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Tony Moore, an interview

posted by Matt Knicl at 10:00 pm.

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Another person I met at NYCC was illustrator Tony Moore. One of the fun things about comic conventions is the chance to meet the creators behind your favorite titles - not just the writer, but the illustrators, too. Casual comic fans take illustrators for granted, not realizing the strength of every series is the way art conveys the story. The choices the illustrator makes can have a more profound impact on the story than the author intended.

Tony Moore has worked on several of my favorite titles in the past, like The Walking Dead and Brit, and currently is working on Vertigo’s Exterminators and Dark Horse’s Fear Agent series. Mr. Moore took the time to speak to me about his projects and work.

Matt Knicl: How did you come to comic illustrating?

Tony Moore: I’ve always been a fan of comics.

Matt: Have you ever written a comic?

Tony: I haven’t ever written a full comic, no. I wrote some short stuff for Battle Pope, and I’ve contributed some plot ideas to Fear Agent and XXXombies, but my writing involvement, to date, has ended there. I do have some ideas I’m kicking around for future projects, and maybe someday I’ll write one of those.

Matt: For non-readers, what is The Exterminators about?

Tony: This is one title that’s hard to sum up in a nutshell. If I had to try, though, I’d say it’s a black comedy first and foremost. It’s about Henry James, an ex convict, who tries get back on the straight and narrow by taking a job with his mother’s new husband’s family business, Bug Bee Gone. He meets some strange characters on the job, both as clients and coworkers, and things start to take a turn for the weird. If i had to compare it to other things, it’s a lot like that Verminators show on Discovery Channel (their opening credits even seem to borrow a couple lines from the book) mixed with a little X-Files.

Matt: Is there anything about the series that you like compared to your past work?

Tony: Well, it’s a creator-owned series, which is a condition I greatly enjoy working under. There’s nothing more satisfying than working on a project that you have a real stake in, which I’ve also enjoyed on Fear Agent, which I’m doing at Dark Horse as well. Exterminators‘ subject matter is right up my alley, too, with plenty of bizarre and morbid scenarios in the scripts, which i take as a personal challenge to illustrate as disturbingly as possible.

Matt: What other art styles/artists influenced your own art?

Tony: I’m a big fan of the EC comics artists from the 50’s. Jack Davis is my personal hero, and guys like Wally Wood, John Severin, Will Elder, Graham Ingels, and Basil Wolverton all really made an impression on me reading MAD as a kid. Beyond that, I’m a huge fan of Robert Crumb and a lot of Underground Comix, as well as Moebius, Guarnido, Milo Manara and a lot of European guys.

Matt: You have also worked on The Walking Dead - why do you feel zombies are so popular today?

Tony: I think as monsters, they’re great because they’re completely unyielding, unsympathetic, and unromantic. As part of a bigger plot, they often work well as a pressure cooker, which always exposes man’s inhumanity toward his fellow man, as survivors break down and become a much bigger threat to themselves than the zombies could hope to be. In times of social unrest, escapism, especially horror, always does well. And thoughtless drones waiting to consume you to make you one of them seems to strike a particular chord with a lot of folks these days.

Matt: Do you have any future projects planned?

Tony: Well, I’m starting a new arc of Fear Agent right now, called “I Against I”. This series is sci-fi space adventure, in the vein of the 50’s rocket-powered epics, by way of Indiana Jones, but filtered through our modern influences of punk rock, outlaw country and Underground Comix. It’s also the series where the writer and I can do literally whatever we want to do, so this upcoming story will be a western with all the trimmings, only with ray guns and rocketships as well as six-shooters and Stetsons.

Images courtesy DC and Dark Horse

Matt Knicl: My name is Matt Knicl. I'm a U of I alumn and one of those unemployed English majors Garrison Keillor likes to make fun of. I've been reading comics since high school and one day I would like to write them. My goal is to expose readers to what is out there in the world of comics and using my English powers, show what is worth reading or not. I can be reached at buzz.comics@gmail.com.