Freddie Williams Talkin' Robin With Mike Storniolo
With a three issue stint on Seven Soldiers: Mister Miracle and an Aquaman fill-in, Freddie E. Williams II continues his rise up in the ranks at DC comics with the recent announcement as the new artist of Robin. Freddie took a few minutes to chat with SBC about the upcoming project…
MIKE STORNIOLO: So last time we left off you were just about to take over art chores on Mister Miracle for DC, and now it's just announced you're the new artist on Robin. Congratulations on that, it's a nice book, how does it feel to take the next step up in your career?
FREDDIE WILLIAMS: Thanks! I have been VERY lucky! I know there are other guys out there that have worked as hard as I have and have still not broken in, so I know I am quite fortunate!
How does it feel? It feels great! There are moments that feel almost like epiphanies, where I realize what I’m working on… it’s surreal, just awesome! I geek out about it all the time.
MS: How did the Robin gig come about?
FW: Not for sure about what happened at DC, to the best of my knowledge there was some shuffling of books and the Editors they belong to. In this reorganization, the Editors I had been working with inherited Robin. The regular artist they had slated was double booked on another [Title] I think, leaving Robin without an artist.
While I was in the middle of finishing the last half of Mister Miracle #4, Peter [Tomasi] gave me a call. We made small talk for a few minutes, chatting about some of the Mister Miracle pages I had just turned in the night before, then he asked if I'd be interested in being the new monthly artist on Robin... I was dumbstruck for a few seconds, then I think I said something like "oh, KICK ASS!"
We spoke about how he would like me to handle the character and the overall feel. He then had me draw up a few sketches based on Robin’s new costume to seal the deal. I finished up the rest of Mister Miracle #4 then I got right to work on Robin issue 149.
MS: So with Robin, are there any new artistic avenues or challenges you're exploring? How's it comparing so far to previous work?
FW: I was fortunate enough to work on several large “one-shots” last year for Chimaera Studios; Wargod, Lonebow, Project EON, and Chance of a Lifetime. Each time I would start on a new book, I tried to approach it with a different “feel”. I didn’t want to draw them with the same faces and body types or the same level of action in the action scenes from one to the next. I would establish a certain theme or lens that I was going for and keep that in focus throughout the book.
The lens I am looking through for Robin is that of a young Batman. I won’t treat Robin as just some sidekick; I mean he’s essentially on the path to become Batman, along the way though we see him making mistakes, since he is still learning.
Artistically, I am going for a really dark feel, when appropriate, while keeping it balanced with the tone for a main character that is between fifteen to sixteen years old.
MS: Anything you've been doing or any work you've been checking out to get in the groove for Robin?
FW: Nope, still in the “find myself” or “ignore outside influences” phase, I don’t want to repeat someone else’s performance on Robin, I wish to find my own voice with the character, get inside of his head and not having another artist’s impression of the character distracting from that.
Adam Beechen, the series writer, is doing some great stuff on the book, so it’s been a really great experience!
MS: Anything you can say to get people interested in checking out the book?
FW: As we know, sometimes in comics it’s easy for characters to remain the same, unchanged by time, or their struggles.
This isn’t the case with Robin, there has been and will be some great character development with him. He has actually changed, and the young man he is becoming is an interesting one to get to know, so I hope readers will give it a shot, because it’s going to be cool.
MS: Now that you're working your way up at DC, any characters you'd like to get a shot at sometime?
FW: I just got to draw a bunch of characters on page 12 of Mister Miracle. Including: Robin (before I got the book ironically), Batman, Green Arrow, Animal Man (or at least the back of him) and some tiny far off figures of Captain Marvel, Hawkgirl, Flash, Superman, and Wonder Woman. That was exciting!
Discuss this interview on the Feature Fiends Forum!