Microsoft Surface Cafe – Exclusive Francis Manapul Interview & the Surface Pro 3

A few weekends ago I had the opportunity to check out the Microsoft Surface Cafe in downtown Toronto for the launch of the new Surface Pro 3. Not only did I get to play around with the new Surface Pro 3 but I also got to interview comic book artist Francis Manapul and his process of creating comics (like me he prefers to watch movies rather than listen to music).

The Surface Pro 3‘s large 12-inch display and easily adjustable angle are perfect for anyone seeking more then just a laptop and a tablet. Its switch to a 3:2 aspect ratio, which is more like paper, includes the ability to rotate your canvas without rotating your screen, and the pressure-sensitive and customizable stylus are all highlighted features of this new product.

Microsoft Surface Cafe downtown Toronto – Surface Pro 3

After an introduction to the Surface Pro 3, I had the chance to sit down with Canadian comic artist, Francis Manapul. Chances are you’ve seen his work in the past couple years; he began in 2005 at Top Cow and in 2007 he signed an exclusive contract with DC Comics where he has been ever since. In 2009 he became the artist for The New 52 The Flash comic with writer Geoff Johns and in 2011 he received the prestigious Joe Shuster for Outstanding Artist and the All-in-One Award. In 2014, Manapul made the move from The Flash to Detective Comics.

So how did you go from being a kid who loves comics to drawing Batman?

When I was a kid growing up in Scarborough I used to ride my bike and buy comics. It was an interesting time because in the 90s, Image Comics was a company started up by artists and it just caught my interest. So by 14 or 15, I made it my goal to try and be a comic book artist. By 16 or 17 I started working on my portfolio and I started going to comic conventions and from there I met editors, writers and other artists and through that I was able to make contacts who I would bug every year and hopefully show them progress and that led to work. And well, I’ve been doing it for 15 years now.

So is bugging people at conventions the method to use nowadays or is the Internet a better option for getting your work out there?

Now you can bug them both ways!

Detective Comics cover art – note the use of traditional medias with crosshatching, finger prints and watercolor techniques

With Detective Comics, its weird because I don’t know if I did anything fresh, I did what the title was called, “Detective Comics”. Every now and then we have a tendency to forget that at the end of the day he’s the worlds greatest detective, he has no powers, and trying to boil it down to its a original form allows me to tell a cleaner story. Its daunting because the name of the company is named after the comic I’m working on, but once you get down to the nitty gritty, you kind of forget. It still feels like I’m that 14 year old kid drawing in my basement, except the stuff that I do people either get to enjoy or hate.

Obviously you have a traditional background, and I saw your video on Instgram of you flicking paint on Batman, at the end of the day do you prefer the paint under your nails, the gritty stuff?

Yeah, totally, if you look at my hands right now, its the cleanest they’ve been, normally there’s ink everything but its because I’ve been working digitally all week. So the first week of a comic book production is typically all digital, and from there that’s where I’m doing my story and all the pre-production and once that’s complete I’ll move onto working traditionally and use all the digital notes as a reference.

Do you like doing covers or interiors more?

I used to enjoy doing interiors more then covers because with covers I only have one image to WOW where as with interiors I have 22 pages to do that. But now with my covers, I illustrate and color it as well so I bring it to full completion whereas before I penciled and inked it and someone else colors it. Since now I’m able to take a more graphic approach, I’m enjoying them both equally. I’m starting to do more minimalist work because it lets the audience decide for themselves; what lies behind the images and the symbols they’re seeing, it draws you in more, and leaves more up for interpretation.

How has the Surface Pro 3 changed how you create comics?

I’ll show you, because I also write the stories that I illustrate, it allows me to make it much more integrated, so if you take away all these layers this is the story right here — its a bunch of notes, its very short form, its allowed me to be quicker and faster. My co-writer and I will literally talk for hours about the story and then it gets condensed into notes on my drawing board. [Surface Pro 3] allows me to grab scenes and move them around, and then on top of that I’ll quickly just storyboard it out. Because its a visual media, its natural to think of the images as I’m writing so for me its a lot quicker to just visualize then write “Batman perches on a gargoyle”. Its a bit backwards because once I’ve done this, I clean it up, so from here I starting pinning down the script – putting the dialogue after the drawing is an easier transition because you can get the acting right, you can change it to match the pacing of the story arc.

What features do you most enjoy about the Surface Pro 3?

I have access to more tools, it adds more stuff to my tool box and I feel like you can never have enough. So whenever I have an opportunity to try out things like the Surface Pro 3, I love it. I’m so excited about it, its a new toy and a toy that I can use in a professional way, and if it benefits me, if it speeds things up, makes things convenient, I’m all for it.

The portability aspect of it is a big deal, when you travel a lot going to conventions, you don’t want to be carrying lots of paper or tools around, you want something light, something portable, something I can quickly grab out of my bag if an idea strikes me and I can quickly draw it out. If you make a system fast enough that can do that and run Photoshop, which is what the Surface Pro 3 does, the most impressive thing about it is that when I look at it, it feels like it shouldn’t be a computer.

This week I produced the entire script for the last issue of the Icarus storyline; I did the layout, I did the concept drawings, I did the script all in one place, and anytime I can do that on my couch, while I’m leaning back, while watching TV, that’s a win in my books.

So going back to having that creative control, and doing everything yourself, if you could collaborate with anybody, any comic artist who would it be?

Well right now I do have a collaborator Brian Buccellato (DC Comics The Flash and Detective Comics); we’ve been friends for over ten years. So first I have to be able to get along with them, and because Brian and I have this established relationship we can work very easily together. But from a fan standpoint I would love to work with Jeff Johnson (Marvel Comics Wonder Man, The Amazing Spider-Man and Weapon X, DC Comics Green Lantern) and Grant Morrison (DC Comics Batman, The Invisibles, All-Star Superman, Doom Patrol, and Marvel Comics New X-Men and Fantastic Four).

Grant’s ideas are just so out there, and one of the best comics I’ve ever read — which encompasses everything I want to do in a comic book — is All Stars. I feel like I’ve read it once a year; its simple but there’s so much depth in there once you dig in deeper. Anytime someone’s work can be read multiple times and I take away something different, man, he just comes up with the most unique things that I never would have thought of. I read an interview where he said that he got inspiration from reading all those old golden age books, now they were silly but if you put a modern twist on it they can still be relevant. So with The Flash I actually read those old showcase books, you know the black and white ones? I tried to not necessarily use the same ideas but trying to take that same emotion and wonderment that those guys were able to do back then and translate it to now. Readers are a bit more jaded because they’ve seen things, they’ve read things, there’s so much out there, so whenever you can captivate them emotionally in an interesting and fun way, that’s really what the job is about. I think Grant does that perfectly. I hope Grant can hear this, I want to work with Grant.

The Microsoft Surface Cafe knew exactly how to plan an intimate luncheon experience, with free beverages and snacks, as well as a hands on experience and walk through with the new Surface Pro 3. I walked away with a complimentary mug and a signed original artwork t-shirt from Manapul. There was nothing quite like watching a professional like Francis Manapul use the Surface Pro 3 to draw Batman and the Joker and walk the audience through the process, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole afternoon. By the way I’m buying as soon as I can afford the $849.00 (64 GB / Intel Core i3) – $1599.00 (256 GB / Intel Core i7) price tag attached to it. I’ve always struggled as an artist who enjoys a laptop but needs a tablet and the Microsoft Surface Pro 3 is the perfect option to satisfy both needs for on the go and at home use.