Interview with comic artist David Finch

With a career that has included working with both Marvel and DC, David Finch has had the opportunity to be involved with some of the most iconic characters in the comic universe. Recently we had a chance to talk to David ahead of his appearance at this year’s Fan Expo Canada about how he got started in the business, the difficulties and pressures involved and why he enjoys working with one character in particular above all others.

So was being an artist in some way, shape or form, specifically a comic book artist, something you always wanted to do or did that interest evolve over time?

David: It definitely evolved over time. I didn’t know what I wanted to do growing up. I was pretty aimless actually, and I had a lot of trouble in school. My dad was an engineer and he wanted me to do that but I knew that field wasn’t for me, I simply had no idea what to do. It was finally my sister reading comics, and I used to tease her about it, saying it was for little kids and I never really gave them a chance. I finally picked one up and thought wow, first of all the artwork was incredible and it’s one artist, one penciler, an inker and a colorist being able to create stories and worlds, and I’m kind of an introvert so that appealed to me right away. Yeah, I was older, around twenty, when I finally decided that I wanted to do comics.

How hard was it to break into the comic book industry and did there ever come a time that you thought about doing something else?

David: I think I was young enough that it never occurred to me to go in another direction. I was also a high school dropout so I didn’t really have a lot of options so I think that helped but truthfully I think it was easier to break in back then. This was a time when FedEx was around so working in Canada was possible and there were fax machines but now with the internet the market has gone very global and there are phenomenal artists all through Europe, South America, Asia, it’s become much more competitive than it was. Also, when I started I worked for Top Cow Productions, part of Image Comics, and I worked in a studio in California and I interned for a while so I was able to learn on the job from an experienced artist. It’s very unusual to find an opportunity like that nowadays.

Do you have a certain style or format that you follow or does it change depending on the material?

David: I definitely have a style and I’ll tell you what, there are times I want to try this and I love what this artist is doing and it just ends up looking like my stuff so yeah, I definitely have a style, whether I like it or not.

What is it about certain characters or companies that grab your attention as an artist, that get you excited to work in that world or environment?

David: Characters like Batman, I mean Batman has been around since the late thirties, Superman has been around for longer, Wonder Woman has been around for so long and they have been important cultural icons for so long, being able to have a small part of that is just really rewarding. That’s one side of it and its really important, but really just for my personally, I love Batman. He’s dark, he’s gritty, he’s just a regular guy that never gives up and is awesome at everything he does, he just the greatest fantasy character for any geek out there. You know Spiderman is the same, I’m a fan of all of these characters, so getting the chance to work with them is great.

Now you mentioned these iconic characters like Batman, Superman and Spiderman. Do you ever get nervous when you are working on these characters?

David: Yeah, every single time. This is actually my second run on Batman now and I thought well, this might be easier since I’ve done it before. Well, it’s never easier, I’m always nervous and always second guessing everything I do, it’s hard to avoid that.

You’ve done inking, writing, penciling during your career. Do you have a favorite or do they all have their own individual charms or attractions for you?

David: Well I’m a penciler really, that’s what I do. When I ink, generally speaking it’s because I just didn’t have any choice. The deadline was too tight, we didn’t have time to send it to the inker or my inker wasn’t available so usually I use Danny Miki, he’s my favorite inker, I always prefer to use him over me as I think he really brings out the best in my work. Also, I hate writing. I truly think it is the most difficult job in the world. I never start with a blank page, I always start with a script and that brings me so far down the road. When you’re writing you are literally starting with nothing and you can put months of work into something, send it in and have the whole thing rejected and then you’re starting from scratch again. It’s very, very difficult and I learned that very quickly when I wrote.

When you’re penciling for certain companies do they have strict guidelines that they want you to follow or is it more of a collaboration between the two of you?

David: It’s a real collaboration. I find generally the best writers really know what they’re doing and they put down in the script everything that I need. I’ll tweak things here and there and maybe change the pacing a little bit and I try to make sure that the intent carries through. Sometimes we’ll talk about scenes, maybe I’ll have an idea on how I’d like to do it or if I have trouble figuring out exactly how to pull something off. However, for the most part I just really get to sit down and do what I do.

I’ve read that you feel like you relate to superheroes. Is there any particular one you feel you relate to more than others?

David: I’d like to say I relate to Batman but I don’t, even though I’d like to be able to. I guess in a way I relate to them all but I relate to one side of a lot of them. Spiderman has the geeky side that gets pushed around and the good news for Spiderman is he’s really Spiderman and nobody knows and I can’t say that. Honestly, I think that’s the appeal of superheroes for a lot of us, it’s a little childish maybe at times but it would be great to be somebody special and somebody that can do things that nobody else can do, it’s an enduring fantasy.

Being an artist, do you find yourself being drawn into the constant Marvel versus DC discussion or do simply just put that aside and do what interests you most?

David: Oh yeah, I never think about that at all. I worked for Marvel for a long time and I still have a lot of friends there. I love all the characters, I think they’re phenomenal, and I’ve at DC for quite a while now and I feel the same way. I’m under contract with DC so I can’t do Marvel characters so sometimes that makes me miss them but I’ve got so many characters in DC that keep me happy.

Does it ever surprise you how passionate and knowledgeable fans are, fans of all ages, concerning comics and do you enjoy the one on one interaction, especially at huge events like Toronto’s Fan Expo Canada?

David: Yeah, I really do. I work in a pretty solitary environment, sitting at a desk doing this stuff and it’s really only going to shows and actually talking to fans and seeing how enthusiastic they are about comics and the characters and hopefully the books that I’m doing, they help me get a sense of just how big all of this stuff really is. Then you add in the movies, which I’m also a big fan off, and they just help to remind me of how I’m part of something bigger so yeah, I love talking comics with fans.

You mentioned the movies, and to say that they’ve become huge in the movie world would be a huge understatement at the moment. As a comic book artist, is this nothing but good for you and are you enjoying all the big screen adaptations from the worlds you work in?

David: I’m a huge fan, I love every single superhero movie that’s ever come out, I don’t care. And yeah, it’s nothing but good for me, it’s really elevated superheroes from something that, there’s always a consciousness, especially of major characters but now it’s really become much more acceptable to be a superhero fan and a comic book fan than it once was. There was a time where it might be a bit embarrassing to read a graphic novel on a bus or train and that’s not the case anymore and it’s a great thing, the movies have made that happen.

Why do you think it took so long for Hollywood to discover all the great stories that comics have to offer and then in turn make them into movies?

David: You know, I just don’t think they had the technology to pull them off. There were times that they were done well, like the Superman movies from the late seventies, the first couple, and the Batman movies but there was limitations. I remember when the first X-Men movies came out, friends would say they had these leather costumes and went away from some of the comic book elements. Now they can pretty much pull off anything, like Spiderman in the Civil War movie looks incredible, it just amazes me when I see this stuff and what they can do.

Do you have a favorite character to draw and what is it about this character that grabs your attention?

David: I have to say Batman and besides the fact that well, he’s Batman, I like darker characters and I have a darker style, I always have, it’s what’s always appealed to me. Batman is the quintessential dark, moody character and I love Gotham City, it’s like a real city but darker and a little more twisted. Batman’s villains, every single one of them, they’re all so individual and fun to draw and evil so yeah, I have a blast with it.

Have you ever found yourself, and I’ll use Batman as an example, getting stuck in terms of drawing him a different way or showing him in a different light?

David: Yeah actually, I’m going through that right now, it’s just part of the job. There are so many ways to draw his cowl and I’ve been really kind of re-tooling how I approach it. I’m actually kind of struggling with that right now, I’m not sure where I am with it. Anytime I’m working with any character it’s an evolution and I’m definitely very conscious of it, trying to tweak different things and hopefully bring it in a better direction. It doesn’t always work out that way but I’m always trying different things. When I get stuck I just stop for a bit and generally pull out a piece of paper and just start sketching ideas of how I’d like to do it, trying different angles and see how it works and if it’s working for me then that can be easier than fighting with one panel on a page and erasing and erasing.

When you are doing a job, is there a lot of pressure on you in terms of timelines and is there a certain way you deal with those pressures?

David:    There definitely is some pressure as a monthly comic is a huge commitment. It takes me twelve hours, sometimes more to draw pages. It’s actually very rare that a page takes less than eight hours. I’ve got twenty pages plus a couple of covers every month and I’ve got a family and three kids so it can be a struggle. If I miss a day I have to make that day back up, you just can’t skip to the next day. It’s a doable thing but there are times that it can be very difficult, I hit some rough patches, I can’t work for a couple of days, it can really mess me up for a while. I don’t really get paid by salary, I get paid for the work that I do so for instance, I can go on vacation but I won’t get paid for the days I’m not working.

I want to thank David for taking the time to talk with us