaholics. If you're one of us, join the club, be my guest. But would it kill some of you would-be comics pros in the making to buy more comics while you're at it?
PI: What has been your favourite book to work on?
DB: I believe that would be NOCTURNALS WITCHING HOUR. It was a fun little story that didn't take forever.
PI: How did NOCTURNALS ideas come to life, or just something entirely new?
DB: The Nocs are a combination of childhood and adult stuff that came together over the years slowly. Crime, Halloween, spooky stuff, weird creatures, Lovecraftian monsters, etc.. just things I love boiled down into a big dense storyline.
PI: How's the Nocturnals/Rob Zombie compilation coming along? What was the basic premise behind that gathering?
DB: Rob and I both would like to do a comic project together, possibly combining our characters into one story, and we worked out a story to that end. But Zombie's hot now and has more irons in the fire than one man should; he's the most overworked no-sleep-getting rock guy in the biz, I'm sure, and right now comics are last on the list. Again, only time will tell. Rob and I met when he hired me to do some production work on the CROW 3 film when he was set to direct and write it. I illustrated several main characters in the form of three large paintings. After that, we talked more and he hired me to do art for his new album. I also helped get him in touch with Gene Colan who drew a 12-page zombie story for Rob.
PI: GIANTKILLER looks excellent and has a nice storyline. There's the obvious Japanese and Kirby monster influence to it, but what else brought this series about?
DB: My son and I found ourselves watching a ton of Godzilla films and other daikaiju flicks, and we loved them, bonded over them, really. They represent the first cool thing we had in common (him being age 3 and myself 31). I have always drawn and loved monsters and giants since I was a kid too. it's just another side of my skull getting to play.
PI: And speaking of your giant monsters I noticed that 'E' stands for "evildoer" even though "Ellis" would be so much cooler. What's up with that?
DB: You know, I was gonna make E stand for "Ellis," but I was afraid of the copyright and trademark infringement cases that could occur. if it makes you happy, you can adopt Evildoer as your personal monster deity.
PI: And if you were to describe the GIANTKILLER storyline in a sentence or two, how might that go?
DB: Scientist from another world escapes an alien invasion by coming to Earth. Once there he and his clairvoyant daughter are caught up in a world of mobsters, monsters and creatures of the night.
PI: Along those lines, what about gods? Ever thought of trying your hand at Kirby's fourth world characters, or the Asgardian crew?
DB: I would love to do a Norse mythology book. It would be a blast! Kirby's Fourth World would be fun to tackle.
PI: 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 you wanted without any complaints, and no one would stop you, what would you do?
DB: I'd like to combine the NOCTURNALS with GIANTKILLER and really expand that whole world; come up with my own Fourth World and populate it, create a universe of titles for it. Some stuff I'd do on my own, some of it I'd want other artists I like, and writers, to helm. Pretty much the same thing guys like Liefeld and Lee and McFarlane have done. Only, you know, a lot better. Not a recycling of Marvel and DC concepts.
PI: Hmmm, let me take a guess at who you might have in mind, artists; possibly Kieron Dwyer and Tim Bradstreet, another painter; maybe John Estes, and writers; naturally Garth Ennis, and maybe John Francis Moore, hmmm. ?
DB: Sure. There's a very large list that would include those guys, naturally, as well as Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, Walter Simonson, Gene Colan, Adam Warren. I think it would even be fun to write something for Alex Ross.
PI: Does that mean we might be treated to a NOCTURNALS/GIANTKILLER crossover at some time?
DB: If I could find a publisher or publishers willing to do it, finance it, etc, sure. But there are no plans as such.
PI: I'm not sure how DC might treat that, although since they're both DC, they might be lenient towards a GIANTKILLER/PSYCHO storyline.
DB: That would never happen. Logistically, it would be impossible. It's more likely they'd do a GK/JLA crossover before anything else.
PI: You've shown an obvious interest in movies and music, have you ever thought of dabbling in any other forms of entertainment? In a time when just about every comic has some sort of Hollywood adaptation in the works, someone must have approached you about your properties or past works?
DB: I have been approached and I have feelers out and I'm working on cutting my teeth on some Hollywood film work. Nothing to report yet. But I'm working on it! Right now I'm wrestling with adapting the NOCTURNALS into a screenplay in a way that works on the screen.
PI: GIANTKILLER, what should we expect from the end and will there be a sequel?
DB: I'm not going to talk about the end, obviously, but I will say that as with many great stories, its climax takes place on top of a mountain. As far as a sequel: I'm not done with Jack and Jill, but there are no current plans for a sequel. I do know what I'd like to do as far as a follow-up goes, though I can't talk about it now. I find, in general, when I talk about things that aren't set in stone, they tend to become jinxed and never happened. I'm trying to learn how to not talk about things.
PI: Any reccommendations for our readers, so they can all go out like a group of nocturnal slaves, spending like no sane person should, in eerie allegiance to your command?
DB: 13TH WARRIOR - great Viking barbarian action flick, loved it. IRON GIANT - a new classic of animation. This film needs to be re-released with a heavy marketing push. It's an under-appreciated thing of beauty and I want more cool IG toys. BATMAN BEYOND, BATMAN/SUPERMAN hour - the greatest animated show on TV. BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER - the greatest live action series on TV. BIG GUY AND RUSTY cartoon - saw the first episode last weekend and its great stuff. I'm very envious, naturally. GODZILLA the series - great animated weekly show. Excellent monsters! The film should have been more like this.
I want to urge everyone who hasn't to buy everything they can get their hands on by Brian Michael Bendis and David Mack. Adults only: you must get your hands on Kieron Dwyer's completely subversive sick and hilarious comic, LCD.
Chris Golden's new novel STRANGEWOOD is due out soon; go get a copy! I recommend everyone read Mark Frost's THE LIST OF 7, and THE 6 MESSIAHS. Also, the crime yarns of Jon A. Jackson. THE DIEHARD, THE BLIND BIG, DEAD FOLKS, GROOTKA, DEAD MAN. Great stuff. I read anything by James Ellroy, Lawrence Block or Carl Hiassen. If you like crime fiction, you should too.
Everyone should go out and track down LEON: INTEGRAL VERSION this is an import laserdisc from Japan that I'm sure is available as a bootleg video somewhere, but basically, its uncut version of THE PROFESSIONAL. It's a must see for fans of this film!!
Those who want to check out some more Daniel Brereton stuff can go to his website at http://www.nocturnals.com We at PopImage strongly urge you all to pick up his current series GIANTKILLER while you still can.
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Relevant Links
www.nocturnals.com