Frank Cho rides high on the list of comic creators who went through a dramatic career change. The nursing world’s loss is the comic worlds gain however as Cho shot to comic stardom as the artist behind Marvel Knights: Spider-Man with writer Mark Millar, Shanna The She-Devil and New Avengers with Brian Michael Bendis as well as his own creation, the endearing Liberty Meadows.
Renowned for his depiction of ‘the ladies’ from many genres, Frank has pencilled pieces from a wide range of influences from Dija Thoras of the John Carter stories to playboy playmate Tiffany Taylor as well as his fare share of the hottest hotties in comics. And with upcoming covers for Red Sonja and Ms Marvel, Frank has quickly become the ‘go-to’ guy when your book features babes, action and monsters aplenty.
Cho ‘s talents as a writer also shine and prove that a compelling story and essential sense of humour can transcend even the stigma often attached to female-led books with the hugely successful Shanna, which he wrote and pencilled, and with his own creation the ever popular Liberty Meadows. With fans clamouring for the Marvel Max (boobs n’ butt’s) version of the babes and dinosaurs epic and a sequel in the works (as well as a top secret Marvel project to be announced), Frank Cho is busier than ever, but he still managed to find time to talk to Russ Sheath about his work, his career and the ladies…..
How does your usual working day pan out?
My schedule is pretty hectic running around all day taking care of my two daughters, Emily (4 years old) and Samantha (almost 2 years old). They go to Day Care part-time. I end up doing bulk of my work after they go to bed. I guess my real work day is from 9 pm to 2 am. I also spend about 2- 3 hours during the day doing work while the girls take naps or away at Day Care, but lately, I end up napping myself.
You reside high in the league of ‘comic creators who made a dramatic career change’, did you graduate from Nursing School?
Yes. I have a Bachelors Degree in Nursing from University of Maryland School of Nursing in Baltimore. But I’m not a registered nurse.
At what point did producing comics start to take over from your intended career?
Ever since 5th grade when I started collecting comic books, I wanted to be comic book artist or a book illustrator. It has been pretty much a straight shot. I was very lucky.
Most readers know your Marvel work, but are maybe less familiar with Liberty Meadows, tell us a bit about the strip, the characters and its history?
Liberty Meadows is an offshoot of my college newspaper strip. While attending University of Maryland Nursing School, I drew a daily comic strip, UNIVERSITY2 (pronounced University Squared) for the student newspaper at the University of Maryland main campus in College Park.
I won the prestigious Scripps-Howard’s Best College Cartoonist award and Charles Schulz Plaque for Excellence in Cartooning, This eventually lead to national syndication. UNIVERSITY2 morphed into Liberty Meadows when it was launched as a syndicated newspaper comic strip. At its peak circulation, it was in about 100 newspapers.
Liberty Meadows is the name of the animal sanctuary that houses the unwanted, insane and homeless animals. Some of the main animal characters are: Dean, a male chauvinistic pig who’s in for detox. Ralph, former circus bear and mad inventor. Leslie, hypochondriac bullfrog. Truman, a baby duck rescued from an oil spill. Oscar, an abandoned wiener dog. Liberty Meadows is a place where anything and everything happens. Brandy Carter is the primary care-taker and Frank Mellish is the resident animal doctor. It’s basically a love story between Frank and Brandy.
You seemed to make a pretty seamless transition from the syndicated strip format of Liberty Meadows to full comic work, what were the main challenges you faced when making that transition?
There wasn’t too much transitional pain. I was first and foremost a comic book fan since childhood. I ate and breathed comic book. So I was well versed in the mechanics of comic books. The real challenge was to learn how to tell a story and entertain people in a four panel newspaper COMIC STRIP format. So when I made the transition from comic strip to comic book, it was rather an easy one for me.
You jumped straight in with Marvels biggest icon Spider-man pencilling Mark Millar’s script - was that your first experience of pencilling someone else’s script?
No, my first experience working from someone else’s script was for Penthouse Comix when I was in college. It was a light-hearted science fiction-fantasy porn story. Yes, my first professional gig was drawing pornography. The script was by Al Gross who later became the regular writer for Dark Horse Tarzan comic book and the later the Tarzan newspaper strip. I don’t mind drawing from someone else’s script as long as it’s a good story and I can add stuff to it.
How did you find that experience, did you collaborate closely with Mark?
There really wasn’t any close contact with Mark during that time. Maybe few emails back and forth. It was mainly me getting the completed script from my editor and drawing it. So there was no real give-and-take collaboration.
Mark Millar is my favourite writer in comics right now. I truly believe he’s one of the best comic book writers of his generation. Mark really knows the craft of comic book story telling. Now with that said, drawing Mark Millar’s Spider-Man was a maddening experience.
There were days on end where I loathed Mark Millar. I mean, I hated that rat bastard. Because his ideas were so brilliant that I had trouble fitting all his visual ideas into the allotted panels. He would describe actions and sequences that were so awesome but were impossible to fit into one or two scripted panels. Often times, I would spend nights trying to figure out how to fit them all into the page or into a panel. Those were the days that I wanted to strangle that brilliant Scottish hooligan. Eventually I gave up and just added panels to accommodate his visual sequences. Or in few incidences, completely drop the less important visual ideas.
And there were days where I was giddy as a school girl reading his delightful script and marvelling at how he deftly constructed the story. Those were the days it felt great to be a comic book artist.
So depending on the day, I loved or hated working for Mark Millar. All in all, it was an unforgettable experience. And I would jump at the chance to work with him again, in a New York minute.
Lets talk Shanna! You wrote and pencilled the series, how did that series come about?
I hooked up with Axel Alonso through my computer animator friend, Scott Sava. Marvel made an offer that I couldn’t refuse.
Was it always your intention to follow Spider-man with a female led book?
Yes. I enjoy drawing females and fans seem to like my females. So it was a no brainer.
Given the challenges of putting out a female driven book in the industry was it your intention from the outset to challenge that convention?
You’re making it sound like I had a master plan. Truthfully I don’t care or noticed the recent trends or politic climate of the industry. Marvel was going to pay me to write and draw a busty woman running around in the jungle fighting dinos. It wasn’t work, it was freakin Christmas.
A story set in the savage land seems to be absolute Frank Cho heaven, do you have an ongoing story for her adventures in the savage land?
Yes, I have a sequel in mind. But when I’ll get to it is another story.
We all want to know, are we going see the MAX version of Shanna?
Yes.
Dinosaurs feature pretty heavily in your work where does that fascination come from?
Blame it on Ray Harryhausen and Willis O’Brien. King Kong, One Million Years BC, Mighty Joe Young and The Mysterious Island were some of my favorites growing up. Their movies caught me at that right age. I loved those stop action animation movies. Great stuff.
You also feature a fair amount of Edgar Rice Burrows work, are you a fan of the John Carter books?
Yes, I’m a huge fan of Edgar Rice Burroughs in general, especially his Tarzan and John Carter work.
Looking forward to the upcoming John Carter movie?
Of course.
Who would be your choices to play the leads if you were making the movie?
I would get Brad Johnson from the movie Always to play John Carter. For Dejah, I would probably get Catherine Zeta Jones.
Given the content of a lot of your work, is there any desire to work on an out and out fantasy book at any time?
Yes, I would love to do a fantasy book. As matter of fact, I’ve written a sword and sorcery story called The Saga of the Weeping Blade which I’m dying to draw once my Marvel contract is over. This has everything. A 1000 day war, elves, cursed sword, Goblin King, black magic, giant trolls, and undying love.
What do you do away from the boards?
I like to stay at home. Hang out with my family, watch movies, oil paint and lift weights. I lead a pretty boring existence. My wife can verify that.
You have produced a print for playmate Tiffany Taylor, how did that come about?
I met her at University of Maryland. I was doing a book signing at the campus book store. Turned out she was a big fan of mine. We hit it off famously and then she hired me to do a print with her. I’m thinking of doing a third print of her since the first two sold very well.
Is it a coincidence that Tiffany is not ‘un-Brandy-esque’ herself?
All I can say is that I’m a very lucky man.
Given your renown for, amongst other things, your portrayal of pretty girls, who are your main inspirations in that department?
I love women with clean classical beauty. Lynda Carter, Bettie Page, Louise Brooks, Candy Loving, Grace Kelly, etc.
From the art perspective, I look to the golden age illustrators for inspirations, like Gil Elvgren and oddly enough, Norman Rockwell. Among my contemporaries, I enjoy Serpieri and Adam Hughes work. I think Adam Hughes is the best artist in the business right now.
Again, given your subject matter, what does Mrs. Cho thinks of your female orientated work?
She thinks they’re great. Little over the top, excuse my pun, for her taste but she’s happy that I’m happy and staying out of trouble. My wife is an amazing woman.
They are making a Liberty Meadows live action show so who plays Brandy and Jen?
I don’t know. It used to be Jennifer Connelly for Brandy but it’s wide open at this point.
Which characters in the Marvel catalogue are you just itching to give your interpretation to?
Wolverine.
Tell us about your New Avengers arc, how was it going working with Brian? How does that compare to working with Mark?
Brian is a great writer but a bit of a challenging writer for me to draw for. Brian does fascinating intimate character studies and interactions while I naturally lean toward the big action stuff. I had to refocus my energy and really paid attention to body language and facial expressions. Millar, on the other hand, was more my speed. Great visuals and ideas, a little political at times but a great ride none the less.
Any favourite movies?
I’m a movie junky. Just off the top of my head: Shawshank Redemption. King Kong. Blade Runner. Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Princess Bride. Tremors. When Harry Met Sally. Aliens. Cinema Paradiso.
What do you never miss on TV?
Lost and Law & Order.
Do you listen to Music while you work?
My taste in music is all over the place. I enjoy Johnny Cash and Blue Grass lately. Before then, I was really into opera and show tunes. No, I’m not gay.
What’s your personal favourite single image that you have drawn?
I don’t have a favourite image that I’ve drawn. I only see the mistakes and failed attempts when I look at my work.
What’s your favourite thing about working in comics?
I get to work pantless.
Thanks to Frank for taking part, Frank Cho’s official site is www.frankcho.com
-
Russ Sheath is 31 and lives and works in Devon, in the UK.
Currently studying for a post graduate teaching qualification, Russ has worked as a manager in comics’ retail and spent time defending his nation as a member of the regular and reserve armed forces.