RANDY VALIENTE Revives H.P. Lovecraft’s REANIMATOR this April 2015

H.P. Lovecraft’s Herbert West, a scientist who practices more voodoo than real test tube experiments, is getting a four-issue series – Reanimator #1 this April. Dynamite Entertainment will exhume what the original Reanimator had left and reintroduce West and his wicked creations to a whole new audience. The Reanimator mini-series will be written by Keith Davidsen (Green Hornet, The Shadow)and art by Randy Valiente (Vampirella, Army of Darkness/Re-Animator).

Flipgeeks got a quick catch with Valiente to see on how he got into this project and how much he loved reviving and retooling H.P. Lovecraft’s mad scientist.

“Actually, after I finished doing Vampirella, I had no idea what comes next for me from Dynamite. I did Army of Darkness/Re-Animator crossover early last year, then couple of Twilight Zone. I am thinking of doing sample pages for sci-fi stories, which gustong-gusto ko talagang gawin–I was eyeing for Flash Gordon or Prince Valiant (although this last one’s not scifi). I actually requested if I could experiment more with my style, I sent several watercolor pages, gusto ko nang magwala with my style, gusto ko nang sumabog. I want to explore my comics art to the fullest na comfortable ako gawin. That’s the thing attending conventions in Europe gave me. Parang tinanggal ako sa box. Pero takot pa yata ang Dynamite sa akin na mag-experiment, gusto yata nila kung ano yung nakita nila nung una, dun ka dapat naka-linya. I didn’t expect nga na mababalik ako sa Reanimator, which sobrang gusto ko. I love H. P. Lovecraft. I did illustrations of his short story called ‘Dagon’ many years ago sa isang US magazine. When I first read the script, I was blown away with the scenes, ‘Oh wow! This is Lovecraft!’ Sobrang interesting ng mga scenes! I could kiss my editors for giving me this project.”

Valiente continues, “I’m doing issue 2 right now. Actually, hindi ko ini-expect na mini-series ito. Because for the past several projects I did with Dynamite, lahat sila one-shot. Maybe the editor is testing me if I could handle deadlines. And of course, I could because that’s an obligation. I never missed any deadlines when I signed-up the contract with Dynamite. And that’s actually the most interesting part of being a comicbook artist, not just the art itself, but how you cope up with time. I did pencil and ink, if I missed a single page for a day, maapektuhan lahat ng line-up for production including the colors, letters, and the printing.”

Rough character study by Randy Valiente

And lastly we asked on what should people expect to see with this series. Valiente said, “I love line drawings. I love brush works. Pinagsama ko. I want to capture a style that could ‘define me’. It’s hard, actually. Every comics artist is experiencing this, especially sa mga nagsisimula. We were bombarded by our own references, lahat ng influences natin, reflections nila. Then kapag gusto na nating kumawala, ang hirap iwan. Laging nakasunod. Pero kailangan nating gawin, or else we were just a mirror of a certain artist. That’s why every panel I’m doing is a learning lesson. I want to evolve from panel one up to the last. Napangiti nga ako when I saw the promo of the book with the 4 preview pages, I actually using my old pen brush from page 1 to 7. Then on page 8, nakabili ako ng brush that I feel magiging komportable ako, a thin tip watercolor brush. And I’m still using it now. I don’t know kung kailan ito tatagal dahil hindi ito para sa ink work. But yes, every stroke and every scene is a learning lesson. And my pencil is rough na baka kapag may inker na mag-handle ng pencils ko ay maasar lang sa akin. I do the final render and shadings with my brush. I did that on purpose dahil gusto ko organic yung process ko. I don’t know kung hanggang saan makakarating itong style na ginagawa ko. I love mystery.”

Reanimator #1 is slated for an April 2015 release.