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An illo Matt sent me and which I foolishly sent alongto Comics FX –who lost it!

 

He’s Talented!

He’s Quite Mysterious [no,really]!

He is the Comic Genius known as….

MATT [D’Israeli]  BROOKER! 

I first came across a mysterious artistic genius named Matt Brooker through a publication titled Hardware –the often strange creation of Andrew Yoxall and Shane Oakley. 

It was one of Matt’s “D’Israeli” stories –a quirky take on A Fistful Of Dollars.  Big Ben Dilworth on a visit to Bristol said to me “If you liked that you’ll love Matt’s Bum!”  The “Bum” Dilworth referred to was,naturally,Bum Comic published by Dan Rickwood and Andrew Thomas.  The strip was “The Amateur Vivisectionist” starring a rather nasty South African gent by the name of Eldritch Pule. 

I was hooked.

 

 

Like John Erasmus,I was stumped as to why Matt was not working in mainstream comics and his colour work was –and is- superb.  I believe Dilworth and I were the first to ever interview Matt in Zine Zone…in 1988? Ye gods the years go by!

 

 

When I was writing features for MU Press and its Comics Fx newspaper I phoned editor Hal Hargitt in Seattle and told him all about Matt and that,since he had been mentioned in the “UK Invasion” issue,he deserved a full interview.  “Okay. Do it” I was told.  So I did.

Before a new interview is presented to you dear CBOers,I thought it would be a treat to look back to July 1990 and that CF/X interview.  So,with the classic beat of Gene Chandler’s “Tower Strength” in the background,let’s take a trip.

 

A trip in time…

 

One of the first D’Israeli pieces I saw but not the first.Andrew Yoxall’s Hardware no.9,Dec.-Jan.-Feb.,1986/87 

Terry:Matt,you’ve been a very busy boy since you were interviewed for Zine Zone a couple years back.  Can you up-date us on what you’ve done since then?

 

 

Matt: Hmm. Let’s see…Since then I’ve really started building a professional career. I suppose the first commercially viable work I did was for your directory comic,Preview.  The first strip I did for you,”Englishman Abroad”,is going into Fly In My Eye.

Those first strips got me work from Escape,Heartbreak Hotel,and a humour magazine called The Truth.  The Escape strip was never published by them but has just appeared in the horror magazine Shriek of all places.

 

 

From there I was picked up by Fleetway for Third World War,then by DC,and dropped by both of them.  Finally I found my place doing “Timulo” for Deadline.

 

 

And then I landed Mr X.

 

 

There are also piles of things  I’ve done which have fallen through..these include being artist on Saga Of The Man Elf before

Neptune picked it up..two separate Grendel projects –one of which may still go ahead,one of which Phil Bond is doing. That’s not to mention the Grendel story I’ve just done for A1 plus a project that’s still in the pipeline.

Terry: hmm. The issue of Crisis you worked on:I believe you were asked to redraw this strip but still weren’t too happy with the first few pages –can you tell us why?

 

 

Matt: I wasn’t too happy with most of it.

 

Basically,I’d never worked in colour,I’d never had to work so fast,and I couldn’t draw the main character.

 

In the end,the work I produced had nothing of me in it.  Rather than being printed up and distributed all over the country,it should have been given a quiet burial in an unmarked grave at midnight.

 

 

 

Terry: How were you approached for that strip –and how come they didn’t pick up on someone with your talent for more work?

 

 

Matt: I had approached Pat Mills with my work some months previously,and it was his recommendation to Steve McManus which got me the job.

 

 

I think the reason they never asked me for more work is because they want “realistic” artists whereas I’m more at home with more off-the-wall,cartoony material.

 

 

Terry: Presumably,a “quiet” period followed this?

 

 

Matt: Oddly,no…I spent about a month re-assessing my work,and then in December,two things happened.

 

 

One,I met Steve [Dillon] and Brett [Ewing] from Deadline,which led to the creation of “Timulo”,and I was also offered the inking job on Hellblazer through Mark Buckingham,who’s a friend of mine.

We did one issue in a hurry,because the book was getting behind schedule. 

In January,Karen Berger fired me “for using too much black”.  She then re-scheduled the book and got Alfredo Alcala to re-ink over my inks.

 

The result looks much the same.

 

 

That was,I think,issue #18,the first issue Mark Buckingham pencilled.  The experience did me good anyway. 

Up to then,I’d been trying to second-guess editors,to alter my style to fit whoever I’m working for.  Now I just work to suit myself,and f*** you if you don’t like it!

 

 

Oddly enough,I’ve been getting more work since I adopted that attitude.

 

 

Below:”Timulo” from Deadline vol.1 no.7,May,1989C 2008 Matt Brooker 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Terry: Can you tell how you got the job on Mr X,replacing Shane Oakley?

 

 

Matt:In August,1988 Neil Gaiman rang me to tell me that Bill Marks was re-launching Mr X  and that he [Gaiman] had recommended both Shane and myself for the job. 

I rang Shane with the news,and it took me about an hour to convince him that it wasn’t a practical joke!

 

 

So,we both sent our samples in,and I’m told that we were the toptwo on Bill’s short-list of pencillers.  Bill opted for Shane,in the end,and I went on to other things.

 

 

In April,1989,Shane rang me to say that he was behind with Mr X and that he and Bill had discussed using me as a fill-in artist for two issues if he didn’t catch up soon.  In the end,he didn’t.  I came in as a fill-in artist,but by the time I’d finished my two issues Shane still hadn’t caught up,so I was offered a permanent job as penciller,which I accepted.

 

 

The whole change-over passed without acrimony,and Shane and I are still friends.

 

 

Left:Shane Oakley and,right,Matt Brooker at UKCAC ’88?

 

 

Terry: Shane landed the pencilling chores on Mr X but didn’t get the chance to ink himself.  It seems that the regular inker is trying to keep some form of continuity in the work –the pencils you sent me for Mr X were great but seemed to lose something when inked by someone else.  Are you happy with the way it’s turned out?

 

 

Matt: I’d seen Ken Holewczynski’s inks on Shane’s work compared to photocopies of the original pencils.  I know Shane kept Ken on a very tight rein,trying to get Ken to ink as close to his [Shane’s] style as he could.

 

 

When I started work on X,I had some idea what Ken would do for my work,and just told him to work as he saw fit.

 

 

I like the idea that it’s a collaboration,not just “Ken-inking-Matt”.

Some people have said that the work “loses detail” when inked;that’s not true..I think it comes from the fact that I do rather loose pencils,which suggest that there’s more there than there is.

Also,I find it very hard to judge what an ink drawing will look like from the pencils.  I quite often alter things during inking because of  that.  And for myself,I rarely indicate shadows or rendering when pencilling.  All that is added during inking.

 

 

So when I have to do all that on the pencils,I make mistakes.  90% of the faults on Mr X issues 7 & 8 are down to me,not Ken.

 

 

Terry: Tell me,Matt,in issue #7 you had the old pot of fishpaste hidden,as in all your work –will it be seen again?

 

 

Matt: YES!!

 

 

 

Mr X  vol.2 no.7,p.11. October,1989 –anyone spot Matt                     Or Shane?

 

 

 

 

Terry: Trivialities aside:you’ve managed to get a portrait of Shane and yourself into Mr X #7. Is the writer giving you leeway on panel contents,or are these inclusions exceptions?

 

 

Matt: What’s so trivial about fishpaste?!

 

 

Seriously,the Jeffrey Morgan scripts are more-or-less dialogue only,like stage scripts,and panel breakdowns are left to me.  Bill usually indicates page breakdowns on the script  but I’m fairly free to change those.

The only time I ever had to make any changes in the 124 pages I’ve drawn so far is when I had to re-do two pages of issue #11 because I’d been sent the wrong version of the script –those two pages were different in the final version.

 

 

Terry: Mr X meets God in the 7^th issue,do you know how the story will develop or are you kept in the dark?

 

 

Matt: I usually receive scripts in ones or twos,so I never know beyond that how the stories develop.  It’s nice in a way…I get the chance to look forward to the next issue even though I’m working on it.

 

 

 

 

Mr X meets…GOD!  Mr X v.2/no.7,p.22,October 1989

 

 

Terry: I see you’ve done a colour cover –are you doing these for each issue?

 

 

Matt: Up to now,there has been a different cover artist for each issue…I think Bill now plans to have one artist do a series of covers,in the way they do on Lone Wolf And Cub.  I’m going to send in some roughs for covers,but I’ll be competing with other artists.  I don’t automatically get to do covers.

 

Terry: Pity. A nosey,but interesting question none-the-less:what are the page rates for Mr X?

 

 

Matt: I get $80.00 per page for pencils,which works out at £40-50 depending on the exchange rates.  I get paid 50% on delivery of artwork and 50% on publication.

 

 

Terry: You’ve signed up for six issues.  Do you know if you’ll be doing more?

 

 

Matt: I’m not signed for a fixed number of issues…So far I’ve done six and I’m awaiting another three-issue story.  Bill seems happy with my work and I enjoy working on X.  I would like to do at least a year’s worth [12 issues] of X.

 

 

Terry: Mr X must keep you busy but any major/solo projects planned for the near future?

 

 

Matt: Oh,definitely…Apart from my regular work on “Timulo”,I’m working on a project with Shane called Fatal Charm ,which is a sort of “Looney Tunes” adventure we’ve been working on for some time…

As I said earlier,there are two Grendel projects in the pipeline,and I’m working up a proposal for a graphic novel in which Piranha Press is interested.  Beyond that,I have other projects which are still being agreed with publishers,and plans for further collaborations with Shane.

 

 

Terry: Matt,best of luck,and here’s to another 6 Matt Brooker issues of Mr X!

 

 

Matt: Thank You.

Fin 

Matt sent me this hand coloured postcard of the leadcharacter from “Ultra-Man:The Last Of His Kind”  two-parter which he drew for my Black Tower Adventure comic.c.2008 M Brooker