While she died in 1977 (long before I knew to appreciate music or the past), I have lucked out in a sense, because in 1977 laptops and the Internet were nowhere close to existing. So today, when I popped Mary Ford’s name into a search engine, I quickly gained access to 11 episodes of The Les Paul Show (featuring Ford) as well as some YouTube clips.

Paul deserves every bit of praise he gets in the coming days. But I hope one or two folks take a moment to remember his late former wife as well.

First on the list of interests, Friend of Talking with Tim (FOTwT) Curt Holman sparks an interesting discussion when he details the bonding time he and his daughter enjoyed recently watching a majority of the DC animated series, Justice League (and its later Justice League Unlimited incarnation). Curt is a great critic and arts journalist, but for me, his best stuff is when he writes about his lovely family.

Every Wednesday, the New York Times book blog, Paper Cuts, has a feature called Living with Music. I relish these entries on two levels, first it’s a chance to be exposed to music I may not have considered otherwise. Secondly it affords me a glimpse into the mind of a writer I previously lacked. This past Wednesday the writer offering a view of his musical mind was John Rechy.

This Monday, the United States observes the birth of the late great civil rights leader, Martin Luther King, Jr. I have always feared that for many folks this relatively new holiday has become another Monday off from work and little else. I always try to observe the holiday in some manner (no matter how small) and this year, I was able to briefly reflect on the civil rights struggle, thanks to a link from the Librarians Internet Index. It is a KODAK online exhibition, Powerful Days in Black and White, which the site explains as: “Shocking photos brought the civil-rights struggle to all America. Relive it now through the eyes of photojournalist Charles Moore.” I was born in 1968, so to comprehend that in 1960 there were road signs made by the Ku Klux Klan welcoming people to the area amazes and upsets me. If you want to read about Moore, KODAK provides a great overview.

Tim: It’s been a few years since we last did an interview. When we last spoke, a majority of your printed work was self-published. So I was surprised to see in more recent years that you have been participating in the Flight anthologies. What drew you to allowing your new Rex installments in Flight, rather than published by you?

Michel: I have a tremendous amount of respect for editor, Kazu Kibuishi and his vision in putting together the Flight anthology. When he asked me to be a part of it, I couldn’t refuse.

To date, the experience of being involved with Flight has been nothing but positive. All the artists involved are so talented and encouraging. I look at their work and I get inspired and hopefully they get inspired looking at my work too. We all feed off each other’s creative energy.

Since I started with Flight, a few publishers have voiced their interest in publishing the graphic novel of the completed story (the final chapter will run in Flight 7) so I’ll probably let somebody else publish that as well. To tell you the truth, I’m probably going to work more and more with publishers in the future. I enjoy self-publishing but it’s very time consuming and time is something I don’t have enough of already.

Tim: How much has your participation in Flight broadened your audience?

Michel: Flight has now become the bestselling comic anthology in America so Rex gets a heck of a lot more exposure then if I was publishing it myself. A lot of people are discovering my work through Flight which is awesome.

Tim: In that same vein, how many new doors of creative offers opened in the wake of your highly regarded and high profile work on Ratatouille?

Michel: Everything I do gets me some exposure in one way or another. Hopefully, I proved to Pixar that I could integrate my own brand of hand drawn animation in one of their movie. I’d hope to do that with The Incredibles but it didn’t pan out. I’m glad we were successful with Ratatouille. I’d love to do more work with Pixar if we find the right fit.

I’ve been very fortunate in the animation industry to work for and meet the right people. I always give my very best on every assignment and I am devoted to creating work that’s original and interesting. The word always gets around and every year, I receive offers to do the type of animation I consider really fun. I’m doing six shots right now for the upcoming Horton Hears a Who movie that are just totally the kind of animation I love to do.

Tim: Music has always been a major influence and/or role in your creative pursuits. How did your recent collaboration with the Victoria Philharmonic Choir go, and will you be collaborating with them again?

Michel: I was very proud of the work I did for the project although; the actual show for me was a bit of a mixed bag. In one hand, the musical performance was astounding, but the shadow puppet part was under-rehearsed and not to the level I would have liked it to be. Every one did the best they could but the resources were lacking. The problem when you work for the “arts” is that the budgets are very limited and most of the people involved work on a voluntary basis. To get things to look the way I had them in my head, we would have needed about 10 times the budget and 10 times the time.

As far as working with them again… Yes, I’d be totally open to it. Perhaps we can keep perfecting The Spectre’s Bride and make it really shine.

Tim: Did your upcoming 2009 work with the Vancouver International Jazz Festival result from your work with the choir?

Michel: Actually, I’ve been working on getting things going with the Jazz Festival for over a year. That’s way before I was approached by the Victoria Philharmonic. I’ve got a lot of stuff planned with them including some truly ground breaking animation projects. One of these projects is already completed and will have its premiere at the Festival in 2009. We’re talking about premiering the film by projecting it on the side of a skyscraper in downtown Vancouver! I can’t talk too much about all this because we’re still raising the funds to achieve everything I have in mind but I can honestly say that it’s going to be one of the coolest things of my career.

Tim: Am I correct in thinking that ZED is produced on an annual basis, and if so, when do you expect to finish the next installment?

Michel: I love doing ZED but it’s pretty tough fitting him in my schedule. ZED is for all intent and purpose, a hobby. I do it for fun. I’ve already started issue 9 and it’s coming along nicely. I’m planning on having it done for the summer of 2008. Then, issue 10 will be release the following year, and that will be a wrap. The complete ZED series will be 10 issues.

Tim: When was the first time you found out folks were getting tattoos made based on your work? Were you surprised by this development–of your insane character designs is there one that sticks out as one you hope you never see come to life in a tattoo?

Michel: I started seeing people with my artwork tattooed at conventions. At first, it took me a bit by surprise. One time, I walked into a store in Seattle and the girl at the cash register had one of my drawings tattooed on her arm. I didn’t expect that! Another time, I got an email from a guy who tattooed most of his upper body with my artwork. He didn’t want me to put his picture on my website though.

If people like my art and want to put it one their skin, that fine by me; any of it.

Tim: What can you tell folks about the potential for a new film project in 2008 and/or the video game you currently are developing?

Michel: The video game is called “Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet” and I’ve teamed up with an amazing crew to produce it. I’m designing the visuals and doing a lot of the animation myself. We haven’t signed with a publisher yet, but we should have a deal ironed out early in 2008. You can watch the trailer at http://www.insanelytwistedshadowplanet.com.

Starting in mid-January, I’m going to be production designing an animated movie produced by Gary Kurtz (Star Wars, Dark Crystal). I was contacted by the writer, Sabina Spencer, about a year ago and since then, the first phase of financing has come through which will allow me to begin the design work. I really like the story and I see a lot of potential there. A friend of mine, animator Richard Bazley (The Iron Giant), is also involved. All four of us, Gary, Sabina, Richard and myself, hung out in London for three days to brainstorm about the project and we’re all very excited. I really can’t say much more at this point except that the film is a perfect match for my design sensibilities.

This blog would not be possible without the support and encouragement of many folks, including the advice of Johanna Draper Carlson (of Comics Worth Reading and Savage Critics) and Tom Spurgeon (Comics Reporter); the brainstorming power of Jeff Parker and Tom Beland; and the marketing genius of AiT/PlanetLar publisher Larry Young (who gave me the name for this blog).