Talking Star Wars with John Cassaday

On Friday we went to Metropolis Comics in New York City to see John Cassaday’s art for the new Marvel Star Wars books. There was a lot of cool art from all the Star Wars comics he has drawn. I even got Star Wars #1 with a Stormtrooper sketch on it by John Cassaday and it’s signed by him, too. You should really go see it if you can.

I got to meet John Cassaday while I was there and ask him a few questions.



Carl: Did you want to become a comic book artist when you were a kid?

John Cassaday: Yeah, pretty much! I grew up on a farm and I had to make my own fun, so I drew all the time and got comic book characters and movies – everything – so I made my own stories.

Carl: What comic books did you read when you were a kid?

John: I read Star Wars. Star Wars was really like one of my first – I loved Batman first because of the old Adam West TV show, so I loved Batman comics, but then Star Wars happened and I read Star Wars and GI Joe. And then before I knew it, I was branching off and reading anything I could get my hands on.

Carl: What comics do you read now?

John: I don’t read as many now, to be honest. I hear of different runs with characters and creators I love and I’m stockpiling them so when I have some time off I’ll jump into them then. But right now, not much.

Carl: What comic was your most fun to draw?

John: I’ve really enjoyed doing almost everything I’ve done. I have a book of my own called Planetary that I did for a long time. The Astonishing X-Men for almost 5 years, that was tremendous fun. And Star Wars has been a dream come true, so I’ve really been happy with everything.

Carl: Why do you think Star Wars is rated T and not All Ages?

John: I have no – I don’t know. Maybe a little too violent, I suppose. I’m not sure.

Carl: What can you tell us about Vader Down?

John: I’ve read it and it’s an amazing story. It’s gonna be really, really fun. It’s gonna be fun to see the characters from the Vader book meet the characters from the regular Star Wars book and how they interact. And there’s some incredible scenes in it. I’ve read and seen almost all of it. It’s going to be a lot of fun.

Carl: Thank you for answering my questions.

John: You’re very welcome! Good luck to you.

I also got to meet Greg Hildebrandt while I was there, so maybe I’ll have an interview with him sometime soon (Dad’s note: Greg Hildebrandt is the artist, along with his brother, behind the original Star Wars movie poster, among many, many other things).

Thanks again to John Cassaday for talking with me!