Welcome back kiddies. I have lured Ben Templesmith into the depths to pick his brain about life and everything in between. So sit back and relax as he tells us about who he is, what he does, and what we can expect from him in the future. Trust me, you will like what you read!
Alright let’s start out with a short answer section and get the usual out of the way.
Name:
Ben Templesmith
Age:
Old enough. That’s what my mum always used to say.
Married/Single/Dating/Other:
Currently pursuing a relationship with a Space Squid type entity after a near death experience.
Pets:
Some cats & a couple humans. Pretty sure the cats are smarter. No names, national security reasons.
Highest Education Level:
I learned to write my name in 1991
(The year Australia first got electricity) and basically went from there. Eventually culminating in a fancy, doily dressed university degree in Design.
High School Mascot:
We don’t actually do such things down there much. They rejected my idea for it to be “Sherman the Sex Offender” when I proposed one though.
First Job:
Making sure “Clan of the Cave Bear” was playing endlessly at the vid store I worked at because Daryl Hannah was quite attractive with subtitles.
Favorite place to vacation:
I travel a lot but rarely vacation. Toss up between Hawaii and Thailand for actual attempts at relaxation though, but would like to live in neither places for long.
Staying with short answers let’s talk about what you do:
Comic(s) Before the day after tomorrow:
I have no real idea when most of the stuff I worked on was really. Suffice to say 30 Days of Night and Hellspawn were started in 2002-2003 and after that it’s a bit of a blur. I worked (and still do) on more than one thing at a time usually so I never keep track. Apparently there’s a list on my wiki page of everything with dates but I never wrote it!
Alright all that stuff aside, let’s get to the meat of the interview:
What do you do when not making comics?
Sleep. Abuse twitter. Try to travel a bit. Read books on history as much as possible.
Favorite TV Shows past and present?
Rome, Venture Brothers, BSG before I saw the ending…Doctor Who and Breaking Bad.
Favorite comic character when you were 8, 18 and 28?
Err..Grey Hulk…Spider Jerusalem…Shaolin Cowboy.
Sports Fan? Who ya rooting for?
The West Coast Eagles Football club. That’s AFL. Not the American one either, but proper football. No padding. More blood and played on a field larger than a soccer pitch.
Before the age of 16 what was your favorite Halloween Costume? After 16?
Australia doesn’t do American traditions too much. Only time I dressed up was last year for a party as Dr Who.
Bigfoot and Dracula get in a fight. Who do you think started it and why?
Bigfoot, clearly is a hippy eco friendly progressive. Dracula has all the attributes to make him a perfect Dick Cheney style Republican. They’d probably argue over the laughable state of health care in the US, compared to most other western nations. I mean think about it, Dracula doesn’t die. What does he need to care about affordable medicine for all for?
You’re on a tour of Mount Rushmore when you lose the rest of your group. Left in Washington’s nose for 4 days, what do you do to pass the time?
Call for help on my iphone then spend the waiting time surfing for porn.
Back to comic stuff for now.
Knowing that Iceman is the greatest hero of all time, why do you think he is so underused?
Global warming?
If you were to make a comic about the Killer Rabbits of New Guinea, what would it be called and sell me on a quick pitch. GO!
I think I’ll leave that stuff to the Hollywood types.
I guess we can all agree that your art style isn’t too shabby, but what did you really want to be when you grew up?
Older. Art isn’t something you choose really, it chooses you. I’ve been a slave to my passions since I was a kid and lucky for me, can earn a living at it so far.That’s really all there is to know.
Where is the real money at in comic creating?
Creator owned comics. Well, if you mean for actual creators. If they succeed, not only should you make money from a book for literally decades, but the other media stuff can be successful to.
When you’re making comics what’s going on around you? Music, what kind? Silence? TV on?
Movie soundtrack music mostly. Or silence sometimes too.
10 years from now where do you see yourself?
The UK or Canada, looking out at some green landscape with mist and rain and stuff from my studio as I paint what I want for an exhibit and an art book. And then the five Russian hookers in the other room call out to me and tell me the cocaine has arrived and it’s pretty good.
No wait, wait…that last bit is Tiger Woods I think, not me.
Alright we can finish up with a quick word association game. I will say a word, you give me a quick one sentence response.
28 Days Later?
That time of the month?
Vampires?
American Health Insurance.
11:57 a.m.?
Coffee.
Thongs?
Proper name for “flip flops” where I’m from.
My pet monster?
Pedophiles.
Anime?
Schoolgirl panty shots. (Apparently it’s an entire genre?)
Coloring books?
Republican policy documents.
Decapitated Dan?
Jeffery Dalmer?
Ben Templesmith?
Obviously a fake name.
Thanks so much Ben.
To see what Ben is up to and check out his works please go to http://www.templesmith.com/faze3/
Decapitated Dan
decapitateddan@comicattack.net
This dude seems really cool. He’s got a very “in your face” kind of style.
Great interview Dan!
I absolutely loved Groom Lake. Ben’s style is very cool and his play with colors is what makes it for me.
…and did he mean Jeffrey Dahmer?
He definitely has a style all his own and I’ve liked those covers. Great interview DD! “Schoolgirl panty shots. (Apparently it’s an entire genre?)” lmao!
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