Like I said before, when I came onto Hellblazer I didn’t know anything about the book. The original editor from 2 years ago didn’t do a hell of a lot to bring me up to speed on the character, so I went into the book blind. My thoughts were pretty much “Billy Idol as a chain-smoking paranormal/noir investigator in London with lots of blood and gross things happening”a description that might not be exactly what the book is about, but what did I know? I did a bit of research before starting pages but DC needed me to start quickly, so I could only do so much.
The first script was by Jason Aaron and was greatalthough there was a page with a kid banging a dead dog. I saved that page for last because I knew it was going to put me in a bad moodbetter to be “thrown off” your game on page 22 instead of page 1. I did that for every issue: I found the most disturbing pages and saved them for last.
At first my thoughts were, “what the hell is the matter with Jason Aaron?” but I quickly understood that it wasn’t Aaron at all (he’s obviously a great writer so check out his Scalped and Ghost Rider)disturbing imagery is part of Hellblazer. The more appropriate question would be, “what the hell is wrong with the people who read this?”
But I don’t feel that way anymore. By drawing Constantine I’ve become a fan of the character (even though my take on him is a little different). I wish I were a horror fan because drawing all the blood would be easier. And as much as I’d like to avoid drawing all that darkness, black magic, sex, drugs and bloodI try to make it a point to push myself to give readers what I think they’re looking for.
*slight spoiler alert*
Fast forward to last week when I turned in a sketch for cover 2. There’s a character in the book named Marie and she’s a sexy nurse. Because she’d important to the story, I wanted to have at least 1 cover with her on it. So I drew her on cover 2 but I tried to understate her sex appeal. Because there’s an offensive amount of overly sexually clad women in comics, I do my best to try and represent women in a way that won’t insult female readers. It’s not that I love B cupped women, it’s just that you don’t see enough of them in comics.
And why is my artist outlook on women crafted in this way (as opposed to drawing gigantic tits all the time)? BECAUSE I GET LAID. *see previous journal for more details
Anywho there I was with a completed sketch when the newly crafted Hellblazer part of my brain saw an opportunity to do something that HB readers might prefer: not only should I make this more sexual, I should really go over the top because Hellblazer is a shocking book. So I made the nurse more sexual and used a huge Dave Johnson style syringe and had it poking out between her legs. I didn’t feel comfortable with it but I assumed that my editor would applaud the shock value. I felt horrible drawing it, and awful when I sent it off. But the worst was when my editor called me and told me that it offended her as a woman.
She played it cool though. Shelly is great at handling me and feeding a lot of BS in order to play to my delicate ego. Even though I’m aware of her tactics, I can’t help but marvel at how well they work. If you’re reading this Shelly: don’t ever change because you rock.
I felt terrible that she reacted that way, and even worse that she now probably thinks I’m a giggling 12-year-old caught in a 29-year-old’s body. So I did my best to let her know that I only used the syringe because I thought SHOCK was one of Hellblazer’s main themes. Then I went on to talk about how I hate the way comics treat the female body and I’m not the type of guy who usually draws that shit.
In a way, I felt like I’d stolen candy, been caught by the storeowner, and then felt guilty enough to demand he send me to prison. It’s that old Catholic guilt kicking in.
So that’s the first and last time I ever attempt any sort of sexy pinup.