10 QUESTIONS WITH SUPER FAN

We have a double dose today of questions from Super Fan. This time we have Bluewater letterer Johnny Lowe. Johnny has lettered for us for years. He is also the writer of the previous Judo Girl Mini series.

QUESTION1:
SUPER FAN: HOW DID YOU MASTER THE ART OF LETTERING?
JOHNNY: At first I had only the most rudimentary idea of how to letter comics, but I actually took an online course with Richard Starkings and John Roshell of Comicraft and the rest is history.

QUESTION 2:
SUPER FAN: DO YOU USE THE SAME STYLE OF LETTERS ALL THE TIME OR DO YOU MIX IT UP? INSANE JANE- CRAZY LETTERING!
JOHNNY: I have a nice selection of fonts from which to work with now, so I pick a font based on the type of comic. On some books I'll have the word balloons fairly snug around the text, but in the case of say, INSANE JANE, I thought a looser approach would work better, and I use an upper/lowercase text.

QUESTION 3:
SUPER FAN: HOW HARD IS IT TO PUT ALL THOSE WORDS INTO ONE SMALL SPACE?
JOHNNY: It depends on how much dialogue has been written and how much space there is in the art. Good writers take into account how much text is "enough" per panel and don't overwrite, and good pencilers think ahead and leave sufficient space for dialogue.

QUESTION 4:
SUPER FAN: YOU WROTE THE 2ND JUDO MINI SERIES, WHAT WAS THAT LIKE?
JOHNNY: It was a little scary at first, being the first thing I'd written for somebody else, but once I got going on it, I got my "sea legs" and it started to fall into place.

QUESTION 5:
SUPER FAN:   WHAT TYPE OF MUSIC DO YOU LISTEN TO?
JOHNNY: I like a lot of different music, but when I'm working, it's mostly jazz and film soundtracks -- if I'm writing, it can't be anything with lyrics because it's distracting,

QUESTION 6:  
SUPER FAN: IF YOU COULD HAVE A SERVANT COME TO YOUR HOUSE FOR AN HOUR EVERY DAY, WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE THEM DO ?
JOHNNY: Clean the house and make my lunch!

QUESTION 7:
SUPER FAN: WHAT TELEVISION SHOW IS AN ABSOLUTE “MUST SEE” EVERY WEEK ?
JOHNNY: As of right now neither is running, but HEROES and BATTLESTAR: GALACTICA would be the top two.

QUESTION 8:
SUPER FAN: WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE COMIC BOOK AND
CHARACTER?
JOHNNY: Picking a favorite is hard to narrow down, but I always go back to the Carl Barks' UNCLE SCROOGE and DONALD DUCK comics he did for Disney way back when. I always love to reread those. Great art and stories!

QUESTION 9:
SUPER FAN: I AM A PERSONAL FAN OF “LEGEND OF ISIS”. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE PROJECT AT BLUEWATER PRODUCTIONS? PAST OR PRESENT
JOHNNY: It would have to be the JUDO GIRL mini-series I wrote, because I was so involved in it from beginning to end.

QUESTION 10:
SUPER FAN:  IF YOU HAD A SUPER POWER WHAT WOULD IT BE & WHY?
JOHNNY: It's not a super power perhaps, but I'd like the ability to organize myself and my life better, so that everything I do -- I could do the best way possible.