BY JENNIFER M. CONTINO
Frazer Irving is working on some very Inhuman characters for the January debuting Silent War six-part miniseries. He's creating all the artwork and told us he's looking forward to drawing Black Bolt.

THE PULSE: For those who haven't heard much about the series yet, what is Silent War?

FRAZER IRVING: It's a follow up to Son of M, where we saw the Inhumans becoming involved in the events that have been taking place back on earth. In this series, they are dragged into the whole Civil War aftermath and the earth-Inhumans relationship turns very sour indeed.

THE PULSE: When you heard about the idea for Silent War, was this a project you immediately wanted to draw? Why or why not?

IRVING: Well, I heard about it the day Marvel asked me to draw it. I was planning some time off to relax and work slowly on some other projects, but once I'd read the first script, I decided it was definitely something I wanted to do, as it has the kind of drama that I find easy to draw.

THE PULSE: How familiar were you with the Inhumans and some of their associates?

IRVING: I'd read their stuff when I was a kid in the pages of the Fantastic Four, and I'd also read the Paul Jenkins series from a few years back, but nothing apart from that.

THE PULSE: Who or what influenced your look of these characters the most? A lot of people have drawn them over the years ...

IRVING: For the moment I'm taking my lead from the Son of M series and the recent Inhumans mini, mainly because we need some continuity in their appearances, but I plan to modify them a little to show a little bit of development in their fashions.

THE PULSE: What did you find the most challenging about just getting started on these pages?

IRVING: Finding the time!

THE PULSE: When you have a script in front of you, how do you begin working on any particular issue? Do you divide up the pages and draw the hard ones first or do you go from page one up? What's your creative process like?


IRVING: Well for this I started with the easiest page (page 22) because the imagery was very strong in my head as I read the script and I wanted to start with a good foothold on the emotions involved, but generally I try to work with scenes as a whole, usually doing the ones that nag me to get out first, then moving onto the ones that need a bit more thought and preparation. Seeing as I do the colours as well as the drawing, this is ok, as I don't hold up production too much (I'm sure the letterers hate me though).

THE PULSE: Which of these characters are you really enjoying getting the chance to draw in these pages? Why?

IRVING: I'm looking forward to drawing Black Bolt because he's all body language and mystery, so I really have to act through him which isn't something I feel so strongly with characters that do a lot of talking. Gorgon is pretty cool as well though, especially after you see what happens to him in issue 1 ...

THE PULSE: Which of these characters took a little bit of time to grow on you? Why?

IRVING: So far, I've just started, so none of them have really had a chance to grow on me at all yet. It always takes the first issue for me to get to know my cast; and seeing as this is quite an ensemble piece, I reckon I'll be on a knife edge with each issue as new characters are introduced.
There's going to be many Marvel characters in this series that I haven't drawn since I was a kid, so it's one big voyage of discovery for me.

THE PULSE: What's the collaboration with David Hine been like so far?

IRVING: David's very good to work with. I know him already from our hanging around at cons and so forth, and he was the one who wanted me on board; so I know I won't have to fight with him ... much.

THE PULSE: Are you both inking and penciling these pages? If so, how does that speed up your creative process? If not, who's working with you on the art?

IRVING: Pencils, inks and colours my dear. I never have it any other way. I'm doing it all digitally now though, so that speeds it up by taking out the gear-change from penciling to inking, as I do it all in one environment, with total control over how it looks.

THE PULSE: How is working on something like this different than you other recent works?


IRVING: Well the digital thing is the biggest aspect that's different. I've just finished my guest spot on Robin and that was inked the traditional way, so I'm getting my head around a different method for this.

THE PULSE: Why should PULSE readers not miss this limited series?

IRVING: Because A) it will look awesome, B) it will be dramatic to the core and C) because it fleshes out the Civil War aftermath beautifully, with a whole barrel of wide-ranging effects on the characters back on earth.

THE PULSE: What's next for you after Silent War?

IRVING: Gutsville, my Image book due out in march 2007. It's a dark psychedelic story of a colony that lives inside the belly of a gigantic whale, and what has happened to them since their ancestors were swallowed over 150 years ago ...

You can learn more about it here: https://www.gutsville.com

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The first issue of Silent War is due in stores this January from David Hine and Frazer Irving. You can learn more about it at https://www.marvel.com

I've enjoyed all of Frazer Irving's artwork that I've seen and this is no exception.

May I ask - how does one both pencil and ink in the digital environment? Do you use different tools, or does this refer to drawing and then doing a second pass, along the lines of a second draft in writing?

I ask this as someone who enjoys well-rendered, cohesive artwork no matter how it is done but really really doesn't like artwork shot from scratchy pencils and over-highlighted by the colorist to make up for the missing inker.

Thanks!

Whoa! What happened to Roy Allan Martinez? I thought he was originally solicited as the artist?

That said, loving the choice of Irving. I was thinking about ordering this before, but now it's a sure bet.