When you stop and think about some of the top creators at Marvel, a handful of names come to mind, and one of those names should be Mike Deodato, Jr. The Brazilian artist become known to me when he was the artist during J. Michael Straczynski’s run on Amazing Spider-Man. Since then the man has been everywhere, drawing all flavors of Avengers, plus the Thunderbolts and more. With Marvel’s latest event, Original Sin, looking to encompass nearly all of the Marvel Universe, it was a no brainer that Deodato, Jr would be tackling the art duties. Debuting next week, Original Sin is set to be an eight-issue miniseries, surround the mystery of Uatu, the Watcher’s murder. With the task of tackling a mismatched core group of characters that include Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, the Punisher, Emma Frost, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, and Ant-Man, along with what’s likely in include at least cameos by the bulk of the Marvel Universe, GiC spoke with Deodato about tackling such a hyped event, his favorite projects, and what he has coming next.
GiC: I just wanted to first say thank you for taking the time to answering a few questions. I’m a huge Spider-man fan and your work there has been some of my favorite in the past 15+ years, so this is a huge honor. Now that I’ve gotten the fanboy part out of the way, a few questions:
Deodato, Jr: Fire away! It’d be a Sin if you didn’t!
Right out of the gate, what’s the latest thing you’re drawing? Are you able to share?
As you might guess, I’m deep into ORIGINAL SIN. Wow, saying that out loud makes it sound like I’m a really bad guy! (Laughs) I’m working on issue #5 right now. I’m also very deep into preparing to be a Dad again. My wife is due to her a baby tomorrow! Baby shower gifts happily accepted!
Congratulations on the new baby!
ORIGINAL SIN is getting huge amounts of promotion from Marvel. Is this the most heavily hyped series you’ve been a part of?
Hmmm…it could be! But, y’know, I’m way down here in Brazil, so I don’t always see all the promotion for everything I’ve worked on. (How’s that for a wishy-washy answer from an otherwise macho man?)
It seems this is going to be a superhero crime story. With that in mind, does a cosmic whodunnit cause you to approach how you visually structure the story any different?
I continually try to re-invent my style as the years go by. I mean, I learn new techniques, experiment with new tools, and find new ways to do things. I also, of course, look a great things from comicdom’s rich history to use a inspirational starting points. So, I am very much trying something a bit different for ORIGINAL SIN. Did you ever see Jim Steranko’s CHANDLER book? Or his OUTLAND graphic novel? Those had a very graphic, very cutting edge look to them, for their time, and I took some of my cues from that. One thing’s for sure — even if Marvel printed ORIGINAL SIN in black-and-white, it would look amazing. I’ve been at Marvel for many years — yet ORIGINAL SIN is the first time they’ve had me leading a big event. So I’m out to make everyone sit up and notice.
Your career has allowed you to draw many characters, with your runs on Wonder Woman, Hulk and Spider-Man being many fans favorites. ORIGINAL SIN is going to have a large cast. Is there any character you are getting to draw for the first time that you are excited about?
The Watcher! I don’t recall ever having drawn him before this.
Do you still have any characters you’d love to have a chance to tackle?
I have my own character RAMTHAR that I hope eventually to do my own creator-owned project with. Barring that, I still want to Conan someday. And I’d love to do a story with Stan Lee if the opportunity arises.
Referring back to all the great runs, stories and characters you’ve been able to be involved with, what has your favorite project been?
Wow….I don’t think I could narrow it down to one thing, really. Everything is a product of its time. I still look back fondly on Beauty and the Beast, an early work I fully painted when I first broke in to the American market. I enjoyed co-creating and drawing Jade Warriors some years later — the only creator-owned thing I’ve had a chance to work on, and that’s being collected into a book later this year. I was quite pleased with the Nightcrawler X-Men story, the style of which set me on my current path. Bruce Jones’s run on The Hulk gave me a new-found appreciation for drawing character, not just action. I’ve been blessed with so many opportunities and so many creative situations with top writers.
ORIGINAL SIN is slated for eight issues. After it is over, do you have anything else planned that you would like to talk about?
If I tell you, they’d have to kill me. Only Marvel and your NSA know what’s coming next.
And we’ll end on a more personal question. Since drawing is your “job,” is that how you look at it and feel regarding it, or do you still break away and draw just for fun?
I never stop drawing. I draw my Marvel work, and occasional commissions, sure. But I also draw personal cartoons for my family. Did you see my collection THE CARTOON ART OF MIKE DEODATO, JR. that just came out? It’s all fun, silly, personal drawings. And if you’ve been following me on various social media, you’ll see bits of my experimenting with more existential, Heavy Metal-type vignettes for my own amusement and edification ( http://mikedeodatoquadros.tumblr.com/ ). Hey, that’s a pretty good word!
From The Cartoon Art of Mike Deodato, Jr.
Again, thank you so very much for taking the time to answer some questions, we’re all huge fans!
You’re welcome. Glad to hear it. Buy my books! And look for me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. I’m all plugged in!
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