Personal Cyber Botanica

Esad Ribic, photo by -logan- (c)

You are often at comic conventions and festivals. How important is it for you as comic author? San Diego Comicon, New York Comic Con…

ER: Um, yes. Well, it’s not important, that’s not a part of business. That’s just a slice of the whole story and I want to be there, not that I have to or that it’s important to me for some reason to be there. It’s high for me to be on comic conventions. Well, very often they are even paying you for the trip, so you are traveling somewhere for free and all that.

At these big conventions in America there is this financial part, because you can sell your prints there. People are spending a lot of money on original prints at conventions and festivals. So, that could also be a motif, although I’m visiting San Diego and New York Comicons for ages, and I don’t care if I haven’t sold any prints, cause I like to be there. It depends, people invite you somewhere and sometimes you have time, sometimes not; if you don’t have time there is no joy in visiting it. I mean, to go somewhere for a couple of days and then just think about that how you will struggle some situation back home, it’s not very recommendable. But when you have time, then it’s cool.

You’ve started with small publishers, but then switched to big publishers… Maybe this question would be banal, but there are pluses and minuses on working for both sides, not only financial but also creatively, stuff that slightly touches the relation between creators and editors…

ER: A-ha! Well, generally, things are like this: small house – less money. When somebody is paying you less, then he is non-selective because it’s not so easy to get into a sort of ‘quality control’ and shit like that; then to crap to somebody about work; who is not paid well. Then you have a lot of stuff as a result of that. It depends on the publishing house. The problem in America is that things are strictly divided into commercial, either big or small but commercial houses and, at the other side, arty farty houses. Basically there are not many of them for whom I can say that I like them, that isn’t commercial glossy superhero stuff, but also not arty farty principle.

Truly, I’m not interested in any of them. I’m interested in something between that. I mean, fuck, the other question is: is that actually something between? Actually, I found myself in commercial big publisher like Marvel. They have interest for stuff that I’m interested too; and they publish that. This is to me a kind of a ‘nice and warm place’ and I like to be there. I don’t know for long, but for now I like it. Well, more or less… I mean, with small publishers you have the situation that they really try hard to profile themselves, and that means they are not very friendly to stuff that is not fitted for their profile. From that point of view, seems logical then to work on something you really like in Marvel, other than in a small publishing agency.

Loki by Esad Ribic (c)

And your experiences with Vertigo?

ER: While I was working in Vertigo, I had this problem with typical issues of working for a small publisher, despite the fact we are talking about DC, one of the major publishers in US. They have a kind of desirable result how stuff should be written and drawn, and just small things that are out of this standard is welcomed there. Then you have endless small conflicts with editors and I don’t like that.

You also do covers for books and illustration art, can you live only by designing covers?

ER: No. If I would do just covers in larger amount maybe I could live just from designing covers for books. Basically, when I started to work in that field, I started to search for a job abroad, cause I couldn’t live only from that here. It was a kind of standard to wait so long for payments, so my first impulse in seeking the job at the international market was financially motivated.

My first published comic was actually a showcase, my intention was not to publish it, but then it happened. When you find a place abroad, then you follow your interests. It’s a kind of stupid not to be present at the local scene, so this work with covers is a symbolical way to be present at this scene. It seems like there is no strong need in Croatia for my work. I can’t work on stuff I don’t like; and if there is no need for my work here I don’t have other choice then to work abroad. So, it is meant to be as a small output.

Silver Surfer and Spiderman by Esad Ribic (c)

Which comic superhero is for you the most absurd character? (laughs)

ER: They are all absurd to me (seriously). I don’t know where to start! (laughs)

Yeah, with whom do you want to start with? (laughs)

ER: No, really. Even those guys that are kind of funnier from the other or stranger doesn’t mean they are not absurd to me.  I was working for several years on superheroes, X-man and so, I really tried to present them as more approachable. You know, when you present something from ‘fantasy’ world in more realistic world, maybe those characters look more like ‘fantasy’ then in the first place. I’m trying to work on stuff that, in theory, would pull in the reader into the story that is world itself.

Creating details that are maybe not so important for this story telling approach but have something what people abroad call immersive quality, and they find that very important. Basically, those things turned me on in comics when I was a kid. A sort of, OK the story seems cool but it looks like shit. I mean, things can also look beautiful, but if they’re only of decorative nature it’s also pointless. They don’t have this immersive quality to plug in readers into story, a sort of reality or at least, an approximation of reality. Today is very popular to do things based on post-modern principles, what I find stupid now. I think that the process of creating should be invisible.  But, I mean, fuck… that’s the thing I’m trying to work on, but I don’t know if I succeeded. That’s another issue!

Brotherhood by Esad Ribic (c)

Your work has been exhibited in galleries. Do you think that comics belong to galleries?

ER: No, comics are not suitable to hang on the walls. As for myself, I wouldn’t ever exhibit on the wall, because it’s like buying a car without wheels. Simply, it’s not a finished product. Comic is invented for reading. Exhibitions are happening because somebody is asking, boring and then I just give my work to be exhibited. Well, OK, hang them. I don’t see anything in that, really.

There are some things that are more functional in galleries, maybe one page comic, because it’s a unity. But to exhibit a part of engine of a Fico, what are one or two pages on the wall. Some pages are maybe visually more beautiful from the rest, bla bla… Maybe somebody finds it interesting, but I think we should look at comics as bigger and more complex piece. We haven’t started to listen only 10 seconds of songs, so there is no reason to look only at one page of comic. You have to read it from beginning to the end, I mean.

What is your inspiration, alongside with comics?

ER: Well, for some time I’m inspired with everything but not comics. When medium starts to do auto-reference that is an incestuous circle, you know. So, I rather like references to stuff that don’t have anything in common with that media. Books… films… music… everything that inspires me in a particular moment, and then you just throw it out, chewed in a way. In the first moment you are not able to recognize it as it is. It’s hard to, because I don’t think about that, actually. At least, I’m not doing it consciously, searching for an inspiration.

Simply, I have phases when I’m getting into many things and phases when I don’t listen or watch anything. Fuck, those other phases are phases when I’m working too much and just throwing out. Later, you can recognize some things: OK, I ‘stole’ that from here or there. Actually, minor of that has been done consciously.

Four Horsemen by Esad Ribic (c)

Are you still playing drums in your band?

ER: No, no. I don’t have band for some time, the last band split up for about a year ago. I haven’t found time for playing, so at the moment nothing happens in that field. Yeah, that’s my standard hobby for decades. But that’s really a hobby; I never had pretension to perform. Comics are things I like to do.

What kind of music do you listen?

ER: Mostly metal and progressive jazz rock. Those guys that are chipping for long on guitars (laughs)

Esad, thanks a lot!

Related link: Interview with Esad Ribic, part l: Catching the Silver Surfer