Recently, Spanish comic book artist Raulo Caceres, took some time to talk about his upcoming Apparat GN CRECY, working with Warren Ellis, and drawing for Avatar Press.
What about CRECY interests you the most?
RC – The Battle of Crecy was where Cavalry lost against Infantry, with good tactics and essentially with an old and helpful weapon: the longbow. I’m pretty interested in Warren Ellis’ story about this period through the crude and cruel point of view of an English bowman.
CRECY’s art gives the pages a sort of woodcut feel that lends itself to the time period of the story. Where did you find your inspiration when drawing the book?
RC – The first step towards drawing comics with a historical background is looking for graphic documentation from the specific time period, and actual recreations, for the background, the clothes, and weapons. This is not Epic Fantasy, like Conan, because I try to show realism and historical loyalty. I also leaned heavily on all that I learned about the Middle Ages when I worked as a Role Playing Games’s illustrator, especially games like”Aquelarre, juego de rol demoniaco medieval”, which had fantasy elements but the plot all plays out in a real medieval Spain (pretty far from Dungeons & Dragons).
About my style, I always liked very dense black inks. Graphically my inspiration is from the classic horror comics, masters like Corben, Wrightson or Totleben, medieval paintings, and engravers like Gustav Dore.
What do you think about Warren Ellis’ writings? What are your thoughts on CRECY’s subject compared to typical comic book material?
RC – What can I say about this great comic writer that hasn’t already been said? Warren Ellis is a great genius and it is my honor to be working with him on this masterpiece. As with Warren’s other works, Crecy will be a genre-breaking comic.
Describe your experience with Avatar Press and Editor-in-Chief William Christensen so far?
RC – I only recently began working for Avatar Press and I feel very good about it. Before this I worked essentially on Spanish adult comics, clearly a different field of work. William gave me the opportunity to work in genres I always loved like fantasy and horror. This is also the first time I’m only working as the artist. I’ve always worked on more than one facet of a book before working for Avatar (script, drawing, ink and computer art), and I have to say the team work is a new experience for me, different and fulfilling on an artistic level. It is a total pleasure for me to be a part of Avatar Press.