Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, doctor who

Turning Album Covers Into Doctor Who Covers, With Simon Myers

Olly MacNamee writes,

With a successful stint signing at the national Small Press Day this last Saturday, running the lengths and breadths of the UK, as well as Doctor Who Comics Day, I was able to pop in and catch up with one of Titan Comics' rising stars, Doctor Who cover artist, Simon Myers, who has recently been responsible for the well received and hugely popular homage covers paying tribute, as they do, to classic LP covers of the past. Simon was signing at the Birmingham branch of Forbidden Planet and can also be found as one of two hosts of their own Drink and Draw evening across Birmingham and Coventry. But, as busy as he is, he took the time out to have a chat with us here at Bleeding Cool.

Olly MacNamee: You've recently had a spate of covers out paying homage to classic LP covers of the past. How did this gig come about?

Simon Myers: Simply from a conversation with Andrew James my Editor at Titan, I was in London and popped into Titan head offices a few days before the launch of Season nine of Doctor Who. We were talking about how Peter Capaldi plays the guitar and has a love of Rock music, and it just tumbled out of that.

OM: I suppose, I have to ask, what are your own fond memories of Dr Who; any particular Doctors, or even story lines, that you remember from your childhood (or, even more recently)?

SM: Being honest I am that cliché, my Mum tells stories of me hiding by the edge of the sofa as my younger brother giggled his way through Peter Davison and Colin Baker episodes. A little later on I did rather enjoy screen time of Ace (the Seventh Doctor's companion) but that may be that I was eleven/twelve years old and she was a feisty tomboy in a bomber jacket. Recently I loved the surface teasing yet genuine camaraderie of Amy Pond and the Eleventh Doctor.

OM: How did you choose the covers to homage? Did you have particular Doctors in mind when choosing each LP, or did you have to clear each idea with your editor?

SM: I did indeed have a specific Doctor in mind when creating a homage. I try and match the flavour of the era, group/artist and style of the music to the specific incarnation of the Doctor. It's also important that the album artwork itself is recognizable; there's no point homaging a band on no one's radar, or indeed picking obscure interior artwork. The album artwork itself has to be well known otherwise the homages don't resonate.

OM: Well then, looking back now, are there any favourites that stand out for you personally?

SM: My favourite is the first one I did Parallel Lines by Blondie it just all came together so quickly. I even worked it up to exact album proportions and created a logotype.

OM: Are there any more contemporary LP covers you think could work well as a Dr Who cover? I could see a great riff on De La Soul's Three Feet High And Rising, for instance.

SM: I agree, but I try and find a flavour of the Doctor (it may be attitude or dress), to me 12 is classic rock, 11 punk, 10 the sixties, 09 sort of lad/dad rock. As much as I love De La Soul (they were indeed the first live act I ever saw) I'm not sure a hip-hop homage would fit.

OM: You've recently created a series of variant watercolour portrait covers for Dr Who? Is this a natural medium for you, or did you have to adapt in any way?

SM: It came out of a conversation with fellow professionals, specifically Jonathan Edwards and Christian Ward, at last year's Thought Bubble. I was bemoaning how markers are hideously expensive and they advised swapping to watercolour. I hadn't picked up a watercolour brush since my school days and my first few attempts were just muddy messes, but I persevered, with some advice from my friend Matt Miles (who's wildlife watercolours are on show now as part of an exhibition at the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum in Coventry). I started painting portraits in my downtime, and presented one to Andrew James as a "thank you' for giving me a run of Doctor Who covers. He really liked it, and asked me for a cover concept, to even recreate the trade dress to appear drawn a sketchbook.

OM: As a side line, you are close friend, Nigel Hopkins, have run a series of very successful Drink and Draw evening across both Coventry and Birmingham. How did that come about?

SM: Again like most things a conversation. I used to share a studio with Nigel (amongst others) and we would inevitably end up in a pub. Both being designers and having a love of comics and animation we'd start doodling on beer mats, much to the chagrin of the folk with us. We thought it would be cool to start a night where folk just turned up to draw with no pressure or judgment. We were friendly with the owners of a bar and thought we'd give it a shot, thinking we may get six or seven of our friends sitting round a table. As it happened we had approximately 75 folk turn up. 5 years and approximately 25 events later we get hundreds of guests. I recall 500 was the count at the last one at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and we had many hundreds at our last event at the City of Colours. We created the events to drink and draw without judgment yet neither of us has drawn at one yet.

OM: Yep, I can avouch for both of these Brum events as being sore away successes, from what I can remember. But, what next for Simon Myers? I hear tell there may even be some comic strip work in the near future?

SM: Still knocking out covers for Titan's titles, which I love. The sequential work you speak of should be announced soon, though only a single page. I'm reluctant to talk about my own projects as I've seen folk big stuff up and then have egg on their faces when things change or don't come to fruition. Though I do have an idea for a creator owned title that is gestating.

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