The extreme circumstance is the zombie apocalypse.
Id also like to specify thats what I do honestly believe as well.
Its a book about a disparate bunch of people who are coping however possible with a dramatic situation.
The zombies are basically just a massive MacGuffin.
They are only really there to assist our characters in getting from a to b within the plot.
Its as simple as that.
Its one of those things when you describe a book like that.
Are you surprised that it has lasted as long as it has?
Yeah, I am.
Im genuinely surprised, because of the uphill struggle that we had to face originally.
Having said that, thats not to take away from the quality of the book.
Its one of those weird things you cant predict.
I genuinely think its amazing we are successful, because of the industry.
Nothing to do with quality, just the way the industry is set up.
When you first took over as artist onThe Walking Deadfrom Tony Moore, what attracted you to the book?
It was pretty much what I bottled down into that one sentence.
It was the characters.
But the first twenty or thirty issues, people were picking it up and thinking That issue was alright.
Ill read another one just to see what happens.
Suddenly theyre hooked in and after two or three issues.
I
I think the same happened with me.
It hasnt got that Hollywood sentence where you’ve got the option to say.
Its such and such meets such and such.
Its the originality of it.
You dont think, Wow, that sounds so original, because it wasnt.
Robert obviously wants to deal with the whole world, the whole store that hasnt been tried before.
When you get the scripts from Robert, how much input or freedom does he give you?
Apart from what he writes, Ive got total freedom to do whatever I want within reason.
I dont get the basic script.
Its the full script.
None of that sort of Marvel-style rubbish.
Robert writes in a very loose manner.
The descriptions arent overly detailed.
Just real basic instructions.
It does give me a lot of leeway.
I remember the double page spread with the highway and all the zombies spread out.
Yeah, thats kind of how Robert would have written that one.
It would have been basically Car comes over the hill.
Suddenly theres thousands of zombies.
The thing an artist dreads, actually, is that classic The army comes over the hill.
and you think, Jesus, how long did that take you to write?
How long is it going to take me to draw!
First off, why do you think Rick and Carl are safe?
Yeah, Robert has shocked me a couple of times.
Unless Im talking to Robert.
as were talking now on Skype, I tend not to ask about plot.
I know hes busy.
Last thing we want is to be emailing tracts of stories and description.
I must say, as a fan, I really enjoy reading it.
Its nice to get the scripts and be surprised as well.
Robert usually outlines roughly what will happen when we talk; of course.
The other reason I dont ask is I know hell change by the time we get to that point.
If hes told me somethings going to happen, its almost not worth knowing at all.
He shocked me with Lori and the baby.
There was no talk about killing the baby.
Are you watching the television series as a fan because of the changes to the comic?
Or were you aware beforehand?
I knew a few things, because Robert told me in strictest confidence.
Not that much, actually.
I like the television series, Ill say that now.
I also find it very hard to watch it objectively.
because Im so close to it.
Especially the sixth episode, as it deviates most from the book.
Im thinking, Is that better than what were doing or not?
I definitely enjoyed that episode.
It was kind of nice to see something that wasnt predictable to me or fans of the book.
I didnt realise they were going to go there and things happened which you didnt expect.
It was interesting, to say the least.
I cant deny the quality of the acting, of the writing.
It was definitely a well put together episode.
I just dont know whether it was better than what we are doing with the book or not.
Are you surprised by how well the television series has been received by the mainstream audience?
Even before it got to television, everyone had such high hopes for it.
I think it would have been a real surprise if the thing was a turkey.
It wasnt just AMC putting out lots of information.
There was something, rumour, speculation that was all positive.
So, when it did come out and it was successful, it wasnt a surprise.
Whats the second season going to do?
Im kind of surprised and not surprised at the same time, is the very long winded answer.
Im aware of you appearing as a zombie in the first episode.
Have you spotted yourself in it?
Ive got to admit there was kind of a problem when I saw the pilot.
AMC kindly sent me the press pack two or three weeks before the show aired.
That said, it did play on the computer.
I havent had time to go back and go through slowly the scenes I might be in.
Returning to the comic series, are Robert and yourself heading to a conclusion?
When sales start dropping, well wrap to a conclusion, believe you me!
I dont know how long we can go on for or how many stories Robert has got to tell.
Having said that, hes told me weve got many, many years worth we can do.
Do you feel the zombie genre is at risk of overexposure?
Personally, I think its an overused genre.
Im amazed that it still has life in it.
But, then again, Im amazed the vampire genre has still got legs.
Obviously, it does have legs and there are different ways of telling the story.
I find I have to make up excuses for what I do.
And then you are amazed at what new stories occasionally they can tell.
Theres always, with any genre or even sub-genre, ninety percent rubbish and ten percent good stuff.
Perhaps Im just more acutely aware of the good stuff.
Both withThe Walking DeadandSavagein 2000AD, the stories are in black and white and in a realistic world.
As an artist ,were these projects a conscious decision, more in your style?
It was conscious decision.
Ive got to admit that it is definitely the stuff Im more comfortable drawing.
For starters, Im a very big European comics fan.
Cars arent just boxes on wheels.
Dont get me wrong, I really enjoyed drawing them as well.
They werent just a glorified, showboating portfolio piece.
You kindly gave me a copy of yourBreath Of The Wendigobook that was released in Europe.
How well did that do in Europe?
Ah, sunk like a stone!
I was a bit disappointed in its performance.
Thankfully, it hasnt affected my standing with the people that do know me in the European industry.
I loved doing it.
It was a dream come true, actually, doing something like that.
In a lot of ways I dont care how well it did.
If there was one ambition left to fill, I filled it a couple of years ago.
What artists influence you and who are your favourite artists?
So, of course, it was being reprinted in black and white.
Where so many artists of that era have hit a plateau or got worse, hes got better.
Theres also the kind of obvious stuff.
Im a big fan of Alex Toth and Will Eisners stuff.
There are contemporaries I really like.
Well, two of my friends are my favourite artists, Sean Phillips and Duncan Fegredo.
I love Tommy Lee Edwards artwork.
Theres a slew of European artists that no-one will have heard of that I absolutely adore.
It wasnt even a proper painting.
What tools do you use?
Im a Luddite, actually, when it comes to tools.
Its really, really funny.
WithThe Walking Deadits real basic stuff.
I use a Rotring art pen for most of the line work.
Thats about it, a couple of pencils, some rubbers, the usual sort of thing.
Theres not much more.
Its fairly rapid speed with the one instrument.
Probably a lot of people would put their noses in the air and say, Youre an idiot!
Those are really crappy bits of equipment.
With a lot of art now being solely digital, how do you feel about using a computer?
I do the basics.
Ive just brought a brand new super duper Apple Mac.
I just did a charity page for Travelling Man, the shop.
heyre putting together a charity comic in a similar style to DCs Wednesday comics.
That was an opportunity to do some computer colouring just for my pace, so I relished that.
The phone rings tomorrow and its the company of your choice offering the character of your choice.
Im lucky.The Walking Deadhas done really well, so I can say these things.
Its a different matter if youre struggling.
Now Ive tasted the forbidden fruit, I dont want to go back to doing somebody elses character anymore.
Im happier doing my own characters, something Ive created.
Id love to do a villain book and Id love to doDoctor Doom.
Ive always wanted to doDoctor Doom.
In a lot of ways, I dont think hes ever really been done justice.
Id love to have at go at characters.
Going to DC,Batmanis more up my street thanSuperman.
Having said that, the best ever story I did superhero-wise was a two issueSupermanstory with Joe Casey.
It was a bizarre thing.
I never thought I would get offered something like that.
I just thought the way Joe wroteSupermanwas pitch perfect and I really enjoyed working on that story.
And in a lot of ways, people ask, Who is your favourite writer?
Who would you like to work with?
You mentioned creator-owned projects.
Do you have any planned for the future?
As Ive said, there are a couple of European things and most European things are creator-owned anyway.
Just another reason its an industry I want to carry on working for.
Theyre all stuff I cant talk about, because theyre all completely in the first stages.
I mean, we havent even signed contracts yet.
There are a few things.
There is something I have drawn a lot of.
Its just getting to the next stage, but its just starting to drag its feet.
So, hopefully, that will be completed at some point.
Apart from that, I do want to get on and do something else.
I like the variety of working in different styles, different genres.
If I was doingThe Walking Deadtwenty four seven I think I would have burnt out by now.
But thankfully, Ive had other things lead me away occasionally, which keeps me fresh on both projects.
Charlie Adlard , thank you very much.
