Inside the Artist’s Studio: Don Kramer

Another holiday reprint for your enjoyment. This time we feature an interview with the classiest guy in comics, Don Kramer.

[Editors note: this interview was originally published on Jun 8, 2007]

DK: It was June 14, 1983 when by chance, I met a young Ethan Van Sciver on vacation with my family in the Poconos. We became fast friends as we shared our love of John Byrne’s X-Men comics. It was there that he convinced me NOT to join the now defunct New Kids on the Block and become a comic book artist instead. He told me there would be no future with the band, no creativity or satisfaction, and that I could have all those things if I just worked to become a comic book artist like himself. Boy was he right! Thanks Ethan.

SB: If you hadn’t been an artist, what would young Don Kramer have turned out to be?

DK: Donnie Wahlberg

SB: Everyone has a different story, so how did you break into the industry?

DK: Tenacity. I knew that this is what I wanted to do, so I put together a portfolio and hit the conventions. I was rejected by all the big companies but a couple of indy companies gave me work. No one would hire me, but I knew I was good enough when an editor accused me of swiping Paul Gulacy in a portfolio review. At the time, it just pissed me off, but later I looked back on that statement as a bit of a backhanded compliment.

Eventually, John Cassaday, Chris Golden and Tom Sniegoski took an interest in my work. They helped to introduce me to their editors, who in turn, took an interest. Eventually, Axel Alonso gave me work which, in turn, led to the Dr. Fate mini with Chris Golden.

SB: Can you take us through the first steps of a new project, like when you were assigned to Detective Comics? What is it like during the development stage of a project?

DK: Actually, Detective just dropped into my lap. I was getting ready for 52, had just received the first script and literally was just starting to read the first line when I got a call from my editor, Pete Tomasi that they were moving me onto Detective. There were some scheduling conflicts between [series writer] Paul [Dini], J.H. Williams and Rags [Morales] that simply worked in my favor. I was asked to do a couple of sketches as to how I would draw the Riddler (the costume with the glasses was described to me). They already knew how I drew Batman, since I just came off the [Face the Face] run with James Robinson. They E-mailed me the script and I was off and running. Well, it’s been more of a jog. Newly divorced and being a single dad has slowed me down a little, but DC has been patient with me thank God.

SB: How much interaction and flexibility do you have with the writer and editors on issues?

DK: It depends on the writer and editor. Geoff was very flexible. We would talk about the stories before he would begin scripting. If he liked some of my ideas, he would work them in. I’ve had little contact with James and Paul. I’ve talked to James only a few times and Paul only through E-mail. I, typically, like to stick close to the script, but will add a little if it makes better sense for the story without changing the story in any way. I’ve never heard anyone complain.

SB: You have worked with several writers throught your career and each one writes differently. Can you talk about how you adapt to scripts and maybe a little about how different a script from Geoff Johns (plus David S. Goyer) and a script from Paul Dini might be?

DK: Geoff’s scripts were great. They were open enough to allow me freedom as I worked. If I had a question or an idea, I’d call him. His scripts were more personal (I think more because he had the time to get to know me and what I enjoyed drawing). James’s [Robinson] scripts were a bit more structured and technically based. He would describe the size and shape of the panels as he felt it needed. Paul’s scripts remind me more of a friend telling another friend a story. Really these are subtle differences. They are all gifted writers and it’s just the subtle nuances that differentiate the scripts from one another.

SB: How do you approach each page? Do you make yourself a thumbnail or some concept layouts?

DK: I used to do thumbnails and layouts, all that. It was somewhere in the JSA: Redemption Lost story arc I stopped doing that. Now I just go right to the page. Every once in a while, I will make liner notes right on the script if I haven’t gotten to that page yet. Now I just go right to the page trying to work from bottom left to upper right corner of the page as I go (prevents smudging).

SB: Having spent a good majority of your career at DC, with work on books like JSA and Detective, you’ve been able to draw quite a lot of characters. Is there anyone you’ve become specifically attached to, or a personal favorite?

DK: Not really. I like (and hope to eventually draw) them all (not on a single double page spread Geoff. Don’t get any ideas). Though I’m still hoping to perfect my version of Batman

SB: So take us through the character design process. You mentioned earlier about having to re-design the Riddler. How did you go about doing that? Do you use photo or model reference, or use your own designs?

DK: Pete gave me an idea about what they were going for with Riddler’s newer look and I ran with it. They suggested the glasses (which is what I would have wanted anyway) and question marks. I tried to design the question marks as a bit more of a pattern on the the sportcoat to give it a bit more flare than a giant garish question mark. And no, I didn’t use reference models for the Riddler.

I did have a friend pose for some Joker shots. He had the same facial structure and I used lighting to see how it cast shadows across his face in order to capture the mood. But typically, I don’t use reference models at all anymore.

SB: You are currently teamed with inker Wayne Faucher on Detective Comics. How closely together do you and Wayne work? How important is the inker to what you do?

DK: I talk to him about once a week. We discuss the techniques I would like to see him use on certain panels and he makes suggestions about how he should approach the panel. What the inker does is what the readers see, so he’s VERY important to the process.

SB: You tend to subtley name-drop people in your artwork. What’s the deal with that?

DK: I’m a name dropper. Y’know, just the other day I was talking with Geoff Johns and Alex Ross about Dustin Davis, Josh Hamman and Keith Dallas as they were discussing Rags Morales and Ethan Van Sciver’s, oh there I go again.

SB: OK, last question; seriously, how cool is it to see your name on a monthly Batman comic?

DK: As cool as Chilly Willy eating a giant stack of pancakes (let’s see how many people get that reference)! More pancakes? More pancakes. More syrup? More syrup.