Trash Mutant Interviews (TMI): Angy W.
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TRASH MUTANT: First off, congratulations on winning the contest! We loved your entry! Our readers already know that you're an artist from Germany, you go by the nickname "Lady Sif" and you got a comicbook in works. How did you get into (both reading and drawing) comics? ANGY W.: Thank you very much! I was very surprised that I actually made it. From what I saw, great ideas and drawings have been done for your unique mascot. I've been a comic fan since I can remember. In my childhood I have loved all the non-girl stuff as superheroes and horror movies. I came back to actually reading / collecting comic books about 15 years ago. As you can see by my nickname my favorite title / character is Thor. Then I also started drawing superhero characters and in the first years it was not as easy as one might think. I still have to learn a lot. But then I see aspiring independent comic creators and how successful they became. And feel inspired by them to at least try something myself. Who knows where this road might lead me. "Der Adler" is your own superhero comicbook, currently in the works. Can you tell us more about it? What's it about? The first concept of "Der Adler" was inspired by someone who posted a comment about Captain America. It was something about how Cap would be a Nazi if he'd be a German, which makes of course no sense, cause he is fighting them. But this made me think about the fact, that there is no (good) german superhero. At least I know none. There is Kurt Wagner alias Nightcrawler from the X Men and he is a cool character, but no one like Cap. I am not even speaking of the patriotic thing there, just about him as a type of character. That was the first spark for this project. Cause I started to think about how a German superhero would be like and how this could actually work. I think people can relate to any character no matter where he is from, as long as he / she is interesting and remarkable enough to the reader. I've always liked stories about bodysnatchers or a secret invasion no one knows about. I was a huge fan of all kinds of mystery series in the 90's. So, "Der Adler" is about an alien race that secretly crashed on earth during WW2. They can imitate the human race very well and have learned to know everything about us in the last 70 years. There is a secret organisation trying to find those invaders. Especially, cause the aliens made it to very high positions in politics and so on. Basically they are already ruling this planet somehow. The main character is an ordinary police officer and stumbles into this hidden part of the past. The group wants him to join the team and this is how he becomes this super spy / costumed hero but without having any superpowers, actually. He is pretty much enjoying his new superhero life in the beginning, but I am a very very mean writer and he won't have a good time for long. (insert evil laughter). I'm gonna rip him apart and put him together again until he learns what it means to be a superhero. What it means to loose everything. It's gonna be a rough journey. Are you writing the comic yourself or are you collaborating with somebody on it? I am writing this comic myself. But there is also another project in work. I am working together with some guys over at [online forum - Ed.] Mickey's Tavern on a comic anthology project that contains different kinds of comics from different teams. We want to put it all together in one giant super mega epic thing. I'm teaming up with comixkid2099, writer of the "Meta Human" story. The guys at the Tavern have great ideas and I hope it's gonna be a success. When can we expect "Der Adler"? Will it be an ongoing series or a oneshot? Is it gonna be a self-released comic? As someone who is not a full time artist, I do work on my projects whenever I have some spare time. There is no official release date yet, unfortunately. The comic will be a self-released thing. I plan to do at least a mini series, at best a proper series which would be ongoing. Your art is incredible! Were you professionally taught or are you a self taught artist? Thank you very much! I'm 100% self taught. Besides the regular art classes in school I had no professional teacher or something like that. Drawing is learning by doing. And I still learn drawing. It just never ends. Like an endless video game. I mastered a few levels, but there is still so much more to learn and practise. "The Northland Saga". That's another project that you're working on, is that right? Can you reveal something more about it? "The Northland Saga" is something I have started developing around 2003. This was about the same time when I became intrigued by fantasy and norse mythology. I have worked on it for some years now, but right now I am more focused on other things. So, that project is currently on ice. I wasn't happy with lots of things, so I might change a lot some day in the future. However, I can say that it's a story about two brothers who try to save their family and kingdom that is suffering great hunger and despair. It is supposed to be rather dark, and less colorfull fantasy. From your nickname to "The Northland Saga", norse mythology has obviously inspired you a lot. Can you give us some details on why it inspires you so much? Yes, I absolutely love Norse Mythology. I guess it was both Thor from the Marvel comics and Lord of the Rings who got me first into Norse Mythology. Both worlds have taken huge chunks out of the original mythology and altered it into something new. I don't know at which point in time Thor became the number one of my favorite superheroes, but to me his unique character was inspiring me in many ways. He is pretty much a gentleman warrior hero, having a code of honor in battles and virtues such as bravery, nobility, pride and so on. I think this is at least one thing that inspires me. To be brave myself and not to give up. That's what all heroes teach us, actually. As for the rest of the Norse Mythology... It is a very rich and very colorful mythology. So many great characters, worlds, creatures and adventures. I simply love the tales. Do you plan on pursuing a career in comics or do you treat it mostly like a hobby, something to do in your spare time? Becoming an artist is a lifelong dream of mine. However, when I grew older I started realizing it is not that simple actually. At least here in Germany, comic books are still not very popular. People roll their eyes when you tell them you are an adult reading superhero stories. That's different in the USA of course. It's part of the american pop culture. Right now, drawing and working on projects is still a hobby, but I hope it will one day be my full time job. One needs a "proper" job first. If anything goes well enough, I can really imagine being a full time artist. Cause it's the thing I love to do at most. Is there a comicbook (Marvel, DC, Image or whatever else) that you'd really LOVE to do art for? My first thought would be Thor of course, but then I would be too excited to draw it maybe and getting that awkward feeling that my art is just not "worthy" enough. Actually every story that has great characters and an intriguing story would be fantastic, no matter from which releasing company. It doesn't even have to be about mythology or something like that. Anything with a good concept works for me. Can you name some of the artists that influenced you the most? Or just some personal favorites? I do like many artists. When I started reading comic books, Mike Wieringo was one of my favorite artists, also Mike Deodato jr., John Romita Jr., who both worked on the Thor comic in the 90's. Later a few more people were added to my favorite artists, such as Marko Djurdjevic, Esad Ribic, Simone Bianchi and Olivier Coipel for example. Coipel's art became one of the main inspiration for my own style. He is having a very clear, smooth, liquid style. I love his work. We're very much looking forward to more of your art and comics! Is there anything else that you'd like to add? I want to say thank you again for choosing my trash mutant creature. I hope he serves you well. Thank you very much for the interview! Thanks, it was my pleasure! Rock on :) ___________________________________________
If you want to see even more of Angy W.'s art, head to her gallery over at Essential Webcomics! Also, make sure to *LIKE* the Facebook fanpage for "Der Adler", cause you don't want to miss out on any news on this comic! Finally, share your thoughts on this interview below, in the comments section! |
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