Godzilla in Hell Exclusive: Bob Eggleton Offers First Look Inside Issue #2

Preview of the Painted Artwork for the Next Issue of the New Godzilla Mini-Series Source: Bob Eggleton Official Site: IDW Publishing Special Thanks to Bobby Curnow

A SCIFI JAPAN EXCLUSIVE

Following Matt Frank`s preview of his variant cover artwork for Godzilla in Hell #2 this past weekend, SciFi Japan is pleased to offer a first look at the stunning interior pages by writer/artist Bob Eggleton. Eggleton is no stranger to Godzilla fans. The Hugo Award-winning illustrator has created cover art and interiors for the Godzilla comic books published by Dark Horse Comics in the 1990s, the Random House Godzilla novels, and monster magazines (including Japanese Giants and the annual kaiju-themed issues of Famous Monsters of Filmland). More recently, he has produced covers for IDW`s line of Godzilla comics. He is also an old friend to the SciFi Japan crew who has kindly shared samples of his painted pages and answered a few questions about his work on the upcoming issue... SciFi Japan: This is the first time you`ve written AND illustrated a Godzilla comic since Dark Horse`s Godzilla King of the Monsters #16 back in 1996. Obviously, you`ve been drawing Godzilla regularly since then, but what was it like coming back to write the story as well? Bob Eggleton: It was fun. As it was then. In December 2014 editor Bobby Curnow asked me if I wanted to be involved. 4 years ago we discussed me doing a one shot issue, with a story that had for me some visual problems. However that all was shelved anyway and I said keep me in mind, and I did covers for some of the ongoing series which were a ball to do. It is also nice to be involved in two generations of Godzilla comics!!! SciFi Japan: Godzilla in Hell has a different creative team for each issue. How much did you have to coordinate with James Stokoe [writer/artist for issue #1] and the team for issue #3, or were you able to tell a mostly self-contained story? Bob Eggleton: I got to read Stokoe`s script. I loved his first issue, he has a great style and the direction was a bunch of loosely linked stories but at the same time each one was a one-off so it could be seen as an individual book. There are risks in doing that, but I think it was handled really well with IDW. The big thing was getting Toho aboard on the whole concept.

I wanted to create the first PAINTED Godzilla book that I know of. I love the line art of Art Adams, James Stokoe, Dave Wachter, Matt Frank and Jeff Zornow. I admire that kind of work, but primarily I am a painter who bases his work in classical art by JMW Turner, Gustave Dore, John Martin, Arnold Bocklin and others. This was kind of a way to tie the love of that kind of work into love of Godzilla... SciFi Japan: Comic book artists tend to be influenced by other comic book artists so it`s amazing to learn the look of a Godzilla book was inspired by classical painters. Was that style something you`ve wanted to bring to the character for awhile? Bob Eggleton: Yes. I love comics and I love painting. I study the greatest classical painters. John Martin for instance was an influence on Ray Harryhausen and the "look" of his films. I wasn`t going to "out-line" someone else, and there is this whole pencilers vs inks vs colorists argument... so I did the whole thing! SciFi Japan: How long did it take to paint the entire issue? Bob Eggleton: To conceive it was the hardest part. The paint it... 20 pages, about 18 days maybe? I saw each page as a kind of series of paintings. SciFi Japan: You used the Millennium Godzilla design [the basic look for the monster in most of the Toho films from 1999-2003] in this issue. Was that a personal choice, or something selected by IDW and/or Toho? If the decision was yours, why did you pick this design over any of the others? Bob Eggleton: Well, we started off with James Stokoe using the Millenium Godzilla so that was the model. I figured it was "Hell" and some strange alternate dimension where Godzilla is kind of changing anyway as he`s changed from film to film. And the fact is Shinichi Wakasa`s Godzilla just rocks [Eggleton is close friends with Wakasa, the maker of the Millennium Godzilla suits for Toho]. He made it look sleek and very spikey. SciFi Japan: You`ve had a professional and personal relationship with people from Toho that goes back decades. How has it been working with them on the IDW comics? Bob Eggleton: Toho has a good handle on their properties as anyone would in their situation. We dealt with Yoshiko Fukuda, she`s their licensor specialist, she sees everything with Godzilla and the Toho Kaiju and makes sure each monster has the right features and such. Toho has a very definite "vision" of Godzilla and how he should be seen and that is understandable. Occasionally she will send a complimentary note along with the approvals. One was regarding me being featured in the prestigious Japanese magazine PEN in last year`s Godzilla issue which they got at the LA office, and another time she referred to me as being part of "The Godzilla Dream Team!" which I take as a compliment. Also on a 2007 visit to Japan we went to Toho and then-President Shogo Tomiyama introduced me to the licensing dept and they all stood up and greeted me and wanted very much to meet me. They seemed to know who "Bob-san" was. It was a pretty stunning and cool moment!!! So many terrific artists have worked on the comic and I have collected each issue myself. *** Godzilla in Hell is a five issue comic book mini-series from IDW Publishing. A rotating creative team will each take Godzilla through a new and more dangerous layer of Hell as the events that led to Godzilla’s damnation are gradually unveiled. Issue #2 is scheduled for release on August 12, 2015. The issue runs 32 full-color pages and has a cover price of $3.99.

About IDW Publishing

IDW is an award-winning publisher of comic books, graphic novels and trade paperbacks, based in San Diego, California. Renowned for its diverse catalog of licensed and independent titles, IDW publishes some of the most successful and popular titles in the industry, including: Hasbro`s The TRANSFORMERS and G.I. JOE, Paramount`s Star Trek; HBO`s True Blood; the BBC`s DOCTOR WHO; Toho`s Godzilla; and comics and trade collections based on novels by worldwide bestselling author, James Patterson. IDW is also home to the Library of American Comics imprint, which publishes classic comic reprints; Yoe! Books, a partnership with Yoe! Studio. IDW`s critically- and fan-acclaimed series are continually moving into new mediums. Currently, Warner Brothers and Barry Sonnenfeld are attached to adapt LORE into a feature film starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Jerry Bruckheimer Films and Disney are creating a feature film based on World War Robot, with Michael Bay`s Platinum Dunes and Sony bringing Zombies vs. Robots to film.

About Toho Co., Ltd.

Founded in 1932 and headquartered in Tokyo, Toho Company, Ltd. is one of the leading entertainment conglomerates in Japan. Toho is best known worldwide as the producer of twenty-eight Godzilla motion pictures, based upon a character the company unleashed on the world back in 1954, and masterpiece films directed by Akira Kurosawa. Toho has been the number one distributor of motion pictures in Japan (both domestic and foreign) for eight consecutive years since 2003. The company is also, throughout Japan, the leading producer of theatrical works and one of the largest owners of office buildings and theaters.

For more information on IDW`s Godzilla comics, please see the previous coverage here on SciFi Japan: