Interview: Steve Purcell
One thing I was sure of when starting the Comic Book Maker column was I wanted to get alot of opinions and thoughts from as many indy creators as possible. Sometimes when I talk to someone I can't really figure out on where to put the interview into the article. What is great about this blog is that I am able to then in turn at least share the interview with the three blog readers out there.
Today's interview is with Sam and Max creator Steve Purcell. Steve created Sam and Max many moons ago and saw his creation go from comic to video game to TV show. Steve now has a great career working over at Pixar, known for making a few little indy gems like The Incredibles and Finding Nemo. I talked with Steve briefly about his creations and how a cartoon dog and a rabbit became such big stars.
RYAN MCLELLAND: In doing Sam and Max, what was most important for you - meaning what did you want/need in the book? As Sam and Max skipped around to a few different publishers, what do you think helped them perceiver?
STEVE PURCELL: I had done Sam & Max comic strips in the school paper when I was in art college and before that my own cheesy Sam & Max comics when I was a kid in high school. They were always slapped together at the last minute. I first got the chance to do an actual published Sam & Max comic from Steve Moncuse. He was successfully self-publishing his own comic called Fish Police. He decided he wanted to publish a second title and asked if I would do a Sam & Max one shot. I knew how much work it would take to do a 42-page comic and for me I treated it as though I might never do another one. I wanted to make sure whoever was buying it was getting something that had a lot of attention put into it and would hopefully be something to keep. In writing it my goal was to make myself laugh at least once per page and pack it visually so you could come back to it later and hopefully discover something new. When I was working on the road trip book the black and white self-publishing boom had cooled off a bit so Steve put me in touch with Comico who published that one. Later, I did a couple of Sam & Max books with Marvel's creator-owned imprint, Epic comics. I think the reason that Sam & Max had a chance to be be published at different companies was because their cult following fortunately included Comics Editors.
RM: What do you contribute the success of Sam and Max to...as they went from comic book to video game to TV series?
SP: I've been lucky that Sam & Max have had fans in high places. When LucasArts licensed Sam & Max it was because the company President at the time, Kelly Flock knew the comics. He actually would read them to his daughter as bed time stories. Also like a sheep tick, Sam & Max had imbedded themselves into the culture of LucasArts at the time through their comic strips in the company newsletter and as subjects of test animations for the programmers. Later I had the chance to do the TV show because Dan Smith, a Story Editor at the Canadian animation studio, Nelvana had brought the book to their attention. Sam & Max became a factor in bringing me other kinds of concept and writing work as well.
RM: What advice would you give to any comic book creating hopefuls out there?
SP: Some comic creators grow up loving certain well-known characters and their dream is to work on a popular book. In that case use the characters you love in your sample pages or spec scripts. Editors hire based on your storytelling skills so if you want to pencil superhero comics, use a script for reference and show narrative. Don't just choreograph a fight scene for nine pages - show that you can stage conversations and transitions as well. If you're a writer create a spec script that shows that you can write convincing dialog and staging that's not overly bogged down in description. Keep it lean and flowing. For creator-owned characters like Sam & Max you need to work a bit differently. You have to be working on something you're crazy about because the rewards will not necessarily come right away. You do the book by your own rules and if no company is interested in publishing, it's not impossible to do it yourself. Even with a publisher, often a creator-owned book is like a partnership where you take the risk of spending your own time creating the book and they risk the money it takes to print and distribute it. Ifanything comes out of it you split it. It might take a while to generate a fanbase or maybe Cartoon Network or somebody will call and want to buy your idea to make mass entertainment. I made sure that any company that wanted to use Sam & Max had to return them when they were done.
Today's interview is with Sam and Max creator Steve Purcell. Steve created Sam and Max many moons ago and saw his creation go from comic to video game to TV show. Steve now has a great career working over at Pixar, known for making a few little indy gems like The Incredibles and Finding Nemo. I talked with Steve briefly about his creations and how a cartoon dog and a rabbit became such big stars.
RYAN MCLELLAND: In doing Sam and Max, what was most important for you - meaning what did you want/need in the book? As Sam and Max skipped around to a few different publishers, what do you think helped them perceiver?
STEVE PURCELL: I had done Sam & Max comic strips in the school paper when I was in art college and before that my own cheesy Sam & Max comics when I was a kid in high school. They were always slapped together at the last minute. I first got the chance to do an actual published Sam & Max comic from Steve Moncuse. He was successfully self-publishing his own comic called Fish Police. He decided he wanted to publish a second title and asked if I would do a Sam & Max one shot. I knew how much work it would take to do a 42-page comic and for me I treated it as though I might never do another one. I wanted to make sure whoever was buying it was getting something that had a lot of attention put into it and would hopefully be something to keep. In writing it my goal was to make myself laugh at least once per page and pack it visually so you could come back to it later and hopefully discover something new. When I was working on the road trip book the black and white self-publishing boom had cooled off a bit so Steve put me in touch with Comico who published that one. Later, I did a couple of Sam & Max books with Marvel's creator-owned imprint, Epic comics. I think the reason that Sam & Max had a chance to be be published at different companies was because their cult following fortunately included Comics Editors.
RM: What do you contribute the success of Sam and Max to...as they went from comic book to video game to TV series?
SP: I've been lucky that Sam & Max have had fans in high places. When LucasArts licensed Sam & Max it was because the company President at the time, Kelly Flock knew the comics. He actually would read them to his daughter as bed time stories. Also like a sheep tick, Sam & Max had imbedded themselves into the culture of LucasArts at the time through their comic strips in the company newsletter and as subjects of test animations for the programmers. Later I had the chance to do the TV show because Dan Smith, a Story Editor at the Canadian animation studio, Nelvana had brought the book to their attention. Sam & Max became a factor in bringing me other kinds of concept and writing work as well.
RM: What advice would you give to any comic book creating hopefuls out there?
SP: Some comic creators grow up loving certain well-known characters and their dream is to work on a popular book. In that case use the characters you love in your sample pages or spec scripts. Editors hire based on your storytelling skills so if you want to pencil superhero comics, use a script for reference and show narrative. Don't just choreograph a fight scene for nine pages - show that you can stage conversations and transitions as well. If you're a writer create a spec script that shows that you can write convincing dialog and staging that's not overly bogged down in description. Keep it lean and flowing. For creator-owned characters like Sam & Max you need to work a bit differently. You have to be working on something you're crazy about because the rewards will not necessarily come right away. You do the book by your own rules and if no company is interested in publishing, it's not impossible to do it yourself. Even with a publisher, often a creator-owned book is like a partnership where you take the risk of spending your own time creating the book and they risk the money it takes to print and distribute it. Ifanything comes out of it you split it. It might take a while to generate a fanbase or maybe Cartoon Network or somebody will call and want to buy your idea to make mass entertainment. I made sure that any company that wanted to use Sam & Max had to return them when they were done.
posted by Ryan McLelland at 5:36 AM
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