Now JR, Jr. has succeeded Paul Smith as penciller of Marvel's top-selling book, THE X-MEN. To learn more about John's life, career and opinions (on such subjects as comic-book violence and artistic egomania), Brian Talley talked to John as he was about to leave Spidey for Wolverine, Storm and the rest of Professor Xavier's malefactor-mauling mutants...
*Following are question and answer exerts from the interview*
Brian: What about violence in comics? Do you think that should be curtailed?
John: No, I don't. I don't think an art gore. There is some raw stuff, but as long as we're doing important work, I don't believe the violence has to be censored. I'm talking about violence necessary to the story. If it's unnecessary violence than I don't believe in it. But I haven't seen any unnecessary violence, so far.
Brian: It seems that the Comics Code has lightened up a bit on how far they are willing to let the violence go. How much farther do you think they will let it go before they clamp down on it?
John: I think in time they will bend more, and we'll bend more, and it'll be a good compromise. The "black blood" thing -- where we don't use red blood, we use black blood -- was our compromise. I don't know how much more they will bend. They've already left stickers off a couple of our books.
Brian: How do you answer to people who are critical of comics?
John: I don't. Because if they're ignorant enough not to read them, they have no basis for their criticism. Let them read the comics first -- then they can disagree with the way we do things.
Brian: I've found that people who criticize comics the most haven't read a comic in fifteen years.
John: It's natural. I do the same thing. I criticize things I don't know about. But the critics should look at things like X-MEN ANNUAL #4, with "Nightcrawler's Inferno". Chris Claremont did a take-off of Dante's INFERNO, which to me is mind-boggling -- to have a comic with that kind of subject matter. There has been a lot of comic writing along that line. I'm fascinated by teh ideas our writers have.
Brian: Is there any character you haven't drawn yet that you would like to do?
John: All of them -- Daredevil, Captain America, Fantastic Four -- I love them all. I'd love to do Dr. Doom -- in my opinion, the best character Marvel ever came up with.
Brian:You don't consider any character a turkey?
John: I can't think of one. I think that Dazzler could be helped a bit. Not because of the artwork, but because the concept wasn't given a chance. It was laughed at. I guess because it seemed goofy to a lot of people. It wasn't handled properly because people thought it was a silly idea. "Disco Dazzler" -- that one word, "disco" ruined the character's chances for success, in my estimation. DAZZLER has survived, in a way, but I don't know how much longer it will be around. I still think she's a good character. As long as they don't do a "punk" character, I'll be happy.
Brian: Do you think you're in any danger of developing an ego thing?
John: An ego thing with each artist is relative. If you had an ego before you were an artist, it gets worse after you win admiration. It's a dangerous thing. A lot of artists get very proud of themselves, and I think they should keep things in perspective. Comics is an important medium, but it's not earth-shattering. I don't think anyone should get too high and mighty.
Brian: Do you think you're under control?
John: Yeah, I think I'm too under control. I underestimate myself. I don't think I respect my art enough. I get compliments, but I don't believe them. I work to get myself better all the time, and I don't think I'll ever be satisfied with my work. I hope I never do, because if I ever get to loee my work I may turn into an egomaniac. Writers and artists have good reasons for being proud, but I always want to strive to do better.
Brian: Getting back for a moment to Marvel characters, what do you think of the X-MEN?
John: They're a group that will survive no matter who does the book. The characters are so good that they will always do well. Even now, it's the best-selling book we have. No matter how good the artist is -- as good as John Byrne, Dave Cockrum and Paul Smith have been on the book -- no artist is going to make that book a success by himself. The artists can take their share of credit, but the writing and characters are constants. Chris Claremont has the perfect personality for a writer. He's very profound and very out-going. X-MEN will always be at the top.
*NOTE: Steve Saffel takes over the interview from here*
Steve: How did you get involved with drawing X-men?
John: They needed somebody who could do the characters, and I had done them once before, in an annual, so they picked me.
Steve: Do you enjoy working on it?
John: Oh, yes. It's very different from Spider-Man.
Steve: There any one character that you find a little more challenging , visually?
John: Kitty is challenging because other than her power, she's such a plain character. She's just a normal teenager.
Steve: Have you got anything about the X-men in general that you want to say?
John: Yeah. I wish there hadn't been so many good artists who had done the book before me (Laughter). It would have made it a whole lot easier for me. But it's all self-imposed pressure. That's the way I work. I usually impose a lot of pressure on myself, force myself to work above and beyond myself -- and when I don't, I get mad. But the X-men's reputation, based on what went before, really over-whelmed me. It was a book that I'd never planned on doing, ever. I believe the word for a book like that is a "suicide" book. The previous artists -- John Byrne, Dave Cockrum, Paul Smith -- all did beautiful work. You can go on the book and keep it at its own level and never be paid attention to, because the book will stay on the same level -- or, alternately, the sales will drop and you'll be known as the first person in the last ten years to drop the sales of the X-men (Laughter). There's a good chance of strangling yourself. So I was terrified when I first started doing it.
Steve: To what extent have past artists' work on the X-men influenced your own?
John: At first, I look to Paul Smith's work because I didn't want to make it that much of a drastic change from artist to artist. I got a little bit of his flavor, but not much -- he's a completely different artist in style, and I'm not much for copying. Now I'm looking back at Byrne's stuff because I happen to be a John Byrne fan. I think he's one of the best -- if not the best -- in the business. I think he's the ultimate X-men artist. It's just a matter of opinion. His stuff hit me first. It's not a matter of who I think is better or who is better. I just have a personal preference for Byrne.