FRED PERRY
Creator of Gold Digger

Fred Perry originally worked on Antarctic Press' Ninja High School Yearbook. He was then hired by Malibu Press to pencil in some Tom Corbett comics, and then did Robotech and Cyberknights. After Operation Desert Storm, Fred came up with the idea for Gold Digger, which started out in Mangazine. It later became it's own mini-series, and then a regular monthly comic. He then created Legacy, and did work on various Transformers guidebooks. He is now doing Gold Digger as an animated OVA series.

FRED'S CREDITS

Cyberknights, Gold Digger, How To Draw Manga, Kid Cannibal, Legacy, Mangazine, Ninja High School, Robotech, Star Jacks, Tom Corbett

Interview taken at Katsucon 9, Febuary 2003.

• WHAT FIRST GOT YOU INTERESTED IN ANIME AND MANGA?
  I didn't recgonize it as anime at first, with Speed Racer and Astro Boy. But when I went to the university in Virgina, I went to an anime con. But then I realized I could get this stuff straight from Japan.
  
  
• WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR INFLUENCES AS FAR AS ART STYLE AND STORYTELLING?
  Ben Dunn's Ninja High School showed me I could draw this way in anime-style. After reading the first 4 issues, I really got into wanting to draw anime. Artists like Shirow, and manga based on video games also influenced me, like Street Fighter. The way they made the characters look in comic format.
  
  
• HOW DID GOLD DIGGER FIRST COME INTO CREATION?
  After my experience in Desert Storm, I started sketching cheesecake art. The guys in my crew encouraged me to do a comic. I wanted to do one that was funny, but not just cheesecake. I got the idea for Gina from a 3 Musketeers ad about a funny Indiana Jones character. At first Gina was going to be a kind of elf, but I made her to break the stereotype of dumb blondes. Cheetah was going to be a wild jungle woman, but then into a female Blanka. I made her and Gina not sisters at first, but the way they acted was more like sisters.
  
  
• WHAT FUTURE PLANS DO YOU HAVE FOR GOLD DIGGER
  I planned to end Gold Digger at issue #111. But I still want to complete all the storylines and get it to a point where I'm satisfied with it. The story will turn into a second chapter taking place 15 years later with Cheetah's daughter looking for Gina who is now missing.
  
  
• IS THE GOLD DIGGER OVA GOING TO CONTINUE? WILL THERE BE MORE PAST THE ORIGINAL MINI-SERIES?
  I'm planning to continue the animated series. I have no plans to end it. It will be about one 20 minute episode per year. I hope to build up an animated studio in the U.S. for it.
  
  
• HOW DID YOU GET THE IDEA FOR LEGACY?
  During the mid-90s, we at AP did some brainstorming. I thought about a story where an ancient evil consumes souls and takes over the whole world. So if some D&D-type heroes tried to stop it, but failed, they pass their powers on to a next generation. They would have to be friends that could stick through it all and deal with the threat.
  
  
• WHEN WILL THE LEGACY SERIES CONTINUE?
  It will be a total of 6 chapters. The first 3 chapters deal witrh the heroes reawakening. The later chapters deal with the Wrath taking over the world and how they will defeat it, and a resolution. This will be done in graphic novels and not single issue format. They will each be complete chapters.
  
  
• DO YOU PREFER DOING YOUR COMICS IN COLOR OR BLACK & WHITE?
  I really like to see them in black & white, but I'm kind of a control freak. So I like to see my work in color. When I'm coloring it, I'm doing it myself most times. But I have to make time for doing animation too.
  
  
• YOU'RE KNOWN TO BE A BIG VIDEO GAME FAN. WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITES AND HOW DO THEY INFLUENCE YOUR WORK?
  I have one favorite, Street Fighter II Turbo, plus Galaga. RPG games influence my work, as well paper & pencil RPG. But video games have a high influence on me.
  
  
• WHAT OTHER PROJECTS ARE YOU CONSIDERING IN THE FUTURE?
  The Gold Digger animation, and more of Legacy. But muy schedule is usually pretty full with them.

FRED'S WEBSITE