Gene Ha

This month I talk to Gene Ha, known for his work on Top 10, The Authority, JLA, and Superman to name a few.

Mark - So you have worked on Top 10, how was it working with Alan Moore?

GH – It’s been a while ago, but Alan was one of the nicest writers I’ve ever worked with. I’ve never met him, so we just chatted on the phone. The problem was me. He’d ask me if I had ideas or feedback, and I’d chime in. And there’d be that moment of silence as we both remembered where ‘my’ idea was originally used in a story he’d written decades ago. I had a few good ideas, but Top 10 was definitely his playground I was playing in.

He loves people, and he loves listening to them. I think this is the secret of why he’s such a great writer: he legitimately wants to hear other’s stories, and to tell stories to people.

The most amazing thing about Alan is that he doesn’t write second drafts. Even if you get an issue’s script in 4 sections, each one is the first draft. He just types, and the Muses seem to dictate to him. It makes him one of the fastest writers in the planet when he feels inspired. It’s a lie that Jack Kerouac wrote that way, but Alan really does it.

Mark –  You received the “Russ Manning Promising Newcomer” Eisner Award in ’94, how did that make you feel and what if any award in the industry could top that?
GH – I had no idea I was nominated. I just got a plaque in the mail for an award I’d never heard of.  There wasn’t much comics press at the time compared to now, and I didn’t follow it much.

Once I learned what the award was and who decided it (ie previous winners like Steve Rude, Scott McCloud and Jeff Smith) I was suitably awed. It’s still quite humbling. I’d like to make sure that I don’t prove them wrong. I don’t think I’ve reached the heights of folks like McCloud and Smith, but I hope they’re not embarrassed by their choice.

Other awards are just as prestigious, but I wouldn’t say they’re more lofty. It’d be nice to win an Angoulême Grand Prix, but I’m not expecting it.

Mark –  You worked with Grant Morrison on The Authority, how was that?
GH – It was a very thoughtful script. There wasn’t as much back and forth as with Alan, but there was an equal excitement about big ideas. You can tell they’re both having great fun with their jobs.

Mark -  What can you tell us about Back Roads and why we should be reading it?

GH – I’m pushing to make this the best artwork I’ve put into any story I’ve drawn. So if you like my work, this is my all.

And if you like stories, Bill Willingham is the best writer in comics not named Alan Moore. He’s also one of the best fantasy writers alive. And he’s getting better every year.

I only have the first section of the script I’m drawing, so there’s really not that much I can tell you. It’s brilliant, but I’ve learned to expect surprises from a Bill story. Whatever I expect to happen is not what a great writer like Bill is gonna do. Expect American exceptionalism, a story only the US has the guts to do.

Mark –  You have worked on so many titles (Superman, JLA, Cyclops and Phoenix) is there one that was a personal favorite and if so why?

GH – As great of a pleasure as it’s been working with Alan and Bill, my favorite script was working with Archie Goodwin. I did a DC Showcase ’95 #11 story with him. I was still a real novice at the time. In the script and on the phone he explained why he told the story the way he did. It was the most important learning experience in my career.

I think he’s easily the best comics writer of the Silver Age. His stories from the 70s still read as fresh and modern today.

Beyond that, Top 10 is the next most important book because I learned so much during the run. Partly, I learned from Alan and in large part I learned from Zander Cannon. Zander had already done a self-published masterwork, The Replacement God, and he understands every stage of the comics process. He explained how Alan placed the heads in a panel in the same order he placed the balloons, why Alan avoided doing too many
tricks in one panel, and how he always had an important story beat occur on every page to keep the reader interested. It was like having two great professors create a comics course just for me.

I love learning and knowing I’m getting better.

Mark –  Is there any writer that you have yet to work with that you really would love to work with?
GH – Well, my friend Lowell Francis, a former non-fiction editor, has written short scripts for me. We’ve done a piece in the Hero Initiative fundraiser Hero Comics and a 9 page story in the upcoming Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard #2. He’s really brilliant, and I’d like to do a much longer story with him some day.

Mark –  How do you feel about digital comics, the Ipad, and how it will effect the industry?

GH – I love webcomics and I hope that digital comics will help bring (paying) readers into the medium. I have great hopes.

I get pretty angry about how Steve Jobs won’t allow comic books in the App Store that offend his hazily defined rules. He won’t allow mild nudity, as needed to tell stories like Oscar Wilder or James Joyce interpretations. He banned editorial cartoons like those done by Mark Fiore until Mark won a Pulitzer. If the iPhone and the iPad become the unchallenged standard for digital comics I expect comics to get horribly dumbed down. And we can’t afford that, there aren’t enough smart comics out there as it is!

Mark –  Do you have any planned work coming up for the big 2 publishers that you can talk about?

GH – No! Well, I might do some covers for things like the second batch of Kevin Smith’s Batman: Widening Gyre comics. And I did a 2 page story for Superman/Batman #75, but that’s about it.

Mark –  Any advice for the artists out there trying to break into comics?

GH – Don’t quit your day job! Or if you’re a student, make sure you have other options in case you can’t break in or decide it’s not worth it.

If you still go the crazy route and decide to break in, always look for a way to learn what you’re doing wrong and how to fix it. Find someone who can criticize your work and do whatever you have to to fix it. If this is too hard for your fragile self-esteem, you shouldn’t be an artist.

Mark –  Finish the sentence …. Gene Ha is

GH – A work in progress.