ME: You had a short run on John Carter Warlord of Mars. During this run, you had almost a different inker in every issue, with Rudy Nebres, Bob Layton, Bob Mc Leod and Frank Springer working over your pencils. Each one has its own way. Mostly, when you do not ink yourself, do you prefer a "heavy" inker or a "light" one? Did any of them impressed you when you saw the result?
ERNIE: Whoever it was on Arak, he made his own
drawings over my pencils. He completely disregarded my tight
drawings. If I drew a young man, he would make it an old man, etc.. As
far as he was concerned, my drawings were roughs for him to elaborate
on.
Layton, Springer and McLeod were top
notch--the best. Light or heavy did not matter to me--quality,
understanding of contrast and light source--these are what matter.
-Besides Arak, you also worked
around the same time on Conan the Barbarian, John Carter Warlord of
Mars and Red Sonja, all of them heroic-fantasy/barbarian titles. Was
it because you disliked super-heroes titles or was it the sign that
you were then labelled as a "barbarian comics" penciller?
-I didn't stay long enough with any
title to be labeled anything. I liked bouncing around and the guys
who were labeled "barbarian" or "sword and sorcery"
had been working on those titles for a long time.
John Buscema was known primarily for
"Conan" and no one drew it better. He was the top. When I
did do an issue or two--I don't remember--it was with the knowledge
that I couldn't reach his quality and understanding of the character.
-You were the penciller of a
Red Sonja title that was launched in 1983. The title seem rather
chaotic: a weird 36p format, lots of inkers and pencillers credited,
and only 2 issues published. Do you have any memories of what was the
deal with that?
-None whatever.
With all the bouncing around I was
doing at that time, my memory of particular assignments is cloudy, at
best. My pal and partner Sid Jacobson once described me as a "utility
infielder"--a term he had to explain, since I know next to
nothing about sports. Apparently, in baseball, it means a player who
can fill almost any position...adequately.
-You left Arak (probably to work
on the Amethyst project) but came back to it has a guest penciller
with the Valda back-ups and issue 31, 37, the difference being that
this time you inked yourself. Arak being your first big appointment
at DC, did you feel that you really had to show readers what your
drawings really look like?
-Any inker must--in the nature of
his/her craft--obliterate the penciler's work. Some do it by
replacing it with consummate craft. Others by treating the pencils as
if they were roughs for their convenience--still others with simply
bad work.
I don't pretend I was ever one of the
top inkers--but in inking my own work, I was able to stay within my
own style and my own intent.
-Have you ever consider at one
point doing inking on other people at Marvel or DC, as an extra
income?
-No.
TO BE CONTINUED...
No comments:
Post a Comment