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comixology · 7 years

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We interviewed JOCK about Wytches, when it’s coming back, and also his fave movies, it was great!

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Transcription:

Matt: We're back at comiXology studios with probably the biggest interview we've ever done.

Tia: Definitely.

Matt: Folks might have seen his work as the artist of Wytches or perhaps the amazing run of the Detective Comics with Scott Snyder and Francesco Francavilla. Jock, welcome to the show.

Jock: Thanks for having me. Thank you, and there's no way that this is the biggest interview. Didn't you have Scott Snyder last week? Like, forget it.

Matt: Listen, don't worry about the past, Jock. We're focused on the present here.

Jock: You're very kind.

Matt: You're doing work in several fields, whether that be design, concept art, posters, interior art, but what is it about comics that keeps bringing you back?

Jock: It's telling a story, basically. I mean, I started in comics. Comics are the reason that I'm illustrating, why I'm doing the job that I'm doing. They're completely unique, as we all know as comic fans. Though it's been really cool getting to do movie stuff and the poster work that I do as well, after, like for example, I've not done any comics for maybe about six weeks or eight months and I just get a bit fidgety because there's something really unique about telling a story. The itch doesn't quite get scratched when you're doing covers, or posters, or even the concept art for movies. As I say, it's a really cool thing to do, but you're only ever a kind of cog in the machine, and comics are very unique in that they're a very pure form of storytelling. That's what I love about them.

Tia: Well Wytches is one of my favorite comics to be honest. I love it.

Jock: Oh, thank you.

Tia: Particularly the art. I remember the first time that I read it and I was looking at it in Guided View, which is ... I don't know if you ever look at the Guided View that we have at ComiXology, which I think made it so much more terrifying, because you know, things would just jump out at you. How do you get pumped? You seem like such a nice person! Where do you find these horror images, and how do you make them so tense?

Jock: Who knows, funnily enough, there was an art book of mine that recently came out, and we had some intros by some friends that were kind enough to do intros, and one of the things they all said was that I maybe save my kind of …”the dark stuff” for my pen. Maybe that's the answer. You know, if you've got a kind of outlet for that stuff, which for me is my art, and that's what I do, then I'm not going to mope around the rest of the time. Life's far too short to be miserable.

Tia: I’ve been hearing that the second volume is going to take place in the desert, and so that will be like a landscape change. I'm wondering how the visual language is going to change with that, because I see the trees as a really important framing device in terms of the claustrophobia and the sort of terror of the Wytches and their kind of dwellings. How are you thinking through the change?

Jock: The change of scene is actually one of the things that I'm most excited about, because you're quite right. The first volume was so kind of synonymous with the woods and the trees, and one of the ideas was that Sailor, the girl, she felt like if she got away from woods that she would be away from the Wytches, but of course it turns out that she's wrong. I mean, one of the things I'm looking forward to is for example, the Wytches' physiology, the creatures themselves would have kind of developed in a different way if they're desert creatures as opposed to burrowing through stone and soil, that they might be underneath woods or bark or whatever. It's one of the most interesting things, is going to be mixing up that kind of ... the expanse of something like a desert, with still somehow visually a kind of creeping sense of menace that we tried to get into the first volume.

Me and Scott have talked a lot about that. We've talked a lot about kind of the places that the Wytches could be, and we've landed on the desert, as it just seems like almost kind of taking the readers that are used to the series just totally away from what they're expecting, and it would be very easy to go back to the woods and go back to that kind of environment, though I really like the way that it's hopefully going to open up the world and the mystique of the Wytches themselves.

Matt: What I envision too, in just the desert, is some kind of witch Sarlacc pit, where it's just even more horrifying in the desert... and makes me want to poop my pants.

Jock: That's a pretty good idea. Look out for that. It will be in part three of season two, the witch Sarlacc pit.

Matt: Volume three, Wytches on the moon, maybe.

Jock: Exactly! Exactly.

Matt: Now, the book has one of the most unique styles and very recognizable for people that are aware of what the book is. What's the collaboration like with you and Hollingsworth on the colors and the textures of that book? Because it's unlike anything that's really on the stands.

Jock: Yeah, I mean Matt went all out. It was a combination of things. I mean, I love Matt's work. He's one of the best colorists that we have, and so when he agreed to do the series with us, one of the things ... He sent kind of a couple of pages, and they were very sort of “regular.” They looked beautiful, but they were very kind of, you know. I don't want to say "run of the mill" because that sounds derogatory. That's not what I mean, but they were kind of more regularly colored, and I was really wanting something that visually had a bit of pop, or just something a little bit different that maybe it would be muted tones with one strong color, or maybe it would be something else.

He sent one page. I was like, "Yeah, you know, that's really good, but is there anything we can do?" Then he sent another page, and then it was almost like he sort of ... I don't want to say "had enough of me," because I wasn't particularly kind of harsh with him, but nonetheless he suddenly sent in this page, and it had all these spatters and colors kind of over it. One of the things I really liked about it was that it was quite an extreme choice to color it in that way, but one of the things that I like about it is that even though it's extreme, and it's kind of arresting, it still kind of ... There's a lot of beautiful colors, and a lot of really tasteful things going on with the way that he actually lays down the color and the spatters. When he sent that, I was just like, "Dude, I have no idea what you've just done, but that's exactly what I mean. Just something that kind of just sets it apart and makes it hopefully a little bit more exciting for readers to look at."

That's how it came about, and it's a constant kind of discovery, as it were, you know? As the issues go on, and as the issues progress, it just got better and better I think, and it really helped sort of the unease of the type of story that we're trying to tell.

Tia: Will we see the same aesthetic carry forward to "SandWytches"?

Jock: Sand Wytches? I know, right? Isn't that the greatest byline? That should be the tagline at the top.

Tia: It's wonderful!

Jock: "Snack and be scared. SandWytches." Yes, I mean, I think so. I think it would be too jarring to suddenly change it now, but again, art-wise and color-wise I think there's going to be ... It's going to feel different because of the different environment, so I'm really looking forward to seeing what Matt does.

Tia: Is there any hint you can give us about when we might be able to read volume two?

Jock: Yeah, I hold my hand up and apologize for the delay. It's entirely my fault. I was off working on a film. In fact, I just talked to Scott last week about it. We've got it all planned, when we start production. He's finishing up A.D. for image, and we start in about three or four weeks time.

Tia: Excellent!

Jock: I'm hoping that all things going well, that it will be I guess maybe fall this year, perhaps? Maybe sooner. We'll see. We'll see. I mean, it's tough, because we've always got ... We've both always got plenty of things to do, and it is hard to kind of find time where we both kind of match up, but we literally just chatted, was it Thursday or Friday last week, and it's in place, good to go.

Tia: I think fall sounds good. You could get it out before Halloween and ...

Jock: Yeah, I agree.

Tia: You can come to New York Comic Con and we could all be pumped together about it.

Jock: Perfect! Sounds good.

Tia: I love this plan.

Matt: You spent time obviously, it's no secret now, on The Last Jedi. We're ready. Lay it all out for us, Jock. What happens in the plot? It's time. We've held out long enough. We're ready.

Jock: Uh, (sigh)..

Matt: I hope in the transcript, it will just say, "Jock: Uh, (sigh)," when you give that answer.

Jock: Yeah, exactly.

Matt: With The Last Jedi, you worked on this huge movie, and you've done it in the past where you've done concept art and worked on these movies. I would assume that you're a huge movie fan. Is anything ever lost for you in missing kind of being shocked in the theater, on working on these really cool projects?

Jock: It's different. It is different seeing a movie that you've worked on. It's hard to be objective. I mean, maybe the two I'm best known for is Dredd and Ex Machina, and seeing both of those for the first time, there's a strange adjustment that happens, you know, which maybe you wouldn't have going in cold. I love movies, and I really love working on them as well. I feel very kind of ... especially when it's quality stuff like Ex Machina, for example, when I first saw Ava, the girl robot on the screen, I mean, to be associated with that is a privilege, really. Yeah, I love movies just as much as comics to be honest, so I think I’m inspired by movies in the work I do in comics. I feel very lucky that I get to kind of dip into both.

Tia: Could you talk a little bit about ... and I guess this question would apply to movies or comics, but in terms of keeping a list of things that inspire you, does that have a lot of overlap with the things that are your favorites, that you just kind of curl up on a weekend with, if you have time on the weekend? Sounds like you don't, but you know, like are your favorites kind of inspiring to you professionally, or do you have a different kind of mindset that you get into when you're looking for inspiration?

Jock: I don't think so, no. I think at least one of the brilliant things about it is that we're all, to a certain degree, like to have a style. You know, people have unique style and readers follow creators that have certain styles. That's such a brilliant, amazing thing, and I sort of feel like I don't really come into work and think about how I should be doing it. I just come in and do what I think looks cool, kind of thing. You know, it's the stuff that inspires me. Yeah, no, I don't really make the distinction. I just like the stuff I like, and then I draw the way that I draw, and I guess they both reflect each other, really.

Matt: What are your top three all-time favorite movies, Jock? Go.

Jock: Oh, man.

Tia: No pressure.

Jock: Jaws is up there. There's a British film called Gregory's Girl, which has always been my favorite. I love Heat. I love Empire Strikes Back. I love Rosemary's Baby. The Thing. That wasn't three, was it? That was already like six or seven.

Matt: What about Casino? What's your favorite Scorsese movie?

Jock: Oh man, that's tough. Okay, King of Comedy is actually kind of my favorite.

Matt: Wow, okay.

Jock: Because I watched it having not barely heard of it. It was probably new, a long time ago now. It took me so by surprise, and I loved it. You know, there's the obvious ones, Goodfellas, Taxi Driver. Casino's great as well, I think, but on a more personal level, King of Comedy is my favorite.

Matt: When you meet fans of your work at cons and online, is there one work that stands out where that was their introduction to your stuff? Is there like one at the top that is always there, or any that surprise you?

Jock: I've seen a consistent one in the last maybe five or so years, and it's always Batman. It's always Batman. Actually, I tell a lie. In the last few years there's been a lot of people that are really into Wytches, which is really amazing. To do what's essentially kind of like off-kilter, quite dark, independent horror title, and to have that kind of response to it, has been really, really amazing. I'm always pleased when people are into the more kind of personal stuff, but I completely understand, and it seems to be the case that people know me for Batman. If I'm doing sketches, it's literally like eight out of 10 of them will be Batman, so yeah.

Tia: Are there any characters or titles you'd love to get your hands on?

Jock: I feel really lucky, to be honest. I've worked on the ones that I would like to have worked on. Batman is an obvious one. Dredd, Judge Dredd was what I read growing up, and that was my kind of ... What I really wanted to do, and that was my first work. Wolverine I really wanted to do, and I got to do a story for Marvel there. Maybe a bit of Daredevil, and maybe a bit of Punisher, but honestly right now I'm so appreciating being able to do this stuff and dip into things like Batman when I want to. I've got to be honest.

Matt: You've had The Losers, you've done Star Wars and Dredd was probably also very huge for you, but is there a film work or a kind of design or concept stuff that you have on your list, that you haven't been able to check off yet?

Jock: Someone asked me that question a couple of years ago, and my answer was that I wished I had got the call for Star Wars: Episode VII. Maybe the gods heard, because now that one's been ticked off as well.

Matt: They were probably reading that interview, and they picked up the phone right then I think.

Jock: Yeah, right. Exactly. Again, it's funny because something like Ex Machina, which is not a well-known thing, but how that's gone on to be so well-received is ... It's always that stuff that's more rewarding, I think. It's really cool getting the chance to work on these characters that you grew up loving and everything, and nothing takes away from that, but there's something extra special when it is something a little bit more personal, I guess, that gets so well-received. That's a great feeling.

Matt: When you're in the concept stages for a film, what's that experience like for people that are maybe just used to comic books or the creation of comic books? Do you come and meet with the team, or do you review a script and then you're kind of on your own to see what you can come up with? What's the collaboration like for that?

Jock: It's been sort of different for each project, really. I've been very lucky that generally most of my film work has come about from having a relationship one way or another with the directors, basically. Like my first film what, was through Peter Berg, who was going to be doing The Losers movie. Me and Andy Diggle met Pete in London, and we got on well, and he really likes my stuff, so when he was working on a film, he asked if I could do some artwork for it, and that was literally speaking to him directly. Dredd and Ex Machina were like that with Alex Garland. It was very close collaboration. Some of the other stuff is a little bit more ... Like I worked with costume designers as opposed to directly with the director. But yeah, it varies really. That's what I was saying earlier about how on the bigger movies, you are more of a cog in the machine, but actually I've been, again, very lucky that I've sort of worked directly with the director themselves, which is really good.

Tia: You've given us some recommendations of movies and comics that are your favorite. Is there anything that you want to recommend, maybe something that is a little under the radar, that you think people should check out, that maybe they don't know about?

Jock: Sure. Well, this week, funnily enough, is the 40th anniversary of 2000 AD, which features Judge Dredd every week. Dredd is one of the few things that I still get it every week, and I still read it every week, and they've just released a 40th anniversary issue with a ton of great stuff in it, so that is my recommendation for people that might not have picked it up.

Matt: I actually was seeing that, some of your retrospective on yourself on your Twitter feed too, and you showed a picture of Dredd that you drew when you were like 14. It was still, like, amazing for a 14-year-old.

Jock: Oh, come on. It was terrible. I so nearly didn't put it online, but I mean, thank you. You're being very kind, but yeah, no. Again, being the anniversary, I mean 40 years for any title is an amazing achievement, and for an anthology title that's over here in the UK, it really is quite something. I was just trying to help kind of put the good word out, because they're a great bunch of people and they've launched the careers of nearly all the recognizable UK guys that we all know and love now, in all kinds of other ways. It's a very special thing, and I'm really proud that I've had a small part in 2000 AD.

Matt: Right on. Well, Jock, I appreciate you taking the time out today to talk Wytches and give us all those spoilers about The Last Jedi.

Jock: Of course.

Tia: That we're going to edit out, so sorry guys!

Matt: We'll see Wytches hopefully in the fall, and thanks again for coming on.

Jock: Thank you guys. Really good to speak to you. Thanks for having me.

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