To Paul Ryan

Good evening, Paul.

Many of the Norwegian readers of the Phantom are very fond of your art. We, some of your fans, would like to ask a few questions.

1: Tell a bit about yourself, your hobbies and your career.

I was born in Somerville, Massachusetts, USA September 23, 1949. I was scribbling picture stories on any blank piece of paper I could find by the time I was five. Most of those blank pieces were in the foreword of my parents book collection. They were not happy with my efforts and quickly stocked the house with sheets of drawing paper.

I was always fascinated with action heroes such as Superman, Batman, Tarzan, Prince Valiant, Flash Gordon and, of course, The Phantom. I was the only kid in my neighborhood with his own, official, Superman costume. Of course no one told me I shouldn’t wear it outdoors. I got chased a lot. Eventually I got a clue and only wore it inside the house.

I have a degree in Graphic Design from the Massachusetts College of Art. I served in the National Guard for six years. I was a second lieutenant when I left the Guard. I studied Karate for two years, took classes in fencing, horsemanship and firearms. I enjoy hiking in the mountains.

I got into the Comics field late in life. I was 35 when I went freelance leaving behind a Graphics job I had held for 11 years. I worked for Marvel Comics for, coincidentally, 11 years. I penciled many titles for them such as Fantastic Four, Avengers, Avengers West Coast and IronMan as well as working with Stan Lee on the Spider-Man Sunday strip.

In 1996 I moved over to DC Comics and worked on Superman, Batman and the Flash (not all at the same time of course).

I had a brief association with CrossGen Comics before they filed for bankruptcy.

2: How did you get in touch with Egmont?

A young man named Jonas Vesterlund wrote to me in response to an Ebay auction I was running. He asked if I had ever considered working for a Comics company outside the U.S. Jonas had worked as an intern at Egmont some years ago. He told me that Egmont publishes The Phantom comic book in Sweden and gave me contact information. I wrote to Ulf Granberg and sent him samples of my work. I thought that the most I could hope for would be a one shot assignment. I was quite surprised when Ulf put me on his roster of Phantom artists. I had been a Phantom fan pretty much all my life. This was quite an exciting development for me.

3: Do you prefer to draw historical or contemporary stories, and why?

I really have no preference between historical or contemporary stories. Although searching for historical reference can be more time consuming than finding contemporary reference. I just look for a well crafted tale to draw.

4: Which of your own Phantom work are you most satisfied with?

I am never completely satisfied with anything I do but I would have to say the story that I enjoyed the most was “The 21st Phantom”.

5: “Diana’s missing” will be published May 13th, but can you tell a bit about your current work?

Right now I am trying very hard to get the Phantom daily strip on schedule. It was four weeks behind when I accepted the assignment. Unfortunately family health issues have kept me from getting ahead on the schedule. Both my parents are in their eighties and their health is in decline.

The strip is very limiting in terms of space. It is often reproduced very small in the U.S. newspapers. After accounting for the dialogue and captions there is scant room left for the pictures. But, hey, I’ll deal with it. I am working on the Phantom newspaper strip. How cool it that. The strip I couldn’t live without when I was a kid is my current assignment. I feel very fortunate.

6: How is it to work with the Phantom for Egmont and the American dailies at the same time?

I haven’t, actually, worked on both at the same time yet. With my parents surgeries last year and the amount of time I needed to spend at hospitals, rehabilitation facilities and assisted living communities I was running behind on my Egmont work. When the Phantom strip was offered to me I had to enlist the aid of my friend, and fellow Team Fantomen artist, Bob McLeod to meet the deadline. Bob inked most of the pages to “Diana Goes Missing”.

I had to pass on my next scheduled Egmont story. It’s not going to be easy working for Egmont and King Features simultaneously. There is one difference between working on the Comic book and the Strip. I have to letter the dialogue and add zipatone to the Phantom’s costume on the strip. I had to learn to letter and create word balloons on the computer.

7: Can you describe your drawing process?

I read the script. I look up any reference I need on the Internet. I sketch out the pages in thumbnail form for composition. I then lay out my full size sheets in blue pencil adding a perspective grid if I need one. Then I pencil the final line work leaving the shadows and textures to be applied in the inking process.

8: What is the most difficult when drawing the Phantom?

Getting past the first page. I get “stage fright” with every story I draw. I can sometimes take me a day or two of procrastination before I draw the first page. Once that page is done the rest of the story just flows.

9: Do you have anything in particular to say to the Norwegian fans?

Yes, thank you all for being so kind and accepting of this Outlander?

Thank for answering these questions, Paul. Have a nice day and we look forward to your next work.