Newsgroup: it.arti.fumetti
Titolo: Intervista a John Cassaday

http://www.buffy.nu/article.php3?id_article=6083
Warren Ellis has referred to John Cassaday as an illustration god and I
think I would be hard pressed to argue that point. The quality of artistry
and design in John s body of work is unflinching, and his tendency to
repeatedly hook up with the industry s best writers and projects puts him
in a constant position to let his talents shine.
John s current activities include bringing the X-Men back to life with the
able assistance of Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator, Joss Whedon, as well
as his more-or-less regular gig with the aforementioned Warren Ellis on
Planetary, the mind-tripping, time-spanning, universe-bending series from
DC s Wildstorm imprint.
And if you re not reading either book, you really should give them a go.
You won t be disappointed!
While I still have your attention, I should also qualify that, due to some
scheduling issues, the bulk of this interview was conducted a few months
ago - shortly before the debut of Astonishing X-Men - with the last few
bits added on a week or so ago. So, although this week marks the North
American release of his Humanoids collaboration with writer Fabien Nury, I
Am Legion, there is not a single question regarding that book in this
interview. A little embarrassing, sure, but the existing interview material
already out there on the topic, including Humanoids own website, is more
than enough to whet any appetites not quite satisfied by the following.
FORM OVER FUNCTION
MIKE JOZIC: How did you come to be involved with Astonishing X-Men? Did
Joss specifically ask for you, or did Marvel editorial hunt you down?
JOHN CASSADAY: Ah, serendipity. Joe Quesada was pitching me something -
something I had to say no to. Before the conversation was over, I made a
vague mention that at some point I d probably want to give X-Men a shot. I
didn t mean this year or any time soon, just at some point. That same day
at the convention, Joe had mentioned X-Men to Joss. Joe was also aware that
Joss and I already knew each other and had talked about getting a project
together. So he ran with the ball and we met up a couple of weeks later.
He pitched me the idea, Joss was involved, other details came around and
POOF! Here we are.
JOZIC: Considering how many mutant books there are on the shelves these
days, what do you think differentiates it, and the first storyline -
"Gifted" - from the other  reloaded  books in the X-Universe?
CASSADAY: If you ve never read an X-Men comic, you can pick this up and
enjoy it. We re using the continuity to our advantage, but not
sub-referencing the past so much so that the reader has no fucking clue
what s going on. We re trying to boil it down to the essence of what
everyone loves so much about these characters.
JOZIC: From an art standpoint, are you approaching the book any differently
than you would any of your other projects?
CASSADAY: I try to approach every project a little differently. Some allow
more of a chance to experiment than others. This is the first time I ve
really done a big team book, so I m looking at it in a more epic sense of
scale.
JOZIC: Is that in reference to the number of characters that will become
involved or the type of story you and Joss are hoping to tell?
CASSADAY: Both. The stories get bigger as we go, which you ll soon see.
JOZIC: There were, and probably still are, a lot of people in the online
community that bemoan the change back to the spandex uniforms. Why go for
the more  super-heroey  look to the team and away from the more functional
suits?
CASSADAY: They don t need functional outfits. They have powers. Joss  story
deals with the "why?" of the costume argument. The team has very specific
reasons for suiting up in costumes - costumes, not uniforms. I like the
leather look of the movies and Grant s run, but for the comic, it s time to
shake things up. My designs deal with the costumes looking less like
painted-on spandex, and looking more realistic. I m keeping it as simple as
possible.
Early on, certain parties at Marvel were looking at having the characters
loaded up with all sorts of pouches and extra belts and...stuff - pointless
stuff, in my mind. I did away with practically all of that and streamlined
the outfits. These people are about what they can do, themselves. They
don t need pouches and five armbands and headbands and six buckles on their
head. You get the idea. All along I wanted to bring the designs back to
what they were in the first place. I think we ve gotten too far away from
the simplistic beauty of the original designs.
JOZIC: In the past Joss has been a pretty hands-on guy when it comes to
translating his words to images. Have you been working closely with him on
Astonishing, or do you actually have quite a bit of freedom to let loose
and do what you do best?
CASSADAY: We talk, but I ve got lots of freedom on the book. Joss is mostly
hands off, but if he s got a concern, we talk it over and vice versa. I
think because of his years of working in television with so many writers
and crews, he understands the collaboration process very well.
JOZIC: I noticed that in the Marvel Previews book, your Cyclops sketch is
dated 11-17-03. How long were you actively working on developing
Astonishing before the books release?
CASSADAY: Marvel approached me last summer and while I toyed with ideas, I
didn t start putting them on paper until I agreed to do the book. The
Cyclops sketch was one of the first.
FREEDOM TO REACH
JOZIC: I wanted to talk about Captain America for a bit. I know he was
something of a dream character for you to work on, but was there anything
else that drew you to that project?
CASSADAY: Having freedom with the character - no pun - was key. With it
being under the Marvel Knights banner, we were getting a lot of room to
play.
We poured ourselves into it and it s there on paper and I m immensely proud
of it. That will always be an unforgettable time for me.
JOZIC: Was it your idea to pattern your covers after war propaganda posters?
CASSADAY: Guilty as charged. It was the right thing to do. It was the crazy
controversial thing to do. I liked both reasons and ran with it. Readers
were not sure what to make of it all and people were talking - that s what
you strive for.
JOZIC: Your run on Cap dealt with pretty strong thematic material rather
than just being a straight-on action/adventure story. Did that alter your
approach to the story from an artistic standpoint?
CASSADAY: I did what I felt was appropriate for the character and the time.
Big operatic scenes mixed with heavy human emotions - sometimes dark,
sometimes angry.
JOZIC: When you re doing action sequences, you somehow manage to distill
the character moments from out of the chaos and really focus on those
rather than just trying to choreograph the coolest scene with the kickiest
visuals. Is that something that comes to you direct from the writer and the
scripts, or does that happen when you translate the ideas to the penciled
page?
CASSADAY: Whether the writer indicates that or not, I feel it s necessary.
Even if it s Superman lifting the Daily Planet building to the moon, I
wanna see the emotion on his face. I d say Captain America #6 is a good
example of that.
JOZIC: Looking back, is there anything you wish you had done differently on
Cap, or are you quite happy with your work on that title?
CASSADAY: I wish Rieber had been given more of a free hand near the end of
our six issues, but it s a minor thing. I m very proud.
JOZIC: And you were only ever scheduled to do the six issues with the
possibility of returning for more in the future, right?
CASSADAY: I only signed on to do the first six issues. But Joe made it
clear to me that he d like me back whenever possible. It s open-ended.
JOZIC: With Astonishing on the go and Planetary still chugging along, do
you think there is really any chance you will ever return to Cap?
CASSADAY: I definitely have a plan for Cap in the future. He s the
character closest to my heart, if I have one.
MOVING BEYOND THE 20th CENTURY
JOZIC: In regards to Planetary, I ve heard that the series may live beyond
its initially projected run of 25 issues. What prompted that decision and
how much farther do you and Warren hope to go with it?
CASSADAY: Just a few extra issues. Up to 27 or 28, as of now. The simple
fact is that we re gonna need more room to end it. There s no point in
rushing the ending and cramming it all in when we ve taken such care with
pacing throughout the series.
JOZIC: How involved are you with generating the stories for Planetary? Do
you have a lot of input from the get-go, or are the scripts just as fresh
for you as they are for us when we get our hands on them?
CASSADAY: For the most part, they re all Warren and very fresh to me. I
enjoy getting in a new script and tearing through it. There is an upcoming
issue that I sparked the idea for, though. It ll be a western tale of sorts.
JOZIC: Can you talk a bit more about that issue? Which pop culture
character will it be a riff on if any...that sort of thing?
CASSADAY: That particular issue came from a conversation Warren and I had
about what genres we hadn t tackled and I threw out the idea of the Western
story. A specific Western story. That s all you get, I m afraid. It s one
I m tremendously looking forward to.
JOZIC: When you get a Planetary script from Warren, what is your process
for tackling the visuals? Is there a lot of research involved in
re-imagining the characters from other companies or literature?
CASSADAY: It s different from issue to issue. The best part is that I m not
recreating, I m re-imagining. So there is loads of freedom from that
standpoint, but still plenty of research to be done to make sure I m
getting it right.
JOZIC: How much time do you actually spend on research, or designing some
of the trippier characters, objects and effects for the book?
CASSADAY: There s no single answer to that question. It varies with every
issue. Generally, as long as I have the basic idea in my head, I just go
with it and design it mostly out of inspiration. We re free to make it our
own.
JOZIC: Because of late books in your past, I think a lot of people assume
that, like Art Adams or Travis Charest, it takes a while to do what you do.
Is that an accurate assumption or are you actually faster than people give
you credit for?
CASSADAY: No, I d cop to it if it were accurate, but the fact is, the vast
majority of late books have had little or nothing to do with me. Without
bragging, I can tell you that I m quite fast. Fact is, I do more than 12
issues a month worth of work every year but scripts can be irregular, so
I ve had to do other projects to keep busy. Count the pages.
JOZIC: Does that affect you when you see readers or fans complain about the
lateness of a book?
CASSADAY: It bothers me when I m not to blame but y know, the stories don t
write themselves and not all stories can be hashed out on a monthly basis
by a writer. I m fine with that.
Jolan Tru
-- 
Filippo "Hytok" Simone - L'oracolo sampdoriano di Sunnydale
La Casa degli Elfi 
http://www.freewebtown.com/lacasadeglielfi/
Commissione Voyager 
http://www.voyageritalia.com/
http://ildominio.altervista.org/
 
http://www.ussexcalibur.it/

think I would be hard pressed to argue that point.
a me non sembra tutto questa gran cosa.
I suoi disegni sono troppo realisti, almeno in Astonishing.
-- 
Connor:There's only one thing that ever changes anything... and that's death. 
Everything else is just a lie. 
(cries) You can't be saved by a lie. 
You can't be saved at all. 

 I suoi disegni sono troppo realisti, almeno in Astonishing.
ti diro': io l'ho visto per la prima volta su astonishing e non m'e'
piaciuto per niente 
poi ho visto planetary e li' e' veramente *fantastico*
tranne negli ultimi 2 numeri dove l'andazzo e' esattamente quello di
astonishing 
a sto punto ho il sospetto che non riesca a star dietro al ritmo di
produzione della marvel... 
-- 
Gorgon

I suoi disegni sono troppo realisti, almeno in Astonishing.
Da quando in qua il disegno realistico e' una brutta cosa? .\/.
-- 
S E K T O R  A L P H A  5.0 - 
http://www.sektoralpha.it
Illustrazioni e foto by Michele Amadesi 
e-mail: 
shintet...@yahoo.it
  (rimuovere GOD)  

Da quando in qua il disegno realistico e' una brutta cosa? .\/.
Beh, ad esempio quelli di Alex Ross sono una brutta cosa, sembrano tutti
col muso sporgente di Ridge di Beautiful! ;-P
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col muso sporgente di Ridge di Beautiful! ;-P
Tu partorirai con dolore.
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 Da quando in qua il disegno realistico e' una brutta cosa? ./.
bhè...lo stile eccessivamente realiztico a volte stomaca!!! Certo poi ti
arriva Liberatore e ti commuovi... col Ross anche... però quanto godo
quando Pearson si lancia nelle sue bodybagsate! 
-- 
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 col muso sporgente di Ridge di Beautiful! ;-P
di Ross se non ti piace il segno... goditi i suoi inside jokes...ne sono
piene le sue tavole... a partire dalla copertina del primo numero di Top
Ten in cui alla tizietta bionda con la scatola dei giocattoli (non ce l'ho
a portata e quindi non ricordo i nomi!) si alzava la maglietta scoprendole
il seno e la poliziotta omosessuale si voltava prontamente a guardare...
fino ai flash inseriti due volte nella stessa vignetta dentro kingdom come!
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quando Pearson si lancia nelle sue bodybagsate! 
Oddio...di pearson non mi sovviene nulla ^^;;
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 Oddio...di pearson non mi sovviene nulla ^^;;
maddai! Mai viste le sue card or cover? E soprattutto mai letto Bodybags o
savage dragon: pioggia di sangue?
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savage dragon: pioggia di sangue?
Ah, ora l'ho visto. Alcuenillustrazioni sono carine, altre meno...ma
non mi fa impazzire...quelel chemi piacciono di piu' sono quelle piu'
vicine allo stile di Batman animated (stile che adoro!)
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savage dragon: pioggia di sangue?
Io di Savage Dragon non ho letto mai nulla...
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Da quando in qua il disegno realistico e' una brutta cosa? .\/.
Per me da sempre.
Che senso ha fare il verso alla macchina fotografica?
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col muso sporgente di Ridge di Beautiful! ;-P
Esatto!
Come rovinare quel capolavoro di Kingdom come.
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Come rovinare quel capolavoro di Kingdom come.
Kingdom Come e' stupendo proprio perche' valorizzato dai disegni di
Ross.
Mai quanto Marvels, comunque.
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Che senso ha fare il verso alla macchina fotografica?
Quindi disprezzi i miei disegni.
Allora.
Premessa per tutti coloro che ritengono il disegno realistico una
scorciatoia, oppure qualcosa di facile da realizzare: andatevia
leggere un po' di documetnazione, magari i manuali di disegno di
Andrew Loomis, tanto per cominciare.
E ora veniamo a noi.
La scelta di disegnare realisticamente ha pari dignita' di qualisiasi
altra scelta stilistica. Non si tratta di copiare da una foto.
Se fosse cosi' semplcie, allroa i lavori di Alex Ross, Luis Royo,
Vallejo, dei fratelli Hildebrant etc etc sarebebro tutti uguali. 
Per quanto uno disegni con riferimenti fotografici (cosa che comunque
fanno praticaemnte quasi tutti illustratori e fumettisti, in misure e
pesi diversi), quello che si "riproduce" e' sempre filtrato da una
interpretazione personale. Nel caso di Ross questo filtraggio avviene
con una interpretazione alla Silver Age dei comics, ponendo i
personaggi in una dimensione epica ed "irreale".
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altra scelta stilistica. 
Non discuto, ma non mi piace.
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e non mi piace: è troppo falso.
Quindi sono troppo falsi anche tutte le illustrazioni della Domenica
del Corriere, le illustrazioni di Vargas, per fare due illustri
esempi.
Non discuto che tu abbia gusti diversi dai miei, ma trovo aberrante
affermare che il disegno realistico o simil-realistico sia inferiore a
un altro stile di disegno.
Sono diversi modelli di interpretazione della realta'. Stop.
Entrambi con radici secolari (o sono troppo falsi anche i quadri
rinascimentali?)
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 scorciatoia, oppure qualcosa di facile da realizzare
non e' una questione di facilita', e' una questione di risultato: a
cassaday in versione realistica i personaggi escono fuori come tanti
burattini in posa... cosa che non gli succedeva invece in planetary 
prova se riesci a trovare delle pagine di preview da qualche parte e
guarda il risultato... 
-- 
Gorgon
Homer: - Doh! Odio piegare le lenzuola!
Marge: - Guarda che quelle sono le tue mutande...

burattini in posa... cosa che non gli succedeva invece in planetary 
Nonho mai lettoPlanetary, quindi non so se il tratto di Cassaday li e'
migliore.
Ma qui si parlava di disegno realistico in generale.
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rinascimentali?)
Eh! dici niente.
Troppa roba, non facilmente inquadrabile in un'unica corrente.
Diciamo che, a naso, preferisco la pittura medioevale e quella dai
primi del novecento ad oggi.
Naturalmente ci sono un sacco di eccezioni.
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esempi.
Stai paragonando stili diversissimi. E non importa che siano accomunati da
tratto realistico. Non è il realistico che non mi piace, è proprio lo stile
di Alex Ross.
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di Alex Ross.
Guarda che con Antonio parlavamo dello stile realistico in generale, e
infatti a lui non piace proprio il genere realistico.
Poi vabbe', a te non piace Alex Ross, ma tu sei un caso disperato :D
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