Flashback February: Kyle Baker Part Two

♦2016 is an anniversary for Tripwire. It marks the 24th anniversary of the magazine, which began back in February 1992. So for the rest of February, we shall be representing some of our classic moments over the past 23 years.  In TRIPWIRE Volume 4#10, published in Mar/ April 2002 we spoke to Kyle Baker about his graphic novel King David so here is part two of that interview…

Biblical Proportions

KYLE BAKER has built up a reputation as an artist specialising in graphic novels. As his latest book, KING DAVID, hits the shelves, TRIPWIRE caught up with him to find out more about the book, his work (present and future)…

TW: How have you approached the story so that it can be told irreverently but still biblically accurate?

KYLE BAKER: I’m not irreverent. I wanted to tell the story in a way which makes it easier to understand by today’s cultural frame of reference. I have some secondary characters speak in more modern language to sort of explain things you may have found confusing in the Bible. Perhaps someone may find it “irreverent”, but everything in my graphic novel happens exactly as it does in the Bible. I made some adjustments in order to clarify things. I add humour to make it entertaining.

The thing is, the Bible is full of beheadings, adultery, misogyny, polygamy, xenophobia and other concepts which seem “quaint” in our modern age. By faithfully depicting incidents such as David purchasing Saul’s daughter for the price of a hundred Philistine foreskins, I may be mysteriously branded “irreverent”.

But I am careful never to make God, David or the Prophets appear foolish in my book. I only mock the villains.

TW: In these times of some might say atheism and agnosticism, what is it in bible stories that still fascinates readers? Do you think that a story like this is in the same vein as, say the Greek myths for example?

KB: I love Bible stories because they have lots of action, fights, chases, super powers, romance, sex and a moral. Just like most successful stories.

David is a classic rags-to-riches saga, the tale of a peasant boy who slays a monster, marries a princess and becomes a king.

The biggest difference which immediately leaps to mind between the Bible and the Greek myths is that to the best of my knowledge, not many Greeks currently worship Hercules and Zeus, while the God of Abraham and Elijah is still worshipped daily by billions of people around the world.

Also, the Bible portrays actual people and historical events. Archaelogical evidence exists for such things as The Flood, the Battle of Jericho, Solomon’s reign and many other episodes mentioned in the Bible. The Greek myths are 100% fictional.

TW: How do you think people will react to the book?

KB: So far, everyone I’ve shown it to loves it. I mean, I’m obviously not going out on much of a limb by adapting one of the best-loved stories of all time. If you love Bible stories, you’ll love this book. I’ve put a lot of work into the illustrations, and I believe it’s my best book yet.

TW: Visually, did the subject matter necessitate more epic visuals than your other graphic novels?

KB: Yes, that was the point. I’m in the picture-book business. I’m always looking for stories which offer exciting visual opportunities, otherwise I may as well just write a novel or poem and save myself the labour of drawing the thousands of pictures necessary for a graphic novel. Exotic locations, fancy costumes and pretty girls are things which can make good pictures. I also like crowd scenes, because they work better in still pictures than in motion pictures. For example, MAD is full of crowd scenes with which the reader can spend hours looking at background details. You can’t do that at the movies.

I also am always seeking subject matter which can’t be done as well in other mediums. To make a live-action film of King David, for instance, would be very expensive. You would need either thousands of “extra” actors, horses and camels or some sort of computer trickery. Either way, it’s not economically feasible to do such a film and turn a profit in the current marketplace. Richard Gere played David in a recent film, and it didn’t have any battle scenes or special effects for just these reasons. Significant elements of the Bible story were also completely rewritten to make it more “commercial”.

But with drawings, I’m only limited by my imagination and by the time I want to spend drawing. It costs me very little money to create an army of thousands of soldiers. I can recreate entire mountain ranges with only a pencil. I can build enormous golden palaces for just pennies.

This is why the film Prince of Egypt was animated and the film was still so expensive that the producers felt it necessary to have parts of the Bible rewritten significantly in order to make it more palatable to a theatre-paying audience. I am free from such financial pressures and was able to deliver an accurate version of Holy Scripture.

I’m hoping this book will pave the way for other comic book adaptations of Bible stories.

TW: Do you think that the increased prominence of graphic novels in the market means that this book will make a greater impact than if it was published 10 years ago?

KB: I don’t pay attention to the market. I do not follow trends, I create new markets and genres. I am in the business of selling Kyle Baker cartoons, and I have a monopoly on that particular industry.

TW: Have you gotten faster as an artist/ writer or are you fairly slow (which explains the gap between your work over the last few years)?

KB: I work quickly. One graphic novel is as long as 7 issues of a monthly comic book. I do all the writing, penciling, inking, colouring and lettering. In other words, it usually takes six people seven months to produce what I did in a year. Plus I did a lot of other jobs this year. I did some animated work for Imagine and Fox, I did some short stories for DC and ABC, some covers and pinups for Wildstorm and Dark Horse. Plus I do all of the design, editorial and programming on KyleBaker.com. How much more work do you need from me?

TW: What else are you currently working on at the moment? Have you anything confirmed that you can mention?

KB: I’m currently compiling an anthology of my shorter works, which DC will release this fall with the digitally restored Cowboy Wally reissue.

I’m writing a Superman novel for Pocket Books. I’m working on two new graphic novels for 2003. Kylebaker.com will have lots of brand new cartoons, starting in February.

JOEL MEADOWS

Here is part one

Kyle Baker Part One

http://imgur.com/a/Tr3IW

King David