FAN EXPO WEEK - My interview with Comic book artist Marvin Law!

Being good friends with the SPENT PENCILS crew has it advantages, like meeting other great artists. I kept seeing Marvins work at conventions and his table was always super busy. I never really had the chance to talk with him until I read that he was going to be at Silver Snail doing what he does best. I ventured into the city on a wee bit of a tight schedule but made sure I stopped by to say hello and admire his work.

I plan to do the same this weekend and so should you, Marvin’s work is some of the best and he is a pleasure to talk to…

Keef- When did you discover your artistic talent, and what made you pursue comics?

Marvin-I discovered my artistic talent at the young age of 6, when my cousins showed me, my first comic books. After that, all I ever wanted to do was draw and tell my very own stories for people to enjoy.

As for what made me pursue comics, it's the freedom to tell whatever stories you want to tell. Whether it's a personal story of love and loss, or a billion dollar epic action/sci-fi/fantasy extravaganza, and both just need a pencil, paper and my imagination.

Keef- what were some of the comics at that age that really caught you eye?

Marvin-I still have the first comic book, I ever bought, which was Justice League America#193, which had George Perez on art, so that explains my love of detail in my work, lol.

Thanks to my cousins, I was exposed to a lot of great comic books, I wouldn't have seen otherwise due to my age, like Dark Knight Returns, the Watchmen, the Chris Claremont & John Byrne's legendary run on the Uncanny X-Men, New Teen Titans, Crisis of the Infinite Earths, the Punisher mini-series, the Nam, Frank Miller's Daredevil run and many other great comic books from that era.

Keef-- What inspired you, and today what inspires you?

Marvin- What inspired me, and what continues to inspire me, is to see the interaction between a great story and great artwork, thus creating an awesome comic book experience. This is what inspires me and my work, to try and accomplish that each and every time.

Keef- What has been your greatest accomplishment in comic books, and what is a future goal that you have with in this industry?

Marvin- I personally feel that my greatest accomplishment, so far in comic books has been to earn the respect of fellow professionals and peers. It's always nice to hear ask, "why the heck aren't you on a book for one of the big two yet?"

As for what, my future goal in the comic book industry might sound arrogant, but I want fans to remember me, as one of the greatest artists of all time. And to do that, I've gotta push my skills and talents to the very edge and beyond, in order to achieve it in the future.

Keef- If you had a chance to breath life into a dead franchise in the form of a comic what would you choose.

Marvin -Hmmmm some franchises I'd love to breath life into, would include things like I would love to do a Darkseid book, Iron Fist, Dr. Strange, a super villains team up with either the Joker or Dr. Doom, or Captain Canuck. At this point, I'd be happy to get any sort of book, lol.

Keef-Tell us about some of your projects your working on.

Marvin - Currently, I have a weekly webcomic called, SLAM, which you can check out at http://slamcomic.squarespace.com/ .

I'm also prepping a fantasy/action/comedy series called, Cloudwalkers with a great writer, Kristopher Feric, which is one of personal favourite projects that's been sitting on the backburner.

Keef- what are you looking forward to most at fan expo?

Marvin -To be honest, I'm excited to see the fans again, draw sketches for them, see how they react to my newest set of prints, and seeing old friends, I haven't seen all year long.

Keef- Cool man, any Thank-yous, shout outs and last words?

Marvin ...

Thank Yous:

I want to thank my cousins for first exposing me to comic books, my family for their unending support, the many other artists that lent their knowledge and support, and ultimately to the fans for their support, because without them, none of this would be possible.

Shout Outs:

I just wanted to give a shout out to my buddies at Spent Pencil Studios, to the crew at the Silver Snail, the boys at Multiverse 5, the boys at the Drink & Draw, the fans & readers of the SLAM Webcomic.

Last Words:

Whether I make it into the Big Two or not, it won't deter me from continuing my career in comic books. I've got tons of ideas for projects and lots of stories to tell, as it is. My goal in life is to entertain readers, in a variety of genres in comic books, because this is the media I love.