Get to Know FRITZ CASAS
During his BLOOD QUEEN #1 Premiere Signing Event at Comic Odyssey – Greenhills last June 15, Flipgeeks was able to spend some time with Fritz Casas and found out more about his journey into the comic industry.
Started Young
When asked about when he started drawing, Fritz recalled it started when he was about 5 years old. “Nagddrawing ako sa pader. Mga dinadrawing ko pa noon mga kotse na nagkakarera tapos may mga boosters. Magagalit mommy ko: “Ayy ano yan bakit ka nagdrawing diyan?”
[I would draw on the wall. I would draw cars racing and add boosters to them. Then my mommy would get angry: “What’s that? Why are you drawing on the wall?”]
The 5 year old’s creativity then evolved, and when Fritz was in high school he decided he would want to be a comic book artist.
The Journey to Comics
Fritz was not able to break into comics right away. His first work as an artist, Fritz recalls “Layout artist in animation. Gumawa ako sa Mickey Mouse Works at Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. Pagkatapos tumigil na ako sa animation. Nagwork na ako sa Toy Design. Nagdesign ako ng carousels para sa Europeans. Mahilig sila sa mga ganun. Yun, comics pasulpot sulpot yan, mostly indie. Actually, noong nagsimula ako sa comics karamihan unpublished, para lang sa mga writers na gusto nila ng comics nila ma-draw pero hindi kinaya ipublish. Tapos bumalik sa animation. Tapos napunta na ako advertising kung saan nakasama ko si Mico (Suayan). Gumagawa kami doon ng storyboards para sa TV commercials. Tapos noon advertising doon na ako nag full-time sa comics. Si Mico kasi noon nakapasok na ng Marvel (Comics). Doon ko naisip na i-pursue na yun dream ko na makapasok talaga sa comics.“
[I worked as layout artist for Mickey Mouse Works and Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. After, I stopped in animation. I worked in Toy Design. I designed toy carousels for Europeans. They liked that. In comics, that comes and goes but mostly were indie. When I started in comics, most of them were unpublished works for writers who would want their stories drawn but could not proceed to publish them. Then I went back to animation for a short time. Then I went to advertising where I was able to work with Mico (Suayan). We were working on storyboards for TV commercials. After advertising, I went full time on comics. That’s when Mico got in Marvel (Comics). At that moment, I thought that I should really pursue my dream to get into international comics.]
His Work on International Comics
Fritz previously worked on Queen Sonja, Red Sonja, Dragon’s Bane and Miss Fury. With that lineup of titles, it seemed that Fritz’ preference is to draw women with in medieval setting. But Fritz counters that misconception. “Oo nga, nakilala na ako sa medieval style pero ang gusto ko talagang gawin ay sci-fi, mahilig ako sa mga mech. sa Dynamite (Entertainment) gusto ko mahawakan yun Magnus. Honestly, weakness ko pagdrawing ng mga babae. Yun Queen Sonja, test sa akin yun. Reaksyon ko noon binigay sa akin yun – Patay. Kaya iyon talagang prinactice ko yun. Ironic na lahat ng binibigay sa akin babaeng titles kasi nga weakness ko yun. Through time at practice, ngayon relax na ako sa pagdrawing ng babae. “
[Yes, I have been known for medieval style but what I would really like is to work on is sci-fi. I like mech. In Dynamite (Entertainment), I would’ve like to draw Magnus. Honestly, my weakness is to draw women. Queen Sonja was a test for me. My reaction when I got the project was – Dead. I really tried to improve on it. It is ironic that I am working on female-centric titles, when I think that it is my weakness. But through time and practice, I am now comfortable drawing women.]
What We Could Expect from Fritz
With Blood Queen #1 just released, we could expect Fritz to be drawing the next 5 issues (6 total) . And asked if he would like to work for other publishers. His response was “For Marvel, Pwede Captain America o Daredevil, paborito ko si Daredevil. Punisher din pwede kasi gusto ko yun mga military hardware. DC, siyempre Batman. Valiant naman, X-O Manowar.”
And if we are to expect something original from him: “Meron akong concept na sci-fi tungkol sa cowboy tapos may mga mech din. Ginagawa ko na yung main character. Hopefully by next year magawa ko siya.“
(For Marvel, I would like to work on Captain America or Daredevil. Daredevil is my favorite. Punisher is another possibility because I like military hardware. For DC, Of course, Batman. For Valiant, X-O Manowar. I have this concept on a sci-fi story about a cowboy with Mech. I am drawing the main character. Hopefully, by next year, I could it would be ready.)
