5 Quick Questions With Francis Manapul

Francis Manapul is the acclaimed artist of DC's new series Adventure Comics. He has also illustrated Superman/Batman, The Legion of Super-Heroes, Tomb Raider, and Witchblade, as well as a French graphic album Sept Guierrieres for Editions Delcourt.

Francis was born in Manila, Philippines and grew up in Toronto, Canada. Fueled by the comics he read as a child (Superman in particular), it was his discovery of Jim Lee's early work that inspired him to pursue a career in comics. Other influences include Marc Silvestri, Darwyn Cooke, Michael Turner, Tim Sale, Eduardo Risso, Enrico Marini and Massimiliano Frezzato.

Today he's enjoying his ride with Geoff Johns on Adventure Comics, and is continuously trying to improve his skills...at poker. He also enjoys an In-n-Out burger—or two or three.



He agreed to answer 5 Quick Questions

1) What would you say is your greatest achievement in comics?

There's still a LOT that I want to accomplish so this question will sorta remain unanswered. I'm not even sure if I can answer this 20 years from now as goals always change and the list gets longer. I will say though that I'm most proud of the fact that I was able to break in and make a career out of it.

2) Who was your favorite writer or artist that you worked with & why?

At the moment, I'm really enjoying working with Geoff Johns. He really took the time to listen to the kind of story I like to tell and the how. When I read the script to the first issue of Adventure Comics #1 it really felt like it was written for me. He really captured the type of aesthetic that I like and it just felt natural from the start. I've also enjoyed working with David Wohl on Witchblade he really taught me a lot, I just feel bad for him having to work with me at such an inexperienced stage of my career. I also enjoyed my collaboration with Joshua Ortega on Necromancer, he's one of the most unique minds I've met, and never a boring moment! And of course I can't forget about my constant collaborator, Brian Buccellato, we've worked together for years now and I think he's probably the only colorist that could stand all my notes. Our work together on Adventures is a real learning experience since we're both "changing" it up, so it's experiencing some growing pains but that's cause we're always aiming to hit it out of the stadium rather than base hits. And I think we're starting to do that now.

3) What character you have never worked .., would you like to do & why?

I checked off 3 major ones within the past 6 months which is fantastic, that being Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. Others that I've enjoyed reading as a kid and would love to draw are the Flash, Wolverine and of course Spider-Man. I'd really love to take a longer crack at Batman, and Superman those two characters really dominated my childhood.

4) Who are your influences?

Jim Lee was a huge influence on me wanting to get into the field of comics along with the rest of the Image explosion with the likes of Marc Silvestri, Rob Liefeld and Whilce Portacio. They were making some very exciting comics and before them comics felt sort of bland. Then out of no where these guys just came in and turned it on it's head. It was a very exciting time in comics visually. They really got me excited over comics. I also am very inspired by numerous international artists like Enrico Marini, Frezzato, Toppi. Currently I'm really enjoying the work of Darwyn Cooke, Tim Sale, Leinil Yu and way too many to list. I just love the art of comics and I buy a lotta books mostly for the art. I like art that inspires me, not so much influence. I think early on when I was younger I was very influenced by what I looked at, but now that I'm older and have a better idea of who I am and what I want to be, I just appreciate art that inspires me to get better.

5) What hero or villain would you like to change if you could and why?

hmm.. this is gonna sound totally self serving..but I'd have to say Superboy. Not so much changing the character but more exploring him and bringing him to a wider audience. Geoff believes that Superboy is right up there as one of the greater characters at DC and I'm totally with him. Hopefully after it's all said and done we'll have accomplished something that would bring a wider spotlight on the character. Because it's just too cool to not be in said spotlight. That we'd like to try and change.

Check out Francis website at www.francismanapul.com