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Finding Max Finder Artist Michael Cho

TERRY HOOPER: I know you're Canadian -living where exactly?

MICHAEL CHO: Downtown Toronto. My wife and have an apartment and studio in "little Italy".

TH: Michael, I'm assuming that you began reading comics from an early age?

MC: Yup. I read comics and watched cartoons in South Korea (where I was born) and continued on with it when we moved to Canada when I was 6. In some ways I learned to read English by reading comic books. And of course, I copied all the drawings.

TH: Can you remember what the titles were and how you reacted to them?

MC: Well, the very first comic I picked up was Marvel's Iron Man (#145 "Raiders Rampage") drawn back then by the classic 80’s team of John Romita Jr. and Bob Layton. It was great, and I can remember many of the panels still, because I read that thing, like, a hundred times. I mostly read any Marvel comic I could find. My parents used to own a variety store, and back then those places sold comics on a rack, so I snuck magazines to read all the time. I loved comic books right away.

I've always been a visual guy, so I responded immediately to the artwork. But being a new kid to the country, and not knowing the language, those childhood comics were a little secret escape.

TH: Oddly, when my family moved to Germany in the 1960s, I polished up my German reading comics and watching cartoons –and Laurel & Hardy shorts! Comics are a good way to learn.

So, are you a "Foot high stack a month" comic guy or selective in what you buy?

MC: I'm pretty selective about what I buy. I don't follow any regular series, but I do know when I find a deluxe hardcover collection of Roy Crane's Buzz Sawyer reprints, I'll spend $80.00 on it no problem. These days, with all the nice re-issuing and re-packaging of classic material by old-school masters, that's what I find I'm buying when I go into the comic shop.

TH: And a lot of people are doing that. What WERE your favourite comics when you began reading them and what are your favourites now?

MC: Well, even as a kid, I followed writers & artists, not books or characters. But my childhood favourites were: X-Men (Claremont, Byrne, Cockrum, Paul Smith years), Daredevil (the Miller/Janson stuff, of course) and Marvel Tales ('cause in the 80's they reprinted the classic Lee/Ditko issues). Now, as I became a jaded teen, I discovered Swamp Thing (Alan Moore) and Love and Rockets (the Hernandez brothers are 2 of my absolute idols). These days, I read mostly older collections and alt stuff. Some of my recent favourites are: Rocketo by Frank Espinoza, The Push Man and other stories by Yoshihiro Tatsumi, and any of the Marvel Essentials collections with Kirby in them (I'll buy anything that's Kirby). I also love the classic adventure strips and pick up any reprints of Sickles, Crane, Robbins, Raymond, etc. that are put out on the market.

TH: Wow, quite a list. And anyone who likes Los Bros Hernandez is okay by me! Now, certainly, I do, but I'm told by other comic book artists that they generally pick up a comic and go through looking at the artwork THEN they read the story -same with you?

MC: Yeah. I'll definitely do a "flip-test" myself unless I know that artist's work very well and don't want to spoil the reading experience. But most comics, yeah, I'll scan artwork first before reading or buying.

TH: Were you drawing comics as a youngster - and how about while going through schooling?

MC: Hah! Like a lot of kids, I drew my own comics. At the age of 10, I was the CEO and creator of a whole line of my own 8 page typing-paper comics for 4 months before the operation folded due to a terrible inventory disaster. In other words, I drew my own superheroes in ball point pen for 4 months (hitting deadlines even!) before my mom found my stash one day and mistakenly threw them out.

TH: Ha-ha! Yeah, I drew comics in blank invoice receipt books my Gran brought home from work! Did you go to college/university to study art, design -?

MC: Yes. I'm a graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) before it added the "and Design". I was a graduate of the "Experimental Arts" department, which just meant a lot of painting. The amazing Jay Stephens was in my same year and program but we never actually met while we were in school.

TH: I know that you have worked mainly doing editorial illustrations for Canadian magazines -how did that come about?

MC: Well, after I graduated from OCAD, I realized very quickly that I wasn't going to be able to support myself by painting! So I did whatever I could that was art-related to make rent: mural painting, post-production and matte painting, storyboarding, sign painting, etc.

I quickly found out that doing illustration was the most enjoyable and it paid reasonably well.

TH: Your other work has also been illustrating children’s books in Canada - did that come about via the Editorial illustrations?

MC: Yes. Many of my early illustration assignments were for Canadian children’s publications, like Owl Magazine, which led to getting assignments to do books.

TH: I've spoken to artists who have worked illustrating children’s books; some say it was a smooth ride but others say its murder when you get an author who insists on telling you that you haven't got the "look" right - did you get any problems?

MC: No, I’ve never had any problems with the books. All of the authors I’ve worked with have been wonderful, and I’ve enjoyed every book I worked on. For example, my last children’s book, Media Madness, was written by an excellent writer named Dominic Ali, and we got along really well.

The only concern I might have with doing children’s books is the sheer volume of work needed for some projects. Most of what I worked on was non-fiction, which often required a lot of research and prep drawings to do properly.

TH: How long were you doing the editorial and children’s illustrating?

MC: I’ve been working as a freelance illustrator full time for about 8 years now. I still pick up occasional editorial assignments, but I am cutting back on some of the children’s book work to do more comics. I'm trying to move from illustration into comics -- which is the opposite in some ways of what other artists are doing.

TH: So, were the two jobs a good place to learn the discipline of sitting down and doing the work to deadline?

MC: Absolutely. I would say working on editorial illustrations for monthly, and especially weekly, magazines is a great training ground. Not only because of the deadlines, but also because of the variety of what you get asked to draw. I quickly had to learn how to draw anything I was asked, instead of only drawing what I wanted to like at school.

TH: Now, having seen this online, I have to ask you about The Max Finder Mysteries for the Canadian children’s comic Owl(OwlKids.com) This is 4 pages each month - how did you get the job?

MC: Well, I had done other work for Owl and was fairly friendly with the art-director, so when the original artist on the strip left, they asked me if I could do a rough breakdown from a script to show potential replacement artists what they would be getting into. After I did that, they decided to just hire me instead.

It worked out great for me, as the strip was every thing I was looking to do at the time: it was a comic feature, it was aimed at kids and it was only 4 pages a month. I was pretty inexperienced at drawing comics when I started, so doing only 4 pages a month and of kids in realistic settings seemed like a great way to learn the craft while having fun.

TH: So, do you write AND draw the strip?

MC: Oh no. I only do the pencils and inks. The talented writer of the strip is Liam O’Donnell, who has written many books for kids. He’s the one who has the tough job of writing a you-solve-it mystery every month.

TH: I assume you are colouring the strip yourself -on the computer?

MC: Actually, no. I do most of my own colouring for illustration work, but the colouring of Max Finder Mysteries is handled by a professional colouring service, All Thumbs Creative. I do provide them detailed colouring guides, though, which I produce digitally.

TH: I thought that Max Finder was great fun so, for those who have not seen the strip [and they REALLY should], can you tell us about it - what does Max Finder do?

MC: Max Finder is a grade seven trivia buff and amateur detective. Along with his best friend and classmate, Alison Santos, they solve mysteries and crimes that occur in their town of Whispering Meadows. Since the comic is a “you-solve-it-mystery”, each episode has Max and Alison investigating a different crime which the readers can follow along with. After they’ve finished reading, they can try and figure out “whodunnit” themselves since all the clues are in the story. Of course, they can also just flip to the back of the magazine to find out the solution.

To me, Max Finder is kind of like an homage to some of my favourite kids books and comics like Archie, Encyclopedia Brown, Scooby Doo and the Hardy Boys.

TH: Of course, I'm assuming that Max Finder is an ongoing strip and that you are going to continue working on it until that big Marvel contract comes through - am I right?

MC: Actually, no. I’ve just finished up my 3 year run on the strip and am moving on to work on other comics projects. But there’s great news for Max Finder fans – Owl Books will be publishing collected editions of the Max Finder stories this fall, beginning with Max Finder Mysteries: Collected Casebook Vol. 1. I’m actually very thrilled that they’ll be collected up into trade paperbacks – I loved those old paperbacks of Encyclopedia Brown and 3 Minute Mysteries as a kid and hope these Collected Casebooks will have some of that same effect on a whole new generation.

TH: Hey, Michael, then send me a review copy and I’ll publicise it!

Having seen your artwork (http://chodrawings.blogspot.com) I know you are a cool artist but can you tell us about the comic strips/illustrations you did for local magazines?

MC: Well, since most of my editorial work is for mainstream/corporate magazines, I really enjoy opportunities to draw stuff for a more local and indie sensibility. I like making stickers, cd covers and posters as well as zines and mini-comics. One of my favourite magazines is a local literary magazine, Taddle Creek (TaddleCreek.ca), which features a comic story center-spread in each issue. They’ve been kind enough to let me write and draw whatever kind of story I wanted for them in the past.

TH: Anyone out there interested should know you have published Small Press and mini comics - can you tell us titles, what they were about and, most importantly, are they still available?

MC: Well, I’ve published 4 issues of my sketchbook zine Papercut and am currently working on a fifth (and it’s an “all Marvel superheroes” theme!). I have also put out a mini-comic called Night Time, which is a short story about kids who crash a sleepover party one summer night, and another one called The Lonely Monkey about a monkey who gets kidnapped and accidentally sent into outer space. All my mini-comics were pretty small run, like 300 copies or less, so they’re only available at the Beguiling, in Toronto, or directly from me when I’m at a convention or show. But I have posted most of them online on my blog at MichaelCho.com so you can check them out there.

TH: Michael, if I were to start crying would you send me a copy of that zine…please? Begging from me aside, you've decided to focus more on writing and drawing comics full time now. Obviously, Max Finder helps, but are we talking about your other projects being aimed at the Marvel/DC market or Independents such as Image etc.?

MC: I’m mostly aiming at creator-owned projects, so all my ideas are currently geared for independent publishers. But I’m kind of an odd duck in a way, because I like all kinds of comics and would like to draw a big superhero melodrama as much as write a personal, more intimate story. My fantasy/dream assignment would be to draw an
old-fashioned daily adventure strip, like Scorchy Smith or Terry and the Pirates, but I don't think any newspaper runs those kinds of strips any more..

TH: You could always draw it as a newspaper strip, put it all together in one book and try getting that published? Michael, PLEASE (I'm on bended knees here which at my age ain’t good), can you tell us a little about the projects you are currently working on....see it as your opportunity to really promote the work before San Diego!!

MC: Well, one of the things I am doing is a sci-fi story for Rick Remender and Image comics as a backup for his Fear Agent book. It’s called Tales of the Fear Agent and he’s going to write it and I’m going to be drawing and colouring it in my two-colour style.

I am also working on a series of short stories, which I am writing and drawing completely. They’re mostly quieter, non-genre stories and I’m hoping to collect them up into a book when complete.

TH: Look, I know it's lame, Michael, but since I started pointing everyone at your work I get asked over and over.....are you related to Frank Cho?

MC: Nope! But I finally got a chance to meet and have lunch with him at the recent Toronto Comic Con (thanks to Ugo Milani) and I gotta say, talking to him was like talking to a long lost cousin…

TH: Man, that is SO cool! And, hopefully, that'll keep those people quiet!

Now, any final words for fans or potential fans, buyers or publishers out there? (I'll point out here that, not only is "BUY MY STUFF!!" very unoriginal but it never works....I've tried it often enough to know.)

MC: Other than "thank you!", nothing too original. But for “final words”, how about: comics as a medium will always be cool, Roy Crane is due some respect, Kirby “wrote” those FFs and we all know it, Amazing Spiderman Issue #33 “the Final Chapter” is the single greatest superhero comic ever and that Daredevil movie with Ben Affleck was pretty lousy.

TH: That about covers it! Michael, thanks for taking the time to answer the stupid questions and I hope that the next interview will be when you've signed that comic contract with a publisher! The best of luck to you, mate.

MC: Thank you, Terry -- it’s been great talking to you!

Visit MichaelCho.com for more information.

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