the sequential artist interrogation: les mcclaine speaks!

An unfamiliar face sits behind the interrogation table. He's no 'Middleman' actor I've ever seen ... so, who could he be?

It's Les McClaine, artist and co-creator of the comic version of 'The Middleman' from Viper Comics. It should be very interesting to see if one of 'The Middleman' universe's 'gods' can withstand a truth bomb from his own creation!

abcfamily.com: Thanks for doing this, Les. But before we get into 'The Middleman,' would you mind giving the folks at home a little background information on some of the comics hosted at your website, Evil Space Robot?

Les McClaine: Sure. ['Johnny Crossbones' is] a comic I've been doing online since summer `04. It's sorta been a side project at times, but it's my primary focus right now. As soon as I get it done, I have a contract with Dark Horse Comics to publish it as a graphic novel in a
manga-size format.

It's a combination of all the sorts of stuff that I loved to read when I was a kid -- I'm aiming it squarely at a younger group, but I think it's enjoyable for all ages.

abcf: Are you planning on updating the strips on your website again, or does your graphic novel contract prevent you from doing so?

LM: They will be coming back soon. I was having a bit of trouble with my work space where, back in the winter, it flooded during a big storm. We finally just found another studio, so I'm back to work now. Once I've got a few pages in the can, I'm gonna start posting it online again.

abcf: We've all heard the story about how Javi's television spec script became a comic, but not a whole lot of people realize how much you were involved in the creative process. How much influence did you have over the design of the characters?

LM: Javi had a pretty good idea of what he wanted the characters to look like, so we worked together very closely on that. I think the Middleman went through three or four iterations. Ida, he loved my first sketch. Wendy was the hardest one, actually. I was having trouble understanding what he was thinking for her, so I did one sketch at the start that I thought looked pretty good, but he said, 'That's good, but let's try a few different things.' And I think we went through eight or nine different designs for her before eventually deciding to go with the original sketch. It was a complicated process, took us about two weeks to get Wendy nailed down. But I'm happy with
how she came out.

abcf: How did you get involved with 'The Middleman'?

LM: Javi approached me with it. He had seen my work on a book called 'Highway 13' that was published by Slave Labor Graphics from 2001 to 2003. He'd liked my work on that, so he just e-mailed me out of the blue and asked if I'd be interested in working on it. I said, 'Yeah,
that sounds great!' He sent me the script, and I thought it was fantastic. We got to work on it right away. It came up at a really opportune time for me too, where I had just about a year earlier quit my day job and started just drawing comics and cartoons, so I was really able to just take on 'The Middleman' full time.

abcf: At the time, did you have any idea who Javi was?

LM: I had never heard of him. Actually, at the time I think the third episode of 'Lost' was on the day after I first talked to him. He mentioned [his television writing] in his first e-mail, and when I looked back, I realized that he had worked on a lot of shows that I had enjoyed in the past and I just hadn't really recognized his name. I kept noticing -- I'd be watching reruns of, like, 'The Pretender' or something and notice his name on it. Guess it goes to show I should be paying more attention to who's writing the shows I watch!

abcf: One of my favorite scenes in the television and comic book versions of 'The Sino-Mexican Revelation' is where the Middleman takes on 100 masked wrestlers. How EXCRUCIATING was it drawing Cien Mascaras?

LM: Not too bad, not too bad -- I do wish I had gone with a simpler mask design -- but it was fun. One of the things that's fun for me ... in a lot of my own work, I don't do too much of the superhero-style stuff, and working on that really gave me an outlet for it. I've been reading superhero comics since I was nine years old, and I've never really worked on anything where I could use that exaggerated anatomy. I had sorta been able to do it before, but I had to do a lot of work to get it down. I think if you look at the second book, you'll notice it's much better at the end than it is at the beginning.

So that was actually a lot of fun to do, and the BIG fight scene at the end of that book [with Sensei Ping] was tremendously fun for me to do. I spent 18 hours penciling that two-page spread and then I spent another 18 inking it. I did it in two sittings -- I stayed up, then I slept, then I stayed up to finish it because I was having fun. I actually have a framed print of that hanging on my wall. I was proud of that one.

abcf: Moving from page to screen ... didn't I see you twice in the pilot?

LM: Yup. There's a large photo of me at Il Mutante Grandissimo hanging behind the bar and also Spanky has a photo of me hanging in his hideout. The large photo from behind the bar is hanging in my bedroom right now, and my girlfriend doesn't like it because I'm always glowering down at her no matter what's going on.

abcf: Are you happy with the live-action translation of your drawings?

LM: Yeah, I really am. I think all the changes are ones that make it work better on television, because there's a lot of differences between the two media. I support every choice made. I think some of the stuff, some of the gags, may even work better in the show. The bit with the laser knife in the car; I think that works GREAT on the show, while I was having a little trouble in the book maintaining that there were all these noises coming from inside [the notorious den of wiseguys and thieves] while Wendy was fumbling around. I think that flowed a little bit better in the show.

abcf: Most comic fans have a 'pull list' of their favorite comics to pick up each week from their local shop -- what's on Les McClaine's pull list?

LM: Gosh, I don't read too much these days. I haven't really had time to get to the comic shop regularly, so I've been reading a lot of reprints. I've been enjoying the 'Superman Showcase' volumes from DC -- I've been reading a lot of those. I just picked up that new 'Hellboy' hardcover; I love 'Hellboy' stuff. I've been reading [Robert Kirkman's] 'Invincible.' That one really reminds me of the early Marvel comics where it has a really cohesive world that it exists in. I've been reading 'Usagi Yojimbo' -- every issue since 1989, so I can't give that one up. Anything Alan Moore ('Watchmen,' 'V for Vendetta,' 'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen') writes I tend to
pick up.

But oftentimes I just go to the comic shop and grab whatever looks good. I think that's a good way of finding artists and that sort of thing. A lot of my favorite artists don't stick on one specific book
very long. Anything Cameron Stewart ('Catwoman,' 'B.P.R.D.') draws I will pick up. But nothing every month like clockwork.

abcf: And what can we look forward to seeing from you in the future?

LM: I've got a few ideas, but I haven't got anything set in stone. At this point, I'm just trying to focus on 'Johnny Crossbones' and get that done. Who knows ... we may end up doing a new 'Middleman' book pretty soon! I haven't talked to Javi about that yet -- he's awful busy with the show -- but I'd love to do another one, depending on Javi's and my schedule.

abcf: Well, sadly, time is running out. And every time we get near the end of one of these, I like to set off a patented Middleman truth bomb and ask a tough question. So, I'm sorry but I must ask: Are you REALLY an evil space robot?

LM: Yes. Yes I am.

abcf: Oh, so you're related to Ida?

LM: Yes. Yes I am.

Thanks again, Les! And to everyone out there reading, check out Les's other work at his Evil Space Robot site and help support him by checking out the live-action version of his artwork every Monday night at 10/9c on ABC Family's 'The Middleman'!