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Quick Fire round 1

April 28, 2010

About a year ago one of my best (and few) friends in comics Dustin Nguyen put up a journal where he answered a bunch of questions at once.  I thought it was brilliant—quick, effective and easy to read.  He entertained people’s curiosity and was able to get right back to work without missing his deadlines.  Now, Dustin’s one of DC’s and comic’s top artists, so I’m not saying I’m at his level, but I have noticed more comments, notes and questions where people keep asking the same sorts things.  And for a few months I’ve been putting off answering them—so here goes.

Judging by the way you write, you seem like you’d be an asshole in person.  Is that true?
I get this one the most, so just let me say this—passion, intensity, idealism and volume are often misunderstood for being “asshole” traits.  I don’t think of myself as an asshole, but I’m sure there are a few people out there who disagree.  And I’m not saying that I’m awesome/hardcore for being “passionate” and “intense”—these are things people have told me.

Will do take commissions?
Only at shows every now and then.  And they’re going to be quick.  I haven’t taken a commission from home for a few years now.

Why don’t you do them?
Life is short and I have a few of my own stories and OGNs that I want to get done.  Each day I’m delayed doing a commission is a day I could be working on an OGN.

Are you available to work on my book for free?
Will you lick my balls for free?

Will you give me a critique?
I’d rather not.

Do I call you “Sean Murphy” or should there be a “Gordon” in there?
I don’t care.  I only use my middle name because seanmurphy.com was taken.  And when I signed onto DA I wanted my screen name to match my website.

What comics do you read?
Hardly any.  The last thing I really enjoyed was Ennis and Parlov’s Punisher run—and that was a few years ago now.  I used to read a lot of Drawn and Quarterly stuff, but these days friends have to force me to read stuff.  And usually I can’t get into it.

You don’t seem to like comics all that much.  How come?
I love the medium, I love drawing, and I love storytelling.  And I love that it only takes one guy (who knows what he’s doing) to make a really great comic for relatively little money.  The fact that we’ve had the Golden Age, the Silver Age, the Death of whoever, the Return of whoever, JLA, JSA, X-everything, and Crisis after Crisis after Crisis—this does nothing for me.  I haven’t been working my ass off all these years to draw guys in tights with their underwear showing while they attempt to have hard hitting dramas while overlooking the Earth on a giant green space station.  And I’m not bitter and I’m not saying superheroes are silly—it’s just not for me.  And most of the industry in the US is superhero related.  Don’t get me wrong—I LOVE COMICS.  I love them so much that I’m working hard to expand them (in my own way).

Why aren’t you on Twitter?
I Tweeted once and I said something like “I wish the Mythbusters were my friends”.  Then I couldn’t think of anything else worth saying.  I much prefer having these journals where I can expand a bit.

Are you on Facebook/Myspace?
No.

Why don’t you have more comic book friends?
I have a hard time talking to any person about comics because I don’t know a lot about them.  The few friends I have are the ones I’ve found who take their art really seriously and can talk about a variety of other topics—usually these guys don’t look like comic artists.  But I admit that I can be an asshole when I sense someone being ingenious.

Why don’t you go to more shows?
I’m not good at polite chitchat and hobnobbing makes me uncomfortable.  And I suck at taking compliments from the kind people who show up at my table.  I appreciate them so much that I don’t always know what to say.

Why don’t you do more Podcasts?
First off, I don’t get a lot of offers.  Secondly, I’m known to turn down a Podcast or an interview if the questions are thoughtless or brief.  It’s one thing to do a long form interview and really break it down and talk shop about art and comics.  But most interviews just need filler—which is disrespectful to the artist.  I’ve only done one podcast I really dug and that was with Nearmint because I could tell the guy had done his research.

If you don’t like podcasts, cons, or interviews then why write a journal?
I don’t know.  Sometime I debate whether or not I should bother with these as well.  I think that with journals I’m writing about stuff that I’m working out in my head.  Typing helps me isolate how I’m feeling and why.  And once in a while something I’ll say will really resonate with a reader—which I love to hear.  But I fear these things usually turn people off.

Were you really blacklisted?
I’ll be vague but honest—years ago I finished a DC book that I busted my ass on.  The art was just okay back then, but I was easy to work with and on deadline.  My editor went to the bosses and tried to get me more work.  They said no.  Basically they didn’t think my art was appropriate for DC characters.  From what I hear, the editor fought hard but they wouldn’t budge.  They didn’t want me drawing DC characters ever.  There’s no official blacklist that I know of.  But in my opinion, what I just illustrated is a form of blacklisting.  I’ve finished books and was even paid for my work, but the bosses stopped them from coming out.  But I’m not bitter because I’m DC exclusive now so hopefully it’s in the past.

That’s all I can think of now.  If there’s anything else you’d like to know then let me know.  And if you don’t like asking in public then shoot me a note.  It’ll be confidential.  And thanks for reading.

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