Ande Parks was the inker of Daredevil on issues #338-340. Here he talks about those issues and his opinions on DD.

Kuljit Mithra: Can you tell me a little about yourself and what got you interested in inking?

Ande Parks: I reached a point in college where I realized I really didn't know what I was going to do with my life. I decided I should give comics a shot, since it sounded like the best job I could realistically hope to get. I worked at inking for about 5 years before I started to get some work, and it just snowballed from there.

Mithra: What has been the most difficult thing for you to master with inking?

Parks: Two things. It is hard when you have to go from doing comics as a hobby to it being your job. In other words, you must do it every day. Second, balancing being faithful to a pencillers work while trying to add some of my sensibility.

Mithra: You've worked on Daredevil #338-340, with others as part of an inking team, over Alexander Jubran's pencils. Was there a problem with Jubran's pencils that required so many inkers? Was he slow in getting the art to you?

Parks: There may have been problems with the pencils, but I doubt that speed was one of them. Frankly, my impression at the time was that the issues I worked on were kind of an emergency situation. The editor, Marie Javins, was getting ready to relaunch the book with a big new creative team of Ron Wagner and Klaus Janson. I know she was trying to get Klaus back as inker... I believe he declined and she got Bill Reinhold. While she lined up her new team, she was, of course having to produce a few issues quickly to fill a void. My impression was that the pencils were produced in a studio situation, with Jubran overseeing the production. As I inked the pages, I would notice different styles and even different types of pencil leads. If I'm mistaken, I hope Alexander will forgive me. Different inkers were assigned simply to speed the process.

In short, the issues I did were not the best product any of us could have delivered if we'd had more time. Such is often the way with a monthly book.

Mithra: Do you prefer artists to have tight pencils or ones who allow you some interpretation?

Parks: I like to have some leeway- especially to play with the textures and spot blacks.

Mithra: What else have you worked on?

Parks: Most of my work has been for DC or Dark Horse. I've worked on Wonder Woman, Catwoman, The Ray, Superboy, and others. I also created my own characters, Uncle Slam & Fire Dog, which I produced for Action Planet comics.

Mithra: Do you know if Jubran has worked on anything else? I'm not sure if I've ever seen his name elsewhere.

Parks: Nor have I.

Mithra: What did you think of your DD issues overall?

Parks: Generally, it was a thrill to work on the book. Would I have preferred to work with Frank Miller in DD's best years? Unquestionably... but you take what you can get.

Mithra: What do you think of the Daredevil character in general?

Parks: Very interesting character. I was always fond of the characters who had to work at it. Of course, DD has his enhanced senses, but I like to think of him as a self-made hero.

Mithra: Which costume do you think is his best? You inked the black/blue/red one in your issues...

Parks: Bluntly, that costume sucks. Anyone who changes the basic red costume should be immediately removed from the book.

Mithra: Have you ever tried to do an inking technique like the one Scott McDaniel and Hector Collazo used in 'Fall From Grace'?

Parks: Sort of... I work with Phil Hester a lot, and our stuff is very high-contrast. Personally, I don't want to ape anyone else's work. Frank [Miller] does that stuff the best, so let him do it.

Mithra: Any projects coming up that you can talk about?

Parks: I'd love to tell you about one, but it's not definite yet, so I'll keep you posted.

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(c) Kuljit Mithra 1999
Daredevil:The Man Without Fear
http://www.manwithoutfear.com
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