The Big Question with Stuart Sayger: 4-15-04
The Big Question with comic artist & writer Stuart Sayger
by Troy Brownfield
There are times when I feel like Stuart Sayger’s official biographer. I’ve talked with the man for a number of sources, including The Indianapolis Star, Pulse News and more. The whys of that are easy enough: Stuart is a swell guy and a tremendously talented artist and writer. His self-published book, Shiver in the Dark, drew critical praise from Wizard as 2003 drew to a close. The new issue is offered in the May issue of Previews.
For his part, Indianapolis-based Stuart has built up this surfeit of press goodwill by not only being a good storyteller, but by being a convention-hardened road warrior. The man is constantly on the move, with approximately 20 shows down for his 2004 calendar alone. In touring-band fashion, Stuart earns new fans in every town; they go away impressed by both his stunning art and his genuine friendliness.
As Stuart’s a pal, we thought we’d dispense with some of the formalities and get right into some of Stuart’s own likes, opinions, and the possible deification of his favorite musician, Marc Bolan of T. Rex.
So here’s Stuart, in all of his rock star-esque glory…
THE BIG Q&A
Q1. The typical “what’s your book about” question.
A1. Shiver in the Dark is the story of The good looking, snotty, rich girl we all know in high school. In this instance her name happens to be Grace. Grace is used to always getting by on her good looks and daddy’s money and now that she’s come to college she thinks that this is her time to really cut loose! Along the way she steals and old book that leads her to many demon’s and monsters who seem to know her quite well. It seems that they’ve been watching her hoping to recruit her to their ranks. Grace is given a tough proposition. Grace’s good looks and daddy’s money won’t last forever, then what will she do… She can either hone her natural talent of being a nasty person, or accept a future life of a regular nobody… Plus there is the question of does she really have much of a choice.. What would happen to her is she were to say “no”?! The feel of the book is a mix between an early 70’s D.C. horror comic and some bitchy fashion magazine. The dialogue is really catty between the girls. I’m sure that the reader doesn’t know if they should feel sorry for Grace for all the trouble that she’s gotten into, or feel as if she is getting just what she deserves!
Q2. Do you consider Marc Bolan an actual deity, or merely a great guitarist? Discuss.
A2. From what I understand, Marc Bolan probably wasn’t a great guitarist. I’ve read that his playing wasn’t very clean. But big deal, the man was too cool to care! I’ve been wanting to do a comic book about all the characters in his songs…( Telegram Sam.. The Girl in the Thunderbolt Suit..and even Golden-Nose Slim.. ).. I hope that somewhere up in heaven he and Vaughn Bode are making a quite-rite comic with accompanying soundtrack. THINK ZINC!
Q3. If an enthusiastic fan asks you to paint her naked, what kind of brush do you use?
A3. Well. You know… if you ever looked at my original pages to see some of the different smudges and smears you can probably spot my finger prints, so I wouldn’t rule out my hands as a possible mode of application…..yep.. Didn’t take long to get there.. .. I think to really do the concept justice wouldn’t I have to do it with a long LONG feather with a fine quill tip… you know… A great big plume so that the whole act looks like an out-take from “Purple Rain”.
Q4. What’s your most immediate source of inspiration for your book?
A4. I love to see and over hear people shopping. Really! If you can hear a couple taking to each other about buying things that only one of them wants, it can be the most entertaining thing. Any time when you have two people who are tying to get what they want but be polite about it at the same time. I love it when I’m at the video store and there is a couple that has been dating for a few weeks ( c’mon.. You can tell about how long they’ve been together). They are starting to get comfortable with each other so they aren’t trying to please quite as much as they were just a few weeks ago… but at the same time they still know that they can change the other person’s mind about dating them. With that as the premise, you get to hear people say stupid things like “What about “Matrix Revelations… It’s got Jada Pinket Smith in it.. .. You liked Fresh Prince of Bel-Air , right..?” . … or any stupid “how do I answer this question.. Like.. “I see that you have a spicy cajun jambalaya on the menu. Is it going to be too hot for me.. I can only eat things that are “kinda hot” this one is particularly good because the waiter will normally try to say something that is an answer, but really doesn’t say anything. Such as, “Well it’s made with some peppers and some different spices.” Once people get to know each other they won’t communicate like this. So I like to have my characters always think about what someone is saying , and sometimes the reply out of their mouths will directly reflect how they feel, or they will follow the social lead and offer up their own silly answer.
Q5. As a true road warrior, do you have a favorite con, and why?
A5. My favorite con… Man… That is tough. I’ll be doing about 20 this year. But I have to say that my favorite is Wizard World Chicago… it’s the first show that I ever set up at as a professional and it is probably the one where I know the most fans… but to be honest… and this is the cross-my-heart-hope-to-die truth… the difference is Brenda Cook… she coordinates the whole thing. Every year she gives me the exact table that I want. Answers all of my questions and just makes everything easy. Chicago is just right for me! I never worry about Chicago; I truly feel at home there.
Q6. Being a longtime fan, is there one iconic collectible that you’d absolutely love to have?
A6. One .. ? ONE!!!>?? WHAT THE HELL KINDA COLLECTOR WOULD I BE IF I ONLY HAD ONE!!?? I’m going to give you THREE! 1) I want to have that li’l make-out nest that the evil princess from the 1980’s Buck Rogers movie had… that thing was sooo dirty!.. oh you don’t think that qualifies as a collectible…. well find the guy that has it and tell him to put it on E-bay and you’ll find out the true collectibility!! 2)O.K. this is more along the lines of what you are looking for… I want the “buck Rogers helium gun”… Yeah yeah two Buck Rogers answers in a row .. Strange from a “Flash Gordon fan”.. Anyway.. In the 1940’s they made a Buck Rogers toy gun called the Liquid Helium Gun… The idea is that helium will not turn to liquid until it is chilled to … what.. About -430 degrees… Anything that is shot with this thing will turn instantly brittle… Super cool concept until you get home and find out that they tricked you with a cool name for just another squirt gun…I guess you’re not so bad ass cool when you can’t find any liquid helium to put in the thing…. At any rate old Buck Rogers toy guns aren’t that hard to come by, but as this one was a squirt gun and was made of plastic so most were cracked or broken. It is about as rare as any Buck Rogers toy guns get… 3) O.K. This is still something that is a point of debate about even existing, but I have it from good authority that there was once manufactured a MICRONAUTS MATTRESS!!!! DAMN!!! YOU TALK ABOUT SILLY! I’M TALKING ABOUT A WHOLE MATTRESS! Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean just a set of bed sheets. This is a full blown mattress with Micronauts printed on it….If you have that and two couch cushions you’ve got one fine living room fort!
Q7. Granted, you write and draw your own material, but what’s the short list of other writers and artists you’d like to work with someday?
A7. Watch it Troy… This is sounding like a straight question… I think that I would like to do something with the creators that really understand the personal journey as a story. I’m not nearly as interested in “team” books that are about how characters interact, as I am about “solo” character books that are about how a character deals his own feelings… I have to admit, I think that I would really like to do something with some sort political satire. I would consider it a great honor to do something with Frank Miller, but what does he need me for, he can write and draw which means that I just get to go home. I do think that it would be fun to work with David Mack. I’ll bet that we could come up with one splattered, smeared, sculpted photopshoped wonderful mess. I don’t think that he collaborates that much and his timing seems very different than mine, but what a grand creative tug of war. Imagine two guys in one car and both are trying to steer…
Q8. Tell me one mistake that young artists make.
A8. Oh.. I know the answer to this one… Trust me… I know the answer… The #1 mistake is putting off switching from markers and ball point pens to crow quills and brushes to ink with. Yeah quills and brushes are hard to get the hang of at first, but you gotta do it… The drag is that I’ve seen so many young artists (myself included ) who knew that they had to learn these other tools but didn’t because they either thought it was too hard, or too intimidating or whatever. They know that they’ve gotta do it, but they put it off. Once you take the plunge and learn what you’re doing, there is no going back. I would compare it to the first time you ride a bike without training wheels.
Q9.You always say your favorite artistic tool is “toilet paper”. Give me five uses for it, aside from the obvious.
A9. 1) You can wipe excess paint off of your nude-fan-girl who you are painting… you know… The fan girl with the sexy 70’s egg-shaped stereo chair…and all those taste suede skirts… yeah… That’s the one! 2) Different papers create different textures, different textures creates different depths… more depth creates better pictures! 3) When you travel to a comic show, you can put your bottle of PRO WHITE (white out ) in the toilet paper’s cardboard tube. Since the Pro White’s bottle is glass this keeps it from getting broken! ( I think that I’ll mail that one in to Cap’s hobby hints! ) 4) If you are jailed and you have to pass something from your cell to the cell across from you, you can take the roll of paper, put it on the ground, and roll it to the cell across, leaving a continuious strip of toilet paper. Put the item you want to pass on top of the end of the paper near you and let the other guy pull the item across the floor! After all, you are the artist, you have to carve the fake gun from a bar of soap and get it to the writer across the way!!… too complicated for ya..? Well, you’re stupid, and that’s why you got caught and went to jail! 5) I can take a Barbie doll and wrap it up in toilet paper and POOF! Instant Grace action figure for me to draw from!
Q10. Where do you see Stuart in five years?
A10. There was a time that I think that I could have given you what I thought would be an accurate answer. But so much has happened in just the last year with Shiver in the Dark I absolutely have no idea. I really can’t even project into the next year. I guess that the only real way to answer that question is to look at where I was 5 years ago and how much has changed… 5 Years ago there was no Shiver in the Dark. But I was deep into drawing and making comics. Comics and art have pretty much been my life for as long as I can remember. I hope that I’m still happy working on Shiver, but who knows… I worked through it and my next 2 projects… but you can bet that I’ll still be making comics!
Big thanks to Stuart for dropping by! Find more Stuart online here. If your shop isn’t carrying Shiver, make ‘em orderit.
As always, if you have someone that you’d like to suggest for a Big Question, let Troy (Brownfield) know at psikotyk@aol.com.
