But I can’t fire love back at him, so instead I’ll pay it forward by giving someone else a verbal reach-around. And the artist I choose is Zach Howard. [link]
I met Zach back when I was still in school at SCAD in Georgia. We would cross paths at cons every now and then and would always get along great. Zach’s portfolio review was the best because he took his time, found kind ways to point out shortcomings in my work (which there were plenty), and because he KNEW HIS STUFF. We each had a similar acerbic sense of humor and always managed to find each other at the after-parties. But for some reason it was years before we exchanged numbers.
Then I met up with him in San Diego in 2003. We started chatting it up at booth and somehow ended up talking about surfing. He was big into it, and I had only gotten up once. But he wouldn’t take no for an answer when he mentioned having me join him and his buddy the next morning to catch a few waves.
The story of that morning is something Zach should tell, because through his eyes it’s probably much funnier. He ended up getting stung by a stingray while we were walking through the surf. His ankle started swelling up really badly while his buddy ran up to find some help. Zach was in so much pain that he started to black out. He used to be a marine and wasn’t pleased with the idea of someone he barely knows having to hold his hand while he was seized with pain, but eventually some lifeguards showed up and gave him medical assistance. For the rest of the con he had a crutch and a limp.
I was just relieved that I didn’t have to surf in front of him. I sucked and wasn’t ready for him to know that, and if the good lord stabbed him in the foot to get me out of it, then so be it.
After that, we thought it a good idea to exchange numbers. Eventually he invited me to live with him in Denver. He and his wife were staying in his parent’s house while they were in England for a few years, and there was a ton of extra room in the basement. The life of a comic artist, as you may know (from my many sad journal entries) is lonely and sharing a studio space was a nice change for both of us.
Zach really upped my game in many ways, especially with art. He threw so many knew ideas about line weight, composition, story telling, etc at me that it took years before I finally assimilated it all. My curve went up sharply as I learned more about art in 8 months then I did in 4 years in Savannah. I’ve had a few different master/apprentice types of relationships but Zach was the most informative/severe/helpful/lasting.
Anyway, he’s working on the fourth issue of his Aliens run with Dark Horse and kicking a lot of ass. I think it’s the best art on Aliens since the Mignola/Nowlan run. To see all Zach’s other credits you should check out his site but it includes things like Batman, Shaun of the Dead, Outer Orbit (with me) and some other IDW stuff.
Also, if you see him at a con and have a portfolio, definitely ask him to check it out.
And watch out for stingrays.