Denver Pop Culture Con would like to thank Georges Jeanty for donating his time to provide us with a playful spin on our mascot, Captain Colorado. His wonderful art can be seen in our advertisements and will be featured on DPCC’16 exclusive t-shirts, bags, posters and other collectables. Be sure to purchase these items at the DPCC’16 Main Merch Booth and visit him at Artist Valley table AV062 to have these items signed.
Jeanty also supplied art for our souvenir program cover (with color by Monte Moore) and worked with Hard Rock Cafe Denver in designing a DPCC’16 Limited Edition pin set, available exclusively at Hard Rock Cafe.
We recently spoke with the Buffy the Vampire and Firefly/Serenity artist to get an update on what other things he’s been working on since his DPCC’14 appearance.
Your work on Buffy and Serenity comics has made you a noted “Whedonverse” artist. Will you be revisiting that universe anytime soon?
I will! Joss announced a new Serenity mini-series at last year’s San Diego con, and I will be drawing it. The first issue comes out in October.
Before “Buffy” you were a regular Marvel X-Men artist, but more on the “outer fringes” with Bishop, Deadpool, Gambit and Weapon X. What was it like working on the “Merc with the Mouth,” Deadpool?
Yeah. It’s weird. I never drew one of the X-books, but I was all over the perimeter with the single mutants. Deadpool was a book that I didn’t think I would like when I got the assignment, but I quickly understood the character and treated the book as a black comedy. So most of my focus on the book was setting up the “jokes” and seeing how I could draw a particular scene for laughs. It’s funny how much stuff I drew back then that has found its way into the movies.
You were in Denver last year for a “Think Tank” project. Could you tell us more about that?
That was a surreal experience. I was asked to join a focus group who invited some of the great thinkers of the past few years to sit in a literal tank that they constructed in Downtown Denver. It had glass walls on all four sides so you could look inside at everyone thinking for a few straight hours, with the goal of discussing what will Denver look like in the coming future. I was tagged to illustrate some of their visions. It was a very unique evening.
What was THE comic book or comic book character that inspired you to draw comics?
There really was no one defining book or character. I fell in love with the Fantastic Four as a kid and embraced them totally. I think I would have drawn comics regardless. Drawing was always like an itch that I had to scratch as a kid, and thank god to this day I still feel itchy!
In your past interviews you mentioned your experience in acting. Do you rely on these skills when drawing comics?
I do! l treat a comic script as I would a movie script. You have your scene and your characters in that scene. You think about what they’re doing, even if they’re not the focus of that panel. I try and treat my characters as actors, because when you’re in drama you’re taught to stay in character even if your character is not the focus. So you can imagine how tough it is when I’m doing a book like Serenity where often there are 8 characters in the scene talking or just sitting around. Easy, it ain’t!
Georges Facebook page: facebook.com/kabalounge
Georges Twitter page: twitter.com/kabalounge