2003 Comic Book News Archives

Smallville #5

August 24, 2003: Tom Derenick Talks “Smallville”

Newsarama caught up with artist Tom Derenick to discuss with him his work on both the hit WB TV show "Smallville" and the tie-in comic book series. Here's an excerpt from the interview...

On the comic book front, Derenick continued with the backups, illustrating a story for the Lex Luthor story which just came out, as well as one for the September issue that will be on stands shortly. As Derenick explained it, the Luthor story gave him a chance to use his distinctive "shaded pencils" technique again.

"We were doing a flashback where we see Lex's mom for the first time," Derenick said. "I thought the shaded approach worked well with the story and Tom made a good choice in having me do it that way - it definitely made it clear we were flashing back. And Clint told a really touching story between Lana and Lex.

"Speaking of that - and perhaps a heads up to the fans of the series who maybe haven't picked up the comic yet, something I've noticed as I've been working on the book is that the stories have been becoming more important to the continuity of the show - they aren't fluff pieces," Derenick continued. "They feel like they fit in the TV continuity and they're helping to develop the characters more than just having Clark just save someone who got powers from kryptonite poisoning. I really believe they got it right as to what a book like this needs to do if it wants to work.

"Anyway, In September I do another backup story, this time with Mark Verheiden. The Story centers around Detective Phelan, the Metropolis police detective that found out Clark's secret in the first season. I want to say for the record, it's really cool working with both these guys. They're both really giving me an opportunity to push myself with these stories. I've always had a tendency to wing it when it comes to things you should use reference for and with these stories I'm learning the importance of using reference properly. You have to on a book like Smallville because the look for so many things have already been established in the show. If you wing it, things aren't going to look right."

Read the complete interview at the Newsarama website.



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