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What on Earth can you say about Joe Staton?  The man in a comic book legend and E-Man was one of my favourite comics from the Charlton days to First Comics –I should say the series still is a firm favourite! 

When Rik Offenberger,Archie Comics’ PR man and possibly their greatest non-comic book asset,asked if I wanted a Joe Staton interview how could I say anything but “yes!” 

So here it is and my thanks to both Joe and Rik!

Terry

  

Comic Bits Online: You are primarily know as a super hero artist, what brought you to Archie?

Joe Staton: Victor asked me to give it a shot and I’m generally up for a challenge.  I may be mostly known to some as a superhero artist, but I’ve done relatively little superhero work for the last five or six years.  There is one generation to whom I am mostly known for drawing a big dog.  And over the years, I’ve drawn almost everything from six different versions of Batman to Elfquest to Rugrats.  Within the trade, lots of people think of me as the guy who can tackle any genre and still meet a deadline. 

Comic Bits Online: With Archie having such a standard house style, what are the challenges of creating a new look? 

Joe Staton: Basically, I’m just doing an Earth-II version of the characters.  I’m recasting them into a style more like my own, while keeping the recognizable elements intact,just distorted.

Comic Bits Online: Did they let you do whatever you want with the characters look?

Joe Staton: There were definite parameters.  I think I understood that the characters couldn’t really be corrupted or ridiculed and there were times when I was told to moderate my approach, though. Mostly it fell to my pal Al Milgrom to trim things back on occasion.  (“Archie’s head is too angular,” I was told.  “Al can fix that,” I replied.) 

Comic Bits Online: Many of the characters have distinctive features, such as Jughead’s nose. How do those features translate? 

Joe Staton: I went overboard on Jug’s nose.  I really did make him a “needlenose.”  “Al can fix that,” I said. 

 

Comic Bits Online: What are the visual character elements that you have to carry forward to be true to each character?

Joe Staton: Aside from the obvious “trademarks” like Archie’s hair and Jug’s nose, you have to keep their known attitudes and postures recognizable.  A lot of that comes out of how they relate to each other. 

Comic Bits Online: The fans were very vocal about the last new look. Did you take that into account when accepting this assignment? 

Joe Staton: If the fans are vocal, that means they’re paying attention, so I looked to their reactions as part of the job. 

Comic Bits Online: What have the fans said about your version of the kids from Riverdale?  

Joe Staton: Mostly, they say variations of “Not as bad as it could have been.”  One review I saw said that I proved that comics artists have no fashion sense.   

Comic Bits Online: Is there any change of a Jughead/E-Man cross over? 

Joe Staton: Unfortunately that probably won’t happen.  The perfect Multiverse crossover for me would be Jughead, Shaggy, Maynard G. Krebbs, and Michael Mauser go out for lunch.  The collector’s edition would come presoaked in rancid fry oil.     

Comic Bits Online: What do you have lined up after Jughead? 

Joe Staton: I’m doing my FEMME NOIR miniseries with Chris Mills for Ape Entertainment and a new E-MAN one-shot from Digital Webbing.  My wife and I are doing a kids’ comic teaching about celiac disease for Children’s Hospital in Boston .

And good luck to Joe with his future projects and Archie work!