Talking with Tim

When I set out to interview Mike Cavallaro, I knew a little bit about him. But I’ll be the first to admit I was surprised at how much I did not know about him and his career to date. Some folks may recognize the name from various projects he has worked on, but once we got into the email interview questions, it pleasantly surprised me just how deep his industry experience goes. When I contacted him for the interview in the first place, he quickly brought me up to speed on his current projects: He recently put the finishing touches on the Parade (with Fireworks) 72-page trade paperback, due out in November from Shadowline/Image Comics. As noted by Cavallaro: “PARADE originally debuted on ACT-I-VATE, our webcomics site, and was serialized there weekly in 2007. Shadowline picked up on it pretty early in the run, and released it as a two-issue limited series that was later nominated for a 2008 Eisner Award for ‘Best Limited Series’ (Gerard Way’s UMBRELLA ACADEMY won).”

He is currently working on Foiled, a 160-page graphic novel, with author Jane Yolen for First Second Books–a project that he’s penciling, lettering, inking and coloring. “I’m also penciling and inking a co-created six-issue limited series written by J.M. DeMatteis for IDW titled, ‘The Life And Times Of Savior 28′,” said Cavallaro. “My work on LOVIATHAN also continues for ACT-I-VATE. LOV is my superhero-sci-fi-fantasy-romance homage to the Stan Lee/Jack Kirby comics that I love, and is serialized weekly online.” And if that’s not enough for ya, he also has been doing some coloring work at Marvel. And with that substantial ground covered, on with the interview.

Tim O’Shea: Back in February 2008, you wrote at the First Second blog about working in the Deep Six Studio: “I’ve worked off and on at my own desk or at various studios here in NYC for almost 15 years, but this past spring I took a slightly different step. I rented a separate workspace with five other artists and moved my old art table in, along with a pile of the usual art-making stuff.” You touch upon it in the post, but I’m curious how much has your work–and to a larger extent–has your career been boosted by the experience?

Mike Cavallaro: I’m not sure I would currently have a career in comics if not for Deep Six and ACT-I-VATE, the two things being difficult to separate for me.

I spent many years as a colorist at Valiant Comics, I painted trading cards for DC in the 90’s, I was a storyboard artist at MTV Animation, and I colored backgrounds for Cartoon Network. I did a lot of different jobs, except the one I really wanted to do; write and draw my own comics. That opportunity didn’t arise until I was invited to serialize PARADE (WITH FIREWORKS) at ACT-I-VATE. It was around that time that a few local ACT-I-VATE’rs (Tim Hamilton, Dean Haspiel, Simon Fraser, Leland Purvis and Brooklyn illustrator Joan Reilly) started talking about renting a studio space, and soon Deep Six was born.

It’s a topsy-turvy workspace. We laugh, we argue, and we trade opinions whether you like it or not. I’ve produced more work there than I ever thought myself capable of. Recently, I inked 160 pages in 2 1/2 months. If I told you how much artwork I’ve produced in the last six months, you wouldn’t believe it. I’m not sure I believe it myself.

In a business where it’s absolutely necessary for artists to shamelessly promote themselves, we’ve made it a daily concern to promote each other by pooling our contacts and making introductions whenever possible. If I have a scheduling conflict, I never turn down a job without first recommending one of my studio mates, and I can count on them to do the same. It’s a totally different experience than sitting at a drawing table alone in your home studio. I’m not sure I could go back to that.

O’Shea: In another First Second blog post, you offer advice to young talent: “Put in a real work day, and work hard. Have a daily quota, and be sure to meet it. Watch your completed pages pile up around you. Don’t waste time obsessively redoing things; you’re getting better as you go even if you don’t realize it. Let it happen. That’s how it went for all the cartoonists you admire.” It’s great advice for one, but secondly how long did you waste your time redoing things before you realized you needed to retool your approach to meet a daily quota of completed pages?

Cavallaro: Well, for me, that happened almost immediately. I attended the Joe Kubert School where, if you didn’t turn in good work on time, you failed. After that, I was hired by Bob Layton as a colorist at Valiant Comics. The deadlines were tight, and Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter was very particular about what you were supposed to do on each page. There were many days where I was not happy doing that job, but looking back I know that among other things, it taught me to be pragmatic about my work. You do the best you can in the time you have and then you move on, and that’s it. If I’ve got the time, I’ll redo something over and over until I like it. But if I don’t, I’m also able to do a few pages a day if need be. The trick is knowing which of the two situations you’re in, dealing with it accordingly, and being ok with it either way.

O’Shea: After you completed Parade (with Fireworks) what was the reaction of your family, given that it was inspired by stories told to you orally by and about some of your ancestors?

Cavallaro: My parents said, “You changed the story!” But I didn’t, really. When you’re sitting in the backyard telling a story about a family member you all know, you can tell it a certain way, and it’ll make sense. But if you’re going to present that story in comics form to a wider audience, it’s not going to work the same way. You know, Italians are all named after their fathers and grandfathers and aunts and uncles, and they’re all named after this saint or that. What you end up with is a town where everyone’s named either Vincenzo or Salvatore. The first thing I had to do was change some of the names, because I couldn’t have a comic book where every character had the same first name! So yeah, my parents say, “You changed this! You changed that!” But that stuff isn’t the important stuff. The important stuff is intact. In general, I think they’re all very proud of it, which makes me very happy.

O’Shea: What kind of extras or revisions did you do for the Parade (with Fireworks) TPB?

Cavallaro:I was doing PARADE online for ACT-I-VATE, and the deal was that I needed to post 2 pages a week, every Monday, period. No one at AIV gets paid, but I took it seriously, like a job. So, on top of working all week and whatever else, I needed to stay on top of this too. What happens, as I said before, is you do your best in the time you have and then you move on. Naturally, there were a few things I thought I could have done better, so I redid those. Some small panels became full splash pages, a page or two was inserted here or there when I thought something needed a little more explanation. Stuff like that.

I was able to include photos of people some of the characters are based on, and a shot of the plaque in Maropati that commemorates the people that died during the events in the story.
The trade paperback also has new cover art, some unused sketches, and a really nice, flattering Afterword by Dean Haspiel.

O’Shea: Would it be safe to say that oral storytelling is a major influence on your desire to be a storyteller, given that you grew up hearing family stories? Do you think it also helped form your sense of dialogue?

Cavallaro: There’s definitely something genetic about my love of, and approach to storytelling. That sort of oral rhythm and cadence is in everything I do.

O’Shea: Seven Years without the Sun has been mentioned as a follow-up to Parade or part of a larger group of stories based on your family’s stories. What’s the game plan for Seven Years without the Sun?

Cavallaro: I know comic artists who seem to have the next 10 years of their lives and careers mapped out like a battle plan. It’s nice to have a plan, but I’ve found that Life has it’s own ideas about how things are going to go, so I’m not much for planning anything. Maybe that’s why I’ve floated around so much. That’s just how I am, I guess.

SEVEN YEARS WITHOUT THE SUN is both the title of a specific story that I’d love to have the opportunity to tell, and also the umbrella title I once imagined using if I was to gather up all my “Italian family stories” together between one set of covers. While PARADE is a story from my dad’s side of the family, SEVEN YEARS comes from my mom’s side. It’s beautiful and tragic, like all the stories I love most. I’m moving very slowly on it. I’m doing so many different things. At the end of the day, you’ve got to make a living, and eat and pay rent. That all comes first.

O’Shea: You’re currently working on FOILED, a 160-page graphic novel, with author Jane Yolen for First Second Books. How did that project come about?

Cavallaro: PARADE caught the eye of First Second editor Mark Seigel. We talked for a few months about our mutual ideas and interests in comics, what we liked and what we hoped to achieve. During that time, Mark ran the manuscript for FOILED past me, and I did a few sketches from it. I happen to like stories featuring a female protagonist, and I also like the idea of making comics for kids and young adults, so I felt the story really clicked for me. Jane felt the same way about my sketches, and that was that.

O’Shea: Given the recent closure of DC’s MINX line, are you nervous at all about venturing into young adult graphic novel territory with FOILED? Or do you think to discuss First Second’s editorial and marketing approach in the same breath as MINX is too much of an apples and oranges comparison?

Cavallaro: Yeah, the latter. It never crossed my mind, to tell you the truth. First Second’s books are absolutely beautiful. If they don’t catch on, there’s something terribly wrong with the world. I was a fan before I was working with them. As a fan of comics in general, I say we need publishers like First Second. I read Marvels, DCs, indie comics, manga, Euro comics, whatever. I love them all and I want to see them all excel. It never makes me happy to see a publisher or imprint fold. So, I was sorry to hear about MINX, because I think some nice stuff was coming out of there. But I do think that First Second has a totally different aesthetic. And they don’t just do young adult books. They do everything.

O’Shea: I was curious to see you quote (as part of your email signature) your The Life And Times Of Savior 28 collaborator J.M. DeMatteis in a recent CBR interview: “The story, at its core, has to do with violence in superhero comics, in pop culture in general and, ultimately, in our world.” Was it this perspective on violence that attracted you to the project, or something else?

Cavallaro: I think it was many things. At that crucial time when I was just getting into comics, stories like DeMatteis’ MOONSHADOW seemed to come out of nowhere and promise that the possibilities of the medium were endless. That’s one of the comics that made me want to do comics.

Many, many years later, I reached a point where I had been self-publishing for a while, hoping to get my foot in the door of the comics biz, but I was getting nowhere, and I was giving up hope. This was before ACT-I-VATE and PARADE and all that. I had pretty much thrown in the towel, when I got this email from J.M. out of the blue. He had read my self-published comic, and he just took a moment and wrote me the nicest, most encouraging message. It sounds like fiction, but it’s true. The timing was bizarre. Just when I most needed someone to throw me a line, that email appeared as a sort of life raft. It really had a profound effect on me. Obviously, I didn’t give up, and that was a bit of a turning point for me. So now, if J.M. wanted me to draw a comic about carpet tacks, I’d do my best with it. Anyway, we staying in touch, I helped out here and there on his PLANETARY BRIGADE and HERO SQUARED series, and it was understood that if the right opportunity arose for us to work on something together, we would.

I gave J.M. a preview of my current webcomic, LOVIATHAN, before it launched on ACT-I-VATE, and it prompted him to run the synopsis for SAVIOR 28 by me, and we’d found our project.

It just so happens, too, that SAVIOR 28 is one of the best things he’s ever written, and I’m still sort of in shock that I’m involved with it at all.

O’Shea: You describe your current ACT-I-VATE ongoing project, LOVIATHAN as “my superhero-sci-fi-fantasy-romance homage to the Stan Lee / Jack Kirby comics that I love” Are there particular Lee/Kirby runs that you can single out as having particular influence on LOVIATHAN?

Cavallaro: That’s easy; THOR #136 – 166. And probably a few more after that, even. But that’s the run I love most.

O’Shea: From your perspective, who is the closest to achieving that Lee/Kirby connection in the current comics narrative landscape, or is such a thing possible in the present day?

Cavallaro: It’s definitely difficult in the present day, because since most people are writing 6-issue story arcs for trade paperback collections, they do with one issue what Lee and Kirby would have done with 4 pages. What used to be an issue’s worth of story now takes half a year to unfold. Part of the fun of a Lee/Kirby comic, or really any Marvel Comic from that period, was the veritable onslaught of creativity. Those issues are so packed with ideas, it’s staggering. I think some European artists like Joann Sfar, Lewis Trondheim, and Christophe Blain have all evinced the same unbridled creativity. Believe it or not, the closest thing I can think of in American “mainstream” comics is Rick Vietch’s ARMY @ LOVE. I think it’s one of the greatest comics being published currently in the U.S. This story just explodes in so many directions and just keeps going, it’s unbelievable. It has that same Kirby energy, where even the one-panel throwaway ideas are enough to found an entire spinoff series on.