Welcome to the first Summer edition of The Redenbacher Report! We had the pleasure of interviewing David Cabeza. David is the artist behind the new 4-part comic series based on our favorite show The Orville. I’ll include the entire interview below, as well as some commentary. Be sure to get a copy of the comic online or at your local comic book store July 17th!

Before I get into the interview I’d just like to say, that even if you haven’t read a comic book in your life, you should give this series a try! David A. Goodman, one of the writers for the show is writing this series, meaning we won’t have to worry about the comic having that authentic “Orville” vibe. Further aiding in the shifting of mediums is David Cabeza’s fantastic renders of the cast we all know and love. He’s really managed to capture their likeness, and I cannot wait to read this book when it releases in two weeks!



Here’s David’s breathtaking cover that can be found along with his other great artwork on Deviant Art!

English isn’t David’s first language so we interviewed via text. This gave him more time to give us answers that were rich with information on his influences, time in the business and ambitions. My co host Ben and I each came up with our own questions, for more clarification on who each question was from as well as more speculation on David’s answers, check out our podcast on the interview below, and on the following platforms: Podbean, iTunes and Spotify.

On to the interview!

Q: As an Illustrator who has been drawing since childhood is there anyone who you have taken inspiration from? If so who?

A: So many to list them all… I think José Luis García López is my favourite comic book artist of all time, but I think has little influence in my drawing manners. This last few years I’ve been liking a lot Frank Cho, Yanick Paquette, Brian Stelfreeze and Chris Sprouse. From them I tried to grab some bits here and there. Then there’s a big influence from Manga and Anime. I in fact started loving comics and animation because of them. And I could name Katsuhiro Otomo, Akira Toriyama and Shingo Araki as the ones that have impacted me the most. For The Orville comics in particular I can identify some things of the European comics I read in my childhood.

Q: We’ve found that podcasting about The Orville has made us love the show even more, has drawing for the comic made you appreciate the show more?

A: Sure! I liked the TV series, but I like and appreciate it more now. And the appreciation and love grows with every issue I draw.

Q: We saw that you went to school for fine arts and majored in painting, what brought you back to drawing?

A: Well, there’s a difference between fine painting and drawing comics but at the same time drawing is common to both, so there’s not really a come back. Make a living in art it’s difficult, you need more ability as a public relations kind of person than talent in much cases, and I’m not good at that I guess. Drawing comics was something that was in my mind since a teenager but I thought it would be so difficult to do (and I can assure you it is even more than expected!) Painting just seemed easier (but of course is not).

Q: You say you’ve worked for a smaller studio for 13 years, what studio is this and how does working for it compare to working for your current studios?

A: That is a very little advertising and design studio from my hometown. I dedicated 13 years of my life to help it grow without success. The last world economic crisis occured during that period of time so it made things quite difficult and my bosses weren’t good at businesses! We barely made a living working there. I did a lot of programming and animation work in Adobe Flash, that’s the only kind of work I liked during that time. And when my first child arrived I thought it was about time for a change so I decided to try to be a comic book artist. Take that decisión wasn’t easy, believe me (I have to thank my wife and family for their support). But here we are. Back to your question, the main difference compared to working there is solitude. There’s an isolation feeling while being alone in front of your drawing board or computer.

Q: If the Orville were to get an animated series such a star trek did would you be interested in working in that project?

A: Not as an animator, I not good enough at it, but maybe designer or consultant, I probably would like to do that.

Someday…



Q:Do you plan on going to any comic conventions? We’d love to see you at FanExpo in Toronto and get some stuff signed!

A: I’d love to and I know I will do it at some point but not in the foreseeable future. At least, I’m not planning it now. I’ve just started and that worries me a bit because I know it is not easy to enter in the comic book business but probably is harder to keep working on it! So, I’d like to go but in the future and in case I start to see that I’m really a pro that is making a living of it. And there’s the fact that I’m struggling with every drawing, I’m not the kind of artist that draws directly out of their heads, I need always a lot of reference so I don’t see myself at this point sitting in any artist alley, but I’m sure that I’ll arrive to a good level at some point as to consider going to a con.

Q: What was the biggest challenge in drawing The Orville so far? Drawing the ship in different angles couldn’t have been very easy.

A: The most difficult part is keeping the likenesses of the actors, and not only in difficult angles but always. It is difficult to be consistent. The ship is difficult but there’s a lot of reference of it, even in 3D. And it’s quite challenging to draw things that you have to design as they’re not on the TV show, though very interesting.

Q: Which alien species is the hardest to bring from the screen to the comic book page?

A: Moclans! The shape of their heads is weird and they have those kind of “ram horns”, then the expression of the eyes is always surrounded by dark because of the prominent eyebrow volumes… It’s not easy! but you know what? I prefer to draw a moclan than drawing Scott Grimes, he is so difficult for me to portray!

Who would’ve thought that Scott Grimes would be the toughest part of drawing The Orville?

Q: I’ve noticed you’ve drawn a ton of Marvel and DC superheroes. Is there one that you would really like to be an artist for more than the others?

A: Batman, I love the look of that character since childhood. But it really would be an enormous responsibility!

Q: Is there anything you can tease about the series for our eager listeners?

A: Not much, My agreement with Fox and Dark Horse is clear about it! LOL. I always wait for David Goodman to tease things then I share them! Things like we’ll have more Alara on these episodes (and I’m glad), that we’ll see new alien species or that John is going to be very involved in the events of issues 3 and 4. There will be surprises that will please the fans, I believe.



That wraps up our interview with David, we’re so thankful for the opportunity, and I hope you enjoyed this extra insight before the book comes out. For more from David, follow him on Twitter! Be sure to check out The Orville New Beginnings Part 1 in stores July 17th!