Brian
Hurtt is 31 year old and
hails from St. Louis (home
of the funnel cake and
toasted ravioli). He has
been working full-time in
the comic industry since
2002 with his debut in Queen
& Country from Oni Press
through his run on Steve
Gerber’s critically
acclaimed Hard Time from Oni
Press. He’s currently
working with writer Cullen
Bunn on their creator-owned
series, The Damned,
from Oni Press.
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I first saw Brian Hurtt’s work in
Vertigo lines Hard Time series and have loved his
work ever since. I even had the pleasure to meet him
and buy some pages from Hard Time from him at WW
Chicago in 06. I can tell you he is extremely
pleasant and real and even spoke with me for about
45 minutes it seemed. It is nice to know in the
world of comics folks like Brian are approachable
and don’t mind giving a fan boy a minute of their
time even if it is to kiss their ass!
1. How did you get your start into comics and
how was that experience?
Brian: It was
the classic “right place, right time” strategy. I
got lucky. I was working on portfolio pieces to
take to Wizard World Chicago and try to show to some
editors. One of the pieces was done using some
Queen & Country script I had been fortunate enough
to get my hands on. Oni Press was in attendance and
I was able to get a portfolio review with them.
They came across the Q&C pages and were very
positive in their response. They told me at the
time that they might have a project for me (it would
turn out to be Skinwalker) and that they might get
in touch with me. I got a call from them shortly
after that—they had something else in mind. It
turned out that the pages I had worked on were from
an upcoming issue of Q&C that they were in a tight
spot on. I already had some of the pages done and
they needed the rest of the book completed
immediately. There was no ramping up to the
project, I was just thrown into the thick of it. It
was a three issue gig, and to be honest, I really
wasn’t ready for professional work yet. But, I’ll
tell you, I got better really fast due to schedule
and the expectation to perform. I still cringe when
I look at my older stuff—sometimes it’s really hard
to watch yourself grow and learn in front of
everyone.
2. I jumped on your bandwagon with Hard Time so
can you tell me and us what else you have worked on?
Brian: Before
Hard Time it was all Oni Press projects, in this
order: Queen & Country: Operation Morningstar (the
second story arc), Skinwalker, Queen & Country:
Declassified, and Three Strikes. I also did a
fill-in on Gotham Central (#11) while working on
Three Strikes. It was that fill-in that got me my
Hard Time job at DC.
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"The
Al Capones of this
world are demons who are
selling vice to corrupt and
claim souls"
|
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"The
Al Capones of this
world are demons who are
selling vice to corrupt and
claim souls"
|
3. As an artist do you prefer the writer to
give more or less detail when working from a script
and what if any problems have you had when dealing
with the script to art transition?
Brian: I’m a
control freak and would also love to write comics of
my own one day. I expected when I started in comics
that it might be difficult to take too much
direction from a writer. That said, I was surprised
to find that I really appreciate a well thought out
and well described scene. There is enough
problem-solving and work to do on my end, especially
on a tight schedule, that the less I have to think
about, the better. I’ve also been blessed to have
worked with talented writer’s and storytellers.
None of the writers I’ve worked with have been
overly descriptive or controlling. I’m always given
just enough character and description as I need.
I remember that the
first few projects I worked on I would stick to the
script religiously. As I’ve become more competent
in what I do and more comfortable with the writers I
will make minor suggestions or slight changes. I
may suggest breaking a panel in two or two panels
into three (I rarely like to condense panels),
sometimes adding a silent panel to add emphasis to
something said, or change up the angles from what
was suggested. No matter how good a writer is
there are some problems that aren’t apparent until
you actually try to make them work on a page.
Single panels never exist in a vacuum and no matter
how good it might look in the mind’s eye it might
not work in context with the panel proceeding or
following it. One of the most common and recurring
things that I see writers do is to have one
character performing multiple actions in one panel.
Sometimes having a character doing two incongruous
things on completely opposite sides of a room. I see
that happening more times than you’d think.
4. You are currently working on The Damned from
Oni Press with writer Cullen Bunn. Can you tell us a
little bit about the book?
Brian:
Mobsters meet demons—that’s the quick pitch. The
longer version is that it’s a Prohibition era
gangland story where the Al Capones of this world
are demons who are selling vice to corrupt and claim
souls. In classic noir style it’s a story with no
real good guys. The closest we come to a
protagonist is this guy named Eddie whose face is
covered with scars that give you an idea of the kind
of history he’s had. Eddie’s set apart from most
humans in that he’s been cursed by one of the demon
families. His curse is that no matter how he’s
killed the first touch of his skin to another’s will
transfer his mortal injuries, thus killing the new
recipient, of course, and bring him back from the
dead. It’s also a curse that makes him quite an
asset to one demon family who needs his help in
solving a mystery of a disappeared and high-ranking
demon.
5. How did you meet up with Cullen and how is
the creative relationship between you two?
Brian: Cullen
and I have known each other since we met working at
a local comic shop over ten years ago. We’ve always
talked about doing different stories and have gone
as far as developing scripts and even doing at least
one pitch to Oni prior to this one. I think we have
a pretty good working relationship. We’re on the
same page more often than not. It’s funny, lately
I’ve called or emailed him to tell him an idea I had
about the book only to have him tell me that that
was exactly what he was thinking. It seems the more
work we do on the book the more simpatico we are.
It also helps that Cullen has always been so easy
going and open to my ideas.
6. Is there a major
difference between working for DC and then going to
a more small press environment like Oni Press? Which
do you prefer?
Brian: My
first reaction is to say that there is a world of
difference between the two. But the more I think
about it the more I realize that the difference is
really the joy I have in the work because when it
comes down to it, it’s still just me sitting alone
in a room drawing. There is definitely more freedom
in the small press so I do enjoy that. It also
helps that the book (The Damned) is mine and
Cullen’s. The book rises or falls on our
performance and Oni has always been great at letting
the creator’s do their thing. Their thought is that
they would only get in the way. So that’s great—as
good an experience as working for DC was they still
have to be on top of you every step of the process
from thumbnails to pencils to inks and so on. At
Oni they just read the script, give us a thumbs up
and some time later I turn in the finished book. I
love the freedom.
7. How do you work when you draw? Are you a
night owl or is it more 9-5’er or just plain
sporadic when working on a book and do you have any
quirks?
Brian: It all
depends. I’m really all over the place. Usually,
the further into a project or the tighter the
deadline is the more my schedule shifts towards the
nocturnal. I spent the last two months working
nights and I’ve only recently got my schedule onto
days. I tend to get more work done in the middle of
the night, there are no phone calls, nothing on TV,
no incoming emails and nowhere to go. Basically,
they’re no distractions. Problem is, after a while,
you start to feel like a vampire. After working
nights for so long, switching schedules can be like
coming down out of the mountains. Right now I’m
trying to see if I can pull the 9 to 5 and try to
balance that with a social life.
8.
Can you tell me your worst working experience fell
free to throw names around
J ?
Brian: It’s a
pretty isolating job so, thankfully, there really
isn’t a lot of opportunity to have bad experiences
with anyone. I’ve been pretty fortunate to work
with passionate and talented people—who also happen
to be nice folks.
9.
What is next for you in the
world of comics and what books are in the works for
Mr. Hurtt?
Brian: Coming
up next is a reunion with the Nunzio DeFilippis and
Christina Weir, the writers on my previous works,
Skinwalker and Three Strikes. We’re
doing a prequel to a big sci-fi movie coming out
next year, called Jumper. It’s going to be coming
out from Oni Press and I’m pretty excited about it
because, on top of doing the pencils and inks, I
will be, for the first time, doing the coloring as
well. It’ll also be nice to work with Nunz and
Christina again—they’re great writers and they never
disappoint.
I’ve also already
started a follow-up to The Damned. It’s
tentatively called The Damned:Prodigal Sons
and is going to be a three-issue series, due out in
October. It will be followed by another similarly
sized “sister” story the following summer. I’m
really excited about these projects—I think that
Cullen and I have really created a rich world and
having the opportunity to explore it a little more
is great.
Also, don’t forget
the trade of the first 5 issues comes out in May!
10. What advice can you give aspiring artists
trying to get their foot in the door.
Brian: None.
I don’t want them competing with me for jobs. ; )
Seriously, though, I’d be hard pressed to give any
advice for getting in the door. It’s a hard thing
to do and no two people seem to get in the same
way. I’d say keep hustling, try to meet editors
face to face at shows, and work on the
fundamentals. Take figure drawing courses, study
storytelling. And don’t make excuses, tell your
friends you can’t go cow-tipping tonight—you’ve got
drawing to do!
Thanks so much for
doing this interview for us here at The Comic
Avalanche and I hope you will sell me more art next
year and still speak with me when this interview is
put on site! I want to tell everyone to check out
the sites below for even more info about Brian and
his works and to pick up The Damned from Oni press!
http://www.thedamnedcomic.com/
http://thehurttlocker.blogspot.com/
http://www.cullenbunn.com/
