Entrevistas  /  Interviews

      DEZ SKINN -prolific British comics editor
                                                                                                                                     
Considered the UK's equivalent of Stan Lee, Dez Skinn has been editing and publishing comic and pop magazines (I myself have collected his "Starlog' sister  " mag , Starburst) - for more than 30 years.  His relationship with  Alan  Moore  had  born  in  the  1980s   with the revival of a Classic British super-hero Marvelman in the pages of his famous magazine Warrior. He has also edited titles including MAD Magazine, Buster, Conan,    Star Wars Weekly,    2000 AD Presents, Judge Dredd, and Spider Man and won over 20 Eagle awards. His co-created V for Vendetta is currently optioned to Warner Brothers. Here we have talked a little about this and other Alan Moore-related subjects.                                                
 
-Dez, first of all, in order for our readers to know you better,  please give us your "curriculum vitae" - age, education, where you  grew up, marital status, sons and so on.

Born 1951 in Yorkshire, where I went to school and college. Moved to London to work in comics rather than newspapers. Now living with partner in fantastic mansion in Brighton. No sons, but two daughters (22 year old Lauren de Lord and 1 year old Alice Maud Hamilton). After all, who would want Skiinn as a last name?

-How did you first become interested in comics?

I learned to read through comics at the age of 4. I discovered American comics when they were first distributed in the UK in 1960 and found them breaktaking after the mainly black and white British weeklies I'd been reading.                                                                           

-As a child, did you spend a lot of time indoors reading? 

Far too much! Rarely participated in sports.

-Comicbooks only or mainstream literature also?
Anything. Comics, newspapers, books, magazines.

-When and how did you begin writing and what was your main influences? 

I always believed there were too many better writers than me so I went for editing and producing comics, feeling I could provide a showcase and direction for more talented people than myself. My publishing/editing influences were Jim Warren (for his format) and Stan Lee (for his friendly "Uncle Stan" approach and rapport with his readers). 

-What was the first comic by Alan Moore that you read?

 MARVELMAN (Silvio Mello)
Work he did for me! Nobody had really heard of him before then. Although I did discover later that he used to buy my old fanzines. He did his first work (through Steve Moore) for me on the Marvel UK Frantic Special (1979), a title I launched to compete with MAD, which I had previously edited in Britain. He wrote and drew an awful two page humour strip for it. When Steve Moore later suggested him for Marvelman, I don't think at the time I remembered his earlier work for me, despite him having also produced a visual (unused) for my Studio System company for a British jazz singer, Alexis Korner. It was a wise move for him to switch to words rather than pictures!

-Did it have a special impact on you? If so, why?

His first Marvelman script was done on spec. He wanted to write it, I didn't know if he could, so he was not guaranteed it being used. But it was wonderful. I reread it about five times. I'd never before or since reread a writer's manuscript through choice.

-What is for you the best work done by him to date? Why?            

I felt both V for Vendetta and Marvel(Miracle)man lost the plot somewhat when they were continued in America. Biased I may be, but I think his Marvelman stands out as his most commercial yet groundbreaking work. He was hungry then, and I think tried harder. V was more personal, although it did become a cult favourite. Outside of these two, I enjoy all of his comics work, except for maybe his more self-indulgent material.

- As for Marvelman, were there high expectations when you re-launched it in Warrior, since it was not a new character?                                               

Certainly. Marvelman was the title's flagship character. I went through 3 writers and as many artists before choosing the right team. He was our Superman. Launching a magazine is very expensive, so I was banking - literally - on Marvelman, more than any other Warrior characters. The advantage of an anthology is that each creator is inspired by those around him, so the internal competitiveness on Warrior was intense, albeit friendly. Each creator would often come into the office and admire the work of their colleagues.


- Do you consider Marvelman a revisionist or an experimental work and why?
Certainly not experimental. A new twist on superheroes, which worked. Revisionist? No again. Alan wanted to make a name for himself, I provided a platform. He did the best commercial work he was capable of. End of story. Let historians label it as they will.

-What are your concerns about Watchmen´s innovations mainly narrative´s concerning?

-MM#1 AUTOGRAPHED BY ALAN
Hated the Pirates in jokes. They confused many people unnecessarily. These are the sorts of things which hold back comics from the mainstream. The overlapping dialogue was a nice gimmick. I think it was an excellent piece of work which could still have been improved by professional editing of a few excesses. But by then Alan was untouchable at DC. He refused to be edited. Which is a shame. 

-As for From Hell, do you think it could be considered a history of the cradle to the 20th Century, with all its paranoia, conspirations and corruption? 

No.

-What do you think about Big Numbers, if you have read the only two published issues? 

Amusingly mistitled, two's hardly a big number. Difficult to judge on such a slim outing. Seemed to be part of Alan's self-indulgent phase. He published and edited it himself , which - by the falling-out with cocreators and lack of a solid business plan -- proves that everybody needs publishers and editors. A great writer does not a great editor or publisher make. 

-Do you agree with Chaos Theory that our world (and the Universe as a whole by extension) is ruled by fractals, strange attractors and so on, where a little alteration on initial conditions could cause big and unalterablealterations on the final ones? Could a comicbook or, better still, a graphic novel, comprise all this complexity of human existence, common life, the whole Universe and so on, as an unique, united system, as AM intended to do with Big Numbers?

Commercially, I doubt it. But yes, I do believe the theory that obviously a little change can have a huge effect. Imagine if Hitler's father had worn a condom... 

-What are your impressions on Brought to Light and  its denouncement tone on the illegal C.I.A. covert operations around the world? Do you think comics can be a political instrument, that can reach and appeal to a large audience?

Brought to Light? Excellent. Shame Moore and Siekiewicz have burnt their bridges. They worked well together... until falling out over Big Numbers. The comic medium is but an empty vessel on which any subject can be tackled, in the same way books, cinema, radio and TV function. Sadly, it is still viewed as a children's medium. Breakthroughs like Art Spiegelman's Raw and Joe Sacco's Palestine are still few and far between as publishers continue to hold the form back by easy profits from flooding bookshops with reprints of far too many superhero comics. 

-And AM´s debut in mainstream literature,Voice of the    Fire (which has been just published here in Brazil, if you did not know). Do you think it accomplished its intention, to tell the history of Magic, witchcraft, shamanism and so on, through the history of Northampton? Do you think AM tried to redeem himself since in the introduction for "V For Vendetta" he had almost demolished it as a city?

I thought London was the first target in V for Vendetta. 

Considering how long ago AM wrote Voice of the Fire, if it was a success then it is surprising he has written so little more and has returned to comics with Supreme, Tom Strong and the rest. I can't comment on its content, because I didn't read much of it though. 


- Returning to your magazines, tell us a little bit about, them, their motivation, objectives and so on.

I have always strived to produce better work in the future than in the past and always have lots of new ideas, but never enough time. I guess I'd hate to to be remembered as "The bloke who used to do..." like so many people in comics, music and other parts of the entertainment world. Also I'm a terrible perfectionist,

 which results in expecting the best from everybody around me. But I believe that I have never really innovated with any of my titles, merely filled a commercial gap which I was lucky to spot (House of Hammer - why had nobody done it ten years earlier, given Hammer Films' high profile? Starburst - launching when Star Wars made SF so commercial was pretty obvious. Doctor Who Weekly - again, why had nobody produced a title before when the tv series had over 9 million weekly TV viewers? Hulk Comic - again, the TV series was massive, so I started the British anthology comic to cash in on its popularity. Warrior was creating a commercial portfolio for the frustrated brilliant British creators who had nowhere to express themselves beyond the corporate and concept limits of 2000AD. Comics Intenational was launched to be a comprehensive one-stop shop of the comics industry's titles, shops, events and suchlike, rather than just another magazine featuring articles and interviews about a segment...)

-What do you think is your best publication to date and why?
Our latest, naturally, Toy Max. Why? Because I had to get together a whole new team to create a fun and lively lifestyle magazine that is accessable to everybody, even though it happens to be about toys. It's all about conveying the maximum entertainment and sometimes information to the biggest audience possible, while still maintaining integrity. I guess ultimately it's really about the challenge, the next mountain to climb...

- As for drawing, what comics artists do you admire the most and why?
I don't actually admire any comics artists, but I very much enjoy the work of contemporary people like Eduardo Risso, John Cassaday, Bill Sienkiewicz, Daniel Zezelj, and a host more. Of the "senior citizens" I have huge respect for anything Joe Kubert does, similarly I loved all of Gil Kane's work and vintage Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and Carmine Infantino until they suffered from having to work smaller (from twice up to half up to suit the publishers reduced budgets) and were unable to compete commercially with younger talent. Ruben Moriera, Joe Maneely and Jose Garcia Lopez are among the industry's unsung heroes, which shows how it fails to respect its true masters.

- Do you know the comic art of the now famous Brazilian Mike Deodato?

Junior, yes. I've had a great respect for South American artists going back to having worked with Solano Lopez and many others while at IPC/Fleetway. Their approach is highly professional in a true classical way, something Deodato reflects. Again, like the people I mentioned earlier, they often suffer from not having the popularity with fans of the more superficial US artists where technique often masks ability. I find it amazing that Deodato has reinvented himself, producing far more commercial work in a current style for The Hulk, as opposed to his wonderful but perhaps now-dated classical work on Wonder Woman.
. 
-What about your impressions on LOEG and do you think that the movie version could raise more interest for 
comics in general and mainly for Alan Moore's work specifically?

League is fabulous. Alan's come up with a great gimmick, as has been proven by it becoming a movie. I'm also really pleased that Kev O'Neill has found a strip which suits his fastidious style so well, and reflects his twin loves of comics and SF movies. Back in the early 1970s when Kev and I worked together at IPC, I actually published a fanzine Kev produced on movie special effects, entitled Just Imagine. I think a lot of people don't realise how difficult being a freelance artist can be, especially when you're thousands of miles from the publisher, and can't get together socially to enhance your status. Kev suffered over the Comics Code fiasco quite a few years back, which must have set back his career tremendously, when DC felt his work was too horrific to be approved. League is definitely the star of the ABC line, although I must admit also enjoying the simplicity of Tom Strong. As for raising more interest in our medium, I imagine any comics precedent will be totally buried, so no. AM may prosper, but not the industry.

- Have you been in contact with Alan Moore all these past years or not? 

Sadly not.

- What are your feelings on his more "hermetic" works, like The Birth Caul, Snakes and Ladders as well as CDs and theatrical presentations?

Not really my cup of tea so I'll pass.
- 
- Any other good projects that you can tell us about?

Toy Max is fab. Our best yet. Or did I mention it already?

Well, Dez It was good talking to you! Thanks for share your precious time.

(One last  question: Has your magazine Comics International published any interview,article and or essay on/by Alan Moore? If so, which issue?
(ToyMax, other magazine from Comics International)
AM features in most issues of CI, but mainly only in news except the MM issue (#127).

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