JEROMY COX 

         Movie Maker, Comic Artist (Colorist to PROMETHEA)

                                                                                                                  by Jose Carlos Neves

                 (Leia abaixo outra Entrevista com o artista, em Portugues, feita por Eroom Nala)

 -Hi, Jeromy! How you first become interested in comics? What are your earliest memories as far as that go?

When I was two or three, I lived in Mazatlan Mexico for a short time... I remember having a number of Marvel comics translated into spanish... I specifically remember Iron Man... when we left... I had to abandon my collection... very sad.
Then, years later when I was living in Lake Tahoe.. I must have been 6 or 7... I again amassed a large collection of comics. I again returned to San Diego and again I had to abandon a large collection of comics.
When I was about 11.. I started watching the G.I. Joe cartoon which lead to the comic which lead to Marvel again.. and the rest is history... now I have a garage full of comics.

 -As a child, did you spend a lot of time indoors reading? Comic books  only or mainstream literature also?

I read lots of war comics as a kid. My favorites were Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos and Sgt. Rock... I also like the Ec stuff.... I read some Science Fiction when I was younger... I liked C.S. Lewis and Robert Heinlein. I have vivid memories of kicking back in a hammock in my backyard reading science fiction books. Total dork.

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

One of my best friends in High School lent me a Swamp Thing... he said it was rad... it was . He then directed me towards Dr and Quinch. He kept insisting that I read it.. and I kept putting it off.. he finally bought me all the issues and shoved them in my hands. Later I read Watchmen and V for Vendetta.. one of my favorites.

 -Did it had a special impact on you? Why?

Huge impact.... Alan seemed to be writing better than movies or comics... like his books were something completely different. His storytelling on Watchmen effects me to this day.

 -What do you think is his best work to date? Why?

That's so hard. I love them all for different reasons. The funny thing with Alan is.. if there's something that I haven't read of Alan's.. I sort of put it off.. thinking.. oh I'll save that for a good read. I'm still eyeing that Supreme hard cover.. I haven't read any of those stories yet... If I had to choose.. it would be V... I think it fits the current political atmosphere here in America now... I've coined my own word for it.. Ashcroftian...

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

I read the first issue and enjoyed it... it was never finished, right?

 -Unfortunately, no. It would be, for sure, his true magnum-opus.What do you think Alan would have intended to convey with this very  promising story?

I've never been able to figure out where Alan's going with something... that's what makes him special. I remember being at Wildstorm when I heard he was to be writing Wildcats... I loved what he did with that book.. he turned it on it's ear. Making you feel sorry for the 
Daemonites.... even on Promethea... I sort of know where things are going.. but I sit down and read the comps when I get them and go.. wow.. and oohh.. and coool...

-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 unexpected alterations on the final ones?

Completely.. but having a theory about chaos sounds pretty funny to me. It's like having an explanation for the unexplainable... true chaos theory to me would make sense in not making sense. hee..

-Could a graphic-novel comprise all the 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?

No... I don't believe so.. but one could try. Stories and comics are always fables to me.. or parables.

-Do you think someday Alan could change his mind and thinks about it  again?

Quite possibly.. but I have no idea.

 -What are your ideas about Watchmen's innovations?

Do you mean what innovated Watchmen or what about how Watchmen has innovated things? Either way, Watchmen seems like an golden spike in the railway that is comics. It retells the comics of the past with a narrative that has effected everything since. I hate to blabber on how cool the book is.. but it really changed the way I looked at how comics 
could be done.

 -And 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?

Yeah.. I loved the way that book pokes fun at who we are as apes... violence is part of us.. and as much as we are evolving.. at times it seems we are doing a pretty good job at devolving... sort of the rise and fall of the roman empire as a reflection to human beings march up and off the evolutionary ladder... wheee.. we're falling.

-What are your impressions on Brought to Light and its references to  the CIA's covert operations around the world?

I loved that book. I've always been incredibly political (that's probably a bad thing) at the time of the whole Iran Contra.. I was the only person I knew that was into watching the hearings and paying attention to what was going on with the Sandinistas... and the 
Iranians... I loved how Americans hated the Iranians in 1979... and we ushered in Ronald Reagan on a white horse to lead the national hatred of another country.. and then what, 5-7 year later we're in bed with them.. selling them arms to pay for backing covert wars in South America... I just read last night about how Osama Bin Laden's brother was the liason between George Bush Sr. and the Iranians when all of that went down.. he was also the point man when Reagan and Bush wanted to hold the American hostages in Iran for another 3 months until Reagan was innagurated... ahh.. I hates me some politicians.. but I get all wrapped up in it.. sorry.. did I go off question? CIA bad... freedom of press good...

 -Do you think that comics can be a political instrument , that they  can reach and appeal to a large audience?

I think they are seriously lacking today in politics.. if you check out the comics from the 60's.. they were way more political. Everyone is trying to create a property or a license to sell to the big movie companies... ugh... I think it will come back around.. politics here in 
America now are getting so right wing and conservative.. it's going to snap back like a big rubber band. Once people figure out how many rights they've lost... they'll start doing things about it... like maybe voicing their opinions in the form of comics.

The inventivity of Alan Moore, JH Williams III, Mick Gray, Jeromy and Tod Klein in this sequence is stunning...

-And AM´s debuting in mainstream literature with Voice of the Fire, do  you think it accomplished it´s intention, to tell the history of  magic, wichtcraft, shamanism and so on, through the history of 
 Northampton?

Ahhhh.. I haven't read it yet.. Matt Wagner (check me out... I'm name dropping) told me about it and said he loved it. I need to get it and read it... isn't Top Shelf putting that out soon? I haven't ever seen it.

 -What is it that attracts you to Promehea, artistically and writing  concerning?

Wow.. everything. There are so many creative people on this book. I mean, look at Todd.. our letterer.. he's incredible... there's just an amazing amount of care and dedication that goes into the book. Not to mention it's fascinating. Again, when I was around 16.. my best friend Erich was completely into witchcraft.. we'd go to the magic shop and he'd buy all these witchcraft books and oils and totems... I would be into the way he was into it.. I read some about the khaballah and magic.. and found it fascinating.

 -Do you believe in Magic, Khaballah and so on?

Cool.. that question dove tailed into the next rather brilliantly. 
Hrmm.. to explain my beliefs wouldn't be that easy.... my parents and my grand parents were all non practicing in their religion.. i.e... I don't think they believed in any of it. My dad side of the family is Mormon.. hee.. and my mom's is Catholic. I was raised with neither. My mom raised me sorta hippie.. and I turned out fine. My friends were all Christians.. and I would go to church with them because otherwise I'd be home alone with no one to play with.. I'd sit in church with them and look around at all of the people and think to myself "weird, these people really believe this stuff." Not being raised with religion makes it really difficult to believe in any kind of mysticism. When I turned about 17.. I started freaking out and I really got into existentialism.. ha.. I can laugh now.. anyways.. it lead me to a point where now I believe in Nathanism.. My middle name is Nathan.. so I've 
made up my own belief system.. be nice to everyone.. if someone isn't nice to you, feel sorry for them.. don't hurt people... enjoy life.. have fun... experience as much of life as you can... die and worry about the afterlife... after life.

So no. I don't believe in Magic or the Khaballah.. then again.. I feel like a hypocrite when I sound to definitive.. it just easier to say.. I have no idea.. could be real.. could be neat stories.

 -Have you read the books -and magical treatises - by Crowley, John  Dee, Austin Spare and so on?

Not really.. I read a little bit of Crowley.. but I read his history first and it made anything of his stuff I read afterwards not as impactful. I've read a couple of books on black magic, however.. and numerology. I love reading about the different jewish sects and early religion. My favorite were the Essenes or Zoroastrionism...

 -Do you really believed that something weird has happened with that doomed Promethea # 20? Would you like to elaborate and/or extrapolate  on this?

Ha... yeah.. Promethea is a trip to work on. Even more of a strange issue for me was between issues 25 and 26.. there was supposed to be a large passage of time.. well, J.H. went through some bad stuff.. and then when the pages finally reached me.. My grandmother died.. the woman who taught me art.. it devastated me. So when issue 26 finally got finished.. literally.. a great deal of time had passed. All the issues have something strange attached to them like that. I think there was even some more tension when we were working on the Mars book...

 -If sigils works, vodu´s dolls are real, could you believe a story, a  drawn one,could kind of "works" magically,also?

I don't believe in much.. but yeah.. I can tend to believe in the juju of comics.. or the power of literature... when I received my copies of the anagram issue.. I get like 20 comp copies.. so I had enough to line them all up and make one long comic that connected end to end.. I felt a kind of magic about that... almost like putting together a puzzle... 
I also thought to myself.. hrmmm.. the only person that gets their comp copies before me is Todd Klein.. so I may be the first person to connect all the comics... hee.. not to mention I'm constantly hiding things in the color...

 -Under your view, what is till now, the best issues of Promethea? Why?

I like the gold issue for technique.. I like the anagram issue most of all.. but each issue has something. What's really strange is when J.H. will paint half a book or Jose (Villarrubia) will work his magic.. I get to view the book as a viewer then.. those issues are intriguing to me.

 -Besides Promethea, any other projects related to Alan?

I'm working on Terra Obscura with Peter Hogan and Alan.. I was going to try and color Smax.. but my plate was to full... Ben Dimagmaliw is hadling it though.. so it should look pretty cool.

-What do you think about Magic and about Alan's lyrics, CDs, The Birth  Caul and Snakes and Ladders?

I love those. I have a really good sound system in my car.. and I love to listen to the albums on long drives..

-Movies and mainly music, can affect us deeply, rousing imprevisible  emotions. So it is Poetry. They all can transcend its limitations as a genre. What about comics? Could it have this quality also?

It does for me personally. That is why I'm into comics. I make movies and draw and stuff.. but comics have always been in my life.. and they touch me more than most people I know.. I love sequential story telling with pictures... I have a number of visceral memories of comics touching me. Everything from something as simple as a Peter David Hulk 
story to an issue of Palestine.. it runs the gambit.

-Could you mention examples?

Ooooppss... okay... maybe some more. Bill Watterson has really hit me hard sometimes with Calvin and Hobbs. not a comic per se.. but same idea. I have all my comics from 82 on... each one, I can pick up and have some kind of mental charge from them.. sure, a whole lot of them are crap.. but there are others that take me back to a point in my life.... Albedo comics... Cerebus... Love and Rockets... Peep Show.. Hate.. Mage.. they all stir something... I could go on and on.. and now that I've actually been in the comics field for 11 years.... I'm now part of the family.. so when I look at comics now.. I have a whole different attachment or feeling tied to it... my friends work on these little stories that start in a studio and end up all over the world. I was art directing a motion base ride in Portugal for the Worlds fair many years back.. and while I was there, I ventured into a book store... I was anxious to pick up some European comics... I loaded as many as I could into my arms.. and then started walking back to my hotel.. on the way I passed a market and I decided to get something to drink... I went in and there was a spinner rack with American comics translated into Portuguese. I found a collection of Buffy comics that I had colored.. it blew me away.. here I am, clear across the world.. and here are comic stories I have worked on... many levels to how comics work for me.

 -How is it different in tradicional colorizing and a digital one? Do  you work mainly in Photoshop and/or use also CorelDraw and other art  software?

I'm all Photoshop... I can do the traditional stuff.. but I'm so good with photoshop now.. and so fast.. it's become my new pencil...

 -In tradicional colorizing - if you have done this also, what  materials - paint types, brushes, airbrush, colored pencils..- did you used the most?

Lots of markers of watercolor... I never really colored the old way.. calling out numbers and what not.. but I understand it all. When I first started going to the San Diego Comic Con.. I would hang out near Stan Sakai, Mark Evanier, Sergio Aragones and Tom Luth.. I would watch how Tom would color Sergio's pages and then I'd go home and try to copy it. Later, I became proficient at the computer while animating and working on video games.. then computer coloring hit the comic industry.. and I jumped in.

 -Where can our readers see your amazing art?

Oh.. I'm terrible about updating my website... they'll look much better next year when I plan on doing more of my own comics.. here are a few links to my stuff.

http://www.morefunner.com , http://www.violetant.com,  http://www.rogurecreations.com 

I've been making a movie this year... so my websites have suffered. Here's a link to my movie page...
                                                                       Still from "Ghothic-Cowboy" film
http://www.gothic-cowboy.com

The more funner site is going to be seriously busy next year. I also have a vampire pirate comic coming out from Bloodfire Studios next March...

 -Are there any questions about your work on Promethea that no one has  ever asked you but that you would like to have been asked because you  can provide an interesting/informative answer?

Do I use drugs when I color Promethea? No. Not all of the time.. hee...

 -Do you know the comic art of the now famous Brazilian Mike Deodato? What do you think about it?

I've seen his stuff.. he's incredible sometimes.. I'd really like to see him do something more personal.. but that's how I feel about all creators... I've only seen his bad girl kind of stuff. I'd be interested in Brazilian comics about Brazilian life.. are there any 
that I should know about?

-Oh,sure! We have Mutarelli´s, Laerte´s, Luis Ge´s comics, and a lot more...Flavio Colin, Julio Emilio Braz... Well, that it is, my friend. Many many thanks to share with us your precious time.

Thank you so much.. I enjoyed answering the questions... I hope people get a kick out of it.

Portugues

JEROMY COX - O colorizador de "PROMETHEA"
(entrevista conduzida em Junho de 2003 pelo colaborador Eroom Nala, da Australia)

Jeromy Cox tem sido o responsavel pelas cores de Promethea desde novembro de 1999. Iniciei a Entrevistas com as seguintes questoes mais generalisadas:
EN-Poderia no contar um pouco sobre voce, como começou nos Quadrinhos, quantos Premios ja ganhoupelo seu trabalho, suas maiores influencias e, alem de Promethea e outras parcerias com Alan Moore, quais foram os outros trabalhos que voce se orgulha de ter feito?

JC-Bem, eu comecei em 1992 profissionalmente, auto-publicando minha propria revista em preto-e-branco de horror e fantasia romantico, "Zombie Love". Na epoca ja´estava feliz com meu trabalho em Animaçao e Games, mas Quadrinhos sempre fizeram parte de minha vida e por isto, decidi me auto-publicar.
O feito acabou me levando a entrar em contato com muita gente boa do ramo - e viver em San Diego foi uma mao-na-roda (o artista se refere a famosa cidade da Californiana onde acontece anualmente a maior convençao americana de Quadrinhos e que tais . N.T.)
Como era de se esperar, acabei  cruzando com o Homage Studios..o que redundou num trabalho de meio-expediente colorizando alguns dos quadrinhos deles, mas sem largar meu trabalho regular na industria de Video Games. Mas os Quadrinhos falaram mais alto e larguei tudo para me juntar a Wildstorm e Image Comics. 
Colori muita coisa, tanta que fica dificil enumerar e ate´de lembrar. 
Pra encurtar a estoria, acabei colorizando Leave it to Chance ("Deixe por Conta do Destino") que me levou a indicaçao do primeiro Premio Eisner, que por sua vez me levou a "Mage" , que me trouxe de volta a Wildstorm e a Promethea. 
Ja´fui indicado quatro vezes ao Eisner (Leave it to Chance, Mage, Promethea...) nao ganhei nenhum ainda, mas quem sabe este ano? Ah! Tambem fui indicado para o Harvey-2003.

EN-Voce esta´colorizando Promethea desde o numero 4. Quem te escolheu para o trabalho e qual a sua opiniao sobre o que foi feito nos 3 numeros iniciais, pela Digital Chameleon e a Wildstorm FX?

JC-Na verdade e´ate´engraçado...me parece que Scott Dunbier (editor da Wildstorm) me perguntou se eu estava procurando trabalho e eu disse prontamente que sim. Fui la´, vi o que tinha sobrado para eu fazer,  a minha escolha, e eram somente dois titulos...acho que Top Ten e Promethea. Nao tinha lido Promethea ainda e so´sabia dela escutando o zum-zum-zum de entao "Ah! E´apenas Alan Moore parodiando Mulher-Maravilha"...Mas eu peguei as paginas originais e me debrucei sobre elas, ja´com ideias fervilhando em minha cabeça sobre as possibilidades que o titulo oferecia.
Naquela mesma semana ja´estava colorindo as minhas primeiras paginas, me valendo justamente dos 3 numeros anteriores como referencia. 
Sempre tenho insistido com JH Williams - o desenhista da serie - para que eu faça uma especie de "versao do diretor" recolorindo os numeros inaugurais. Nao que as cores de Wendy Fouts (da Wildstorm) estivessem ruins, mas estavam na verdade muito escuras para o meu gosto. 
Por sua vez, as paginas trabalhadas pela Chamaleon obscureceram sensivelmente a arte de JW Williams, parece que eles ressaltaram algumas imagens de fundo...enfim, Promethea precisava ser trabalhada com mais suavidade e boa renderizaçao; o mesmo para a sua magia.
EN-Cada numero das "viagens pela Kabala" (13 ao 23) e´predominantemente colorido na cor do Sephirot particular que ele representa. Isto e´ especialmente verdadeiro pelo vermelho em "Vida em Marte"; verde para "Amor e a Lei"; dourado e azul em "Fatherland" ("Paternidade"), na sua maioria cinza para "ET em Arcadia Ego" e o branco puro mais dourado para "A Pomba e a Serpente". Nao fica muito dificil para voce trabalhar com uma palheta de cores tao limitada?"Vida em Marte", por exemplo, apesar de ficar legal, e´bem cansativo para os olhos do leitor e seria melhor, sinceramente, se fosse em preto e branco.Achei o vermelho um pouco opressivo, mas sei que talvez este fosse justamente o efeito pretendido por Alan, pois todos sabem que as cores tem estreita ligaçao com as emoçoes, e o vermelho sempre nos liga ao sangue e a odio. Voce concorda com isto, com o poder de despertar sensaçoes que as cores possuem?
JC -Pois foi este exatamente o objetivo daquelas cores especificas naquelas ediçoes.Eu e J.H. conversamos muito antes de decidirmos como fazer. Usando o capitulo de "Marte", por exemplo,nos decidimos pelo vermelho chapado, com um minimo de renderizaçao, mas nao sem uma uma preocupaçao constante, ate´um certo nervosismo, que nos fazia perguntar um ao outro" sera´que nao esta´desarmonico, esquisito? "..O importante e´as cores servirem ao proposito da estoria e acho que estamos conseguindo isto. Quanto a palheta limitada, para mim e´ate´uma bençao, pois nao estou interessado nas "16 milhoes de cores" que o Photoshop - o software que uso para colorir - oferece. E´melhor ter somente 16 cores boas do que 16 milhoes de ruins... 

EN: Quais foram suas imagens favoritas de Promethea ate´agora?]
JC-Esta e´dificil, pois gosto de quase tudo...mas destacaria alguma coisa do nº 9, o capitulo do Tarot/Anagrama foi divertido fazer - podemos vislumbrar todas nossas ideias revolvendo-se naquelas paginas, sinto realmente que todos os artistas envolvidos deram o maximo de si.Ha outros exemplares que eu aprecio pelos seus meritos tecnicos...mas nao estou certo se poderia escolher uma imagem realmente favorita...nao,espere, tem algumas que realmente foram um pico na veia...bem, aquelas que...impressionante como algumas pessoas se assustam com alguma nudez...
EN:Quais foram as imagens mais dificeis de colorir e quais as que melhor atingiram o seu proposito?
JC- Penso que pelo menos 50% de tudo que ja´ fizemos ate´agora, foi satisfatorio, atingiu o nosso intento. Logico que gostaria de gastar muito mais tempo em cada pagina, mas com Quadrinhos este e´ o negocio, o que voce obtem dentro de suas limitaçoes torna-se a sua arte.
Voce tem um prazo apertado para concluir todas as 24 paginas e ai´ e´que alguns colorizadores menores pecam: dedicam-se muito a algumas paginas e depois tem de correr com o resto. Eu prefiro planejar o todo antes, para obter o necessario balanço.Nao quero que o leitor se aborreça ao ver que algumas paginas sao bem inferiores as anteriores e por isto e´que, mante-las todas num mesmo "feeling" magico, se torna a parte mais dificil do nosso trabalho.
EN: Tanto Alan quanto JH Williams tem afirmado em entrevistas terem adoecido ao trabalhar no nº 20, "The Daath" , ou "The Stars are but Thistles" . Voce tambem teve alguma experiencia similar e teve algum feedback interessante de leitores sobre isto?
JC- Foi um capitulo interessante de se trabalhar e o que sei e´ que muitos leitores se sentiram desconfortaveis aos le-lo, assim, nao e´ surpresa Alan e JH tambem terem sentido algma coisa.
EN: JHW disse que as splash pages dese nº 23, com Promethea e os outros voando de dentro do Kether, o redemoinho cosmico debaixo da arvore da vida da Cabala, foi um efeito dificilimo de se conseguir. A maior parte dos efeitos especiais foi criada digitalmente por voce.JH simplesmente te deu carta branca para faze-las como bem lhe aprouvesse. Assim, toda aquela coisa cosmica foi voce que incluiu sem aparentemente nada a ver com a estoria. Aquelas imagens, como o raio-x da mulher sentada, e uma especie de mapas historicos, isto tudo teve um significado particular para voce? Voce coocou outras figuras em Promethea que nao foram previamente especificadas nem por Alan nem por JH? Alguma delas foi importante ou tem um significado pra voce?
JC- A mim me parece que, se coloquei alguma coisa a mais ali, foi porque pareceu correto na epoca. Gosto do conceito de colagem, de aproveitar imagens, enfim, eu faço o que acho que, na hora, esta´ funcionando legal.
EN: Quanto da sua colorizaçao e´feita digitalmente e quanto dos efeitos especiais sao tambem feitos em computaçao? Prefere usar sempre o computador ou de vez em quando pelo menos, coloca suas maos na tinta?
JC-Poderia assegurar-lhe que 98% do meu trabalho hoje e´digital.Mas nao deixo de fazer alguma coisa com o pincel, que tambem e´escaneado depois.Eu gosto de suavisar a linha que separa o que e´real e o que e´pintado. mas tambem respeito a colorizaçao computadorizada como uma arte em si propria.A maioria das imagens nunca serao vistas em sua forma original, quero dizer, o que voce ve no monitor e´completamente diferente do material impresso.Mas isto tambem e´parte do apelo dos Quadrinhos, como uma cria artistica de muitos pais, e maes.
EN: Existiu algum esquema especifico para as cores usadas no nº 26, laranja, amarelo, azul, verde e vermelho sempre aparecem junto com nao mais que 4 cores em ca