Well folks, just last weekend I ran into Clayton Crain, illustrator of Marvel Comics' hit title X-Force and some Ghost Rider soon-to-be classics like Road to Damnation and Trail of Tears. Had a wee bit of conversation and it's transcribed right here for your fanboy pleasure ^^
Spike: Hey man, having a nice weekend?
Clayton: Yeah, just ran 8 miles and I'm feeling good.
Spike: Cool!
Clayton: How are the new books looking?
Spike: I just bought my Necrosha poster. Well, I haven't gotten everything yet, I live in Mexico City, I have up to Necrosha One-Shot and New Mutants.
Clayton: Well, thanks for paying my bills.
Spike: I´ve been very into your stuff since I read your Ghost Rider work.
Hahah no problem dude, just keep 'em coming, man!
How long does it take you to finish a 24 page issue?
Clayton: I've finished an issue in three weeks. My average is 5 weeks.
Spike: Damn, that´s not bad at all, specially for the high detail of your stuff.
Clayton: If I get a script all at once, I can take a week to get through all the pages. Then two weeks to render what is necessary. I know a Mexican artist, Humberto Ramos, I met him in Calgary. He seems like a real decent guy.
Spike: Cool! Ever found yourself with a very confusing script (I am a scriptwriter myself, and I've seen some weird ones :P)
Clayton: When there are more than 10 characters, it gets harder.
Spike: The JLA syndrome I like to call it.
Clayton: When I started X-Force, I had to go back and change so many people.
Spike: Really? And where did the black costume idea came from?
Clayton: Too many bad guys. Marvel and the writers wanted black-ops costume.
Spike: Oh, specially that issue where every bad guy comes back to life :P That was an impressive spread page!
Clayton: I liked GR, one bad guy vs one even more bad Guy.
Spike: I remember when I bought the Trail of Tears hardcover, my cousin wanted to get a tat of that old school GR on the horse. That panel alone must have taken quite some time
Clayton: Not much on that issue, took over 8 hours
Spike: Really? It has so much detail I thought otherwise!
Which has been your favorite title (that you have worked in of course)?
Clayton: Ghost Rider for being the most detailed, and X-Force now and then is enjoyable.
Spike: It has been a good X-Force run, let me say, and your art I think has defined much of the essence of the new approach to these mutants, in my opinion. And that rainbow cover, hilarious! :P
Clayton: The first 6 or so pages took some time on GR; Trail of Tears.
Spike: ToT was an interesting read, like, when you first open it and see the civil war, I was like 'what the...' but it all wraps up very nicely. I really enjoyed it, it's very emotional for a GR comic book.
Ok man, have a nice day and keep up the good work!
"Yeah I'm good, feels like my skull´s on fire, but I'm good." -Johny Blaze/Ghost Rider-
