Lilja's Library

by Hans-Ake Lilja

  Lilja: How did you get involved with The Dark Tower comic?

  Richard Isanove: Joe Quesada, the editor-in-chief at Marvel, called me out of the blue and asked if I liked Stephen King. I had no idea where that conversation was going. I thought he may be kidding because I’m such an outspoken fan of King, but when he told me what it was about I was ecstatic.

  It’s been two years since we did those first four demo pages and I’m still just as thrilled as when we started.

  Lilja: How does it work? You get the sketches from Jae Lee and then you color them? Do you decide how and what colors should be used or is that a decision Jae makes?

  Richard Isanove: Jae e-mails the pencils to me. I ask that he sends color notes along with them. It’s usually one line explaining the time of day, what he thinks is important on the page and if a detail has to be a specific color. After that I just dive into it and improvise. I’ve read the books so I have a pretty good idea about what is what and what it should look like. We also talk almost every day day on the phone (he lives in New York).

  When I finish a page, I email a small jpeg to Jae to check if I got anything wrong, like a character’s hair color or clothes. He helps me keep track of the continuity.

  Lilja: How often, if ever, do you have to ask Jae to make changes? And if you do, what changes are we talking about?

  Richard Isanove: By the time I get the pages, it’s already the second or third version. Jae can’t let go until he thinks it’s perfect. I like to do things as best as I can the first time around, move on.

  Sometimes I’ll notice a small mistake in some costume accessory but before I say anything, Jae has already sent a new and corrected version. I think he spends his time looking at his own art over and over.

  When we finish a book, we go over it and make more adjustments.

  Lilja: Do you also have access to the text when you color the illustrations?

  Richard Isanove: I have the plot and I read the page description before I start. The more information you have before you begin, the more focused your vision will be. Just by looking at the pencils and reading the script, I have a very precise idea of how to approach the page.

  Lilja: Were you or are you now a fan of Stephen King and The Dark Tower?

  Richard Isanove: To be honest, I had never read The Dark Tower books until I started on the project.

  I dated a girl quite a few years back who was a huge SK fan and she kept telling me to read some, but just to be pigheaded, I never did. I thought it was airport literature.

  One thing to know is that when I work I love listening to audiobooks. So, in 1998, I bought the Bag of Bones audio book read by King himself. It was an awesome experience. I was very impressed by the sheer quality of the prose, but mostly by the dimensionality of the characters and the intimate connection with them, increased by the fact that the writer himself was telling the story. From then on, I’ve made it my mission to convert all the naysayers.

  One of his books I could never finish was the Gunslinger. The writing was so detached and descriptive that I just didn’t care for it. I tried the Frank Muller version, which I thought was a little overdramatic, then I found a version SK recorded himself in 1998 and still I couldn’t make it past the first third without my mind wandering and losing track. Finally I bought the revised version and listened to it while coloring the first four demo pages to immerse myself in the universe. It was only about eight hours long, so I was done with it by the end of page one. So, I downloaded The Drawing of the Three and I was blown away. I simply loved it and it’s still probably my favorite chapter. After that, I listened to the whole series in one go while working on the first issue. I only took one break halfway through to listen to The Memory of Running, which King had recommended in his Entertainment Weekly column.

  Lilja: Some people might say that you don’t need to be a fan of, or even know anything about, The Dark Tower to color Jae’s sketches. What would you like to say to them?

  Richard Isanove: It’s true, but I don’t think you can keep producing your best work day after day if you just work for a paycheck. I want to make each page look the best possible because I know it’s part of a bigger thing. I remind myself everyday of how lucky I am to be an active part of it. The Dark Tower is important for a lot of people and it has become the main part of my life: I work twelve hours a day on this thing. It’s probably not necessary to be a fan to do what I do, but it makes for a really unique experience and I enjoy every moment of it. At the end of the day, for me, that’s really what matters.

  Lilja: Others might say that coloring someone else’s sketches is an easy task, that the real work is in doing the sketches themselves. How would you respond to that?

  Richard Isanove: Man, you know a lot of negative people! Seriously, it’s all part of a group effort and if anyone drops the ball, it falls apart.

  Jae is a very solid penciller and that makes my job easier, but if you look at his previous work, you’ll see that different colorists will completely change the final result. It’s not really a matter of how hard it is, but what look you’re trying to obtain. People come to me because they want a certain look and it’s more of collaboration than an employee/employer relation.

  Lilja: How nervous were you about working on The Dark Tower? After all, it’s King’s masterpiece.

  Richard Isanove: I feel pretty confident now, mostly because the response has been so positive. Last year was a little weird because we had a few issues done and no one outside of people directly involved had seen anything. Jae and I both felt it was our best work yet and were very proud of it, but no one even really knew what we were doing and without too much feedback, you start to second guess yourself. Also, no one really knew how the series would be received by the public.

  Lilja: I understand that King has the last word on everything. Has he asked you to change anything so far, and if so, can you tell me what?

  Richard Isanove: Nothing so far. He’s been very enthusiastic and supportive. I hope it stays that way. It’s very rewarding to know that the man himself is looking at your work and that he’s happy with it.

  Lilja: How far into the series are you now? Have you finished all seven issues and moved on to the next set?

  Richard Isanove: Issue seven is in the works, but I’m also retouching pages on issue four, which goes out to the printer next week. My technique has evolved a bit through the books and I like to go back and apply my new tricks to the old pages.

  Lilja: I take it that you are in for all the issues, first to last, right?

  Richard Isanove: Hopefully. With my crazy schedule, it’s that or a heart attack. Whichever comes first.

  ****

  Peter David

  Posted: April 21, 2007

  Lilja: For those of us that aren’t that familiar with the world of comics, can you tell me a little about you and what you have done before?

  Peter David: Well, here’s my bio:

  Peter David is a prolific author whose career, and continued popularity, spans nearly two decades. He’s worked in every conceivable media: Television, film, books (fiction, nonfiction and audio), short stories, and comic books, and acquired followings in all of them.

  In the literary field, Peter has had over seventy novels published, including numerous appearances on the New York Times Best-seller List. His novels include Sir Apropos of Nothing (A “fast, fun, heroic fantasy satire”—Publishers Weekly), Knight Life, Howling Mad and the Psi-Man adventure series. He is the co-creator and author of the best-selling Star Trek: New Frontier series for Pocket Books, and has also written such Trek novels as Q-Squared, The Siege, Q-in-Law, Vendetta, I, Q (with John deLancie), A Rock and a Hard Place and Imzadi. He produced the three Babylon 5 Centauri Prime novels, and has also had his short fiction published in such collections as Shock Rock, Shock Rock II and Otherwere, as well as Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine and the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.

  Peter’s comic book resume includes an award-winning
twelve-year run on The Incredible Hulk, and he has also worked on such varied and popular titles as X-Factor, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Fallen Angel, Supergirl, Young Justice, Soulsearchers and Company, Aquaman, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2099, Star Trek, Wolverine, The Phantom, Sachs & Violens and many others. He has also written comic book related novels, such as The Hulk: What Savage Beast, and co-edited The Ultimate Hulk short story collection. Furthermore, his opinion column But I Digress has been running in the industry trade newspaper The Comic Buyer’s Guide for over a decade, and in that time has been the paper’s consistently most-popular feature and was also collected into a trade paperback edition.

  Peter is the co-creator, with popular science-fiction icon Bill Mumy (of Lost in Space and Babylon 5 fame), of the Cable Ace Award-nominated science fiction series Space Cases, which ran for two seasons on Nickelodeon. He has written several scripts for the Hugo Award winning TV series Babylon 5, and the sequel series, Crusade. He has also written several films for Full Moon Entertainment and co-produced two of them, including two installments in the popular Trancers series as well as the science fiction western spoof Oblivion, which won the Gold Award at the 1994 Houston International Film Festival for Best Theatrical Feature Film, Fantasy/Horror category.

  Peter’s awards and citations include: the Haxtur Award, 1996 (Spain), Best Comic script; OZCon, 1995 award (Australia), Favorite International Writer; Comic Buyers Guide 1995 Fan Awards, Favorite writer; Wizard Fan Award Winner, 1993; Golden Duck Award for Young Adult Series (Starfleet Academy), 1994; U.K. Comic Art Award, 1993; Will Eisner Comic Industry Award, 1993.

  He lives in New York with his wife, Kathleen, and his four children, Shana, Gwen, Ariel and Caroline.

  Lilja: How did you get involved with The Dark Tower comic?

  Peter David: They asked me. I’m sorry, I wish I had a sexier answer than that, but that’s the simple truth: One day my phone rang. It was Joe Quesada. He asked if I was interested in the gig, and I said absolutely.

  Lilja: Tell me how it works. Is it correct that you get a manuscript from Robin Furth, and take that and combine it with Jae Lee’s illustrations?

  Peter David: Robin did an initial scene-by-scene breakdown that describes in general terms what happens in each scene. Jae then took that breakdown and told the story visually. I then come in and write the script, producing the original narrative captions and the dialogue (both new and material taken directly from the books).

  Lilja: Do you ever get material from Robin that you have to ask her to change for any reason?

  Peter David: There’s been a good deal of back and forth between myself, Robin and Jae, particularly as the project has gone on and we’ve become more comfortable with the idea of batting stuff around and making it the best it can be.

  Lilja: Have you ever asked Jae to change the illustrations to fit the text better?

  Peter David: Jae has been so obsessed with doing revisions unasked, honing the material until it’s just right, that there hasn’t been too much I’ve had to do. If I do encounter scenes where I feel the art isn’t quite clear, I just make it clear in the dialogue and captions. I think maybe there was one occasion where I said, “I think this really needs to be redrawn,” and it was.

  Lilja: How did you prepare for this task? Were you familiar with The Dark Tower books before this or did you have to read up to do this?

  Peter David: I’d read up to Wizard and Glass. When I got the gig, I went back, reread them, and then went on to the rest of the series. Technically I didn’t need to read past Wizard and Glass, but I’m glad I did. If I’m writing the comic, I can’t be less informed about it than the fans. Plus, it was very helpful; I picked up the narrative style I use largely from the dialect style in Wolves of the Calla, for instance.

  Lilja: Were you nervous about taking over the text for The Dark Tower from King? After all, this is his masterpiece.

  Peter David: Terrified. I actually didn’t relax about it until I came face-to-face with him at the New York Comicon. He’d been saying in emails that he liked what I was doing, but I needed to ask him in person. He put his hands on my face like it was a benediction and said, “You’re doing a fantastic job.” Probably a high point of my career, if not my life.

  Lilja: There is a lot of descriptive text in the first issue. Is that kind of text easier or harder to do compared to dialogue?

  Peter David: No different. The thing is, we’re trying to cover a lot of ground, and I knew we’d need some sort of captioning to bridge the gaps. I just felt that giving the captions a narrative style of their own, as if some unseen person is telling Roland’s history, would add some personality to the series as well as give you even more of a sense of what Mid-World is like.

  Lilja: These first issues are pretty much a direct adaptation of King’s book and I guess you get a lot of guidance from the books. But what about when it comes to new material…do you expect that to be much harder?

  Peter David: No. Easier, actually. For starters, I don’t have to page through already-existing books to find the exact dialogue. But it’s been incredibly useful because working with Steve’s dialogue as a safety net makes it that much easier to develop the sense of how everyone should talk. That way when I’m “flying solo,” as it were, I’ll have an easier time of it.

  Lilja: I understand that King has the last word on everything. Has he asked you to change anything so far, and if so, can you tell me what?

  Peter David: He’s done some fine tuning here and there. I’ve found some of his changes fascinating. For instance, whenever I took dialogue from the books, I didn’t change a word. Edited for length here and there, but kept the wording exact. And in a couple of places, Steve actually changed the dialogue. He rewrote his own words. So I figured, well, if Steve can change the already-printed dialogue, then so can I where necessary.

  Lilja: How far in advance do you get the scripts from Robin? Did you do all seven issues at the same time or did you finish one issue before moving on to the next?

  Peter David: I’m working off the artwork, actually. I’ve got Robin’s outlines for all thirty issues of the entire series. I’ve gotten the artwork through issue six and scripted all of that.

  Lilja: I take it that you are in for all the issues, first to last, right?

  Peter David: If they want me, sure. At the moment I’m only definitely in through issue seven. But I’ll stay around for the long haul if they want.

  ****

  Philippa Pride

  Posted: June 12, 2007

  Philippa Pride is Stephen King’s U.K. editor, and she was kind enough to take time from her busy schedule to talk to me about life as an editor to one of the biggest authors alive today. Here is what she had to say:

  Lilja: How does one become an editor?

  Philippa Pride: (1) The route I recommend is that of an apprenticeship in publishing—it is a valuable way of learning by experience. I was assistant to Stephen King’s editor when I first came to Hodder—it was first-rate training.

  (2) I also recommend training courses—there are many excellent courses for copy-editing, desk editing, presentation, communication, libel, etc. I found all of these a support in the day-to-day business of publishing books.

  (3) If you are going for interviews, I recommend reading a lot of books, in every category—it’s a great way of recognising what is commercial (which can also be literary). Be aware of what is selling, why it is selling, how it is being published as well as coming trends, etc. In Stephen King’s marvellous book On Writing (which I recommend to every aspiring editor as well as author) he says to become a writer you have to read a lot. The same applies to editors.

  (4) Once you’re in a job (as assistant), shadow edit; I used to type up or read my boss’s notes alongside the scripts he edited. Offer to read and report on submissions for the senior editor. The passion starts in-house with the editor.

  (5) Spend time in bookshops—look at the covers, the promotions, what people are buying. Read the revi
ews. Look at the weekly best-seller list. Talk to booksellers. Read blogs. See what’s popular in other areas of the media—TV, film, etc. Be enthusiastic.

  Lilja: Can you tell me a little about what an editor does?

  Philippa Pride: I have heard the role of a commissioning editor being compared to that of a film producer—and also mid-wife!

  Simply, the commissioning editor’s role is two-fold:

  (1) To find exciting authors and scripts (directly, from literary agents, from scouts), have a vision for how to position and publish the book in both hardcover and paperback, take it through the acquisition meeting (pitching to colleagues in Sales, Marketing, Publicity, Rights), to acquire the rights and to champion that book to publication and beyond.

  In a publishing house the editor is the central cog in the wheel (comprised of Sales, Rights, Publicity, Contracts, Royalties, Marketing, Art, Production). Editors work with these departments each step of the book’s journey.

  (2) To nurture the author, to think about the long-term strategy and to edit the book in question, seeing it through all stages of the editing process to finished book.

  The editing process can be broken down into two basic stages—structural editing (i.e. notes to the author about pace, character, motivation, story line) and copy-editing/line-editing (often done by a freelancer, to catch any outstanding inconsistencies, to cross t’s and dot i’s, to prepare the script for press).

  As Stephen King’s British editor, I run a monthly meeting with Hodder’s Managing Director where we discuss what is coming up, sales and subscriptions, when we are going to schedule his new titles in hardcover and mass market, we explore initiatives for the backlist titles, discuss how to publish and garner early support (e.g. building on the word of mouth through galleys, samplers) for books and audio, find out about film news, etc.

  I am always looking at developing campaigns with the team at Hodder to grow Stephen King in the U.K. and international territories—we look to target new audiences for his titles, to satisfy the fans, but also to appeal to new readers. We also look at how we can work with retailers to achieve this.