Based on what's been released from the new "Shaolin Cowboy" so far, it definitely seems like you're not shying away from violence.
It's cartoon violence. I was going to say I'm not directing it at dogs, but there are a few animals that don't do so well in this series. Well, actually, there's more than a few, now that I think about it. There's no cruelty to children at all.
And that's not always a guarantee.
But I do kill a robin in the first issue, trying to cash in on some of that "Death of Robin," Batman energy there.
Given that, then, do you keep up pretty closely with the current comic book industry?
Yeah, I like going to the comic store. I think Chris Burnham and Grant Morrison did a really good job. I think Chris is a really talented young man, and he looks like he could take a punch on top of it.
I'll take your word for it.
He's a good-looking young man, and he looks like he could hold his own in a bar fight. Watch, he'll go out tonight and test it. "I'm tired of letting Batman kick all the ass, I'm going to kick some myself."
From your perspective as someone who has been in the industry for a while…
And has done very little! For as long as I've been in it, I haven't done very much. [Laughs] It's amazing how little I've actually done.
But do you look at the racks and see a lot of see good current material?
Oh, yeah. I always go to the comic store, and look at what's going on. I'm a comic book fan, and always have been. I'm in Japan what they call an "otaku." I like all sorts of stuff.
If you want to read a really cool comic, Drawn & Quarterly have put out this book called "Kitaro." which is a classic Japanese manga about a -- he's not a ghost, I don't know what he is. He's a one-eyed boy that fights monsters. They're kind of funny and touching. The artist is Shigeru Mizuki, who's just amazing. He's a one-armed guy who lost his arm in World War II. They're really beautifully done.
To get back to films a bit, I wanted to ask a little bit more about your concept design for movies -- you worked on the "Matrix" movies and "Speed Racer," among others. Is there any one in particular that stands out to you, where you see a lot of your style or your concepts in the final product?
It has to be "The Matrix." I worked pretty closely with [the Wachowskis], and they were very generous with me. They really let me do a lot on that movie, and I'm sure sometimes I confused them quite a bit. I really didn't think they would use what I did, but they did, and it was an amazing experience -- to get to see the whole process of making a movie, from the beginning right up to the end.
It kind of annoys me -- on these websites, they'll go on, "Oh, this guy sucks, he did a ****ty job, blah blah blah." I get really ****ed off. I don't care how lousy a director is, and how bad a movie is, it's so much work, it's so much stress to make a movie, that it's amazing they even get one done. And even if it's bad, hat's off to them, because, man, they did it, they put it out there, and you get nothing but grief if it's bad. And if it's good, they generally find some reason to not give the proper guys the credit. From watching how hard the Wachowskis worked to get a movie made, it's just amazing.
There are a lot of directors I don't think are very good, but, hell, I couldn't do it, and I don't care what anybody says, a lot of people couldn't. You have to have nerves of steel, because they'll just eat you up, and spit you out, and then eat you up again. And then they **** you out the second time.
That seems to be consistent with a lot of creative endeavors.
Even comics. Anything you do that you put out in the public, you're really kind of putting a target on yourself.
There's really a lot of stuff I don't like. I'm not a big fan of people that swipe other people's work. I think that's pretty ****ty. But anybody that's out there doing it, my hat's off to them, because drawing comics is a lot of work. It's not all the things you want to draw. You've got to draw a lot of stuff that isn't a lot of fun -- a guy just walking down the street. I always try to find something in each drawing that is fun. That's why I put in all those goofy little details. I think, "Oh, this will make it kind of different."
Recently you've done some varied material here and there, like the Marvel NOW! Deadpool covers, which, correct me if I'm wrong, I think was among your first work for Marvel?
No, I've done some others over the years. I did a "Marvel Zombies" cover. It had Howard the Duck and Machine Man on it. I like that cover. It's got a flesh-eating robot. I asked them, "How does that work? Do zombie robots only eat other robots?" They said, "No, they consume flesh, which they turn into energy." Well, that doesn't really make him a zombie, because they haven't returned to life. [Laughs]
I did a Fantastic Four poster a long time ago. I've done a few things. Not a lot.
I had no idea who Deadpool was, to be quite honest. I thought he was an incarnation of Spider-Man. [Laughs] Look at the costume! The mask looks like Spider-Man. I thought he was one of those Spider-Man clones.
I got tired of drawing presidents. It was hard drawing Abraham Lincoln getting hit. I didn't want to draw that.
It was like a zombie Abraham Lincoln, at least.
Kind of. Except I couldn't make him too zombie-ish, because they had to be recognizable. Otherwise I would liked to have made them really disgusting. Then you can't tell it's Abraham Lincoln. I don't want to do that to Abraham Lincoln, anyway. He's a vampire hunter, from what I understand.
Sure, there was that historical film that came out last year about it.
I waited to see the Spielberg film, because I wanted to see the "Vampire Hunter" one, so that I could watch Spielberg's and put it in its proper perspective.
You're likely focusing on "Shaolin Cowboy" right now, but is there anything else that you're working on that you want fans to know about?
No, I just hope they'll read "Shaolin." It's action-packed. If you don't like action in comics, then you're not going to like this.