Boo Cook is one of my favourite 2000AD artists, and chatting with him about comics and other things has been great fun. In an effort to get to know know Boo I asked him to tell me a little bit about himself and this is what he said...
"I currently dwell in Eastbourne and I love it, although I've lived all over the UK from Devon, where I was raised, to Cambridge, Nottingham, Edinburgh, and Brighton. Apart from art I love to play music - I do solo stuff by the name of Owlmask. I was in a band called Forktail with Simon Davis which has now morphed into a sludge/stoner/metal band called Crab. I don't follow sports of any kind but I love all things sci-fi, especially the 70's classics like Silent Running, Close Encounters, the films of Panos Cosmatos and a thing called Star Wars. My least favourite film is anything with Tom Hanks in it."
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Paul: When did you start reading reading comics? How old were you when that relationship began? Can you describe the very first comics that really impressed you?
Boo: I started reading comics very early but the first one I received on a weekly basis aged 4 was a comic called Toby about an anthropomorphic dog child. My Grandpa (#Gramps) sent me a comic everywhere I lived every week until his unfortunate and untimely passing in 1992. After Toby I evolved through the comics spectrum to the Beano, then Look-In, Starlord and finally 2000AD around 1982. Most of these comics impressed me on some level but it wasn't until I got to Look-In that I started to really take note of the art. There was some amazing Arthur Ranson stuff in there. It mostly featured actor Robert O'Sullivan, but a lot of tie-ins to TV space shows I was digging at the time such as 6 Million Dollar Man, Hulk, Logans Run and Buck Rogers etc.
Boo: I also had a stack of amazing annuals around that time, things like Treasure annual, the Valiant book of Mystery and Magic, The Usborne book of UFOs and the incredible Terran Trade Authority books such as Star Liners and Spacewreck, (photos included above.) Having confirmed for myself that I was a massive sci-fi freak I moved onto Starlord where the crazy covers and costume designs of Johny Alpha and co. really caught my eye.
Boo: Some time later I went to visit my pal Tom who lived in the village (Lutton, Devon),where he was sat in his bedroom with 2000ad progs all over the floor. I dived in and surfaced with a mind full of the Judge Child Quest, Sam Slade, and Rogue Trooper and never looked back. This is what my imagination was craving and I've got the prog every week since!
Paul: As an artist do you have what, for lack of a better description, a formal education as an artist, or are you entirely self taught?
Boo: I've been drawing as long as I can remember. From the age of 3 I was drawing the likes of Batman, Doctor Who and stuff and I basically never stopped. I showed a keen interest in art right through primary and secondary schools, then I went on to do a foundation course at Plymouth College of Art and Design where I mostly wanted to make large brown spikey sculptures until thankfully one of the tutors there reminded me that I was an illustrator. From there I went on to study Illustration at Cambridge where they hated comics but luckily taught me enough to come out of it with a degree. After finishing said degree I had no interest in art left whatsoever and spent a good few years touring round Britain and France playing drums with various bands. I ended up in Scotland working in a factory that made hideous ornaments where I graduated to the fabled career of spray painting ceramic dogs. After I had sprayed my 3000th beagle anus (pics not included) I was starting to remember that I loved drawing sci-fi and started painting again. It wasn't until I'd worked in the soul crushing corporate halls of Costco running the photo lab there that my co-workers really got behind me and gave me the push to try working for my lifelong love that was 2000AD. That was towards the end of the 90's.
Paul: How did you approach first getting published? Also did you receive a lot of knock backs or rejection letters? For many writers and artists collecting a small handful of them is almost a rite of passage.
Boo: I started going to comic conventions and got a small portfolio of stuff together that I showed to folk at shows and got some great tips from the likes of the lovely Siku et al and sent my scribblings to the editor/Tharg of that time David Bishop. I got a Sinister Dexter strip to try out and sent that back, but alas he deemed me 'un-2000ad enough' to work for them. I sent two more try out packages I think and got two more very similar rejection letters and had a bit of a cry if I am honest. Thankfully, Andy Diggle who was sub-editor at the time (gawd bless him) sneaked a letter of his own in with the rejection letters saying that he was into my stuff and to keep on trying. I didn't send any more for a while but I did form a relationship with esteemed comics writer Ben Dickson - we made a few comics together, one of which was the strip 'Doppleganger' for Class of '79 Dredd fanzine, so in the year 2000. I finally summoned up the courage to send that in along with some new samples to Andy Diggle who was now editor and he was kind enough to see some promise and give me my first gig. It was a Future Shock called 'Home From The War' written by Steve Moore, and then 23 years happened and here I am!
Paul: You have illustrated a handful of Judge Dredd Strips. So many great artists have drawn Dredd and Mega City One, are there any particular artists you took inspiration from for those stories?
Boo: The amount of artists who have contributed to the world of Dredd over the years constitute a vast wormhole of talent and inspiration but for me a few artists have always stood out and been the main takes on Dredd which are forefront in my mind when i get a Dredd gig to draw. In no particular order they would have to be Brendan McCarthy, Brian Bolland, Cam Kennedy, Mick McMahon and the Mighty Carlos Ezquerra (who I actually preferred to see on my favourite character Strontium Dog.) Also I'd have to mention Ron Smith for having quite a bulk of the mid era Dredd strips to his name wherein he really established the lunacy and crazed vibe of Mega City one.
Paul: Harry KIpling is a great series. Simon Spurrier created a character that is just ideal for 2000AD. Can you talk about that collaboration at all and how you came to illustrate the series?
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Boo: I really enjoyed my time on Harry Kipling with Si Spurrier - I think I'd done a few Future Shocks with him and we wanted to pitch something more longform. There was a rumour going round at the time in the early 2000s that Tharg the Mighty was massively into zombie strips so with a hope of success in mind we came up with who I thought was a pretty novel and entertaining zombie in the form of Harry. We were both quite into observing and commenting on the human condition and it's various foibles and having Harry as a deity hunter meant we could really explore some ramifications of faith, belief and also some quite exotic deities which Si researched very deeply and wove into some pretty emotional yet gung-ho tales.
Boo: I was having a few issues with my art at the time which meant bits of the strip suffered here and there but I think I mostly resolved them by the last strip, 'Winter Wonderbrand'. Si of course went onto great things across the pond and I might've pushed harder for more Kipling but in all honesty I'm an artist who gets itchy feet if I stay on the same ground too long so I think after that arc I was happy to let it rest.
Paul: Rob Williams scripted another great series with Asylum. I would have liked to have read more about Marshall Holt. What are your memories of the series?
Boo: As Asylum was my first major strip for 2000AD way back in 2002 some of the art is pretty shonky in there but I really enjoyed doing it at the time. It had such a great tone and a crazily varied cast of characters. It could go from being quite daft and comical to very brutal and hard hitting in a flash which is always nice to play with. There was a lot of emotional channeling done on that strip which involved relentless listening to Killing Joke at a punishing volume and a bit of deep method drawing where I would really try and get my brain in the same space as the characters.
Boo: The scene where Spore and Run get shot up on Sydney Harbour bridge had me weeping like a Rancor keeper! Marshall Holt was a cracking character to read and to draw, he had a great attitude and I have to say I do quite miss him. I think his return was discussed a while back but Rob was frying some pretty big fish at the time so it didn't go much further, maybe now Rob is writing for the prog a little more it could happen. I shall discuss it over a beer at some point! Quite a few of the themes involved have also been re-explored in the more recent strip Grey Area and considering how long Asylum has been absent I would say it wasn't likely to happen but maybe i'll just do an old skool pin-up or something.
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Paul: You mentioned Johnny Alpha as being a favourite of yours. Have you ever been approached to take on the character? Have you tried the character for fun? I believe Carlos would approve of any artist giving it their all on anything he was famous for illustrating.
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Boo: I've had the immense pleasure of drawing Johnny Alpha a few times for the prog - a reworking/homage to one of Carlos' vintage covers plus a five page Anderson/Alpha team up strip in the recent zombie crossover. To say it was an honour is something of an understatement was a lot being my favourite strip. I always wanted to draw Strontium Dog but after Carlos' unfortunate passing it seemed that quite rightly there would be no more continuation of the main strip itself. The characters have reappeared in spin-off strips and specials since then which I think is fair enough. The fans still want more and I'm sure Carlos himself would give such strips his blessing. Plus when a script featuring your all time favourite characters lands in your inbox only a fool would turn that down! I only met Carlos once, at one of the old Dredd Cons in Oxford back in the day. Him and me were the last droids sketching in an almost empty room at the end of the show. He was packing up his stuff as I finished my last sketch and I cheekily said 'Carlos..... could you do me a 30 second Wulf please?' Having never met him I expected him to tell me to sod off or something but, of course Carlos being Carlos, he made some jokey fisticuff gestures at me and proceeded to fire out the most amazing sketch of Sternhammer which I still have on my wall. He was the epitome of an art legend and a true gent to boot. (see sketch attached below!)
Paul: I am intrigued in what type of paints you use. Do they vary a little? Also would you describe yourself as a terribly fast artist? Your sketchbook I bought many year ago suggests you are full of ideas.
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Boo: As far as paints go I use different mediums for different things. All of my large paintings and portraits are done with acrylics on canvas or wood panels but I also do a lot of more experimental sketching on manilla card with Prismacolour pencils and Posca pens. Most of that kind of stuff is done at the weekend after mild intoxications which means I learn unexpected new tricks and approaches which feed into my weekly work. I can be a fast artist if I need to be but I am generally a more ponderous and slow artist chipping away at an image until it feels right, rather than one of these artists who can do enscapulated drawings in a matter of seconds.
Boo: To speed up the process most of my comics work is painted in photoshop. It's not a massive amount faster than traditional painting but you can for example do a graduated background fill in a matter of seconds and if it's the wrong colour you can just tweak it instantly. That process alone would probably take me hours in real paint so it definitely speeds certain things up. I'm hoping to branch out more into traditional painting, particularly with my covers as although it may be a little more painstaking, a lot of happy accidents occur, or the paint might behave in an unpredictable way which influences the outcome in a much more intuitive and organic way.
Boo: Using photoshop, while fast, is very predictable and as such can find me practically falling asleep at the wheel while i'm laying down flat colours - something that never happens with real painting. Since the advent of AI art I've felt naturally inclined to re-embrace all things organic and visceral with my art and also my music (not as any kind of militant protest as such but people I know in the film concept art world are now losing their jobs to AI bots) so I have an innate desire to embrace the analogue approach in some hope that people will value the human aspect in my creative endeavours and hopefully appreciate that it's not just the product of a few words typed into an algorithm. AI art can be absolutely incredible but it always leaves me feeling a little but ill or slightly spooked... I'm not a luddite though - I'll probably continue to use photoshop but there's a joy and a random element that comes from the organic approach that I'm favouring more and more.
Paul: The cover to Prog 1500 was very impressive. Could you talk about how you were offered the landmark cover? Also were you given a brief for the images or was it entirely your own creation?
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Boo: Prog 1500, that's going back a long way! As far as I can recall I'd just finished a long strip job - probably Asylum 2 or some Harry Kipling Deceased and Matt (aka Tharg the Mighty) just sprung it on me. Needless to say I was over the moon at the offer and, there's a little kind of idiotic tribal dance that I tend to do when such emails come thru - this was one of those days for sure. As I recall it was Matt's idea to have the number 1500 and Tharg as giant statues and he no doubt mentioned cramming in as many major players as possible. Looking back at it there's some things I'd do a lot differently now such as having the massive cast of classic characters larger than 1mm high each. Also it's very brown! I probably wouldn't let that pass today.
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Paul: You mentioned you have attended a few conventions. Is that a a part of your job you enjoy? Do you have any fun convention stories you are allowed to share?
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Boo: Back in the day I used to be quite jazzed about going to conventions - certainly at the start of a comics career it's a good way to help yourself get known and maybe earn a little money on the side selling original art etc. Back when I first started attending cons during the classic Bristol Comicon era of the late 90's early 2000's nobody charged for sketches and slowly but surely charging caught on and now pretty much everyone does it. I like to still sketch for free at cons as it's nice to give something back to people who've supported you over the years and basically got you where you are. As a business model it's kind of disastrous so I wouldn't begrudge anyone who does charge but sometimes it's just nice to be nice.
Boo: These days I only do two or three shows a year, mostly preferring to just be at home getting on with the artwork but if a guest request comes through with travel and accommodation expenses covered, especially in a beautiful warm part of the world such as Thessaloniki or Hercegnovi, I generally sign up right away. Folk in these places really know how to treat a guest, often throwing in amazing meals and historical sight seeing tours so it would be foolish not to really. Since a show in Lille about 12 years ago I've ended up forming a highly satisfying double act with best bud Simon Davis - It's great to have a travelling companion when going off to these places and we always have a real blast! If one of us gets a request we'll usually see if the other can be wedged in somewhere. As far as the UK goes we always do the Sci-Fi Weekender in Great Yarmouth or 'Space Butlins' as I refer to it. They're such lovely folk who put that on and it's a hilarious show, quite unlike any other! I'm not sure anyone attending has any idea who I am but sometimes it's just good to operate on pure fun, and the organisers invariably get us to agree to performing some kind of musical act with varying (often tragic) levels of success.
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Paul: Many British creators find success working for one of the big two comic publishers in America. I speak of Marvel and DC. Can you describe your experiences working for them please?
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Boo: I've never worked for DC but I did have a nice little run working for Marvel a while back, possibly like 15 years or so ago now. I got to do an enjoyable stint on the X-Factor comic which featured some cool characters like She Hulk and Quicksilver but my first gig over there was a Wolverine cover which was probably the most satisfying, and a career high in terms of major characters. Si Spurrier had just started getting a lot of work over there after our run on Harry Kipling for 2000AD and he was kind enough to try and fold me into things in his mighty wake.
Boo: Having been mostly a 2000AD/European comics fan for most of my life, at that time I was also actually quite into Marvel and a bit of DC under the tutelage of my new partner, now wife Gemma, so it meant a lot to be drawing those characters. Alas it didn't last though (the job, not the marriage!) I was replaced on my run of covers for X-Factor without being told, which was a little disappointing. I was waiting for my next brief which never came and in the end after getting no response from my editor I had to email Joe Quesada to ask what was happening. I think his response was 'oh, didn't you know?' Needless to say that kinda soured my experience of working for them, and adding to that the numerous editorial, administrative, and creative hoops I had to jump through I scurried back, cap in hand to the mighty Tharg where i've been beavering away happily ever since.
Boo: I was a lot more ambitious back then and really wanted to try and be a big worldwide name. These days if I can work on a crazy story with a good message steered by a writer who I really click with, do some personal painting (and make some batshit music) I'm happy as Larry. I did have a long run of covers over at Image featuring the ace comic Prophet, but more primarily on Richard Starkings' magnum opus Elephantmen and that was a lot more up my street for sure. I learnt a lot and had a ton of fun there. I like to keep life pretty simple these days though so as I said, 2000AD is a very comfy home at present.
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Paul: I'm circling back a little, but do you have any fun convention stories you're allowed to share?
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Boo: We work pretty hard at the conventions but we also berk around quite a lot, which usually involves drinking copious amounts of beer. We've seen snakes on an island in Herceg Novi, sung karaoke til dawn in Malta... many moments are lost like tears in the rain but a few moments do stick out such as getting totally lost on the streets of Lille. In the early hours of the morning with Dylan Teague, Andy Lanning and Dave Kendall et al. In the end the only way we could get back to our hotel was for Andy to phone his daughter back in London and got her to guide us back using google maps. We returned after what to us seemed like an epic quest... nobody missed us! DJ-ing at Thought Bubble was always great!! I remember the first time it happened: I think Phil Winslade and Charlie Adlard's band Cosmic Rays' were playing on stage, It was in the sound booth getting myself prepped for my DJ set - Then, there was a big red button sitting there. Naturally I pressed it and plunged the band and the entire establishment into total darkness and silence. Nice!
Paul: That sounds like great fun.
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Boo: Music has often been a factor at cons - we did cosplay karaoke at SF Weekender in Wales once where Si Davis, Frazer Irving and myself got cosplayers to suggest songs before hand which we rigorously learnt for the show. It was pretty diabolical on the night, watching Orcs murder Mr. Brightside etc... At one point while a Stormtrooper was doing a fine rendition of Paint It Black my drum stick got caught on the purple clown wig I was wearing, and it would not get shaken off ,so it looked like a purple tribble was flying round the kit... There have been some classic parties with bubble wizards and contortionists etc. at SF Weekender. I recently was repeatedly body slammed onto a sofa by the affable and obliging John 'Dark Room' Robertson.
Note: Simon Bisley on guitar.
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Boo: One of the best SFW memories was forming the instant band 'Warp Spasm' with Si Bisley, Dez Skinn, Si Davis, Frazer Irving and myself. We had one band practice the night before where we wrote and learned 5 songs.
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Boo: The next night the legendary Pat Sharp was DJing before us in the main hall - There were about 3000 people in there and he'd wooped them up into quite a frenzy with Sweet Caroline. The beginning of our set was essentially a wall of solid noise, by the time that had finished there was about 30 people left in the hall - I can vividly remember hearing people actually screaming as they ran for the exits. We had fun anyway and I think the remaining 30 people did. We finished the gig and Bisley finished his bit of the gig about 10 minutes after we'd left the stage. Nobody tells the Biz to stop.
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Paul:There's a daft question I like to ask anyone that has work on or enjoys superhero comics. If you could have one superpower, or the abilities of one character, what power whose abilities would you chose?
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Boo: If I could have one superpower I actually think it might be to clone/make multiple copies of myself like Madrox from X-Factor. There's just so many creative things I want to do but never enough time! I'd maybe have one who got the shitty end of the stick and just had to work, one who could paint and do all kinds of experimental art that I don't get time to do, one to play the drums and make music, and of course one to just live an actual life. Naturally this would all cost a lot more in living expenses so I'd have to create some poor bastard who just sat in some kind of maths dungeon investing my tiny profits and making them grow accordingly... failing that, I guess it would just be nice to be the Hulk and punch planets in half.
Paul: What does the future hold for Boo Cook? What are you working on now, and is there anything you would like to shamelessly promote?
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Boo: Currently I'm working on an ace new strip for 2000AD with writer Dave Hine called 'Void Runners' which will be starting soon in the weekly prog. I'm on ep7 and so far it's been a real blast - the cosmic shizz is turned up to 11 on this one, there's loads of aliens and spaceships which I love doing. It's very psychedelic (I know my stuff is usually psychedelic but this one has seriously pushed the boundaries!) It's a very old skool AD strip at it's core with an excellent cast of characters who I've really fallen in love with and a 'great message for our times'... It's doesn't mess about! It's pure balls out enlightenment! (as Buddha would say) so keep your eyes peeled for that!!
Paul: That sounds amazing!
Boo: There's more Dredd-world related stuff in the pipeline too which I don't think I can mention just yet, and as always I have paintings and sketches flying out on my Instagram page. I have a YouTube channel with lots of art and music vids which you can check out too
www.instagram.com/boocook23
Boo: Aside from the art, the record label Menk Records that I run with my two associates Oli Bailey and Jon Ridley is still ticking along on bandcamp - fans of psychedelic electronic and organic Kosmiche rock would do well to have a nose around the various acts on there for some sublime synth journeys and Forktail action. i just released an album of solo stuff earlier in the year under the name of Owlmask with an ace cover by 2000AD's own Tom Eglington, so people should definietly check that out - punt punt! Also this year Si Davis and myself have formed a new stoner groove/sludge punk/metal band with Brighton's Family Store owner Andrew Garnett. the band is called CRAB and will be blowing your nuts off at a live venue near you later on the year.
Paul: Finally Boo, What is your problem with Tom Hanks?
Boo: Ha! Well, I mean… he’s alright and I’d wish him no ill will of course but I think my problem is that he’s just ‘alright’…. I’m pretty sure nothing he has made or will ever make will be a film that gets my blood pumping - he would make Fast and Furious 946 seem completely uneventful just by his mere presence if he was in it. I love him though, great guy!
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Paul: Respectfully regarding Tom Hanks: Did the first half hour of Saving Private Ryan not get your blood pumping at all?
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Boo: Heh, the honest answer to that last one would be I don’t really remember that film. At this point people are gonna think I spend all my time actively hating Tom Hanks, going on anti-Hanks protest marches etc. He’s just a bit ‘meh’… I like a film with a bit of craziness to it - he’s about as edgy as a balloon but of course many people love him and so they should.
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Paul: Your name is "Boo" I believe. In you experience have friends ever made jokes or tried to make you jump?
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Boo: As for my name/nickname and has anyone used it to make me jump, only every single time in my life that I’ve been introduced to a new person…
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Paul: Boo, thank you for sparing so much of your valuable time it has been a joy and a pleasure.
