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| The Crossing artist Daniel Panero. |
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Andrew Ardizzi: It's been nearly two years since we checked in with you, your first interview with Dino having appeared on our blog way back in February 2011. A lot has happened in our neck of the woods since then, but how have you been? What have you been up to?
Daniel
Panero Bertucci: I have been busy with work obligations and working on new
pages whenever I get the chance to do so. I have also been following with
interest the CFC news and updates through the newsletter and social media. It’s
a great way to keep us connected and reach out to the readers!
AA: When you and Dino chatted, it
came at a time when we had released the first issue of The Crossing several
months before, while the second issue was still about eight months away from
being finished. Looking back almost three years later on that first book, what
are your thoughts on yours and Dino's entries in issue one?
DPB: I
enjoyed the opportunity of creating environments and characters for which there
had been no previous visual reference. Being from Spain, I liked the fact that
the action took place in Castile, but at the same time, that put some pressure
on me because I wanted to be up to the task of representing the setting
accurately. I had to do some research on the historic period, which is
something that I kept doing for the previous stories and also those I am
currently working on. As I am getting more familiar with the time period, it
becomes easier for me to create a coherent, realistic universe. Overall,
although there are things that I would have done differently now, I am pleased
with my work on the first book, also because it marked my first collaboration
with Dino and with CFC. On a different note, I must mention Mae Hao´s superb
coloring work.
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| The Crossing #1 cover by Alisson Borges. |
DPB: I
like the fact that the story is set centuries ago. I think that setting and the
action in the past worked very well with these kinds of stories and the fantasy
genre in general. For me, it was important to convey the action in a realistic
and believable way, so that the reader would be as involved reading these
stories as when he or she deals with the adult versions of the characters.
AA: One of the touches that leaps
out on the second page of Magic 101 is the smaller inset panel of a
stoic Natanael that gives way as the scene pulls back to reveal Natanael is
hanging on every word of his teacher's lesson. It's very simple, but nicely
nuanced because it hits home with who the character is. How did you go about
composing that page? I feel it's very readable, in that it's easy for your eye
to follow the smaller panel to the shot of Natanael sitting at his desk, then
following his gaze to Ilonus.
DPB: Thank
you. I just followed the indications on Dino´s script regarding the character´s
attitude. And as for the composition goes, I opted for a larger panel so
that I would be able to include a detailed background and a greater number of
characters. This big panel allows me to introduce many new characters to the
reader for the first time. I like doing panels like this once in a while.
They're both fun to draw and help to highlight some key moments in the
story.
AA: I noticed you used a lot of darker tones and shadows in your ink work in the story too. Was that something you already had in mind when reading Dino's script?
DPB: It
was mainly due to the fact that I was becoming more confident with my inking
style but Dino´s script was definitively a push to
increase the amount of shadows, as the action takes place in the interior of a
medieval cathedral. In addition to the script, the color black has an interesting
connection to the Spain of that time period, as it was a color that the royal
family and the nobility chose for their garments. It was indicative of Spain´s
ruling class´ both austere and pious character. For these, among other reasons,
I believe a heavy inking style might work well with the stories we are telling
now.
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| Page 2 from "The Emissary: Ringside." |
DPB: I
think so. Being more used to penciling, I find that inking can be challenging,
because what works with pencil sometimes does not translate well into ink.
However, the more pages I do, the easier it becomes for me to adjust my pencil
work to something that I can render on ink. I am working towards an inking
style that should highlight the strengths of the pencils and also contribute to
the general readability of the page, with balanced masses of black and white.
AA: I think fans can definitely see
in the second issue of The Crossing that your work has evolved. Where
the first Magic story feels a little confined at times, it's almost as
though you really took the time to break loose a bit in The Crossing #2
on The Emissary: Ringside and Magic 001:Hedwig and the Witch.
What was it like working with Dino on those scripts?
DPB: Ringside
had two parallel narratives -- the eskrima fight and the negotiation
taking place in the crowd -- which were great devices to give the story a good
flow. The fight was interesting to draw, and I recall myself watching some
videos on the internet on eskrima in order to get an idea of what this Philippine martial art looks like. Hedwig
and the Witch gave
me the opportunity to draw the eerie dry wastelands of Castile and use a large
panel to show Hedwig in action as he hadn’t been seen before.
AA: Unlike the first Magic story, these stories are a little more action-oriented, while we see you breaking away from basic layouts and using a lot of the white space to tell portions of the story. It's very well executed at that! What influenced you to visually tell part of the story that way?
DPB: Thank
you! I tend to think of page composition as a whole, where the panels should
not work only as individual representations of specific actions, but also as
part of the page’s layout. In order to make the page more dynamic and help its
readability, I try to include a variety of panel shapes, sizes and borders (or
lack of them) whenever I think it´s possible.
AA: You and Dino had a second story,
a two-pager focusing on Hedwig, in the same issue. What do you recall
about that short story?
DPB: I
liked how Dino had scripted all that action and character development into a
really short story, while still keeping a classic plot structure with a
beginning, a middle and an end. Kudos to Dino for that! Furthermore, the
two-pager also had a relatively low number of panels, which left room for me to
do some big drawings to tell the story.
AA: It was really cool to see Hedwig
finally cut loose a little too. In the first issue of The Crossing, he
seemed fairly reserved and didn't really use his powers very much. On the first
page of Hedwig and the Witch we see him dealing with a thief rather emphatically, and it turned out to
be the coolest part of the two-page story. Did you enjoy drawing that panel,
and what inspired it? The crackling from his eyes is pretty neat, by the way.
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| Hedwig meets a common thief in "Magic 001: Hedwig and the Witch" in The Crossing #2. |
DPB: Thank
you! As I was thinking about the scene, it occurred to me that it would have a
better visual impact if Hedwig´s reaction displayed some of his powers, hence
the idea that the thief’s hand, as he is grasping it, becomes bony and
withered. It was an addition to Dino’s script which was meant to visually spice
up the scene, while at the same time, try to be faithful to the spirit of the
story.
AA: The two-pager kind of ends on a
quieter note with Hedwig smugly striding off, with the moon in the background
and darkness enveloping the top half of his face. What were you trying to
convey with this last panel?
DPB: I was
trying to render the gloomy, harsh and dry plains of Castile, which even today
are not densely populated areas and can be very evocative. They make a perfect
background for the type of story we were telling and Dino hit the nail on the
head by having Hedwig encounter the nomadic thieves and the fortuneteller.
Those are elements that are endemic of medieval Southern Europe and I am happy
he included them in the narrative.
AA: Hedwig is really becoming a
scary character in his own right, and is really becoming more of a
Machiavellian character. Did you enjoy drawing him in a different setting than
you had been in Magic 101?
DPB: I
think it’s important to have a good balance between action and dialogue scenes.
And as long as neither kind prevails too much, they are both gratifying
to do. This said, drawing Hedwig showing off a little bit and wandering through
the moors was definitely enjoyable and I wouldn’t mind doing similar features
in the future.
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| One of the latest pages from The Crossing #3. |
DPB: It
seems to me that Dino, as the experienced writer he is, has always had a very
clear idea of how he wants the story to unfold, and all of his stories have his
distinctive well-paced, skillfully conceived endings style of writing. If we
also consider the fact that there has not been enough time for a big story
arc, I guess the answer to your question is that it’s still too early to tell.
AA: What has been your favourite panel to draw so far?
DPB: There
is a sequence in a story, that is still unpublished, where one of the priests
from the monastery, who has revealed Hedwig’s evil nature, reaches for an
object to defend himself from him, while Ilonus witnesses the scene. I was
pleased with how that panel came out then, however I would like to believe that
the best panel is always a few stories ahead. In other words, it has yet to come.
AA: You and Dino are seemingly
becoming the CFU's "Batman and Robin." Who wears the cowl in the
team?
DPB:
That’s funny. Our initials are also Ds as in "Dynamic Duo!" I guess that,
as in most creative teams, the writer has the leading role. I am a firm
believer in the fact that no matter how nice the art is, what ultimately makes
you flip the pages of a book is a strong, captivating story. My role in this
partnership is doing my best to provide a good visual narrative, and I wouldn't
have it any other way.
AA: You two have worked on a lot of
scripts for us together, but as Dino told us when we chatted with him, you two worked on a project of your own outside the Crystal Fractals realms.
Dino had mentioned that he had been pitching scripts to Skipper Martin for
Bizarre New World and once it was approved, you were tapped you to do the art. Can you talk a little about the
"Soar Spot" story and how you approached it?
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| Dino and Daniel soar again in BNW's Soar Spot. |
AA: What's next for you? Do you have
any other projects on the horizon?
DPB: Not really.
But I am willing to illustrate a longer book, like a one-shot or special
issue, and having it be a crowdfunded project. That is when the readers and
fans’ support becomes crucial. We have to take advantage of being comic book
creators in the digital era and I believe the CFU has a lot of potential.
AA: Do you have anything else you'd like to say to your fans or the
readers on the Crystal Fractals blog?
DPB: Thank
you for your support and spread the word! And hope to see you soon at a Comic
Con.
AA: Thanks for chatting with us Daniel, we appreciate you
taking the time!
DPB: Thank
you, Andrew, any time!
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We just wanted to thank Daniel once again for donating his time to chat with us and answer our questions. He's a tremendous comic talent, and it was a pleasure to catch up with him again. If you'd like to learn more about his work, you can find him online as well as on Twitter. Also, stay tuned to the blog because Daniel just told us that another page is nearly completed for The Crossing #3, and we can't wait to see it!
Thanks for reading!
-Andrew
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We just wanted to thank Daniel once again for donating his time to chat with us and answer our questions. He's a tremendous comic talent, and it was a pleasure to catch up with him again. If you'd like to learn more about his work, you can find him online as well as on Twitter. Also, stay tuned to the blog because Daniel just told us that another page is nearly completed for The Crossing #3, and we can't wait to see it!
Thanks for reading!
-Andrew
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