BY JENNIFER M. CONTINO
Bob Schreck went out on a limb, giving Cliff Chiang the chance to use a brushy, naturalistic art style for Batman: Golden Streets of Gotham. However after just a few pages it's easy to see how the style really adds to the aesthetics of the project and hard to imagine it being illustrated in any other fashion. This special Elseworld's where it wasn't millionaires Thomas and Martha Wayne who were killed, but poor immigrant workers may be the impetuous that created a hero, but the results just might not be the same. We caught up with artist Cliff Chiang to find out a little about why Gotham's streets are so golden.THE PULSE: Growing up were you a comics and manga fan? Which ones were favorites?
CLIFF CHIANG: I always knew about comics, but it wasn't until my older brother brought home a bunch that I really got into them. Paul Smith's run on the X-Men really stands out to me. So beautifully designed and told, they were the first comics I read and they'll always be a nostalgic favorite.
THE PULSE: Which comics or manga creators influenced or helped shape the type of artist you wanted to become?
CHIANG: I guess I never really thought about comics as a career until recently, so my professional influences are artists who I probably wouldn't have appreciated as a kid! I love intelligent simplicity, Alex Toth being the finest example, David Mazzuchelli, Frank Robbins. The confidence and panache of Hugo Pratt and Jordi Bernet. The powerful roughness of Jorge Zaffino and Tony Salmons.
Somehow, I found myself working with Walt Simonson, assisting on "Orion", and I learned so much just by watching him work. A crash course in drawing and professionalism. Much of my drawing process is actually derived from his work, and I'll always be grateful for his generosity.
THE PULSE: Illustrating with a brush is a tough task. Which style do you emulate? What equipment do you use to achieve the look and feel?
CHIANG: I use a brush pen, since it leaves me free to just think about the inking without interruptions. I'd like for the inks to look confident and spontaneous, so I try to keep from getting too fancy and over thinking stuff.
THE PULSE: How did you develop the brush style?
CHIANG: It's actually how I first started, messing around with a brush for illustrations in college. It's just a bit more refined now, after seeing how real artists do it!
THE PULSE: What is Batman: Golden Streets of Gotham?
CHIANG: Batman: Golden Streets of Gotham is an Elseworlds set in turn of the century Gotham City. It takes a look at the Batman legend through the lens of history, and asks what it would take for a poor, immigrant worker living in the Lower East Side to become Batman. Who does he fight for, and what kind of hero does he become?
THE PULSE: How did you come to be involved in this project?
CHIANG: They were going for a specific look, and Bob Schreck had seen me work in a more brushy, naturalistic style. Of course, nothing in that style had been published, so it was a bit of a leap of faith for Bob. It turned out to be a good fit, and I'm really grateful the chance to stretch myself a bit.
THE PULSE: How is working on the Batman of an Elseworlds give you more artistic freedom than working on one steeped in DC Comics main reality?
CHIANG: There are a lot of opportunities to redesign characters, and play with the imagery. Because the story is so grounded in real life history, you can also afford to be a bit more abstract with the art. I enjoy drawing real people, their clothing, their environments. All of that can be used to tell the story, though it's rare to see that in comics.
THE PULSE: What made you want to be a part of this project?
CHIANG: The script is fantastic. Jen Van Meter did so much research and has so much love for the story, and that dedication really shone through when I was reading the script. It's a very dense story, and you really get your money's worth.
THE PULSE: What artistic style did you use to illustrate this story? How, if any, did you alter it from previous works so that Jen Van Meter's voice could be heard through the art?
CHIANG: The story demands a more naturalistic tone. With other work, I'd gone for a more stylized look, but Golden Streets needed to feel more authentic. It needed to be dark and textured, specifically because Jen's writing is so natural and impressionistic. There are lots of great, quick scenes, and those needed an observed quality, almost like photojournalism. As a reader, you want to feel like you're actually there.
THE PULSE: What did you like about working with Jen Van Meter? She hasn't done much superhero work before, why should people check out her Batman?
CHIANG: Jen is very careful with her writing. It's very rich with story detail and subtext, so you get a lot of character through simple reactions and dialogue. You can see that quality in her other work, like "Blair Witch" and "Hopeless Savages". If you combine that with an icon like Batman, well, why wouldn't you check it out?
THE PULSE: What elements did you design or create for this Elseworld's?
CHIANG: I designed a few of the main characters, but there's a huge debt to Tommy Lee Edwards (who provided art for part of the book) for establishing wonderful tone and realism. He set the bar really high, and it's an honor to be part of that team.
THE PULSE: How is "the Bat" different from Batman?
CHIANG: Good question! You'll when you read the book.
THE PULSE: What era does this story take place in?
CHIANG: It takes place around 1910. I've always seen Gotham as being the romantic version of New York, and historically, New York was incredibly interesting at that time. Really on the cusp of modernity, so you get this vibrant mix of old and new.
THE PULSE: What inspired the cover you created for this story?
CHIANG: I thought it would be fun to have a comic cover that looked like it may have actually been published at the time of the story. John Workman did a great job on the period titling, and Dave Stewart just blew me away with his colors and effects.
THE PULSE: What was the biggest challenge to working on this Elseworld's tale?
CHIANG: It was especially difficult trying to live up to expectations. The script was so finely tuned and detailed, and I just tried to do it justice. Tommy's pages are also breathtaking, so it was doubly daunting to be placed side to side with them. Somewhere there's a landfill full of pencils I chewed through ...
THE PULSE: What was the most rewarding part to being involved in this project?
CHIANG: It's a very different book, and it was a pleasure being able to throw out a lot of preconceived notions of what an Elseworlds story should read and look like. Early response has been great, so maybe we did something right?
THE PULSE: Which member of the supporting cast did you have the hardest time designing and developing? What made the task so difficult and how do you feel about the finished product?
CHIANG: The Joker villain of the piece was tough. He had to be recognizable and historically accurate, and also break with some of the more traditional Joker elements. Hopefully that'll make more sense when you read the book!
THE PULSE: What other projects are you working on?
CHIANG: I'm currently working with Jason Hall (Pistolwhip: The Yellow Menace) on a five issue miniseries for Vertigo, "Beware the Creeper." It takes place in Paris during the '20s, and is going to be a lot of fun. I've also done work for the last "Grendel: Red, White and Black" series, and there's an upcoming Batman: Black and White story, too, for early next year.
[Editor's Note: To learn more about Gotham's Golden Streets, check out this interview with Jen Van Meter]
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