Wearing The Black Coat: Jeremy Colwell (Interview Four of Four)

By Terry Hooper

The career of The Black Coat is a journey for the creative team. First appearing as a self-published mini promotional comic at ComixPress.com, The Black Coat moved to Speakeasy Comics. After Speakeasy's untimely and mysterious demise, Ape Entertainment recovered some of Speakeasy's series. Along with this recovery came The Black Coat. Terry Hooper sat down with The Black Coat inker Jeremy Colwell to finish discussing the unique series and its equally unusual voyage.

(This is the final interview in a four-feature series.)

TERRY HOOPER: Jeremy, I'll admit that I have heard your name before but never seen any of your work prior to The Black Coat. I also know you live on the US Pacific NW but that's it. So, to start let's ask...where and when were you born?

JEREMY COLWELL: I was born about 30 years ago in Wenatchee, Washington where I lived until leaving for Seattle to attend the University of Washington.

TH: Did you draw a lot as a child -were you naturally artistic?

JC: I drew all the time. Everyone seemed to think I was naturally artistic, but if anyone spent that much time putting marks on paper they’d figure out how to draw as well as I could.

TH: At what age did you first see comics -can you remember your first comics and any impact they made on you?

JC: I think it was in the mid-eighties. My dad stopped at a 7-eleven and bought me Avengers 260-something with a post Secret Wars II story. (editors KNOte: Jeremy revealed it as #261) It was very cosmic and caught my interest right away. I’d always been into cartoons like Superfriends, but somehow I didn’t read comics for the first 10 years of my life.

TH: So when, as a child, did you first think it might be cool to be a comic book artist --and if you broke the news to your parents, what was their reaction?

JC: I started making my own comic characters and pages very early on, probably shortly after discovering comics. I’m not sure I ever “broke the news” to them, but my parents always supported my art so they were cool with me pursuing it, especially after I started making money at them.

TH: Education wise I know you attended the University of Washington School of Art. Can you tell us whether this was what you were aiming at to further your comic ambitions or was it unconnected?

JC: During college, comics fell into the background. I started out wanting to learn to draw better to make my comic work more appealing, but the more I studied fine art, the more interested in that I was. I still paint occasionally and wish I did it more often. My house, and those of family and friends, are littered with my paintings and drawings.

TH: I assume you drew comics while at university and school; did this ever create unusual or negative situations?

JC: I was pretty low-key about my comic ambitions in college. It was a commercial enterprise and the people I associated with were much more into art for art’s sake. I didn’t hide it, but it didn’t seem like the crowd to discuss comics with.

TH: Did you decide to get into comics after university and if so what did you try to break into the field -what companies did you approach and what reaction did you get from them?

JC: Towards the end of college, I started to burn out on painting. I was in studio classes for nine hours a day sometimes and I stopped feeling the urge to work. I stopped painting for a while and focused on my pencilling briefly. I didn’t pursue it well and eventually stopped that, too. I think I sent something off to DC and hit up a local con but nothing came of either one. I needed a break to regain my focus.

TH: I should have asked this earlier but was there a single or couple of comic creators/artists who inspired/influenced you?

JC: I’m not sure who hasn’t. Most notable would be—Mike Mignola, Frank Miller, Steve Lieber, Klaus Janson, John Dell, Tim Townsend, JRJR, and Tony Moore. Over the last year or so, I’ve developed a great relationship with the Mercury Studio (http://mercurystudio.blogspot.com/). There is an amazing stable of talent there and all of them are so willing to help educate. It has been the most influential experience of my comic career. I started out as an intern, but then moved into a more assistant type role. Now I work for them freelance when they need me.

TH: I have seen your inks over Freddie E Williams' pencils for Eon, Gabe Pena's pencils for Awakenings and Karim Whalen's for Night Club. They are superb! The inking you've done over Francesco's pencils for The Black Coat are also exquisite and I wondered whether you set out to be an inker only?

JC: No, I never planned to be an inker. I had ambitions to do fully-painted graphic novels, but with a growing family I had to focus on my strengths at the moment and do what could gain me the most in the shortest time. Inking was it. I enjoy it more now that I feel I understand some of the philosophies and techniques, but I still work on my own stuff in my rare down times.

TH: I'll admit that when I had to ink someone else’s work I hated it! I was always worried that I'd ruin the page, a panel - the whole strip. You must be pretty confident in your inking skills but have you EVER made a mistake?

JC: I use a lot of Pro-White. ;) And I ink over blueline prints most of the time, so it’s not too precious a task. When I do commissions over original pencils I tend to get a little nervous because the piece is the product and I worry about covering it with a bunch of white paint. When it is just for scanning and print I use a lot more white.

TH: What do you use for inking -brush? Pen? Or both?

JC: The lion’s share is a Raphael 8408 size 1 brush, but I do a lot of marker work on backgrounds and a little nib where appropriate. I try not to rule any tool out. I even work digitally in Photoshop when needed.

TH: I'd be interested in learning your work turnover rate: how many pages do you ink per week?

JC: I’m relatively fast I hear, but a lot of it depends on the pencils. Lots of tech and template work slows me to a crawl, but organic stuff flies by. When the work is flowing, I can do at least a page a day (in a 4-6 hour workday). I have had the luxury of working on some loose deadlines, so I generally only do a page every two days. As with any freelance career, it’s feast or famine though and some weeks I don’t have anything to do so I stock up quality time with my family.

TH: Do you have a set work schedule such as start 7am, take a break 12 noon, continue til..... Or is it just head down and work?
JC: I’m a stay-at-home dad with little kids. Most of my work happens after the kids go to bed. If I have a deadline to hit, after my wife gets home from work, she gives me as much time as I need. She’s a great supporter of my habit…er…career. ;)

TH: How did you get involved in The Black Coat comic?

JC: I don’t remember really. It was a few years ago. I think Ben had seen some of my inks on Digitalwebbing.com and contacted me.

TH: Have you met Ben or Francesco - has Francesco said what he thinks of your inking his Black Coat pages?

JC: I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting either of them. I’ve had a million emails and early on we did many Messenger conversations, but no face to face. Francesco has been very complimentary about my inks. He gave me great pages to work with though, so it wasn’t too hard to make them look good. I think we made a great team.

TH: There are a lot of fine details in The Black Coat; did this present any problems or is it easy as long as the pencils are detailed?

JC: Highly rendered surfaces and scenes filled with details took a long time to ink. That was the only real problem. Francesco was great at giving me enough freedom in the pencils to contribute instead of just tracing the million lines he’d established. Actually, since I only inked the first 9 pages of the issue, all the detail work was just a great exercise in control.

TH: Now The Black Coat is a 4 issue series and you have various other projects you're working on; if the series went to ongoing would you still stay involved?

JC: At this point, I’m open to anything. This past year has been crazy busy for me with projects being offered that I have to turn down because I’m already committed to something else. If they wanted me to return to inking Francesco and the timing was right, I would definitely consider it.

TH: I've mentioned that you are a very busy young man - Eon for Markosia, The Night Club for Image, Awakenings for 8th Day Entertainment and, of course, The Black Coat for Ape Entertainment - are these all completed now or still in progress?

JC: Young? Thanks! Actually, Eon is the only current commitment for me. We’re in the middle of book 2 that is due out this summer. I have commissions come in every now and then, too, and those are great filler work for the times between pages. I’ve also been working with Ron Randall a bit on some of his projects.

TH: And after those series, what next?

JC: There are a few things in the works, but nothing I can confirm at this time. I’ll probably help Ron with a few other things he has coming up if time permits. I’ve been taking some time lately to work on some of my own ideas and broaden my skill set.

TH: Can I ask you what it was like when Speakeasy Comics folded just before The Black Coat was to appear?

JC: I was shocked. I read about it online and just sat for a moment wondering what it meant for The Black Coat. More importantly, I was concerned for Ben and the rest of the crew who’d put so much into the book. Fortunately, Ape swung in a grabbed the book quickly so the worry period was brief.

TH: And how do you envisage your future in the comics field -is there a set goal you are aiming at - say,inking The New Avengers for Marvel?

JC: I think I’ll be an inker for a while yet. I enjoy working in the other disciplines, but inking is my career and I’m content to let it carry me as far as it can. At this point, I have my sights on working for Marvel or DC, but I don’t have any specific books in mind. Okay, maybe Batman. :D

TH: Any final words for the fans out there, and there must be a few!

JC: Thanks for all the support. I’m happy to be able to work doing something I’ve wanted to do most of my life. Thanks for letting me.

And thank you, Terry for this interview opportunity.

TH: Jeremy, thank you very much for giving up your time and here's wishing you all the best in future.

Black Coat Interview #1: Ben Lichius
Black Coat Interview #2: Adam Cogan
http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/features/114735867797326.htmBlack Coat Interview #3: Francesco Francavilla

Discuss this interview on the Feature Fiends Forum!