PBR Recently chatted with Tim Seeley, who provides the pencils for Devil's Due's new adaptation of R.A. Salvatore's classic Fantasy novel, Homeland.  Homeland is the first book of the Dark Elf trilogy, and Devil's Due plans to bring us the entire trilogy, with three 48-page comics for each novel.  The first issue hits this week!  Here's what Tim Seeley had to say...

Andrew Parent: Standard fare up front; how did you get assigned to this project?

Tim Seeley: I've been working as the staff artist at Devil's Due for almost three years, so as I was wrapping up my run on G.I. Joe, Josh mentioned he wanted to do the D&D novels as comics.  At first, I pestered him to do Dragonlance, but, when we decided to do Dark Elf, I got lucky and was assigned to the case.

AP: Were you a fan of the fantasy genre, either in books, comics or movies?

TS: Fo' Sho'.  I read this stuff by the bucket load as a kid.  I grew up on Dungeons & Dragons novels, and played the game WAY too often as a kid.  We spent whole summers playing our characters up to Immortal level so we could do super powered stuff and take over the world.  I guess my sword and sorcery love goes back to my childhood obsession with He-Man and the Masters of the Universe!

AP: Had you read R.A. Salvatore's books before talking this on, or read them as research after getting abourd?

TS: Yeah, I read them when I was a kid...13 or so.  Jesus...15 years ago!  I was pretty amazed at how much I remembered.

AP: Salvatore's Dark Elf Trilogy is a very visual one; how do you translate the words in the book into your art?

TS: I try to utilize as many preexisting designs as I can...the Todd Lockwood cover art was a big inspiration as well as the Sam Wood monster designs.  Anything I can't find, I try to design in the vein of what the fans love, and what Bob's words say.

AP: Menzoberranzan is one of the most unique and richly visual cities in fantasy literature.  What was it like to breathe life into it?

TS: Pretty intimidating.  There was very little art done of the city...I pretty much made up a lot of it from scratch.  I just tried to keep it as majestic and huge as I could...it has to feel as real as a street in Chicago, while having this very alien, otherworldly aspect.

AP: Is a picture really worth a thousand words in this case?

TS: Hah...yeah...well, in this case, one page of pictures is worth roughly three pages of words.

AP: What visual references did you use for your work?

TS: Version 3.5 of the D&D game is never far from my drawing desk...I pour over the designs in that.  I like to check out "fan art" too...it helps me visualize the characters to look over the art of people who love this stuff best.

AP: Did you model any of the characters after real people?

TS: I did actually.  Since Drizzt's sisters and his mom could easily look way too similar (they're all white haired, black skinned bombshells), I tried hard to make them look distinct.  Malice is modeled after Angelina Jolie, Briza after Gina Gershon.  I modeled Maya and Vierna after my favorite Suicide Girl models.  Heh heh...I probably shouldn't have admitted that.

AP: Is it more difficult to bring Elves to life on the page than something more familiar, such as humans?  Is it tougher to make each character distinct here as opposed to, say, your work on G.I. Joe?

TS: It really is, yeah.  I've had a lot of trouble making them distinct while maintaining the new "elf design" of the latest D&D stuff.  To me, it's the struggle of keeping them relatable and not just weird and alien looking.  I think Peter Jackson pulled that off very elegantly in the LOTR films...Orlando Bloom is still elfish, but they didn't layer him up with make-up.

AP: Typically in comics males are portrayed as much larger and stronger than females; in Salvatore's novels, the opposite is the case, with the female Drow elves being larger and physically superior.  How is this going to be presented in your work?

TS: I think my approach to it was to keep the women beautiful and feminine, but to just make them very stoic and serene...impossibly calm and powerful.  Oh, heh, and I just drew them taller than the boys.

AP: The original stories contained a fair amount of graphic violence, particularly directed by the ruling class towards slaves.  Will this be portrayed in this adaptation, and if so how?

TS: Well...sort of.  Nothing is "cut out" per se...but Hasbro likes to keep their comics PG so a lot of the really gory stuff happens off panel.  It's implied more than shown for certain things.  That was tough for me, because I really like to draw gory stuff, and I tend to get carried away.  Too many Tarantino movies for me!

AP: This trilogy is set primarily in darkness.  How are you able to present visually a story that takes place in the dark, and whose inhabitants view the world in the infrared spectrum?

TS: We basically had to ignore that aspect.  I mean, if they were making a film, they'd have to as well.  It's still in the dark, but for the purpose of storytelling, it's all lit up for the reader.

AP: Similarly, a technique used in combat by the Drow Elves is to drop a "globe of darkness", in which no light or heat can be seen.  How, if at all, will this be handled in the comic?

TS: I find the best approach for things like that is just to keep it simple.  The point is to tell a story, and I'll imply as much as I can while allowing the reader to understand what's going on.

AP: How important are pencils, inks and colors respectively in a work like this?

TS:  VERY.  I'm lucky to work with a talented inker (Andrew Pepoy) and a really good colorist on this project (Blond).  It's important for us all to be "on the level", especially Blond and I.  The color is going to be a strong aspect of these books...it helps define the uniqueness of the Drow world.  So far, I think Blond has done a pretty kick-ass job.

AP: The issues are long, at 48 pages each.  How long does it take you to pencil each issue?

TS: Long.  Fortunately, I'm pretty fast, and I can do about 7 pages a week.  That still puts me at about 6 weeks!

AP: Are there plans to complete the other books in the Dark Elf Trilogy?  Any thoughts on doing the books beyond that?

TS:  Yeah, I start right up on Exile when I finish Homeland.  Dark Elf fans are stuck with me. :)

AP: The first issue is shipping with two covers, one by you, and another by Gez Fry.  How do you feel about having your work published with someone else's art on the cover rather than your own?  Is it something you'd like to see more of, or less of in comics?

TS: I don't mind too much.  There is that sort of possessiveness about your project...to do EVERYTHING you can.  But Gez is a talented dude, and I like his work.  I'm happy to have covers by him.

AP: What is more fulfilling; looking at an issue you've pencilled, or holding a finished script that you've written in your hand?

TS:  Hmmm...I'm gonna have to go with the "finished script".  I tend to have a lot less doubts about my writing.  No matter what, there's always aspects of any book I've drawn that I don't like.  But, when you get a script done it's just nice to know you get to pass it on to the artist and wait for your ideas to get translated into beautiful art.

AP: What other books should we look for from you in the future?

TS: I've got a Hack/Slash mini-series set up for November.  I can't wait to get started on that.  And, there's the aforementioned Exile, which I'll be scribbling away at as soon as I finish off Homeland.  I'd like to draw a few short stories for books I like, so y'know, hit me up, kids.