Mithra: I believe I've read that Marvel reached out to McKenzie to return to the company after 30 years... was it McKenzie who suggested he work with you? Can you briefly describe how that all came to be?

Torres: I honestly can’t remember. All I know is that Roger asked me to do four pages for this story he had about Melvin Potter. I think he wanted to pitch it to Marvel. I did it, then the next thing I know I was contacted by Marvel to finish up 6 pages in a week or so. It was the 4th of July weekend and I had made plans a year in advance to be out of town on a mini vacation so I had to take my computer, my Cintiq, etc. with me and I banged it out over the weekend. It was an honor to do that story with Roger and to draw DD who’s top three (after Spidey and Bats) on my favorite character list.

Mithra: With the Melvin Potter story, I was wondering if you had to do anything different in your preparations for a comic that wasn't a full 20 pages? My impression is that you'd have to be very concerned with story and art flow with the limited space.

Torres: The only thing that I wished was different was that I wish it would have come at a time when I was not supposed to be on vacation... LOL. Yes I wish we had more pages to develop the story, it’s really difficult to streamline due to space so you have to focus on the major beats of the story. Roger had a ton of very cool ideas when we were brainstorming early on and it would have been cool to introduce those into the Fragments story. With that said I am really happy with what we did.

Mithra: Also, with Potter, was there any particular influence in terms of how you drew him? I found your work here and on KINGPIN reminded me of Frank Miller's work, especially with inking and shadows, and also the use of color for some of the more violent panels.

Torres: Unlike other artists who are hesitant to divulge their comic influences. I love Frank Miller, love him to death. I love his work so much that the G.I. Joe team strongly lobbied to get him to do the first cover for Dark Horse’s G.I. Joe Extreme comic book and he killed it. Anyway, I love John Romita Sr. and John Romita Jr. and Jack Kirby is THE King…so those are the major influences you will see in my work. These legends that I mentioned mastered how to effectively use positive and negative space on a page, know how to make the readers eye flow, know how to create mood and tension, can layout the heck of a page, etc. These guys are masters of the craft and I studied and study them to get inspiration. Sorry for the tangent…LOL.. but yes.. I tried to make Melvin Potter look similar to how Frank drew him in McKenzie and Miller’s DD #166. I thought it would be a nice nod to McKenzie’s return because issue #166 was his final issue of DD. Regarding coloring, Miroslav Mrva did the coloring on that story and he killed it IMO. I’ve never spoken to him but he does great work.

Mithra: With writer Matthew Rosenberg on KINGPIN, you made a really good character study of Wilson Fisk and also of Sarah Dewey. I was disappointed when I heard it wasn't going to go past issue 5. I know you can't get into the "behind-the-scenes" of the cancellation, but how disappointing was it for you to find out?

Torres: Thank you for the compliment. Matthew is one of THE best writers out there today. When I began the book Marvel was very upfront about the process. The desire was to do an ongoing series and based on the numbers they would reevaluate if we would continue on around issue #3 I believe. The numbers didn’t hit target sales. I followed the numbers as well and expected it happen. After a while as a professional you get used to it. For instance at big companies like a Hasbro per say, a line that was not making approximately $20M was considered a small toy line and more than likely would be discontinued. Now for a small company those are great numbers but for a big company like that you have to ask do I keep putting resources into a product that does not generate projected numbers. The answer is usually no. Especially when your other lines are averaging 100’s of millions of dollars. It’s not that the product is bad it’s just that it has to make business sense. So while slightly disappointed I understand the decision and agree with it.

Mithra: One thing I enjoyed was the interaction between Fisk and Dewey and the way Fisk was drawn so large and Dewey so small... reminded me of how Bill Sienkiewicz drew Fisk in the DAREDEVIL: LOVE AND WAR Graphic Novel. Done on purpose?

Torres: Bingo! Yes it was done on purpose, a lot of people didn’t enjoy that. Since the story was essentially a human interest tale that followed Sarah’s descent into Fisk’s world I wanted him to be this larger than life monstrous kind of figure. His very presence should cast a large engulfing shadow. I varied his size when he needed to be more intimate but I wanted the reader to be very aware that this guy is dangerous. It was a creatively strategic choice. If one isn’t familiar with Fisk’s history it would seem odd to see him that large. But if you look at how Romita Sr. Romita Jr. even Miller and Mazzucchelli drew him he was usually drawn menacing and larger than life. I wanted to combine what they did with what Bill Sienkiewicz did in the DD graphic novel… Kingpin looked other worldly to me in that graphic novel. He was drawn in such a way where you had to pause and really soak in his presence. That novel is under rated and actually quite brilliant by the way. I will say, I didn’t realize that the more modern iterations of the Kingpin have him slimmed down with more normal proportions.

Mithra: How was it working with Rosenberg? Judging from some of his interviews, he seems like a big Daredevil fan and wanted to tell this particular story.

Torres: Matthew was a blast to work with. He loves DD and the history of the character. Honestly I hope Marvel lets him do a DD series.

Mithra: Last question, with KINGPIN now done, what's next for you? Some more Charlton work? Thank you for your time.

Torres: Well as of now Roger and I doing more Deathwatch stories, we’re also getting together a few things to pitch to some companies and I just ran into my Big Bang Comics buddies and we’re talking about getting back together and doing some new Knight Watchman stories. Plus I have some other things that I’m consulting on for various companies.
It was my pleasure to do this interview best wishes to you. I appreciate your passion for DD and love what you're doing with Man Without Fear.