2004 Comic Book News Archives

Secret Identity #3

April 18, 2004: Stuart Immonen Talks “Superman: Secret Identity”

ComicBookResources has conducted an interview with artist Stuart Immonen in which they discuss with him his work on the excellent miniseries "Superman: Secret Identity". Here's an excerpt from the interview...

    "For 'Superman: Secret Identity,' the approach was based on the idea that we were doing a 'real-world' book. I mulled over my options and came at it with a style that I thought would best suit. After preparing some samples, Joey and Mark Chiarello were on board right away. The fact that Superman was the main character didn't really enter into the equation. In fact, the main character in this case was Clark Kent, not Superman, which cemented the decision to go with a naturalistic style."

    Having worked on Superman previously - in the "End of The Century" graphic novel and "Adventures of Superman" series most prominently - Immonen didn't need to do a lot of research for the project, but found inspiration in some very different places. "As I mentioned, I thought the work of Tim Sale set the pace and tone I wanted to achieve. Katsuhiro Otomo's Domu was another influence," he explains. "Both artists captured a certain indefineable quality-- a powerful silence which I attempted to emulate. There was only so much I could do as far as explore the pacing once the script was done. I couldn't randomly add splash panels for effect, for instance. Similarly, there wasn't much I could do in the way of researching settings until I had seen the scripts. Often it was a matter of 'cut and run,' deciding quickly what it was I had to draw and going with it. My father-in-law lives by a saying, 'Sometimes wrong, but never in doubt.' This is often the case when you're working on a schedule.

    "As far as how to deal with the character, I didn't deviate much from previous experience, apart from the fact that I had to draw him at different stages of his life. There isn't really a 'superman ideal' -- an actor or whatever-- that I drew inspiration from."

Read the complete interview at the CBR website.



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