Dissed In Crayon - AF.net John Calimee Interview

[Ben]

Our very own Del Robinson has conducted a wonderful interview with former AF artist, John Calimee. You can find it at: http://www.alphaflight.net/interviews/john_calimee1.php

comments welcomed!

Ben

[JohnnyCanuck]

First Del. Great Interview.

Second I really respect Calimee's honesty. To admit he couldn't draw but did anyway. I mean let's all face it. We all would have held on to that job as long as someone wanted to keep paying for it, at what ever talent level we were presenting at the time.

Also it's sad to think that all that original art has been destroyed. Sure a lot of it was really bad but we'd all be happy to have our little chunk of Alpha Flight in our repective art collections.

JC

OT: After many months I've finally posted another pic in the fan art album

[Mokole]

Good job Del, and great answers Mr. Calimee. Thanks to both.

[JohnnyCanuck]

Just checked out the link in the "Why Pacella?" thread to John Calimee's current work. To bad we couldn't get thse issues redrawn by him properly.
His current stuff looks pretty good.

http://www.gayleague.com/studio/fana...mee&zoom=600px


JC

[DelBubs]

John Calimee was a joy to talk to. His enthusiasm for comics and love of art stood out and made it all the easier to bend his ear about comics and Alpha. I admire the fella for putting up with my waffle.

[Ben]

Just checked out the link in the "Why Pacella?" thread to John Calimee's current work. To bad we couldn't get thse issues redrawn by him properly.
His current stuff looks pretty good.

http://www.gayleague.com/studio/fana...mee&zoom=600px


JC

I agree, his new stuff is quite good. He admited he was not ready for the big time when he did AF, and it's too bad, as he now would be a very good choice .

Ben

[Le Messor]

Much as I hated his run on AF, I've always thought there were things he could do better than me; some of the things he was dissing about himself. In hindsight, it looked like he'd read 'How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way'.

I disagreed with much that he'd said; Mal pushed the guy off the craft so he could agonise about it later, and his crew could tell him he wasn't the hero he thought it was. Just as an example.

- Le Messor
"Don't try to have the last word. You might get it."

[JohnnyCanuck]

John Calimee was a joy to talk to. His enthusiasm for comics and love of art stood out and made it all the easier to bend his ear about comics and Alpha. I admire the fella for putting up with my waffle.

How many times we gotta tell ya to leave your waffle at home...

[HappyCanuck]

John Calimee was a joy to talk to. His enthusiasm for comics and love of art stood out and made it all the easier to bend his ear about comics and Alpha. I admire the fella for putting up with my waffle.

How many times we gotta tell ya to leave your waffle at home...

what can we say, Del's an Eggo-maniac...

(Okay, that was lame, even for me...)

[Obsidian3d]

Very candid remarks indeed. He seems very open and honest about his faults and short-comings. That's not something many folks are very good at (myself included). I hope he finds more success in the future.

Good interview Del.

[Powersurge]

Very candid remarks indeed! You can't help but respect his comments and self-criticism.

The question is though, if the guy was that bad -- I haven't gone through my colection to find out, I can imagine -- what would possess the company to put a sub-standard artitst on ANY published title?!

I mean, just look at some of the fan art that is on this site, eg. Shaman, Johnny Canuck, and I knew plenty of guys form my high school days and time amongst street people, to know that there is alot of talent out there.

I mean perspective, dynamism, enviroment, interaction between figures and environment ... a paid artist should be able to handle all of these things at a fair level of proficiency and consistency, no?

Heck, if I didn't remeber more-or-less block figures and one coour backgrounds at one point in UXM, I just might suispect a company would do such a thing in an attmept to drive a title into the ground. But then, what gives?!

[DelBubs]

-- what would possess the company to put a sub-standard artitst on ANY published title?!

This was one of the question I asked, but left out of the interview, Johns reply was

"Editors want what is best. They try to help better
novice talent get a leg up. They do it out of self
interest that one or more might develop into the next
Gil Kane or Alan Moore."

[Powersurge]

Hmm. I'd question whether or not the Editors knew what was best. I would think that what would be best for business would be to convince existing artists to apprentice new talent. Maybe getting them to do finishes and/or inks for awhile first.

Seems a nasty thing to do to a new talents reputation.

[DelBubs]

Hmm. I'd question whether or not the Editors knew what was best. I would think that what would be best for business would be to convince existing artists to apprentice new talent. Maybe getting them to do finishes and/or inks for awhile first.

Seems a nasty thing to do to a new talents reputation.

I thinl if you look at the state Alpha Flight was in at that moment, having just come out of Mantlo's run then it was a perfect vehicle to try out new talent. Both James Hudnall and John Calimee were new to Super Heroes so you weren't going to let them loose on X-Men or the Avengers.

[maniac mike]

All I can say is I'll take John Calimee over Rob Liefeld anyday! Seriously, James and Johns run on AF is what brought me back and I'm here to stay. :P

MM