Inteview With Comic Inker Mick Gray

When I was a judge at a manga contest in Silicon Valley, I met Mick Gray, an inker at DC comics and a man with an extensive comic career.  So of course, you got it – I had to interview him.

Mick Gray has been in comics  . . . well a few years after I started reading comics.  He’s got quite a history behind him, and a lot to say.  You can also find out more at his website www.mickgray.net – to boot he even has his own original comic art, and a new children’s book, Al B. Mouse’ Abecedarium.

Let’s see what he can share from his extensive career!

1) You've been doing comics inking for nearly 20 years. Let's ask the question all our readers want to hear - how did you get the job?

I was working in the Silicon Valley as a technical illustrator in around 1988 when my good friend suggested to Dan Vado of Slave Labor Graphics that I could help him out doing inking. I really never thought I could be working in the comic industry, so this was an opportunity I could not pass up! I showed Dan my technical illustration portfolio and he hired me to help out inking backgrounds on a book called HERO SANDWICH. Then he and Norm Felchle started to do THE GRIFFIN and I was on to ink most of the backgrounds in that book. it was then sold to DC Comics to be published. At that point all the art was re-done and Mark Mckenna was hired as the new inker and he saw my name on the local version and hired me as his assistant! This was the start of the snow ball rolling for me and I worked with Mark for a good 6 years. At the same time I also assisted Chuck Austin, Alex Sheikman, Randy Emberlin, Ian Akin and Frank Cirocco. My first full inks were done on Sheikman's BLOODLUST, Michael Thibodeaux's PHANTOM FORCE and PUNISHER #100 for Marvel.
 

2) You've seen a lot in the world of comics. How has it changed as a place to work in the last 20 years?

Since I started, I've seen big change in two areas, color and lettering. With the advent of the computer, letterers were all let go, with the exception of the best in the field. All lettering is now done in the office on computer and is done separate from the art. When I started all the lettering was done right on the art before I inked it! i used to love to read the page as I worked on it... now I need to read scripts... I do not enjoy that as much! Computer coloring changes comics big time, for better and the worst! I always say that the computer is just a tool. You might know how to use it really good but you might not have any color theory background. This can make for a comic that just looks like crap! But, if you get a computer guy with a good sense of color you have a colorist that adds SO much to the finished art.


3) How has comics as an industry changed in the 20 years you've been in it? We've seen a lot of changes - and a lot lately - that are quite amazing.

When I started they were selling hundreds of thousands of copies of top comics. Now a number one comics might sell ONE hundred thousand copies but, I'm thinking, that doesn't happen much anymore. The money people were buying comics with is going elsewhere.  I'm hoping this will be a positiive thing in the long run. Maybe this will make the big companies want to make more high quality style hardcover books, moving the US in the same direction as European comics have been going for a long time.

Of course the digital age has made the idea of "books" a little passé at the moment. I think comics will be done on the internet more and more but will be compiled more and more into a nice, high quality, book form after getting people "hooked" on the web.  


4) As an Inker, you've seen art technology change. How has it affected your job - and how do you keep up on the technology?

Technology has not really affected me ...yet! I can see a day that I'll get a call asking if I can ink a project on a computer tablet, quickly, or I'll not get the gig. I'm interested in it all but I have not taken the jump into computer inking as of yet. I'm hoping that there will always be enough of a fan base that wants hand done art that I will always be able to continue working on the board with the brush. We shall see....


5) It's an age of iPhone and iPad - what do you think about how technology is affecting comic reading?

A lot of the companies now have applications for comic downloads to these devices and I think this will be a good thing for the industry. Any new way of promoting comics is good in my opinion. I think this will all lead to a renewed interest in "the paper form" down the line. Thing always go round and round... look at the way vinyl records are making a come back! Also, as the IPad style tablet improves in the art area, we will see more artists using them to create art "on the spot"... say, like a political cartoonist uploading cartoons done at a political convention. i see that kind of thing happening real soon.


6) You work for DC but live across the country from their main offices. What's it like to work that kind of distance?

It's a good and bad thing. If I was in New York, having lunch with the guys in the office, I'd probably be getting more work. But on the other hand I DON'T live in New York... and that's a VERY good thing to me! Another thing about this type of work is that I work with pencillers in other parts of the world. I've worked with guys who live in Brazil, Italy and England. This does pose the problem of getting the pages to me in a timely fashion. Sometimes it can be a REAL hassle! I end up not being able to finish all the pages from a book JUST because of shipping delays... that is a REAL bummer!


7) You're living a dream many would want to have - any advice for people pursuing their dreams?

Well, that's a hard one... I have to say that I never even dreamt I would be able to work in comics! It seemed like the only way i was going to be able to make a living with art was to get an education in drafting and technical illustration... so that is just what i did. I did that for about 15 years before i got into the comic industry. So I have to come from the reasonable side of the brain and say whatever your dreams are, ALWAYS have a back up! All the schooling I got before comics got me in. Without that education I probably would have never been able to work in this "dream" career!

Thanks Mick!  Be sure to visit www.mickgray.net for more of his work!

- Steven Savage