Brian Bolland

Interview by Rada Djurica

(continued)

Do you do freelancing?

Yes.

How different is that now from the '60s and '70s?

I think it still works the same way. It's probably that different things are being published now, but now there is a whole community of writers and drawers working from home. They work for publishers. And that is how it works.

Tell us about Batman.

The Batman comics I did, I did very well from that respect, but when I do covers I just get paid for one single cover, and I just get flat fee. If it sells very well or it doesn't, that doesn't affect my fee, really. It means that I draw what I want without worrying whether it is going to be sold. I don't have to worry about tje commercial aspect of it, really, which is quite nice for me.

What do you think about filming comics like Batman or Catwoman? Do you like it?

People ask me often whether filming comics is going through a bad patch or a good patch, whether it's going through hard times. It seems to be a fact that a lot of Hollywood movies are doing superheroes and comics, and it is a good thing or a bad thing. I mean, it makes everybody aware of what the people in comics are, but I don't know whether it will make people buy the comic books or not.

But also, it does get to me that films are getting sillier and sillier. I like films. I think it's a serious art form. But I don't personally go to see these films. I mean yes, good action, special effects, I like movies with good special effects, you know, exciting, large scale special effects every once in awhile. But the fact they are using only Marvel Comics and characters, it's probably a very bad thing. But I don't think we are ever going to see a serious grown up film in the Hollywood cinema at all.


Why are you dedicated to your work?

My dedication to it comes from the fact that I don't know how to do anything else and never had another job. Drawing comes naturally, but also, it is hard work. It never gets easier. You soon find it's hard to draw, but you do it, because you don't know how to do anything else.

What techniques do you use: color or just black and white?

If you look at the salon today [at the International Salon of Comic Books], you will see that there's a black and white work and there's color one. But I'm working on the computer. Lots of people think wrongly about the computer. And you see their eyes getting heavy, and they go to sleep when we mention computers, but I think people think when you work on the computer, pictures just appear. It is still drawing, exactly the same as when I was drawing on the paper before.

What program do you use?

I use Adobe PhotoShop. PhotoShop 5.5.