When you have all the time in the world to pore over wall after wall of new comics, you start to take notice of the artists who really stand out. And one pattern that’s really emerged is this – artist, Juan Ferreyra, can draw some #$%ed up $#@!
So after obsessing over books like COLDER, REX MUNDI, PROMETHEUS and more, our own comic jockey, Scott Baker, reached out to Ferreyra to pick his brain and some from whence the madness comes.
FORBIDDEN PLANET: I was surprised to find very little on your personal life on the web. What would you like to tell us about what got you to where you are today?
JUAN FERREYRA: Ok, I’m Juan Ferreyra, 37 years old, I was born In the city of Cordoba in Argentina, and it was a car and some walking too that got me where I am right now, heh!
FP: Who inspired you to pick up drawing as a career?
JF: I was drawing since I can remember, mostly because my dad draws really well. My uncles and cousins draw really well, too, so it runs in the family. My dad used to read comics and they were all over the place in my house and, since I was a little kid, I pictured me working as a grown up as a sequential illustrator. When I read my first American comic book (Action Comics 584, by John Byrne) I realized it was comics that I wanted to do for a living.
FP: Your work contains various intricacies in a single space. Has this ever caused trouble meeting a deadline?
JF: At the beginning of my career (and usually on #1 issues), but I think I’ve met all my deadlines so far… I also sometimes like to make myself some extra trouble by adding pages to the scripts, making one page fight scene into a 3 pager and things like that.
FP: When I see your work, whether it’s in the pages of “Colder” or on the covers of “New Suicide Squad” or “Constantine,” I end up looking at it for an extended period of time. What artists, in comics or otherwise, cause you to stare at their work for extended periods of time?
JF: I love works from guys like Adam Hughes, Travis Charest, Bryan Hitch, Alan Davis, Brian Bolland , Kevin Nowlan, Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, Frank Quitely, Stuart Immonen, Sean Gordon Murphy, etc!
FP: Do you prefer working on covers or entire story arcs?
JF: Doing Covers is awesome, but what I enjoy the most is entire story arcs, doing the sequential part is the best for me, I have a blast doing it.
FP: I’m a huge fan of “Colder,” and have dipped my toes into “Rex Mundi.” What can you tell our readers about how your early creative process differs from your current process?
JF: Colder is awesome! I started with an Image comic called Small Gods, and then I started to do pencils, inks and greyscales with the computer. For Rex Mundi, I switched inks for pencils and coloring with the computer. For Colder, I kept the pencils but tried to loosen up a bit; less clean lines and I added watercolors to some pages and the coloring with the computer.
FP: Have you ever drawn something so bizarre you sat back and thought, “They might lock me away if anybody saw this”?
JF: Maybe in High school where I did a comic that was called The Student Avenger, and it was about one of our friends that was really big and muscular but also very quiet, although you could sense he could snap anytime and crush you. In the comic he transformed into the Student Avenger and punished the bad teachers. I had him kill a lot of teachers in comics. I guess that if the teachers read that they would’ve done something with me.
FP: What do you like to have on while you work? Music? Movies/TV? Deafening silence?
JF: I listen to music or Radio, lately I prefer to listen to radios that have people talking, so I feel more like I have working partners!
FP: You and Paul Tobin make a great team! Who else would you like to illustrate for?
JF: Thanks! Paul is awesome. We worked together on 3 different projects already: Colder, Falling Skies and Prometheus. I would love to illustrate something for Garth Ennis, Brian K Vaughn, Morrison..