BY JENNIFER M. CONTINO Tom Floyd, who most webcomics fans might know for his work on the pulptastic hero Captain Spectre, is getting a chance to draw a classic pulp character, The Spider. Believe me, the artist loved getting tangled up in this web!
With Moonstone's upcoming The Spider Chronicles anthology, Floyd will be drawing spot illustrations for stories written by some of comics and pulp's most notable writers including: John Jakes, Mort Castle, Bill Crider, Shannon Denton, Chuck Dixon, Steve Englehart, Ron Fortier, Joe Gentile, Rich Harvey, John Helfers, CJ Henderson, Howard Hopkins, James Anthony Kuhoric, Elizabeth Massie, Christopher Mills, Will Murray, Rafael Nieves, Ann Nocenti, Martin Powell, Richard Valley and Robert Weinberg.
We'll have a roundtable with the artists on THE PULSE soon, but now we're starting off our The Spider Chronicles coverage by asking Floyd a few sticky questions.
THE PULSE: What was your first exposure to The Spider and how did you react to this character?
TOM FLOYD: There was a pulp resurgence in the late '60s with the success of the reprinting of the Doc Savage novels and Lancer’s Conan reprints, so I believe it was Berkley that put out a few paperbacks of the Spider. Once I read them I was open to the character, I never could afford to collect the actual pulps, but I always tried to find all I could on the Spider. I really like this sort of character, his world view is a clean one, and there are very few gray areas. Plus, I enjoy the mystery of the character, the lack of a certain past. We know very little about his past, and I like that. I jumped at the chance to work on the Spider. I even stopped my current online pulp strip Captain Spectre to work on this project.
THE PULSE: When you were approached about working on this character, what interested you the most in bringing a new adventure of The Spider to life? I know you're a big fan of stories of this nature ....
FLOYD: I think one of the ideas of the return of new Spider adventures is that I am now linked with the character. Historically, I am now part of this major pulp character. That is something few people get to do. These icons should never die off; we should keep them with us forever. These characters are the history of the industry, and these are the first new Spider prose stories in something like 40 years. There were a couple attempts at comic form stories in the past with the Spider, but the Moonstone stories are the first prose form. I was asked to basically do a cover for each of the 21 stories, which is a huge task – at least it was for me. Also the pressure to work behind Doug Klauba’s great cover art made me work even harder at it.
THE PULSE: How do you take something that is from a bygone era and create a look for the character that's expected, but that also has some of your own flair and style embedded in the character?
FLOYD: That was the hardest part of the assignment. Everyone has there own image of the Spider. Even in the Spider stories themselves he has different looks. From the shuffling hunchback to the domino mask and cape, there are different descriptions of the character at different times which I think even ads more mystery to the character. I was discussing this fact with Martin Powell (one of the Spider authors) and he told me that Richard Wentworth (the Spider’s alter ego) could find an old hat on the floor and tear down the curtains off the window and become the Spider – it comes from within. I thought that was an astounding statement, and so true. So once the look was decided on by Argosy and Moonstone, Doug Klauba did some sketches which were approved and I had to live up to that, and at the same time put my own spin on it. It took a couple of tries; I made him look too maniacal and too weatherworn. But, I finally got it down to something like Doug’s images. I turned his gloves down a bit, his cape collar up a few times, and gave his hair a bit more shagginess and made him my own since I had to do 21 of these iconic cover like images.
THE PULSE: Who or what influenced how you drew these illustrations the most? The images I've seen look very Golden Age ....
FLOYD: Each of the illustrations is a pulp cover for the prose stories. I looked at all the past Spider illustrators for inspiration. But in the end I had to live with them, and I wanted them very iconic and representative of each of the stories without giving anything away. I didn’t want to tell the punch line to any of the stories before the audience got to read them. As far as personal influences on the art for these that honor goes to my own favorites like Alex Raymond, Milton Caniff for their brush work (which almost all of the work I did was brush). I actually tried to make the images in more of a comic style than more book illustration style, I thought it called for that pulp style or old school style I have. I also tried to play a bit more with the design of some of the pieces, to deal with the negative space like Jeff Jones would. I can only hope that one day there will be sequentials for new Spider stories, and that Joe gives me a chance at them.
THE PULSE: What were some of the biggest challenges you faced drawing a cover-type image to accompany each story?
FLOYD: The biggest challenge I faced was actually getting the fear out of my head that “wow, I am actually working on the Spider”. Of course then comes the fear of “can I do this project justice”. Those are the big things. Then as I started to get the stories in to read them I began to get ideas for scenes. That was the tough part, I probably did close to twenty or thirty thumbnails for each piece, trying to find the right moment to illustrate. The subject matter for each came from the individual author, but I didn’t want to give away the plot by showing everything in the illustration. There is also a tendency in pulp type illustration to go for the audience and pull them in. I can only hope the scenes I choose will do that without giving away the whole idea of the story. I also tried to keep the images iconic like pulp covers, and mostly action filled like the pulps.
THE PULSE: What did you enjoy the most about getting a chance to work in this genre? You're certainly no stranger to it with your work on Captain Spectre ...
FLOYD: I grew up with pulp type stories. I was a huge fan of Edgar Rice Burroughs when I was a kid, there was nothing better than having 40 cents to buy an Ace Burroughs book. Also the Silver Age was just dawning and I was reading stories like Challengers of the Unknown, and watching repackaged serials on TV like Commando Cody. So, I am right at home in this genre. It is one of my favorites. When I decided to do an online comic strip I only considered two genres: pulp/serial type action, or sword and sorcery. And if you think about it the sword and sorcery genre was born in the pulps. Bob Howard sold stories to many pulp magazines, not just Weird Tales (where the Conan stories appeared). I chose the pulp type action adventure for Captain Spectre. So any work I get in this genre is great for me, I love the vehicles, fashions, and style of the older works. Also these prose stories are a bit different than the regular comic type work, again each illustration has to tell a greater story than just one panel. You have to try to get it all in the one image.
THE PULSE: Why should PULSE readers not miss this tale?
FLOYD: Not just PULSE readers, but everybody should be getting these stories. They hit the whole range. There are stories here that deal with the Spider on many levels. Stories the dwell into the character itself, what it is like to be the Spider. Also is there a Richard Wentworth or is that just a disguise the Spider wears to walk around in the daytime? These stories show the cunning of the character, and the lengths he will go to, to get the job done. He has taken a vow to make war on criminals and these stories have him going from low level street crime, to major super-criminals. Everyone who like action adventure crime-fighting should be on board for the full 21 stories. Also you can’t afford not to miss it just for the Doug Klauba cover.
You can read Tom Floyd's Captain Spectre online comic at www.captainspectre.com. You can also see a preview and details about the series in one of our past Intro To Webcomics features here:
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Thanks Bobby....I too am looking forward to having it in my hands. Thanks for the kind words. And don't forget it is all wrapped in a Doug Klauba cover that is fantastic!
-------------------- Join the Lightning Legion now!! Be the first on your block to join Captain Spectre on his adventures. Go to www.captainspectre.com and download the free membership card. Posts: 62 | From: great plains | Registered: Oct 2004
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No one would be better. And for us old-timey pulp fans, nothing could be more exciting to see a good adaption of the Spider's action-packed adventures. ---Al
-------------------- Al Schroeder http://mindmistress.keenspace.com ---think the superhero genre has been mined out? Think there are no new superhero ideas? Think again. Posts: 168 | From: Nashville TN | Registered: Apr 2002
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My love of the Spider and other pulps helped me find out about Tom Floyd and Captain Spectre, and now Tom Floyd is working on the Spider! That's awesome.
The pieces I've seen so far are amazing. So...more Captain Spectre coming up as well?
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