Tripwire Talks To UK Comic Artist John McCrea

From Hitman To Dead Eyes

Tripwire’s contributing writer Paul N Neal recently had another opportunity to talk to the respected comic artist John McCrea, Photo Credit: Marvel Comics writer Gerry Duggan took this photo of John at dinner in Portland with Rick Remender, Robert Kirkman and G Duggan (2018.) …

In the past Paul has interviewed John about his early career and his thoughts at the time. In a follow-up interview Paul was also fortunate enough to ask the artist extensively about his time co-creating Hitman ahead of the release of the first Hitman Omnibus book. This brings Tripwire full circle to ask John about his career after Hitman and what he is currently working on. Links to the previous two interviews are provided at the end of this piece.

TRIPWIRE: The last time we spoke, it was a month or two before the release of the first Hitman Omnibus. I dare say precise sales figures are a closely guarded secret but have DC given you any indication whether they were pleased with the sales of the book? From your point of view, have you found it has been well received by fans?

JOHN McCREA: DC were very happy with the sales on the book- they were better than they had expected so the second Hitman Omnibus is indeed happening. I have seen and heard some of the feedback and it has all been pretty positive on the first volume, I’m happy to say. Thanks to everyone out there who picked it up!

TW: It may be too early to ask, but have you been given any indication when the second Hitman Omnibus may be published?

JM: The second omnibus is due around September, I believe. There’s going to be a whole lot of new and unseen extras in the book, a lot more than in the first volume.

TW: Apart from some crossovers, Hitman finished around 2001. You’ve kept busy with other projects, although your output as an artist seemed (perhaps unfairly) to slow down a little. In the past you mentioned the pressures of deadlines, did you seek out work that gave you a bit more time as an artist?

JM: My work really started slowing down in 2003 when I had my first kid. I have three kids and, yes, they really do eat into my time. I’m the stay-at-home parent as my wife kept working. The idea of doing 60 monthly issues of a book seems like science fiction to me now. Also, in the last five years I’ve had long Covid pretty bad which really put a crimp in my ability to draw quickly. But I feel like I have improved as an artist, so you lose some, you win some.

TW: As a fan of The Simpsons, I am curious how you came to work again with Garth Ennis on a Treehouse of Horror story? On paper that seems almost a dangerous proposition letting your partnership loose on such a lucrative property.

JM: Garth and I were at a show in Germany and Bill Morrison was there and he asked us to do a story. We jumped at the chance as we’re both big fans of the show. Plus, we were to be Simpsonised at the back of the book! That was a big factor in saying yes. Treehouse of Horror took a lot of risks with the artistic teams and stories, so I don’t think we were that left field. I honestly think our story was pretty conventional.

Note: The story by Garth Ennis and John McCrea was titled “In Springfield, No One Can Hear You Scream.” It was published in Bart Simpson’s Treehouse of Horror issue 7. Below is John McCrea Simpsonised.

Note: Simpsonised art above by Bill Morrison.

TW: Another property you had the opportunity to play with was Mars Attacks with John Layman. You really captured the spirit of the original trading cards. Can you share any recollections of working on this rather unique and slightly cult franchise?

JM: I honestly had no interest in Mars Attacks up until I was asked to do the series, but John Layman is a huge fan, and you could really tell. He put a lot into each script, and they were terrific fun. Plus, I enjoy drawing mayhem! That’s a little-known fact about me.

TW: Al Ewing took the Mars Attacks baton so Judge Dredd could get involved and you came along for the ride. For this storyline, was it satisfying going back to your roots a little working on a 2000AD related story?

JM: Al is a terrific writer, and I had wanted to work with him since doing a short Hulk story with him for the British Marvel Heroes comic. Mars Attacks Judge Dredd seemed like a pretty smart idea for a crossover, and I hadn’t worked on a Dredd story for years, so I really wanted to sink my teeth into this. 2000ad holds a special place in my heart as I have been an avid reader since Prog one.

TW: You’ve recently returned to the covers and pages of 2000AD and Dredd. Are there any significant differences working for Rebellion compared to say perhaps DC or other American publishers?

JM: Not really. You either get a script and draw it or you’re given an idea for a cover, and you draw it, or they just say please draw a cover for this with this particular character on it, just do what you want, and you draw it! The differences are mainly contractual.

TW: You completed your work on the DICKS characters with your partner-in-crime Garth [Ennis]. Are they characters you are fond of? And have their adventures definitely come to an end?

JM: I’m very fond of Dougie and Ivor: they have been with me and Garth since pretty much the start of our careers with Troubled Souls. But yes their story is complete, though I will miss the two reprobates. They are a couple of fuck ups, and who can’t relate to that?

TW: Jenny Sparks, The Secret History of The Authority with Mark Millar was a cool five issue series. Can you contrast Mark’s scripts with Garth’s? Do they have a different style of writing scripts? Did you find it a fun project to work on?

JM: I drew Mark’s very first script, Her Parents for Crisis. I think it was in issue 28. He is brilliant fun to hang around with and an outrageous storyteller. Jenny Sparks was a big deal as it was coming hot on the heels of the Authority at its peak. I felt a lot of pressure because I was straight after Bryan Hitch’s run which was so good.

TW: With the Jenny Spark series, you had to illustrate a few historical figures. How do you approach that challenge? Do you go for caricatures? Did you find that an extra challenge as an artist to illustrate numerous people from history?

JM: I’m pretty terrible at drawing likenesses so illustrating historical figures is very tricky. The story called for realism, so I tried to make them realistic which is harder than caricatures, I think.

TW: Other artists I have spoken to have said that comic conventions are less enjoyable in recent years because they have become too film-orientated. Would you say that is true?

JM: It’s true of the big shows: they are very film and media driven. I have stopped doing any of those sorts of shows and I just stick to the purely comic shows, like Thought Bubble, the Lakes, To Be Continued and Lawless in the UK. These shows are purely for comics folks and are all the more enjoyable for it.

TW: We have to come to Dead Eyes. How did you and Gerry Duggan first meet and decide to create a comic together?

JM: I knew Gerry was attending a comic show, run by my pals at Big Bang Comics in Dublin, so I went to the show to meet him, and basically forced him to work with me! Turns out he enjoyed my work, so a beautiful partnership was born!

TW: Can you say a little bit more about Dead Eyes please?  Has it been successful? Can we hear the story behind the main character please?

JM: Dead Eyes is about Martin Dobbs, a retired criminal who lives with his ill wife and works menial jobs. He’s trying to live an honest life, but the American healthcare system has bankrupted him, and he has to go back to work. It’s a violent, funny and poignant story. As to whether it’s successful, that remains to be seen. We have had a lot of problems that have been outside of our control which is why it is taken more than 6 years for nine issues to come out. That’s longer than it took me to draw 60 issues of Hitman! But the people who have read it seemed to like it.

TW: If you had to cast Dead Eyes, have you or Gerry ever discussed who might make a good leading man? Even as a bit of fun?

JM: If Dead Eyes was to be made into a TV show or film I honestly think it would be better to have a relative unknown as our main star.

TW: What do you have planned for the future? Are there any projects that are in the works you can mention? More Dead Eyes comics potentially?

JM: Possibly more Dead Eyes, we will have to see how it goes. I have another story with Gerry called Rocket Station Charlie that I’ll be working on next. There was a preview of it in my Mighty World of McCrea book that I kickstarted during lockdown.

JM: Apart from Dead Eyes and the new Hitman omnibus, I really haven’t anything else to promote. I am doing a lot of covers for DC, mainly Batman. I’ve done a new Rogue Trooper story for 2000AD. Paul Holden and I have teamed up again to do two stories for Oni Press and their new EC imprint. So maybe I have some other things, I guess.

TW: Coming full circle, rumour has it you may have some new Hitman prints your fans may enjoy. Is it fun to return to Tommy?

JM: Yes, I am doing some new Hitman prints because I realised I was going to conventions again and I wanted to have some new stuff to flog!

Here are the links to Tripwire’s previous interviews with John McCrea.

May 2024:
https://tripwiremagazine.co.uk/headlines/john-mccrea-talks-dcs-hitman-comic-series/

Sept 2021
https://tripwiremagazine.co.uk/headlines/tripwire-talks-to-british-comic-artist-john-mccrea/

Also here’s a link to John’s online shop:

https://johnmccreacomicart.bigcartel.com/