Comics Interview — Issue #042

Main Topics: Frank Frazetta Museum, Death Dealer, The Emissary (Electric Comics), independent creator-owned comics

Contents
  1. Steve Ringgenberg
  2. Frank Frazetta
  3. Editorial: Up Front — A Rap with DAK (David Anthony Kraft)
  4. Letters: The Last Word
interview Steve Ringgenberg
Interviewed by Matt Jorgensen
Steve Ringgenberg Writer/Editor, Byron Preiss Visual Productions / Electric Comics Working on: The Emissary, educational comics anthologies, Synwulfe mini-series
Ringgenberg discusses his new bi-monthly science-fiction comic The Emissary (Electric Comics), co-written with Jorgensen, describing its elaborate world-building on the planet Calador and its aim for a more literary, cinematic storytelling style. He reflects critically on his earlier work for DC and Marvel, praises Alan Moore's Watchmen as the best comic on the market, and is sharply critical of Chris Claremont's verbosity and Frank Miller's insularity. He also discusses his role as associate editor at Byron Preiss Visual Productions, where he is adapting Bradbury, Bloch, and H.G. Wells stories into comics for the educational market.
interview Frank Frazetta
Interviewed by Steve Ringgenberg
Frank Frazetta Painter/Artist, Independent (Frazetta Museum) Working on: Death Dealer painting series, Fire and Ice retrospective
Frazetta discusses the origins and philosophy behind the Frazetta Museum in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, which he and wife Ellie opened primarily for fans rather than profit, and reflects on his decision to retain his original artwork after watching gifted-away pieces appreciate dramatically on the secondary market. He recounts his experience co-producing Fire and Ice with Ralph Bakshi, including directing rotoscope action sequences and the challenge of making live-action reference translate into his exaggerated painted style. He speaks at length about his new series of Death Dealer paintings — this time a character he owns outright — and delivers strong opinions on originality versus imitation in art and what separates a true creative artist from a technically skilled draftsman.
article Editorial: Up Front — A Rap with DAK (David Anthony Kraft)
DAK reflects on how a Frazetta paperback cover for an Edgar Rice Burroughs Ace edition may have been the pivotal moment that drew him into a world of imagination and ultimately led him to publish Comics Interview, meditating on the invisible but far-reaching influence of a creator's work.
article Letters: The Last Word
Reader T.M. Maple praises the group-interview format of issue #39 while critiquing the overuse of multi-part installments and the shrinking letters column; DAK hints at a possible Comics Interview compendium. Reader E. Hoffmann Price argues that ancient Egyptians invented comics through illustrated papyrus narratives.