*EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH ADAM ARCHER*

[Phil Kost]

Adam Archer (Artist for SPOOKS) took the time to answer some questions for us here at Joe Reloaded.com

JR: First, I want to thank you for taking the time to answer some questions for us here at Joe Reloaded.com.

AA: No problem, thanks for all the support for the Spooks projects!

JR: Let’s start off with some “get to know you” questions, how did you first break into the comic industry?

AA: It took awhile. Several years of continuously doing art samples, sample sequential pages and building up portfolios, then every few months sending those portfolios out to everyone in the industry I had an address for.
One day I received a call from Wildstorm Productions, they said they didn’t have an opening for a penciler but they were looking for a fulltime colorist. I interviewed at the Warner Bros. building in New York because it was closer to home and shortly thereafter moved out to California for the job. I was a colorist at Wildstorm Fx for several years and a clerk there after that until I could quit and pencil full time.

JR: Where did you study?

AA: Everywhere I wasn’t suppose to. I drew all during math class, Science, Spanish, all through high school and college. I think anyone can draw, it just takes the time and dedication regardless of formal training.

JR: Who are some of your influences?

AA: There are so many artists out there that influence me and it changes from project to project. Sometimes I reference lighter more cartoony material and sometimes darker more edgy stuff depending upon the tone and age group a current project is aimed for. Some of the artists would be; Eduardo Risso, Kyle Baker, Jim Lee, Joe Madureira, Oliver Coipel, Lee Bermejo, Tim Sale, Doug Mahnke, and Mike Mignola to name a few.

JR: What has been your favorite project so far?

AA: I’ve been lucky enough to work on a lot fun projects but my favorite to date is the Spooks material. You can’t beat monsters, guns, and girls. There’s just so much fun stuff to draw and little or no talking heads, Larry Hama and Ryan Schifrin did a great job bringing the project to life and filling it with action, cool scene changes etc. It was a blast to work on and I think the more fun the creators have working on a book the better the end result will be.

JR: Looking over some of your previous credits, I see that you have done both horror books and superhero books. Which do you prefer?

AA: No preference. I enjoy bouncing back and forth between genres. I think it helps me keep each style more sharp. When I finish a darker more serious book and move onto a lighter one or vice versa, it kind of gives me ‘new eyes’ and I can tweak my style and hopefully develop it further. It helps me see things in my work that I may not have if I were to work in one style too long.

JR: I noticed a sketch of Destro and the Baroness on your Deviantart site, are you a big GI Joe fan? (http://a-archer.deviantart.com/art/destro-and-the-baroness-90395471)

AA: Yeah, I grew up buying as many toys as my allowance would allow and watching the cartoons over and over again on t.v. I loved the show and I went out and bought a lot of the comics because of it. The old Joe covers from the 80’s are some of my favorite comic covers to this day.

JR: What comics are you currently reading?

AA: B.P.R.D, Green Lanters Corps, Usagi Yojimbo

JR: Moving into the SPOOKS related questions. How did you get involved with the SPOOKS project?

AA: I’m a big fan of Ryan Schifrin’s movie Abominable. I fell in love with it and the creature design and tracked Ryan down online. I sent him my work and said I’d like to work with him someday on a future project. About that time he was developing the Spooks material and was considering bringing it to life in graphic form, the timing worked out great.

JR: What was it like to work with SPOOKS creative team?

AA: My career in comics is still pretty new but so far the Spooks books have been the best experience I’ve had. Ryan and Larry’s material is great, it’s a blast to work on and they’re super nice guy’s. They’re also open to input and comments I’d have on the material so it’s definitely the most personal project I’ve been on. I really feel a part of it and again, I think that brings out the best in an artist.

JR: Were you involved with the character creation of the SPOOKS characters?

AA: For the most part, only the visual side of things. At the beginning Ryan had some designs he had from other artists for several of the core characters. I was to use those designs as a starting point but I had the freedom to make them a bit more my own. As the books progressed Ryan and Larry would introduce new characters and if they were more substantial I’d do several design sketches, send them over to Ryan and make sure we were both happy with how they looked.

JR: Are you involved with the upcoming SPOOKS: Hunt for Frank mini?

AA: I am, what we’ve done so far are some character designs for some crazy fun villains and a short intro story that’s in the back of the recently released Spooks: Omega Team trade paper back.

JR: Any other projects you have coming up that we should be on the lookout for?

AA: I’m just wrapping up another project with Ryan and Larry called The Devil’s Handshake. It’s sort of Indianna Jones meet’s James bond, and it’s nothing but fun. Great action, fun dialogue and cool settings.

JR: Thank you again for answering our questions.

AA: Thank you! And keep up the great work at JoeReloaded.