Blog

Welcome back kiddies! This time we welcome Phil Hester into the dungeon. 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:
Phil Hester

Age:
43

Married/Single/Dating/Other:
Married 24 years

Pets:
My daughter owns a black dwarf rabbit named Midnight.

Highest Education Level:
BFA from The University of Iowa

High School Mascot:
Bears

First Job:
Simultaneously a paper boy and grocery bag boy (anything with “boy” in it).

Favorite Song to Sing while in the car:
“Package Thief” by Superchunk despite not knowing any of the words.

Staying with short answers, let’s talk about what you do:

Comic(s) you created Before 1995:
Fringe w/Paul Tobin

1996 -1999:
The Wretch, Holy Terror w/Jason Caskey

2000 – Yesterday:
The Coffin & Deep Sleeper w/Mike Huddleston,
Firebreather w/Andy Kuhn,
Antoine Sharpe w/John McCrea,
13 Steps w/Kevin Mellon,
Golly w/Brook Turner,
Irredeemable Ant-Man w/Robert Kirkman,
The Anchor w/Brian Churilla

Work for Hire highlights include drawing:
Swamp Thing, The Crow, Green Arrow, Nightwing, El Diablo, and writing: The Darkness, Black Terror, Gen 13, Vampirella

Alright all that stuff aside, let’s get to the meat of the interview:

What do you do when not making comics?
I get to work from home, so I’m very involved in the lives of my kids (coach, Scout leader, etc.). Outside of that I’m pretty much a comic book making robot.

Favorite TV show, Movie and Book?
Lost/Curb Your Enthusiasm (tie!), Lawrence of Arabia/The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (another tie!), Dune by Frank Herbert/Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut (yet another tie!)

You take a take a cruise to Alaska, when all of the sudden, BAMM! The boat gets hit by a renegade whale. What do you do to save the boat and its passengers?
I know I’m supposed to give a funny answer here, but I would undoubtedly be the last person off the boat, letting all go ahead, organizing life boat evacuation.

When you were little, let’s say 8 or 9, what was your favorite thing to do for fun?
It would involve mud or clay. Mudballs were a big part of my life.

If you had to listen to one CD for a full week and nothing else, what would it be?
Probably Hvarf/Heim by Sigur Ros.

Worst movie you ever saw?
Again, I have kids, so when they were younger I had to slog through a lot of bad movies. Luckily, I learned to put my arm over each kid and sleep in the theater. If they moved from their seat they would have to lift my arm and wake me. I slept through 80% of Thomas the Tank Engine: The Movie, which was killing me before I slipped into blissful oblivion.

Back to comic stuff for now.

Knowing that Iceman is the greatest hero of all time, why do you think he is so underused?
Every pro I know is holding back, waiting for you to write his ultimate showcase. Get to it, man.

Favorite comic when you were 12, 22, and now?
Marvel Team-Up (I subscribed!), The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City.

Strangest thing that has ever happened to you at a comic show?
I was asked to do a sketch while standing at a urinal. I did it without halting the task at hand. Photos exist somewhere on the web. Sadly, they are completely SFW.

Alright you’re making a comic about a little girl who has the ability to stare into the sun without going blind. What’s the title, and sell me on a quick pitch? Go!
You know what’s odd? My 16 year old nephew, who’s quite a good comic book artist himself, created a super-heroine who got her powers by staring into the sun at close range. She lost her sight, but gained the ability to control radiation and “felt” objects and people through her powers.

We all know how good you are at making comics, but what can you do with a jar of salsa and toenail clippers?
Create an extremely well-groomed appetizer.

Where is the real money at in comics?
Maryland.

When you’re making comics, what’s going on around you? Music, what kind? Silence? TV on?
When drawing I like to listen to baseball, paranormal radio (Coast 2 Coast AM), old time radio, or music. When writing I have to have silence or minimal/ambient music.

10 years from now. Where do you see yourself?
Hopefully able to write and draw choice assignments from Marvel or DC while at the same time producing a graphic novel or two a year of my own creations… and hopefully watching some of them on the big screen. Assuming ANY of those things still exist.

Alright, we can finish up with a quick word association game. I will say a word, you give me a quick one sentence response.

The Anchor?
Immortal monk refuses to turn the other cheek and battles the hordes of hell with his fists.

BOOM! Studios?
The hardest working small (for now) publisher around.

Horror Comics?
More, please.

Twilight?
Adored by my thirteen-year-old daughter.

Cowbell?
Why not?

6+9=Square?
Dan, you have too much time on your hands.

Decapitated Dan?
Why would anyone want to cut off your head?

Phil Hester?
Here for your comics reading pleasure.

Thanks so much Phil!

To check out what Phil is up to, please go to http://www.shocktraumastudios.com/ and read his books because they kick ass!

Decapitated Dan
decapitateddan@comicattack.net