David Finch interview (August 2005)
August 19, 2005 | Interviews
A cover to an issue of New Avengers by Canadian artist David Finch.
David Finch is one of the hottest artists in comics and — yay for us! — he’s also a Canadian.
In advance of his appearance at this weekend’s Canadian National Comic Book Expo in Toronto, the 33-year-old from Tecumseh, Ont., spoke with JPK about New Avengers, Moon Knight and his dream project at DC Comics.
JPK: What does it mean to you to be a headliner at the Canadian National Expo?
David Finch: “I think it’s great. It’s an honour and it’s great to be able to do it in Canada where I’m from.”
JPK: After you wrap up your impending final arc of New Avengers you’re moving on to the much-anticipated Moon Knight six-issue limited series. What is your interpretation of Moon Knight going to be?
DF: “It’s with Charlie Houston who’s a novelist and a great writer. This is his first comic project and he’s really unusual in that his stuff is perfect right out of the gate. He just knew how to do the job.
“It’s a relief for me because my job is easier when I don’t have to think. A good writer means (an artist) doesn’t have to think.
“He really thinks in terms of drama when he writes and it’s apparent reading his stuff.
“As far as interpretation goes it’s still a little bit up in the air, but I would really like to do … well … I’d like to say Frank Miller, but my Frank Miller is more like Jim Lee on Deathblow. That’s just where my influences are.
“I don’t want to do exactly Jim Lee’s Deathblow, but it’s definitely going to be a big influence.
“I’d also really like to try to do a lot of what Eduardo Risso is doing with 100 Bullets
“I’m really excited about it. It’s more where I feel comfortable stylistically anyway and I haven’t had a chance to do that for so long that it’s almost become a fetish for me. I’ve just been obsessing over what I would like to do if I had the chance to do that kind of a book.”
JPK: Is moving onto a different book with a different feel a good chance to experiment with your art style?
DF: “I’m hoping that it is. It’s been too long since I’ve done that.
“Normally moving on to something different is just a different set of characters and I can’t say I’ve really changed as much as I probably should. I’m really hoping to do that this time.”
JPK: So what’s on tap after Moon Knight?
DF: “It looks like I’m going to do a Marvel Knights Spider-Man run. I don’t know that that’s set in stone, but that’s what it looks like right now.”
JPK: Any other Marvel characters you’d like to take a stab at?
DF: “One of these days it would be great to do Daredevil.”
JPK: Have you drawn much Daredevil before?
DF: “I’ve drawn him a little bit in Avengers actually, but in that book I’m always drawing people a quarter-of-an-inch tall, so I don’t even consider any character I’ve had a chance to draw in Avengers as much of a chance to draw him
“I did get to draw him a bit in Ultimate X-Men, but that was Ultimate Daredevil.”
JPK: If you could work on any character for any company, who would it be?
DF: “Batman.”
JPK: Why Batman?
DF: “Batman lives in a mansion. He has a Batmobile. And all of his villains are great — he’s got the Joker and the whole list.”
JPK: But of course you have no plans to go do Batman over at D.C.?
DF: “I have absolutely no plans whatsoever. As long as Joe Quesada is editor-in-chief (at Marvel) I can’t envision leaving.”
JPK: The kind of work you do is very detailed. How long does it take to draw a comic page?
DF: “A page takes me — I would say on average — about seven hours. Of course that can really vary depending on what’s on the page.
“A book takes about a month and I’m sure Avengers readers will laugh at that, but if I’m actually sitting down and working and doing my job the way I should be, there’s no reason it should take longer than a month. Anytime it does take me longer that a month it’s just me blowing it.
“I haven’t really been even remotely proud of the work that I’ve done for quite some time. I’m really hoping to rehabilitate with Moon Knight.
“It’s certainly no fault of Bendis, I just don’t think I have a grasp of this. It’s not so much that I’m enjoying it or not enjoying it, I think it’s just beyond me — beyond my skill set.
“Moon Knight is just much more what I’m comfortable with so I’m really hoping to do a better job.”
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