Check out this exclusive Q & A with “Masks” writer and artist Aaron Rintoul.
Review Fix: What was the inspiration behind Masks?
Aaron Rintoul: I had only been creating digital art seriously for about a year when I began working on Masks. I was doing a lot of digital photography and photo manipulation, I had all these images that I liked but had nothing really to use them for. My wife is a big comic fan and she suggested creating a graphic novel. The inspiration for the story evolved from the tone of the art which came first.
Review Fix: Who or what inspires you visually?
Rintoul: I’m mainly inspired by film makers and other photographers, I wanted my comic work to have a film like quality which is why I used photography so heavily in the project.
Review Fix: Who are some of your favorite writers and why?
Rintoul: I like a lot of different stuff, Chuck Palahniuk, Douglas Coupland, Hubert Selby, Jr. , Cormac McCarthy, William S. Burroughs, William Gibson, Richard Matheson, Aldous Huxley. A lot of Transgressive fiction because it’s usually never dull.
Review Fix: Do you remember when you decided to get into the comic book industry?
Rintoul: Once I finished the first issue of Masks I sent it off to Septagon Studios and they got back right away wanting to publish it, so I guess about the time I found myself suddenly in it. It’s not something I ever thought about. I was never really a big comic book fan. I read a few super hero comics when I was a kid but that was pretty much it.
Review Fix: What do you think the future holds for you and the series?
Rintoul: The first book is getting some really great reviews which is nice. I have thought about making a second Masks book that picks up where the first graphic novel leaves off but right now I am focusing on a new comic project called “Vacancy” that I am collaborating on.
Review Fix: If someone asked you what this series was about, what would you tell them?
Rintoul: I think I would say read it and draw your own conclusions. For me, it was about not really knowing who you are inside.
Review Fix: If this series was a food, what would it taste like and why?
Rintoul: Umm chicken? Everything tastes like chicken right? Or am I supposed to say something cool like a Candy apple with a razor blade in the center? I don’t know, that’s a weird question.
Review Fix: What’s your favorite part of Masks?
Rintoul: I think I still like the first issue the best.
Review Fix: If you could change one thing about the series, what would it be and why?
Rintoul: Of course I would love to be able to redo it now and make the art better, rework the writing etc. But I think that is how most artists feel looking back on early work. I finished Masks in 2008 so to me it feels and looks pretty dated.
Review Fix: Are you working on anything else right now?
Rintoul: I am collaborating on a graphic novel project called Vacancy with writer Lara Fuentes and artist Patricio Clarey the duo behind the upcoming Septagon comic series Archaeologists Of Shadow.
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