Interview: Frank Cho at Baltimore Comic Con
Interview
Our contributor Christopher Holden happened to be going to Baltimore Comic-Con this past weekend, and graciously volunteered to be on the job while he was there!
While at the Baltimore Comic-Con, I visited Frank Cho’s booth, and spoke with him about his work. Specifically we discussed the Ultimate Marvel Universe and his work on 50 Girls 50 which is best summed up in this description from the first issue: “After discovering Y-chomosomes were incompatible with wormhole travel, an all-female crew was assembled consisting of some of the greatest scientific and military minds our world has to offer, regardless of gender.”
Me: Why is your comic “50 Girls 50” only 4 issues long? Do you have any hopes of turning it into an ongoing?
Frank: We decided to go the Hellboy route and release a mini, see how that goes, and if people like it then maybe adapt it into an ongoing series later.
You have Axel Mendellin covering drawing duties for this comic. He is basing his drawing off your character designs, and doing so in a style very similar to your own. Why did you not draw the comic yourself?
I have an exclusivity contract with Marvel at the moment that says I’m only allowed to draw for them and creator owned projects for now. Also, with all the work they have me doing, I just wouldn’t have had the time for it.
Why write a story about only women?
I love women. Don’t you?
You’re renowned for drawing women beautifully (noting the multitude of Brandy portraits placed around him), however, why do you never seem to draw women realistically?
What do you mean I don’t draw realistic women? Look at this butt, (pointing to a picture Jungle Girl with her back end exposed and barely covered by a loin cloth) you can’t tell me this butt doesn’t look realistic. Those are great hips. I like women with big hips. I think it’s Hollywood who portray women unrealistically. They’re wrong; they want women to look like little boys. Girls are supposed to have boobs and hips. I think 99 percent of women have curves.
You have been doing a lot of work for the Ultimate Marvel universe lately. What is your take on the death and replacements of both Wolverine and Peter Parker?
I think it was a crazy bold move killing both of them off. I have no idea what the hell was going on their minds when they decided to kill them, but I’m excited to see where things go.
Will you extensively be doing more work with the 616 Marvel Universe in the near future? Is there any chance of you working on a solo title with a female lead, like say Ms. Marvel or She-Hulk?
Actually I have something in the works that I can’t really talk about, but it’s a comic that’s going to incorporate some of the hottest women in the Marvel Universe. That’s all I can say at the moment.
While simply incorporating sexy ladies does not make a comic exemplary, we’re willing to take Cho at his meaning and not necessarily his words. While less sexual objectification of women in general would be great, sexualizing women of all shapes and sizes is indeed a step forward.
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