This year was my second in attendance at the Baltimore Comic-Con and I’m very happy to report that it surpassed the experience of my first in terms of both my interactions with creators as well as the original artwork and commissions that I was able to walk away with. What stands out most from my weekend in Baltimore was my opportunity to sit down and talk with Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez….. yeah, THAT Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez.

Jose and I initially interacted by way of e-mails in setting up a time to meet and he was extremely accommodating in setting aside time to talk. We decided on meeting up for a drink on Friday night before the show.

Friday night arrived and I walked to the lobby looking around for Jose. I glanced toward the front of the lobby and saw him enthusiastically wave at me from the other side of the window as he finished his cigarette. We spoke briefly outside before going to a darkened corner of the hotel restaurant and finding a quiet table. I was immediately struck by several things as we spoke. Jose is a very thoughtful and insightful person. Jose is very soft-spoken, gracious and humble. Jose appears to have very little understanding on just how influential he has been with his role at DC Comics and a few generations of comic readers!

We talked of Jose’s extensive work in comic strips before moving from Argentina to Hell’s Kitchen in New York City on November 5, 1974. He had a focus and immediately made a trip to DC Comics in search of work. His skills allowed him to be taken in pretty quickly by DC, who clearly knew a good thing when they saw it and have kept him busy since that time. Much of his time has been spent on marketing and licensing materials for the company. He was tasked with developing the first character guides, with Dick Giordano and Joe Orlando, in what would be used as the universal and definitive looks of the company’s characters for merchandising. Many of the company’s artists have utilized this guide as reference in their own work. If you’ve seen lunchboxes, glasses, clothing, games, or have been to theme parks with DC heroes displayed, you’ve knowingly or unknowingly have seen his work.

Reflecting upon his career in comics, Jose talked of the writer/artist relationship as being similar to a marriage with a chemistry and collaboration being essential in producing the greatest results. Though he stated clearly that he dislikes the “favorite” questions, he spoke very fondly of his collaborations with Gerry Conway on such books as Cinder & Ash, and Atari Force, adding that he very much enjoyed Conway’s willingness to “give me room to work”, providing Jose with plots only. This allowed the artist to have a sense of ownership to the book as well as add and create aspects to the story that may have been missed otherwise. Howard Chaykins’ TWILIGHT ranks along side his favorite work experiences. Jose also mentioned his work with Len Wein on Deadman, which he enjoyed a great deal due to the humanistic aspect of the stories. I was thrilled to hear that his work with Michael Fleisher is a fond memory for him since the two collaborated incredibly well for the handful of issues they worked on together.

Jose prefers the opportunity to ink his own pencils and has worked on coloring as well, though he spoke of being realistic; knowing that taking on all of these aspects of the creative process is extremely time-consuming. He pointed out two inkers that he really appreciated being Dick Giordano (on Incredible Hulk vs. Batman Treasury, DC Style Guide), Kevin Nowlan (on Dr. Strangefate, Batman Confidential) and Dave Gibbons (on DC Legacies). When I pointed out Nowlan’s very distinctive style, Jose responded by saying that Nowlan was able to stay true to his pencils, while he “put his own stamp on it” and is conscious of asking if Nowlan is available when he is assigned to work on a book.

A few fun questions:

Only Marvel Comics work: penciled a Marvel Universe page for Joe Rubinstein

Current artists that impress him: Adam Hughes, JH Williams III and David Mazzucchelli, who he cites as a masterful story teller as well as many, many others he  couldn’t remember at the time we were speaking. He quickly added that he believes that artists working in comics today are better than ever before.

Books(Which he cites as an “addiction”):  Very eclectic tastes including sci-fi, sociology, history, fiction, and specifically “Lovecraft, Garcia Marquez, J.L. Borges, Paul Bowles, Paul Theroux, Howard Zinn, etc, etc, etc...”

 

Films: Midnight Cowboy, I Compagni, French Connection, 2001, Dr. Strangelove and almost all Kubrick films, adding “Hey, there are too many great movies and directors to remember them all”

Music: Jazz, Rock, Flamenco, Classical ( Vivaldi,Mozart), Folklore from all over but mostly from Latin America

I asked about his perception of his own work and the influence that he has made in comics. Jose spoke of changing and evolving as creators being essential to the process and growth of an artist. He is extremely critical of his own work. I pointed out that he hadn’t responded to the influence of his work on others and he smiled, looking genuinely surprised. Suddenly, I found myself talking to him about all of the places one could find his images, of how I had been a Marvel kid, but the DC books I read and remembered most as a child were of his work. For God’s sake, DC Comics Presents started out with some of the most stunning art I’d ever seen. I went on to reveal that I had moved around many, many times as a child and comics were the one constant to be found, regardless of where we moved…… and then I realized just how much this man meant to me. I hope that, on some level, he had too.

Jose sold off much off his original artwork before he knew the value of it, though he is now represented by the Artist’s Choice. He doesn’t do sketches at conventions; however he does draw some pieces ahead of time to be sold at the shows he goes to. He doesn’t appear to be sentimental over most of his art, though the artwork that he has kept includes the cover art TWILIGHT and the artwork for the first issue of Cinder & Ash, which were books and characters that he helped to create.

Jose is kept busy with most of his time being spent on licensing artwork, since it is more equitable than comic work. He was quick to point out that he misses working on comics due to the ability to engage in storytelling and especially likes working on period pieces and having the opportunity to do non-cape fare. Asked if there was a character that he never had the opportunity to work on and would enjoy drawing, he responded with Robert E. Howard’s Conan. Though he had been approached to work on Jonah Hex when the current series began, time limitations left him turning that work down. He followed up by saying that he’d enjoy working on the character again. I, for one, would love to see him take on the bounty hunter some day soon. Here’s hopin’!

Jose lives in Queens and is married to his wife of 35 years, Alejandra. As he spoke about her, it was clear that he is a devoted husband. He spoke of them travelling together and spending a great deal of time together daily. He is an artist, but works so that he may live life. I went into this conversation having briefly met Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez at a convention a year ago, walking away from that initial contact really liking who I had perceived him to be. I left our 2 plus hour conversation over espresso, appreciating his art even more than I previously had and had also become an admirer of the quiet, yet powerful man that he is. 

-Fred Chamberlain

September 1, 2010

D.C. Comics Presents #2,

Splash Page 21