Off the Record...

Brian Stelfreeze looked at our advance copy of Domino #1 and viewed it for the very first time. He scanned the pages closely, deliberately looking for any changes Marvel may have made to his work. "It's really funny when you see these for the first time," he explained. He pointed out the logo was different, a page was replaced, but, still, he was happy to see it finally come out.

BS: This book has been through every change possible. It started off
with (writer) Joe Pruett and I wanting to do a one-shot. We got the go ahead from Marvel and the editor at the time was Jason Leibig. Jason suggested we make it a 48 page special, which is really 2 issues. We were like, "cool," and started working on it. Then, Jason left and Lysa Hawkins came on board. She suggested we make it a 3-issue mini-series. So, the story Joe and I had for one issue had to be thrown away and we had to start all over. Lysa turned it into Joe (Quesada) and Bill (Jemas) and they wanted to make it a 4-issue mini-series. And, here we are.

CBEtc: I just read Domino #1 last night. I have to say it is a good
issue. The story is fast-paced and intriguing, and your art... this is
primo stuff.

BS: I have to give a lot of the credit to Joe Pruett. This was really fun stuff to draw.

CBEtc: You did it all, didn't you? Pencils, inks, colors?

BS: Yeah, and co-plotted it, too.

CBEtc: Have you always been a one-stop artist? Do you prefer to do your own inks and colors?

BS: I can't say I "prefer" doing it, but as a painter, I know how it's supposed to look when finished. A lot of times in comics, that vision you have from the beginning is not what shows up at the end. Sometimes, like when I have a guy like Mark Chiarello coloring me, I'm like "Oh, wow! That's better than what I envisioned!" But, on most occasions, it's so short of my expectations, that I just get tired of being disappointed. When the issue comes out, you can't run up to everyone who buys it and say "That was supposed to be a moon in the sky, not the sun!"

So, I just got into the swing of doing my own inks and colors. I decided I'm just going to do it all myself, so at least I'm happier with the final results. The bad side is that it takes me longer, but I'm working
on that. I'm getting into being more of a storyteller.

CBEtc: We spoke with writer Joe Pruett about Domino a while back. He was pretty enthusiastic about the project and he talked about it being in the near future. That was October of 2001. Here we are, a
year-and-a-half later. Why the delay?

BS: [Laughs] Well, that's not typical. Normally, guys work a lot faster than I do.

Doing the whole job takes a bit longer. If I were just penciling, I could have just concentrated on that and not worried about everything else. Instead, I had to pencil the book - when that job was done, go back and ink the book - when that job was done, go back and color the book. So, in essence, it takes three times as long. Plus, with all the changes in the story length and editors, it was several months before we had a final script approved. On top of that, I'm still taking on minor jobs here and there as a commercial artist, and covers, and little things.

CBEtc: How did you and Joe get involved on this project? Why Domino?

BS: Joe and I have been hanging out for the longest time. And while at the Heroes Convention (in Charlotte, NC) one year, Joe asked me if I was interested in doing something with him involving the X-Men. I had never been a die-hard X-Men fan, but had a mild interest in them, so I said "okay." Joe approached his editor at Marvel and he gave us the green light to do pretty much whatever we want.

So, we looked over the cast of X-Men characters and searched for one that the editors would leave us alone and just let us work. I had always liked the look of Domino, so I suggested her. Joe was like, "Domino? Okaaay..." and the editor was like, "Domino? Is that one of our characters?" So, since she was such a fringe character, everything got pushed through.

CBEtc: Domino was first seen in the pages of New Mutants and X-Force - having ties to Cable. But this isn't a X-Men spin-off, per say. The first issue clearly paints her as her own person - one with bad-ass skills and a somewhat mysterious past. What can the fans expect from this story?

BS: When I originally suggested Domino, the only thing I really knew of her was she was a bad-ass. As Joe and I started doing research on her, we started getting bogged down in all this continuity. There were so many theories on her. Joe and I said, "forget that," and decided to do a story just left of all the previous stuff. We try to be respectful to her past, and bring in some cameo characters, but we want to do something that the average person could walk off the street - not knowing anything about Domino, the X-Men, or mutants - and read it and have a good time. We wanted to have a story about this girl out there kicking ass. I think we pretty much pulled it through.

CBEtc: Joe said the inspiration for the story was the Chris Claremont / Frank Miller "Wolverine" mini-series. That series actually developed Wolverine as a character. Joe explained, since that series, everyone else has sort of followed their take on him. He said that's what you and he want to do with Domino. By the time the series is over, "people will have a character they can use." After seeing how the story has developed, do you think you have accomplished that?

BS: I think so. I think in the end we got most of what we wanted to accomplish done. During our research, we found that Domino never really existed on her own. It was always "Domino and...," "Domino attached to...," "Domino working for.." Our original intent was to explore her as her own entity. And, really, Domino is a gun. You aim her at something and fire. She doesn't make choices herself. She has always followed the command of someone else. And, this story is really about Domino finding herself. As the story progresses, she starts to disagree with her bosses and do things for herself. That, to me, is the fascinating thing about this story. The character at the beginning of the story is completely different from the character at the end. She feels like a much more rounded character now.

(For Joe Pruett’s archived interview with CBEtc, click here).

CBEtc: Parts of the story take place in Atlanta - which is where you and Joe live. Does that make illustrating the scenery a little easier?

BS: Oh, yeah. It is really cool when you can drive down to a location where a scene happens, and take out your digital camera, and start taking pictures. That was something Joe and I talked about at the beginning. We wanted the series to feel like a classic James Bond movie, where you are in one scene for a little bit, then "Bam!" your somewhere completely different. It has a certain international flavor to it. The opening sequence in the 1st issue takes place in Hong Kong, then the next scene takes place in San Francisco, then the last scene is Atlanta. It doesn't all happen in New York city.

CBEtc: I recognize Centennial Park in the first issue with the helicopter scene - did you go down there and visualize Domino running around?

BS: One of the things that made the story feel like a movie to me, was going down and actually doing a location shoot. It was cool to read the scene and visualize how the actions happen. So I would imagine the scene taking place at this park bench here, and this is where she should be talking to the guy. And I would map out the logical moves for her to roll near this lamp post. If you took the book down to Centennial Park you could actually see where she does everything.

CBEtc: So were you jumping around? Did anyone look at you funny?

BS: [Laughs] I was, uh, kind of hiding behind one of the granite-based lamp posts and checking it out to see if it would give me enough protection from gun fire. That was a whole lot of fun.

CBEtc: You are billed as collaborating with Joe on the Domino story. And you have done your own writing in the past, like the very cool civilian Cyclops story you did a few years ago (X-Men Unlimited #31). Would you like to do more of that in the future?

BS: As far as writing is concerned, I'd like to, but probably shouldn't. I'm critical of myself as an artist, but I'm really brutal on myself as a writer. So, it would take me just millions of years to write anything. I'll work on it, but I find it is much more fun actually working with the writer. I like to hash things out with the writer and share ideas, then have the writer go off and write the hell out of it. Then, when I get it, I know it is something I'm interested in it.

Generally, how comics are done is that you just get handed a script without knowing how the story is going to end. I prefer having the entire story in my head, so I can figure out image systems and adding little things to echo what is to come. So, when you go to read the entire story a second time, you see that it was all there from the beginning.

CBEtc: Your design of Domino is certainly refreshing. She's attractive in her own way - she's got a certain style. She has some curves, but she's built more athletic - not the huge breasted type that seem to be all over comics. Was your intent to not have her be the stereotypical female lead bad girl?

BS: Oh, yeah. That is not only my intent with Domino, but all women I draw. I consider that these characters have to be Olympic-level athletes to do what they do. When you look at Olympic-level athletes, gymnasts, runners... they aren't real busty women. Their bodies, and attitudes, are much more efficient. I wanted to get that in with Domino. One of the other things I wanted to do with Domino was make her physically small. Every guy she goes up against is like a foot taller than her - she is like this little, tiny person. She's kind of like "Mighty Mouse," just running through and trouncing people. To me, it just makes her situation more dangerous, and harder for her to overcome the odds placed against her.

CBEtc: What does studio partner Adam Hughes think of your women?

BS: [Laughs] Oh, man. I think we are the bookends of the industry. Adam draws the biggest and I draw the smallest. We always kid each other, but we have an appreciation for each other's work. Adam is more attracted to characters that stand around and look good. I mean, Wonder Woman is not an "action hero." She's more of this Goddess that stands around and looks great. So, she is good for what he does. I like the characters that jump in there and kick ass. I like the characters that get dirty. That aren't necessarily trying to look pretty with what they do. I like the smaller, more brutal characters.

CBEtc: Speaking of which, you are a member of Gaijin Studios with Adam Hughes, Cully Hamner and Karl Story. Is it easier being part of a studio with fellow comic book artists? Any drawbacks?

BS: It's really the best thing. I couldn't be doing the things that I am doing without the backing of the studio. I respect all of the guys. And it's really nice to walk in Cully's office ask him his opinion on something I've been working on. And he's always going to be honest with me. And it always makes me bring my "A game." There is no way you can watch Adam draw a Wonder Woman cover and say, "Well, I'm just going to hack this one out." Just the energy of the place is amazing.

The only drawback is that you are forced to do out best. So, sometimes that means it may take longer. We'd all be richer if we just hacked stuff out, but we just can't. Karl described working at Gaijin Studios best by saying "It shames you into doing your best."

CBEtc: Cully mentioned the two of you sometimes go for morning walks to talk about projects and clear your heads. What's the wildest idea you guys came up with that will never see print?

BS: The wildest was probably a Doctor Fate idea. We thought it would be cool to have him be an actual doctor of fate; where he would go through and actually repair fate, repair the timeline. There were forces that caused people to lose their fate, so his job was to go back and repair these things. It was really convoluted. He ended up being the son of an angel who was punished, and this was his destiny to walk the Earth for all time doing penance for his mother's sins. [Laughs] It was a fun story.

CBEtc: There's a debate on who said this first, Mark Bagley or Cully Hamner, BUT. both have said to be successful as a comic book artist, you need to be two out of three things. Those three things are: a very nice guy; a really good artist; and a really fast artist. You could be a really nice guy and a really fast artist, but you don't really have to be that good. You could be a really good artist, and a very fast one, but you don't have to be that nice. Or you could be a really good guy and a good artist, but not be that fast. Which 2 do you think you fit the best?

BS: [Laughs] Throw "speedy" right out! I'd like to think I'm a pretty nice guy and I try to do my best work. So, if I have two, it must be those, because I don't have the speed. However, I'm working on the speed, but it may mean I end up being an @$$-hole.

CBEtc: You have been known more for your covers during your career. You had a very respectable 4 year run on Batman: Shadow of the Bat and have done countless others. What is it about covers that you like doing so much?

BS: Covers are the punch in the face. That is the unique thing that separates comics from any other medium you can do. Covers are so dynamic - the more dynamic the better. It really feels like old-time advertising. The guys I really got into as an illustrator, were the Saturday Evening Post guys - Norman Rockwell, JC Linbacher. They would do images that would just stop you in your tracks. That day of illustration was so much fun. Now, photography is used for most covers and the hey-day of illustration is pretty much gone. Comics is the last bastion of that - the last hold out of using illustration for story telling. No commercial job will ever be as cool as drawing Batman. I can
draw Batman forever and it was really fun drawing him for 50 issues and trying to come up with something fresh each time.

CBEtc: In Peter David's new upcoming Fallen Angel on-going series for DC, you are back in the role of cover artist again. You mentioned DC told you to do "whatever you want." Is that common for you to be given so much leeway in being creative? That has to be nice.

BS: [Laughs] No, it's exceptionally uncommon! One of the reasons I started getting out of covers is because there seems to be more and more editors who want to put their own ideas in. It sometimes seemed like I had to please a committee. With Fallen Angel, I get to work with Lysa Hawkins again (my earlier editor on Domino). She made the move from Marvel to DC and asked if I would like to work with her and told me I would have free reign on the covers. That was too cool to pass up.

CBEtc: So what do you think stands out in your style? Who do people tell you that your work looks influenced by?

BS: Oh, man... there's, like, a sea of people. I always think of a time at a convention in San Diego that a kid came up to me and said "You and Ron Lim, man... you guys have that style!" Ron Lim?!? So, I have been compared to just about everybody.

My thought is that there are a couple different houses in comics, artistically. There are guys that do naturalistic stuff. Where, it isn't "real," but it is very natural looking, very believable... guys like Adam Hughes, Frank Cho. Then there are the cartoony-guys. Stuff that isn't realistic, but it has a good feel to it... guys like J. Scott Campbell, Erik Larsen. Then, I think I (and Cully and Walt Simonson) fall into the graphic stuff. It's cartoony, in a sense, but it is very graphic, with sharp edges and so on.

CBEtc: I look at some of your figures in Domino #1 and see a little of Rick Leonardi.

BS: [Smiling] Rick is one of those guys that I think can walk on water. He does incredible stuff - his figures are so fluid. I wouldn't say he's an influence, but he's definitely a guy I'm always watching. He's like a fireworks show.

CBEtc: What did you do before you broke into the comics industry?

BS: I had every art job that you could possibly have. I did architectural rendering, court room illustrations, fashion illustration, a little bit of everything. I even air-brushed T-Shirts on the beach.

CBEtc: What do you like to listen to when you're working?

BS: I like to listen to books on tape.

CBEtc: Karl Story does that, right?

BS: Yeah, I have a tendency to pilfer all of Karl's tapes. I find when I'm laying out a story, I can't have anything on. I really need to concentrate on what I am doing. But, once it is all laid out, the drawing part is such a mechanical chore that my brain doesn't have to be there fully. So, the nice thing about a book on tape, it tends to hold me to the table. I want to listen to what is going on, so I don't want to leave. Other than that, I prefer classical music or maybe some upbeat stuff.

CBEtc: Have you seen X2?

BS: Oh, yeah! It's funny - when I first saw "The Matrix," I really got into the first scene of the movie with Trinity. I remember thinking "this is too good, too soon." And the same thing happened with X2. I wasn't prepared for the beginning to be that good. It just blew me away.

Okay, now is the time for "2099" portion of our interview. This is where I ask you 20 questions in 99 seconds. It's basically an "either/or" type of response, but you can answer whatever first pops into your head.

Drawing comics or commercial art: Comics

Pencils or colors: I definitely would say Pencils.

Late night or early day: That's a tough one... um... naturally I'm late night, but I've been forcing myself to be early day - cause I actually get more work done then.

Big screen or rent. Big screen

Studio or Solo: Studio

Play with toy or keep it in the box: Play with it!

Interiors or Covers: Interiors

Star Wars or Star Trek: I'm going to have to go way back [Laughs] and say Star Wars

Fly or drive: Solo? Fly. With a crowd, I'd rather drive.

Luck Altering or Time Altering Power: Time Altering.

First Print or TPB: TPB

Dominos or Pizza Hut: I'm going to go with Pizza Hut on that one.

South Park or Simpsons: I'd answer Simpsons for the longevity.

Cell phone or E-mail: Cell phone

Sleep in or make deadline: [Laughs] Oh, man... that's dangerous! I'd say make deadline now.

Squeeze in the middle or at the end: At the end and work your way forward.

World Series or Super Bowl: Um... Super Bowl

Domino or Dominatrix: [Laughs] Domino

Lou Ferigno or Adam West: Oh, man... Adam West, man.

Buffy or Vampirella: Vampirella. That's not even a choice!

BS: That was pretty cool!

CREDITS (official)

FALLEN ANGEL - upcoming DC series (Covers)
DOMINO #1-4 - current mini-series (Co-Plot, Interiors and covers)

PREVIOUS WORK (alphabetical)

Aquaman #22 and 41 (Cover)
Batman #556 (Cover)
Batman 80 Page Giant 1
Batman Beyond #14 -22 (Covers)
Batman Chronicles #5, 23
Batman / Demon 1 shot
Batman Secret Files #1
Batman: Bane 1 shot (Cover)
Batman: Catwoman 1 shot (Cover)
Batman: Freeze 1 shot (Cover)
Batman: Ivy 1 shot (Cover)
Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #50, 156, 157, 158 (Covers)
Batman: Riddler 1 shot (Cover)
BATMAN: SHADOW OF THE BAT #0-49 (Covers)
Batman: Twoface 1 shot (Cover)
BIRDS OF PREY #1-9 (Covers)
Birds of Prey poster
Blackjack (Cover)
Captain America: Red, White and Blue HC
Catwoman Wildcat mini-series
Codename: Knockout #7 - 8 (Covers)
Crimson Sourcebook Special
DC Showcase '94 #12
DC Universe DCU Holiday Bash 2 '99
Detective Comics #716 (Cover), #725 -728 and one million issue
Dirty Pair: Run from the Future #2 (Cover)
Doc Savage (Covers)
Excalibur Special Ed 1 shot
Gen Active #3
Gen Active #5 (Cover)
Green Lantern #125 (Cover)
Hellhounds #5 (Cover)
Homage Studios Swimsuit SPEC 1
Hourman #21 (Cover)
James Bond 007 (Covers)
Marvel Shadows and Light #1
Marvel Swimsuit Specials (Various)
Nadesico (Cover)
Namor Annual #3
Nightwing Secret Files #1
Predator: Cold War #1-4
Punisher Summer Special #3 (Cover and Interior)
STAR WARS #0 American Entertainment Exclusive
Team Superman 1 shot
The Heretic #1-4
Wildstorm Summer Special
Wildstorm Swimsuit Special #2
X-MEN ANNUAL #1 (Interiors)
X-MEN UNLIMITED #31 (Story and Interior)

Plus...
a lotta Venus Wars (Covers)
a lotta Warner bros store stuff like mugs, gallery pieces etc
a lotta X-Men trading cards