What are you currently working on?
AW: The last coupla months I've been fulfilling my Buffy commitments and writing an Aliens vs Predator mini series. Thankfully, I'm just about done with that batch of work-for-hire and I'm about to start on a Geisha one shot. I've also done a strip for Nickelodeon magazine, some illo stuff for AOL + the SK animation thing is still going on.
What made you decide to return to Skeleton key?
AW: I never said that my work on SK was done. I think I'll keep coming back to it, I just won't be doing it monthly again; I couldn't live on the dole forever;) I wanted to develop Kitty a little more and establish her as an independent character as Tam's life moves on. Next time I think Tam'll be in college.
You once said "there's nothing wrong with the medium, just the industry", is that why you tend to mostly do independent work?
AW: I had an e-mail from someone in Japan recently. She told of how her friend's Father came into the room, pulled a manga off of his sons shelf and said, "Why did you buy this, I already have it." The book was about a kid who played the board-game "Go." That's one vision of the possibilities of the medium, backed up by the right culture, audience and industry. I don't think the the medium in the English speaking West will ever develop in that way. We have a different culture that looks down on comics and it's too late to change...with the web and whatnot replacing print media, comics has missed its chance. No doubt there'll be a small audience of reactionaries still reading print comics while a new form of 'comics'develops on the web...at least it doesn't cost more to work in colour there :)
Do you find working on titles such as "Buffy" very compromising, after working on your own?
AW: That's a given. You walk in with your eyes open from the start...even so I was surprised at how different a process it was. There's a lot of second guessing yourself with a "hot" licence like Buffy as to what will get approved with the least amount of aggro. With Aliens vs Pred there's a lot less looking over your shoulder so it's more fun. After work for hire, doing your own stuff is a dream :)
What's your favourite comic at the moment?
AW: Tintin. I started reading them again for the first time since I was a kid and borrowed them from the library.
Do you prefer working alone/who would you most like to work with?
AW: I'm most comfortable working alone. I've never been any use as a "team player." Storytelling in comics is so entwined in the writing AND drawing I find it's most satisfying to be in control of both.
What other media inspires you?
AW: I like movies, I tend to watch them in spurts, usually when I'm not working on my own stuff. Most recently I've enjoyed those intelligent 30's comedies...Adam's Rib, The Women, All about Eve, His Girl Friday etc. It's the same with reading...I tend not to read when I'm working on my own comics as I'm too tired after a days work but then have a spurt of reading a few when I finish...I just finished "Native Speaker" by Chang-Rae Lee which was fantastic. I love fine art (visiting museums and sketching) especially portraiture &Ukiyo-e woodblock prints. My fave artist is probably Degas.
What advice would you give to creators wishing to get into the industry?
AW: It depends on what part of the industry you want to enter. Universal advice is: work hard, there's a lot to learn + don't give up. If you know comics is for you then you'll make it...but don't expect to make a living at it!
