Roger Langridge
What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2012?
I guess the biggest highlight for me was winning an Eisner award for Snarked! I was first nominated for an Eisner waaay back in 2003 when I was doing Fred the Clown - so I've been banging my head against that particular door for a decade. It was especially gratifying to finally win it for something I originated myself rather than for a corporate property, too.
It was also a blast to finally get to do something with Tom Neely. Tom and I had talked about doing something together for ages, and this year we finally got to do an issue of Popeye together - the perfect vehicle for us both, as it turns out. I'd love to work with Tom again.
2012 is also the year I decided not to do any more work for Marvel. There are issues over the way Jack Kirby's heirs have been treated which tipped me over the edge, but really, I was heading that way anyway. I don't think I have anything Marvel wants, and Marvel don't really have anything I want, so I think we're both quite happy with the arrangement.
Who are some of the comics creators that you've discovered and enjoyed for the first time in 2012?
Pat Grant's Blue was pretty wonderful, I thought. Really solid command of craft in the service of a compelling and personal story. Luke Pearson was another new discovery for me this year - I liked his book Everything We Miss for similar reasons. They're occupying similar aesthetic territory, I guess - it seems to be the territory that I find I want to explore lately. Measured, immersive storytelling and a kind of controlled restraint, with a fully-realised, polished style that still allows a degree of humanity. (If that makes any sense.)
What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2012?
I saw Daniel Kitson's stand-up for the first time earlier this year, that was great. There was some excellent comedy on TV - Sharon Horgan and Holly Walsh's Dead Boss, the second series of Simon Amstell's Grandma's House, Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle, The Thick of It, Dirk Gently, all pretty terrific. On the literary side, Dave Shelton's children's book, A Boy and a Bear in a Boat, has the makings of an all-time classic.
Have you implemented any significant changes to your working methods this year?
Yes - with writing, I've recently been doing little thumbnails in a notebook before typing up my scripts. I started doing it when I found myself getting blocked with writing The Rocketeer and it freed things up somehow, so I've carried on doing it.
On the artwork side, I'm trying to move away from digital trickery - I've had this bee in my bonnet lately about having the artwork look as much like the printed work as possible, so I'm moving back to hand-lettering and cross-hatching, and away from digital lettering and mechanical tones. I'm much happier with the pages I've done this way. Next is to get back to brushes and nibs; I switched to markers halfway through Snarked! to keep it on schedule, and the printed work looks fine, but I can tell the difference, even if nobody else can. So - back to traditional media. What can I say?... I like having inky fingers.
What are you looking forward to in 2013?
Seeing my Mum and Dad. I'm visiting New Zealand in February for their 50th wedding anniversary - my Mum's currently recovering from cancer, so we're lucky they got this far. Counting a lot of blessings this year.
On the creative side, I'm looking forward to doing some personal work! Right now I'm doing Popeye and The Rocketeer, both of which I'm enjoying immensely, but nothing compares to putting your own creations down on paper and setting them loose into the world. More of that, please.
