Comic Artist - Volume 3 2016

Snake skin © http://www.iStock.com/gmnicholas

CROWNING OF

KING CONAN

Argentine artist Tomás Giorello, who’s been drawing

Conan since 2007, talks about his work on King Conan

How did you get into drawing comics?

After high school, I studied illustration

and drawing comics with the Villagràn

brothers. They taught me how to draw

and how to get into the comic book field.

How did you end up drawing Conan?

I had finished a five-year run on a Star

Wars title at Dark Horse and was asked

if I was interested in replacing Cary Nord.

What media did you use for Conan?

I used 0.5 2B and 0.7 2B pencils.

You drew Conan, Conan the Cimmerian

and King Conan. How have you

developed him, and developed as an

artist, over the last nine years?

I think I’ve changed a lot. For some artists

drawing the same character gets tedious,

but for me it’s the opposite. The more

you draw something, the better you get

at it and the better it gets, and it’s very

exciting to experience it. As for Conan,

I’ve always seen him as an experienced

warrior, so drawing him in his youth

wasn’t easy for me. It was a great change

when we jumped into his older years in

King Conan. I got the chance to finally

give his face harder features and darker

expressions, and put scars on his body.

What’s been your favourite storyline?

“Hour Of The Dragon” and “Wolves

Beyond The Border,” both in King Conan.

Those stories show more of his human

side. He feels the weight of his crown,

finds love, yearns for her once she’s gone.

It was a chance to show a wide range of

expressions, a more complex Conan. He’s

not just a big guy with a sword.

Which is your favourite cover?

The first in the “Wolves Beyond The

Border” set, because it shows his spirit.

He’s a king, he has everything power and

gold can buy, but he stands there, sword

in hand, his armour battered and covered

with blood, eyes wild and filled with

dissatisfaction, looking for new horizons.

Which other Conan artists do you

admire most, and why?

John Buscema, Frank Frazetta, Alfredo

Alcala, Nestor Redondo, Alex Niño,

Cary Nord and many others. They all

made the character bigger and more

real in one way or another, from the

strength in Frazetta and Buscema’s

Conan to the dynamism and freshness

in Nord’s. But I tried not to look at them

while drawing mine, so that I could

come up with my own version of him.

NO SATISFACTION

The cover art for the Wolves

Beyond the Border mini-series is

one of Tomás Giorello’s favourites.

CONQUEROR

As Conan ages, Tomás gives him

the look of a jaded campaigner,

with grey beard to round it off.

Feature