Tim O’Shea: Do you think you could have been able to do the Weeks book without Tom Field’s involvement? Were you afraid that because Weeks and Field were such old and close friends it might make it harder for Field to ask tough questions in the process? Or due to the nature of these books (which intend to honor modern masters) is there ever a need to ask tough questions, per se? (feel free to tweek this question if need be).

Eric Nolen-Weathington: Yes, I do think I could have gotten Lee without Tom’s involvement, as I know several artists who are friends with Lee. And Lee was already on my list of guys I wanted to cover at some point. What Tom’ pitch really did was move Lee off the “sooner or later” list and onto the actual schedule.

Tom had already done a book for TwoMorrows on Gene Colan, Secrets in the Shadows: The Art and Life of Gene Colan, which I feel is one of the best books TwoMorrows has published. That was all I needed to know that he would do a good job with the interview. And having known Lee since childhood, I think Tom knew exactly where that line was of what he could ask and what he shouldn’t. The result is one of the most honest, open interviews of the series thus far.

O’Shea: So many artists (Colan, Miller [of course] and Mazzucchelli) have had distinguished runs on Daredevil–do you think to a certain extent because of that Weeks’ run may be underappreciated?

Nolen-Weathington: You didn’t even mention that he had to follow a long run by John Romita, Jr., which happened to be the turning point of J.R.’s career. No pressure there. So, yes, I think there is a little of that which Lee’s work has to contend with. But I think the biggest factor in why he may be underappreciated is that he was only on the book for a year and a half or so — and that remains the longest run on a book of his career. He has moved around so much from special to mini-series to fill-in, that fans can’t really associate him with a particular character. That is what really leads to his being somewhat overlooked.

O’Shea: Weeks is the third creator that indulges in magic that I can think of (Alan Moore and Jim Steranko being the others). What do you think is it about the allure of the slight of hand that attracts folks that are also good artists?

Nolen-Weathington: What are comics to a kid, if not magical? They’re really part of the same realm of fantasy and escapism. It’s the same reason so many comic book fans also play role-playing games and are TV and film enthusiasts. I remember reading a book about Houdini (twice!) when I was a kid, and I think I even checked out a book of simple magic tricks from the library. I doubt I’m alone in that. Lee just took it to that next level.

O’Shea: What surprised you most about delving into Weeks’ career?

Nolen-Weathington: I think the biggest surprise for me was in realizing just how much of his work I had in my collection. With the exception of one mini-series and a few short stories, I already had everything in my possession before even sitting down to start work on the book. It goes back to what I was saying about him jumping around from project to project, you just don’t realize how much work he’s done and how brilliant his work is until you sit down and think about it.

O’Shea: What aspects of Weeks’ work to date do you now have a new appreciation for?

Nolen-Weathington: I’d have to say his Spider-Man work, particularly the Death & Destiny mini-series. I’ve always loved his DD work and especially Batman Chronicles: The Gauntlet, but taking another look at Death & Destiny — it’s a very powerful story. And the cover to issue #2 (which I was able to run full-page) is just incredible.

O’Shea: What was the hardest aspect of doing this book?

Nolen-Weathington: I can’t really think of anything that was even remotely difficult. This book came together very easily for me. Lee sent me a ton of great art to use, which gave me a lot of freedom in the layout stage. And Lee really got involved with the book, much more so than is typical of the artists I work with. This book really was a lot of fun to do, and I think that shows in the final product.

On Nick Cardy: Behind The Art

O’Shea: How did this project land at TwoMorrows, given that the first 2001 book was published by Vanguard?

Nolen-Weathington: I first met Nick in 2000 at Heroes Con, when I bought a copy of the Art of Nick Cardy book from him. The book was originally self-published in 1999 by the author, John Coates, with a print run of 1,000 copies (they were also signed and numbered — I have #742). It’s a great book, and I highly recommend it, by the way. I’ve always been a huge fan of his work, going back to when I was just starting to read comics in the early ’70s, so at every following convention I made a point of going by and talking with Nick for a few minutes before the doors opened. Over time we got to be pretty good friends, and would occassionally talk on the phone in between cons.

One day he mentioned to me that he had several paintings that he would like to get in print someday. Many of them were shown in the Art of Nick Cardy book, but some ran in black-&-white, and some of them were shot from poor reproductions. Well, that got me thinking, but at the time I wasn’t sure how to go about getting them in print. I didn’t want to do another “Art of…” book, as that had already been done and done rather well. The paintings wouldn’t really fit any of our magazines, either.

A couple of years passed and Nick mentioned the paintings again. But this time he also mentioned that he had tons of preliminary sketches and such he had drawn in the process of making the paintings. That was the spark that led to Nick Cardy: Behind the Art, where we focus not on his career, per se, but his working process. I talked it over with Nick, and he loved the idea. So I pitched the idea to John Morrow. Again, the key was that this book is not repetitive, but rather complementary to the previous book. Yes, there are several images in Behind the Art that were also in the previous book, but thanks to technological advances and a different focus, I was able to run more accurate, and larger, reproductions of the artwork. And where the previous book was black-&-white with a 16-page color section, Behind the Art is entirely full-color. The previous book has a great interview with Nick covering his career, while Behind the Art has Nick’s commentary on his favorite pieces of art — sometimes it’s technical information on how he approached the piece, sometimes it’s a funny anecdote. As I said, I think the books are very complementary, and if you’re a fan of Nick Cardy, you’ll want them both.

O’Shea: To say Cardy is an industry legend is an understatement, what was the most enjoyable aspect about discussing his craft with him?

Nolen-Weathington: Just talking with Nick is a pleasure. He’s a very upbeat guy, and a great storyteller. And does he has stories to tell! But he really is a fine artist at heart. He has as much, if not more, technical knowledge of the various forms of art as anyone else I’ve known. He can discuss the Classical artists — and enjoys doing so — just as easily as comic book artists. And he keeps up to date with current trends, too. He’s a fan of Miyazaki‘s work, for example.

O’Shea: This book is a departure for TwoMorrows to a certain extent, because so much of Cardy’s 1970s work was for film and other commercial illustration. What new challenges did you encounter working in this new area of coverage–or have you had other TwoMorrows projects that have delved that heavily into commercial (non-comics) art?

Nolen-Weathington: The only real challenge was in making the book accessible enough to the general comic-buying public. They are the ones who are going to be buying this book. Nick just didn’t spend enough time in those other fields to become a really big name. Now if he had gotten into doing movie poster illustration in the ’60s rather than the ’70s, perhaps he could have become another Bob Peak, who knows? So I had to make sure the book contained an equal measure of superhero artwork. But really, I just focused on making an art book that Nick could be proud of.

O’Shea: What pieces were the biggest “finds” to include?

Nolen-Weathington: All the preliminary art. Just tons and tons of sketches on tissue vellum. The art process has always intrigued me.

O’Shea: Typically TwoMorrows opts for the soft cover editions of books, but this book is a hardback. What made you opt for this format?

Nolen-Weathington: Given the nature of the book, I felt it was the only way to go. Luckily John agreed with me. At this point we are not even considering doing a softcover version, and I doubt that will change.

O’Shea: How much fun was it to be able to work in full color (given that your Modern Masters books are black and white books)?

Nolen-Weathington: Oh, you have no idea. There was a definite temptation to just go crazy with the color, but it would have hurt the book, I think. I wanted this to be a refined looking book to fit the subject matter, and I think I achieved that. It comes down to suiting the needs of the book. But I can hardly wait to do another full-color book.

But before jumping into this first part, in case you don’t know Weeks’ work, here is some info courtesy of TwoMorrows: “Weeks is the consummate storyteller. Over the course of his twenty-five-year-plus career, he has proven this again and again. His ability to create dynamic, interesting layouts, plus his strong draftsmanship, and wonderful sense of lighting made his runs on Daredevil, Captain America, Spider-Man: Death and Destiny (which he also wrote) and The Incredible Hulk fan favorites, and his artwork for Batman Chronicles: The Gauntlet is among the most finely crafted in the character’s history.”

Tim O’Shea: Given that you and Lee Weeks are old friends, were you afraid you were too close to him to be able to create a good book?

Tom Field: Actually, I looked at it just the opposite way — that because I *did* know him well, I could do a better book because I’d know the best topics to ask him about. I could get a little deeper than ‘Which character have you always wanted to draw?,’ y’know? We did speak upfront about what we wanted to stress in the interviews — topics we did/did not want to pay much attention to — but our friendship was never a challenge. Quite the opposite. I think it was a major strength.

O’Shea: While you two are close, were there any revelations in talking with him that really took you by surprise?

Field: Absolutely! Even though I was around Lee when a lot of formative events occurred early in his adult life, I was busy with my own life then, so I missed the significance of some things, or I’d forgotten them altogether. Plus looking back nearly 30 years in some cases, a lot of “random” events suddenly don’t look so random. What I see now is a dramatic story unfolding over his lifetime, and that stuff just never was obvious when we were living through it.

I daresay that Lee got some revelations through our dialogue, too, because I remembered some things he’d forgotten. There’s just a real magic to bringing two friends together to discuss olds events that shaped their lives.

O’Shea: On page 57 of the book, discussing the mayhem of the early 1990s speculative market, Weeks recollected a colleague saying to him: “Forget about storytelling, just do the big money shot, and you can get this much for the originals.” Were you shocked to hear that anecdote? Do you think given how highly ethical Weeks is, it was harder and harder for him to work in comics–given the lack of ethics (as evidenced by this anecdote) regarding the craft?

Field: I wasn’t shocked at all. I remember when that comment was made, and Lee first told me about it. I’m not sure that his disdain for some of the stylistic fetishes has made a huge difference in work he has/hasn’t received. I do think his refined sense of story content — the types of subject matter, characters and themes he chooses to represent — makes a way bigger difference. It’s not just ethics, it’s morals, and Lee has a strong moral code — just like the comics we read when we were kids. I think this is a good thing, and it should be a benefit to Lee’s career. I feel it’s a shame that there are fewer opportunities to tell good stories w/o extreme violence and moral ambiguities.

O’Shea: In discussing his faith with him, was it hard to structure questions and steer the conversation in a manner that he was sharing the story in a manner that did not come off like he was preaching (for lack of a better term)?

Field: Lee really guided that part of the conversation, and I think he did a masterful job. Y’know, I just wanted to find out how his faith changed his life and influenced his work. It was up to Lee to decide how much he wanted to reveal, as well as to walk what can be a fine line between discussing and preaching faith. Frankly, I think he approached this part of the conversation much as he approaches his art — with sensitivity and style.

O’Shea: What was the hardest aspect of doing this book?

Field: What to leave out? When you’ve known someone since high school, you know a ton of stories that you think everybody would enjoy. But you’ve got to be sensitive to space constraints and to the fact that people are coming to this book to learn more about Lee’s pro career — not what he did before the career started. Editing was way tougher than interviewing — and I bet Lee would agree. We’ve got some great material for the “director’s cut!”

O’Shea: Care to mention some of what ended up being edited out for space?

Field: What got edited out? A lot of the fun stories from our teens and 20s. I think we did a good job keeping in the major milestones, but there were a ton of anecdotes about the people we knew, places we explored, comics ideas we cooked up. I mean, we put together a serious comics proposal once just on the comic book store where we met & the people we knew there. It was a crazy place — comic book store in the front, antiques store in the back. And we used to always see this one scene played out: Our friends would be standing around on a Saturday afternoon, enthusing about their favorite comics — which heroes they’d be and which heroines they’d be with given the opportunity. Then, inevitably, a real woman would walk into the shop looking for antiques, and all these comic book romeos would suddenly turn silent until one of them would almost whisper “There are antiques all the way through the back …” I think Lee even drew that scene at one point.

And then one thing I think we conveyed pretty well in the book is the sheer body of work Lee has published in 25 years. What we didn’t convey is his volume of unpublished work. And this was a bit of a revelation as well in our interviews, as I’d completely forgotten about some of the projects that even he and I had cooked up years ago. Y’know, we put together an entire 8-page Sub-Mariner story for Marvel back in 1981; in ’82 we cooked up a futuristic series starring a middle-aged man named Grant Alden (that’s all I remember — we thought it would be innovative to craft a series around a middle-aged man, even though we were both 19 and 20!); at Kubert’s Lee devised his own series based on galactic garbagemen; in the mid-80s we banged out a series of horror/sf proposals for the Eclipse anthos; and believe it or not we even kicked around launching our first published work, “Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive Drunk,” into an ongoing series. In the late 80s/early 90s, he and I dev ised a Hulk/Frankenstein Monster miniseries that I still think would kick, and I really wish we could have spent some more time diving into some of the Fantastic Four, Superman and other stories that Lee has created wholecloth and still may get to someday.

It’s funny. Every time we had to cut a passage we really hated to edit, we’d say “It’ll make it into Part II.” That was one thing I had to keep emphasizing in this project. Lee was initially resistant to a career retrospective because he’s still in his career. So I had to sell him on the idea that this was only Part I — we’d come back and talk about the next part of his career in another 25 years or so. That helped.

O’Shea: What was the most fun discussion you had with Weeks while doing the book?

Field: Recalling our antics at comic book shows back in the early 1980s, when we were in our late teens or early 20s and totally intimidated by all the pros we met at Boston conventions. I mean, can you imagine how much nerve we had to summon up just to ask Dave Cockrum to join us for burgers at McDonald’s? Or what it was like just to watch Lee knock on John Byrne’s hotel room door? Meeting Howard Chaykin and Al Williamson for the first time … Gil Kane … We just laughed so much remembering the adventures and how much they reshaped our appreciation of comics and creators.