Michael Turner interview (August 2004)

August 23, 2004 | Interviews

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Superman/Batman #11 was the top-selling comic in July, thanks to artist Michael Turner

Michael Turner’s art seems to be everywhere you turn recently.
He’s working for DC Comics drawing the covers to Flash and Identity Crisis, on a six-issue arc on Superman/Batman and issue #1 of his new series, Soulfire from his company Aspen Studios just hit the stands last week.
In fact, Turner figured out that over the course of 2004 he’ll have drawn 13 issues and a whopping 71 covers.
So what motivates a man to work so hard?
“I’m trying to make up for lost time,” Turner told Metro in a phone interview from his California studio, making reference to the time he spent away from work during 2002 while successfully battling cancer
“I wanted to come back strong.”
And so he has.
Superman/Batman #11 was the No. 1-selling comic in July, while the Turner-covered Identity Crisis #2 was No. 3. Soulfire #1 is expected to be one of the highest-selling titles this month.
Turner, a special guest the Canadian National Comic Book Expo at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre from Friday to Sunday, credits a lot of his success this year to a lawsuit that prevented Aspen from publishing.
“We’ve made the best of a bad situation,” he said. “We would have never done the DC deal had we not had legal issues and the DC thing has been win-win for everybody.”
Seeing Soulfire, a series which has been in development for four years, finally be available to fans was special, Turner said.
“To see it finally on the stands last week was a huge deal for me,” he said, adding he cracked open some champagne to celebrate.
“Soulfire is a fun story. It’s different. It’s a futuristic, fantasy kind of story. And it gets crazier and crazier as you go along.”
The beginning of this tidal wave of Turner was not something he drew, but actually something he wrote, a Superman crossover entitled: Godfall.
“It was really funny how it all came to together. They (DC) said ‘hey, why not do a story about Kandor … GO!’” Turner said with a laugh.
The result was a six-part story that sees the Man Of Steel trapped in the miniature Kryptonian city, having lost his identity.
“We took Superman out of his element and into something completely different,” Turner said.
Godfall is in stores now in a classy-looking hardcover collected edition, featuring a cover gallery, production sketches by both Turner and series artist Talent Caldwell and an introduction by co-author Joe Kelly.
“It’s a really great package,” Turner said. “They did an excellent job.”

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