Andi Watson: Fighting the Good Fight

By Mike Jozic

Andi Watson first made his presence known on the comic book landscape a decade ago with his punk rock, manga and skateboarding influenced series, Samurai Jam. Dan Vado and Slave Labor Graphics took a chance on the ambitious young artist who was fresh out of art school and looking to cut his teeth in the industry. The subsequent “failure” of the series led to his second attempt, also with Slave Labor, called Skeleton Key.

Skeleton Key is the story of a high-school student who obtains an artifact that can open doors to anywhere, liberating her from her secluded Canadian home of Garfield. Watson showed a growth in style and substance over the course of the series, garnering critical as well as fan acclaim for the all-ages fantasy adventures of Tamsin and her fox-spirit, Kitsune. Watson has also been working for the last few years to bring the Skeleton Key concept to the small screen with an animated project that, like so many other properties, is an on-again-off-again deal.

Watson then spent just over a year and a half chronicling the misadventures of Buffy the Vampire Slayer at Dark Horse Comics before moving on to his next project, Geisha for Oni Press.

He continued to fine-tune his craft with three more books, Breakfast After Noon, Dumped and Slow News Day, publishing the first two through Oni Press and the latter through Slave Labor Graphics. These proved, once again, to be critical successes for Watson.

It’s ironic, then, that someone who once claimed he had no interest in the super-hero genre finds himself having done some higher-profile work for Marvel Comics, co-writing their flagship Tsunami title, Namor with ex-Marvel president, Bill Jemas. Not only that, but Watson’s latest solo effort is another series from Oni entitled Love Fights, telling the story of two normal un-super-powered people who fall in love amidst a world of heroes and villains.

I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Andi about all of the above, musing over older projects and looking back on the previous year’s worth of work.

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE

MIKE JOZIC: Let’s start with talking about your latest series, Love Fights.

ANDI WATSON: Well, it's a story about two regular people falling for each other in a world populated by superheroes. Whenever it looks like they're gonna get together some superhero related incident keeps them apart, like a fight or whatever. It's also a comic about comics, Jack, one half of the would-be couple, is a penciller of superhero comics. Nora, the other half works for a superhero gossip rag and their professional lives are kinda at cross-purposes to their private.

The first arc, which just finished up, is six-issues [and] our plan is to shoot for a monthly schedule for each arc.

JOZIC: You’re not really known for working on stories with super-heroes in them. Where did the idea for Love Fights come from?

WATSON: It had a weird birth. The original "high concept" of “Serendipity meets Marvels" wasn't even mine but the Oni guys’ - no surprise since I'd neither seen that movie or read that comic. Anyhoo, I took that little sentence and the idea grabbed me and it's spun out into this big series. After all this time I'm kinda getting to grips with the ol' spandex genre from my own perspective. I've been working on comics for ten years now but whenever I open Wizard magazine it's like I'm looking into a different universe. A lot of my books have been about "real world" issues and so is this book, the world of superheroes impinges on my real life/work. If you take real people and put them in an absurd world like that, there's so much fun you can have with it.

JOZIC: I take it that you no longer view the super-hero genre as simply the good guys beating up the bad guys?

WATSON: Absolutely super-heroes are about good guys beating up bad guys. If they're not, what are they about, Jungian symbolism?

That's why it's fun to have this strange world as a background to the characters real concerns about their love and work lives.

JOZIC: While you still maintain the dramatic elements of your other work, the tone of Love Fights appears to be much lighter than your last few projects?

WATSON: Yeah, it's lighter than Breakfast After Noon, closer to Slow News Day. As with all my stuff there's humour, but I take the characters emotional lives seriously. Whether it's unemployment or super villains taking over the world ruining their lives, the characters still hurt.

JOZIC: Considering the finite runs of your other books, why did you choose to do Love Fights as a monthly?

WATSON: Allow me to clarify. We're aiming for monthly in [regards to individual] arcs. So the first arc is six issues and then a break while I work on the next arc. That way I'm not on a 12 issues a year treadmill and can pace myself as well as working in chunks that naturally suit themselves to collection. Although I wanted to tip my hat to the hero genre by working monthly I didn't want to fall into the "illusion of change" trap that blights the genre. I'm not confined to having to perpetuate a franchise/license forever. Every story has a natural life span and this one will wrap up when it's no longer fresh.

UNDER THE SEA

JOZIC: This year you made the surprise move to Marvel writing their ill-fated Tsunami flagship title, Namor, with Bill Jemas. Reading the book, the dialogue sounded very much like your writing, while some of the situations in the story felt like they came from Jemas. What was the actual breakdown of work between the two of you?

WATSON: I would script from detailed beat-sheets which lay out the scenes and dialogue. My job was to break down the pages and work on pace, dialogue, characterization etc.

JOZIC: What was the original concept that you had going into the series?

WATSON: The basic idea was that we’d gone back to Prohibition era America and a teenage Namor. He was the outsider who falls for a moneyed land-liver girl. It followed their relationship and the effect it had on their lives and their worlds.

JOZIC: I have to say that, while welcome, I was pretty surprised to see you working at Marvel. What were the circumstances surrounding your being brought onto the book? Were you approached by Marvel for the job?

WATSON: I think I was considered pretty late in the day. The characters and concepts had [already] been figured out. I worked up a full script from the beat-sheets for one of the first coupla issues, they dug it and I got the gig. I assume the thinking was [that] I'd bring something to the romance central to the story.

JOZIC: Were you pitching anything else to Marvel at the time you were working up a script for Namor?

WATSON: I'd sent them stuff in the past so they knew I was willing to play ball.

There's some other stuff we're working on.

JOZIC: You once said that there probably wasn't much of a crossover of fans from Buffy to your other work. Do you think that may have changed with Namor?

WATSON: If Namor had reached its audience in the bookstores - readers with little or no preconceptions about the medium - then there could have been a good chance they'd make the jump from teen romance to Breakfast After Noon. As far as convincing a long term Marvel fan to pick up my own books, well, I'm always hopeful!

The problem isn't necessarily the readers. I'm confident my work sells when it reaches the shelves. [However], I'm hoping my name getting bandied around with Namor will persuade retailers to order from Oni and Slave Labor.

JOZIC: Early on there was an 11th hour artist change on Namor. I was wondering if you had any background on the situation before Salvador Larocca stepped in as penciller?

WATSON: I'm not privy of their reasons for the change, I'm just the co-writer.

I try and write in such a way that there's room for interpretation and for an artist to express themselves. I draw myself so I try to provide as many opportunities as possible for the art team to enjoy themselves without that impinging on story structure or character.

SLAYING THE CRITICS

JOZIC: I’ve noticed that a lot of Buffy fans still stand by your run as being some of the best stuff done on the series. I know it wasn't your favourite project, but did you feel as though you were a good match for the book? Did you enjoy working on Buffy at all?

WATSON: Well, I'd be surprised if my run on the book was remembered with much affection. I think I would have been an okay match for the book if it had reflected the show a little more. There was pressure to write more action scenes and big set pieces. I thought I could do the job because it had a firm character foundation and it wasn't just another superhero book. I'm stronger on the dialogue/repartee stuff.

When I was actually writing the book there'd be sections where I'd enjoy writing the fun dialogue. It's more the stuff surrounding the job that was wearing. Having said that, entire scripts weren't thrown in the bin and I got a page rate that funded Breakfast After Noon so I can't complain.

JOZIC: I don't have many of those early Buffy issues, and my memory is drawing a blank at the moment. Did you do any artwork for the series or was it all writing for you?

WATSON: Much later I wrote and drew a coupla short Buffy things in a super-deformed style, which was fun. Back when I was writing I didn't draw anything, thankfully. Words are easy to change but my art, well, there's no way I'd want someone who knows nothing about comics let alone art telling me how to draw.

I'm happy to change things. I'm not prima-donna-ish when someone I respect suggests things that make the story clearer. What I find hard to deal with are power trips and stupid rules drawn out of thin air.

WEIRD HAPPENINGS

JOZIC: This past year also saw you working on a Hellboy story in the anthology series Weird Tales. Whose brainchild was it to put you on that character?

WATSON: I got involved because Scott [Allie], the editor, was also the editor on Buffy so we go back a ways. Also I think Mike [Mignola] is aware of my work and was happy for me to take a shot at his characters. Ultimately I love his stuff, his work is beautiful. I've followed his stuff from way back on Corum for First comics. I love fairytales and folktales and Mike's the guy who gets nearest to what makes them tick.

JOZIC: Up until now, the character has been the result of a pretty singular voice. Was it a difficult project to tackle?

WATSON: Well, no one does Hellboy better than his creator but it was fun and a challenge to work on the character. For a start he's tough to draw and it's not easy writing in that slightly "high style" that the demonic guys use. Mike was cool and sent suggestions on how to handle that, he was helpful rather than trying to micro manage or anything. I enjoyed it and it was a bonus to be able to work in color and do everything myself.

JOZIC: Any plans to contribute more Hellboy related material in the future?

WATSON: It being an anthology I'm certain it'll be awhile before they want to re-use people, but yeah, should the opportunity ever present itself I'd love to do more.

SEQUELS, SUFFRAGE AND CINEMA

JOZIC: In a recent interview, you mentioned two projects that you were thinking about doing, one continuing on with the characters from Breakfast After Noon and Dumped and another about women's suffrage. Have those been put on hold with Namor and Love Fights taking up most of your time now?

WATSON: The suffrage story is a project I'm fascinated by but is more a long-term thing. I dip in and do research now and again but it needs an awful lot more visual and historical research to get it together. Also, it's kind of a big story that takes place over a longer period of time and I need more experience before I can make it work. Since I became a father this has gone on the back burner, just because it requires so much more time than I have right now.

The Breakfast After Noon story is taking the characters and putting them through parenting and work. Again it's more of a medium to long-term thing. I'm a dad in my life and wanted space to be something else in my work. Again, a bit more time and perspective will help the "ripening" process.

JOZIC: You've also broken away, in your creator-owned work, from the trappings of any particular genre. You're basically doing straight drama instead of using androids or costumes to sell your themes and ideas. Why the move, however gradual it may have been, to the quieter relationship stories?

WATSON: Why the move to quieter stories?

Well, I'd argue there's much more drama, more "noise" in Breakfast After Noon than in Geisha or Skeleton Key. Geisha has mecha suits and whatnot but you know an android can't die. They can be fixed with a rusty hammer and an old soldering iron. There's nothing to lose. With Breakfast After Noon there's the very real danger these two people who obviously love each other will screw up a good thing. That's my problem with so many Hollywood movies and mainstream comics, there's an emphasis on the big event, the wide screen, the broad brush stroke and they miss the things that are truly important to us all in our everyday lives - love, work etc. It's also the reason comics has an ever diminishing readership, they're not about anything anyone in the "real" world cares about. One hero breaking their back or another changing their costume - it's meaningless to pretty much everyone, even die hard comic fans.

I guess I finally got confident enough to feel I could tell those kinds of stories. It's what I started doing in my first comic, Samurai Jam, ten years ago.

But I do enjoy genre stuff. Visually you have more to play with and it can be used metaphorically. Miyazaki is one of my favorite filmmakers [and] he always has a fantastic element to his stories that make an important point about some aspect of life. The obvious example is Porco Rosso, the middle aged man represented by a pig.

JOZIC: What would you say are the overarching themes of most, if not all, of your stories?

WATSON: Professional and personal lives, and how they affect each other. Art and Commerce. Delineating changing relationships, whether friends, relations or lovers. The search for independence. All these crop up, at least the ones I'm conscious of.

JOZIC: I know you draw influence and inspiration from a number of fine artists, but you've mentioned Miyazaki in a couple of interviews now and I wondered how big of an influence film has been on your work and career?

WATSON: I think, yeah, movies and novels have been a much bigger influence on me than comics. I'm a little reticent to admit the influence of film because people often jump to the "they're similar mediums" conclusion and they're not. Because I'm interested in character, situation, dialogue, visual storytelling etc there're many more good examples of that kind of storytelling in film than in comics. Woody Allen, Eric Rohmer, Billy Wilder etc. etc. Watching The Sweet Smell of Success is as good an education in concise storytelling as you're likely to get.

JOZIC: Has anyone tried to option any of your other projects, like Breakfast After Noon or Slow News Day? Are you even interested in seeing something like that happen?

WATSON: Yeah, there's always someone talking about wanting to do stuff with your "properties." Talk being the operative word because as soon as they figure out you're not a naive hayseed willing to sell your soul for five bucks they lose interest. Who knows, maybe Colin Firth will star as Jack and Jennifer Ehle as Nora in the Love Fights movie, a comic book Pride and Prejudice.

JOZIC: By the way, how is the Skeleton Key animated series coming along?

WATSON: Oooh boy. The saga continues. Nickelodeon were all hot for it and then went cool so we're back to square one. Seems like Skeleton Key is an asymmetrical peg that won't fit the corporate round hole marked Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings that they're all chasing at the minute. And I thought it was tough trying to do something new in comics...

ANNIVERSARY JAM

JOZIC: This summer saw the release of your collected Samurai Jam stories from Slave Labor. What was the impulse behind putting that together?

WATSON: Mostly because this year is my tenth anniversary of being in comics. The first issue of Samurai Jam was out in '93 so it's a little celebration of having come this far. Dan (SLG President) Vado and I had joked about putting out a collection for years and I got over my squeamishness and said lets do it. It's been out of print forever so why not.

JOZIC: Was the book kind of intended to be a treat for longtime fans, or Watson completists?

WATSON: We put the four issue Slave series together plus my three self published mini comics as well as some short bits and bobs so it's about as complete as you can get. It'll be a bit of a shock for anyone who's only seen my most recent work...they were the very first comic pages I'd drawn and it shows. For anyone wanting to work in comics it could be quite comforting, it shows you can start very humbly and through hard work start to get to grips with the medium.

JOZIC: Considering how much your style has changed over the years, is it difficult looking back on that work, or did you find it kind of fun and nostalgic?

WATSON: There is that rubbernecking-at-a-car-wreck thing about looking at old work. It's both painful and nostalgic. As much as it makes me cringe I also think it's not that bad. There're no mortifying superhero homages or space vampire stories. It's a snap shot from my life when I was younger and dumber. Skateboarding, punk rock, there are worse inspirations. Unless you're willing to fail you'll never learn anything, figuring out what not to do is as important as figuring out what to do and this book is testament to that.

RANDOM MUSINGS

JOZIC: When you're first putting together an idea for a story, do you have characters in mind that you try to find a plot for, or do you begin an outline that you need to populate with interesting characters?

WATSON: I wish it was easier to separate out. With something like Skeleton Key or Love Fights where it's more of an open ended story, the starting point is often character. Put them in an interesting situation and you're off, you have a framework to throw other ideas into. With Dumped, Slow News Day, Breakfast After Noon, where it's quite a tightly structured story with a definite end then the idea/theme tends to kick things off, that leads to the type of characters and their situations. Character choices start to give form to the plot.

It's generally more complicated and the different aspects play off each other, feed it with research and you really start to stoke the fire. I guess character is always at the core of what I do, unless I have a firm understanding of who they are it's a none starter. Plot, for it's own sake isn't something I can do, it's gotta be about someone or something, not a series of events to make a reader turn the page.

JOZIC: You've kind of jumped around from publisher to publisher over the years. What makes one more suited to a project than another?

WATSON: Well, I'm not quite as promiscuous as you suggest. I've worked with Slave Labor since the very start, ten years ago. Oni I've worked with for five years and I've done various bits of work-for-hire for Dark Horse. That's it. Slave and Oni are both great publishers and they're my friends as well as colleagues. It's not a case of one being better than the other. I enjoy working with both. When you're a one man band working from home it's fun to work with different people. They have much more in common than not. Both have a belief in the medium, not any one genre, they want to publish a wide variety of material and their primary motivation isn't profit. You can take a story about an unemployed couple or local newspapers to each and they'll support you.

PARTING SHOTS

JOZIC: Now, at the end of 2003, how do you look back and see the year for you, career-wise?

WATSON: No matter what happens from here on in I'm more secure financially at the moment. Finances were part of the reason I put comparatively little work out last year. Now I've bought time to work on my own stuff this year. It all feeds back into doing more of my own work, which keeps me sane. If I'm not working on something that's completely under my control I start to go nuts. Otherwise I hope I'll be able to see a progression, some improvement in my work. I'll watch my daughter grow before my eyes and I'll get older and wider around the middle.

	Mike Jozic has spent the last several years interviewing comic book creators and other entertainment related personalities for various publications. He has been published both online and in print, with his work appearing in The Comics Journal, FearsMag.com and Silver Bullet Comicbooks. He maintains his own website at www.meanwhile.net and currently serves as the Features Editor for SBC.

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