At London’s MCM Expo I was able to sit down with Marvel and DC Comics artist John McCrea.

Honestly, in my wildest dreams I didn’t think this would happen. When I rocked up to London MCM Expo all the way back in October I expected to discuss the British Comic Book Industry Spotlight with a lot independent artists, writers and editors but I doubted any creators working for Marvel or DC Comics would have the time. That’s not to belittle either type of creator, it’s just as a rule of thumb that the independent creators have a little more time for projects like this. I have tried to give every perspective I can on the British Comic Book Industry over the last few weeks but here’s a new one, how does someone in the mainstream feel about the industry? I was with this question that I approached artist John McCrea, famed for working on just about every character in the industry including Batman to Hulk to Star Wars.

PL: One of the things the British Comic Book Spotlight looks at is the life of the artist, what advice would you give to someone who wants to break into the comic book industry?

JM: From the very beginning, just draw all the time. Just draw all the time, but draw comics. A lot of people come to me with portfolios and it’s pin-ups. You need to draw comics, you need to show you can draw sequential art. If you want to be a comic artist, don’t just work from your own scripts, work from scripts that are prewritten. Download stuff from the internet. Buy a comic, don’t read it, get somebody to write out the story for you and draw it up from their script. I’ve always found that was a good way to work because you can then compare your work to an established artist and see where your shortcomings are. If you write your own stuff, you will write what you want to draw and not what you have to draw. You end up having to draw a lot of stuff in comics that you never expected you were going to have to draw and it pushes you. So you have to push yourself from the very beginning, even when you are trying to break in. Also, just show your work, go to conventions and get your work under the noses of editors, have a webpage, have deviant art, have all the social media you can. Because everybody else is doing it so you have to do it too. If you can get stuff sent to editors do. A small piece of advice, if you are sending something to Marvel don’t send DC Comics stuff to Marvel and vice versa cause that really hacks them off.

PL: How did you break into the Industry?

JM: When I was trying to break in I looked at it seriously and considered what I would have to produce every month. For most artists, that is a monthly book, which is twenty or so pages of art. So I said, every week I am going to draw four to five pages of comic. The first week I did Judge Dredd then I sent it to Titan and 2,000AD. The second week I did Spiderman stuff and sent it to Marvel. The third week, Batman to DC Comics and the fourth week I did American independent stuff, where I drew something published and sent it to them. With each month I repeated the process and I did that for four years. I figured, that’s what I am going to be doing so I might as well get used to it. The thing is, it has really prepared me for the workload that has come with drawing monthly books. There’s a lot of discipline in comics because most people work from home and so you have got to be able to work from home and not be distracted from producing the work that’s required. It’s so easy with the myriad of distractions around now. Discipline and practice are the most important things for any artist looking to start out. You will eventually get asked to draw the Human Torch juggling dogs on a bicycle and you need to be prepared.

PL: Would you say that it is important for a creator to be business-minded in the industry now?

JM: Oh God yes! Absolutely. You are a freelancer so half of your business is business as well. Unfortunately, you can’t just be great at drawing comics without any idea of how to look after yourself and your interests. One, almost essential, bit of advice on that is when you get paid have two bank accounts. One account for tax and bills and another for spending, then when the money comes in put the twenty five percent for tax and all your bill money in the bill account. Many creators I know have gone bankrupt because they have spent all their money and forgotten about their bills or taxes. It sucks, but it’s the way it is.

PL: You have worked on a lot of super hero related projects, do you think there is a growing gap in the market for new genres of comic books?

JM: This what is happening right now. Image have come along and changed the entire playing field. I’m working on my own Image book at the moment actually, and while it is about big concept crazy stuff it’s not about super heroes. The readership for comics has changed. There is now a much greater percentage of female readers than ever before, and most of them don’t really want to read about men in tights. So with the Walking Dead and Saga there the medium is expanding away from super heroes more and more. I think it’s a great time for other genres to come to the foreground. Image are my go to company, pretty much every book I buy is an Image book now. I think it’s because there are a lot of good quality writers and artist doing books that they really care about.

PL: One of my favourite Image comics is Matt Fraction’s Sex Criminals run, which I think takes note of the female readership more as there are a lot of different women in the book with varying body types. How do you feel that the growing female readership is reflected in the art of industry now and your own art work?

JM: They are putting real women in comics, crazy but there you go. I work with Garth Ennis most of the time, Garth doesn’t really write women characters. He tends to write around world war two and lot about male rites of passage, all that John Woo stuff. When it does come up however, I do try to give women at least a passing resemblance to reality. I don’t want to make them look all silicon.

PL: Finally, is there anything that you are currently working on that you would like tell our readers about?

JM: I’ve got few books coming out across winter, I’ve got Section Eight Issue Five and Six published by DC Comics and written by Garth Ennis. Then I’ve got Mythic Issue Five coming out which is published by Image and written by Phil Hester. That’s my creator owned book and it’s the book I am the most proud of.

How can you get involved?

If you are interested in looking at the work of a British artist in the mainstream industry it is certainly worth checking out both ‘Mythic’ from Image and ‘Section Eight’ from DC Comics as they are both great examples of how the mainstream is changing to reflect the independent market.

You can also follow John McCrea on his website at: http://www.johnmccrea.com/ and on Twitter at: @mccreaman.

If you want to locate your nearest convention try: http://www.mcmcomiccon.com and check out my article on London’s MCM Expo here.

Photography by William Shacklady