Ben Oliver is an artist on the rise. We caught up with him to discuss where he’s going and where he’s been.
Describe yourself for our readers
Ben Oliver, 33 years old, I live in Bristol, England with my wife Catherine and cat Marmalade. First professional comics work in 2000, first American comics work in 2003. Have also worked on design for videogames and television, magazine covers, games covers and the like. Enjoy watching movies, playing videogames, sleeping, and eating chocolate biscuits. Hate bananas and peas.
What kind of kid were you at school?
Just the usual really - I always loved drawing from primary school onwards, mainly monsters and stuff. Once I was at middle school everything I drew had blood on it somewhere, the stories I made up were pretty gruesome. I’ve asked my mum whether there was ever any concern over my mental wellbeing due to the nature of this stuff but I think they thought it was nothing to worry about.
Otherwise I was a bit of a show-off, and if I could get away with it, very lazy.
Who were your major influences when you were younger and just what was the motivating factor that made you decide to break into the industry?
Once I was at upper school and in the sixth form I decided I wanted to be a special effects technician, prosthetics and that kind of thing. We had the luxury of a really small design class, and could basically do anything we wanted, so I spent the most of those two years making latex creatures, building fake weapons, scratch-building spaceships and constructing a full-size Freddy Krueger model (he was popular then, alright?). That was in 1989, and Batman was causing a huge buzz as the movie had just come out. It was only really then that I started to get into comics - Vertigo seemed like the coolest thing ever. I’d seen [Simon] Bisley’s first painted stuff and was really inspired to start drawing properly again. In the meantime I was reading 2000ad here and there, and Sean Phillip’s painted stuff on Devlin Waugh was another motivating factor in wanting to draw comics professionally.
After sixth form I went off to do a HND in Illustration, where I continued to do some comics stuff, but mainly concentrated on developing the Ben Oliver ’style’, whatever that is. Then I moved onto an Illustration degree and dropped the comics work completely, although by that time I’d been introduced to Bill Sienkevwicz’s work and comic artists were still a major influence on the illustration stuff I was doing. Then I graduated and did sod all for 4 years while I worked to try and pay off some of my student debts. I sat on my fat arse working in a call centre and drinking cider.
How did you break into drawing comics? Can you describe Com X to those who may not have encountered it.
In 1997 I decided enough was enough and I should try to get a proper job, so I wrote to 2000ad and the then editor and all round top bloke, Andy Diggle, sent me a sample script. I spent ages doing it, sent it back and got a very nice rejection letter as it wasn’t quite up to snuff. Although I should thank Andy at this point as he detailed a few golden rules about comic art in the letter which I still follow now. Unfortunately I thought I was brilliant and the best undiscovered talent ever, so I was a bit deflated and didn’t get in contact with them again for another three years (!). Anyway, I did another sample script and this time Andy offered me a six page story in the Megazine, which was just the biggest buzz ever. At exactly the same time in April 2000 I wandered down to the Bristol Convention that year, and met Neil Googe and the boys from Com.x, who basically offered me a job on the spot. Fantastic!
Working for Com.x was a bit of a golden joyous period really. The guys were generating a lot of noise and all of the product looked great, it was a really exciting time. I think the problems we then encountered are pretty well documented, but during those three years I gained a huge amount of experience of the comics industry, and we had the opportunity to work on a massive range of jobs, from computer games design, to magazine covers, to projects for tv and film. It’s the guys there I have to thank for such an easy ride into working in comics professionally.
Puncture was one of the main series at Com X written by Russ Uttley with art by Ben. A 6 issue series it dealt with immortals and lots of blood in what appeared to be a revamping of Vampire mythology. It was fairly confusing, but Ben’s art shone through.
What was Puncture about?
Ask Russ.
Which pretty much sums up a reader’s perception of the book when even the artist cannot tell you what it was really about.
Where do you draw your inspiration from?
Anything and everything - comic art, fine art, movies, illustration, contemporary art, graphic design - I personally think the wider the inspiration the better. There’s no point in limiting your reference to just comics, otherwise there’s a chance you might end up being some kind of clone. I’d never describe my work as being the slightest bit original, but an amalgamation of a whole load of creative influences that somehow defines the way my work looks. Frank Miller, Mike Mignola, Bill Sienkevwicz, Ash Wood, Tommy Lee Edwards, Neil Googe, Sean Phillips, Phil Hale, Jock, Masamune Shirow, JP Leon, Moebius are just a few of the comic artists that have had an impact on my work.
Just how important is it to have a defined work ethic in this business? Describe a typical working day?
Very important, but it doesn’t always go to plan. My typical day starts at nineish with a couple of cups of coffee and loads of ciggies, watch a bit of Trisha ( or my current favourite, Homes Under the Hammer ) - go upstairs to my studio/spare room, faff about for an hour or two, back downstairs for more coffee and a quick look on the ‘net, back upstairs for more faffing until my wife gets home. In fact a bit of pressure does wonders, and if I’m under a deadline I work much better, although my wife would rightly dispute that. Unfortunately I quite like working at night, but again that isn’t conjusive to a harmonious married life. I’m slowly trying to sort my working day out, but being under pressure is a real motivation - my page rate is currently 2-4 pages per day, which is nice.
Your name’s been tied with that nice Mr Diggle on a new series. What’s it about and when is it likely to start?
We just had a quick chat in Brighton, really. Andy’s got an ace sci-fi-ish idea that I’d love to draw, as I’d get to design lots of lovely costumes and vehicles and stuff, which would be super-cool. However, because of something I don’t think I can mention yet, it’s going to be some time before it’d see the light of day. Would really like to do it though……..
Any new projects coming up you can tell us about?
I’m on Ultimate X Men for three issues and then watch this space as to what’s next.
Are there any projects/characters you’d like to do?
X-Men and Batman.
What are you reading these days?
Nothing specific, as I’m one of those dodgy artists that doesn’t read comics, just looks at the pretty pictures. Other than comics, I’m currently reading Auto Trader as I’ve become obsessed with buying an Audi.
What’s the geekiest thing you have in the house?
When my wife and I got married, we had a sci-fi themed fancy dress reception, so I made a Boba Fett helmet out of cardboard. I didn’t have time to stretch to making the full costume, but the helmet might be the geekiest thing. I also made a stormtrooper helmet out of cardboard and coke bottles, fact fans.
Mark Peyton – has a MA in History and Research from the University of Hull specialising in the Hundred Years War. In a complete departure from that he now runs communications and membership for a UK based Trade Union as well as being a part time writer/journalist.
He is a founding member of Millarworld acting as a moderator and as an editor for Fractal Matter.