We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mark McKenna a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Mark thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

When I first started to do ink samples to show to editors at Marvel and DC Comics, most of us trying to break into the business did our samples over tracing vellum, which is a thicker tracing paper. It allowed the editors to see the pencil work in the underlying copies while examining the ink on the vellum.

Originally I was accepted into a training program at DC Comics which, at the time, was at 666 5th Ave in NYC, about 20 or so blocks from Marvel Comics(387 Park Ave South). The DC training program for me was all about “Who I knew” because I went to school at the School of Visual Arts. The Illustration chairman at SVA introduced me to the Perspective teacher, Sal Almendola who was also the “new talent coordinator” at DC Comics. Sal brought me up to DC and gave me xeroxes of established pro pencil artists for me to do ink samples over. I lived in Suffolk County, Long Island and took the Long Island train into NYC every other Friday to sit in a conference room with other prospective artists and share our samples and discuss how to improve them. After the sessions would end, I would then walk over to Marvel offices and leave my DC samples with the receptionist who would hand them off to the art director to look over. After a few sessions and continued back and forth between the two publishers, I was at Marvel in the foyer waiting to get some feedback from an editor who would come out to see me. The 3rd time was the charm, as the editor at Marvel explained to me that Marvel had a full time Art Corrections Program, where the art director there would train us while we were getting paid a minimum wage but very “hands on” so that we would see the process and see our art in print.. It was during that 18 months at Marvel that changed the playing field for me and I never looked back. Right after the 18 months at Marvel on staff I now brought my samples to DC Comics because while I worked at Marvel, I was usually considered a production artist and maybe not good enough yet to work on a monthly comic book.

One day during lunch I went up to DC Comics to meet with a “Special Projects” editor about the possibility of doing some art on things like lunchboxes or package designs but the editor didnt come back from lunch on time. I was roaming the halls at DC and heard some noise from one of the editors rooms, peeked in and introduced myself to Group Editor Karen Berger, who helmed some of the more recognizable DC comic titles. I asked her if I could leave her some ink samples and the next day she called me and offered me a “continuity contract” to ink a monthly comic called Dr Fate..

Mark, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Ive been co-illustrating comic books for almost 39 years. I started in 1985 at Marvel Comics in art corrections as part of a apprenticeship program under the tutelage of art director and legendary Spider Man artist, John Romita. The art corrections department, known as the “Romita’s Raiders” were responsible for correcting any drawing, inking or continuity issues in the comic creating process.

Because we were considered “production” we were generally looked at as that and not recognized as artists that worked on a monthly book. After 18 months of being on staff as a “Raider”, I took my art samples to rival DC Comics, which was a walk away in mid town New York, and got a call from a group editor there, Karen Berger. Karen offered me a continuity contract to ink a regular series at DC called Dr Fate. The assembly line process of comic creating goes as follows: writer, penciller, inker, letterer and colorist. As an “inker” I/we were responsible for working OVER the pencil art, adding depth in ink line weights, sometimes light sources and rendering techniques that may not be there in the pencil art. We then erased the pencil remnants and the art would be “camera ready”.

I was on contract at DC for the next 4 years, working on titles, Dr Fate, LEGION ’89, Doom Patrol and The Griffin. It was then in 1991 the Dr Strange editor at Marvel called me and offered me the opportunity to work on that title. I didnt resign at DC and went back to Marvel, where my heart, lie to begin with. I grew up a Marvel Comics reader, so I felt like that was home for me. I didnt have a contract at Marvel, but in the early 1990’s there was plenty of work and I hit my prime in the early 90s sometimes working on 2 or 3 comics a month. A monthly comic, takes a couple of months of assembly line talent to get to the finish line. As an inker, the hope was that we would get 3, 4 weeks to ink a 22 page comic.

Working as a freelance comic artist, generally meant you worked away from an office environment, either at home or in a studio, so discipline was of major importance. If I worked on more than one monthly book I would enlist the support of an “assistant” who I would pay a percentage of my page rate to help ink backgrounds such as buildings, cars, trees and possibly erase the pencil residue left after inks to make the art camera-ready.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

When I started on staff at Marvel Comics in 1985, I was working on art corrections on monthly comics, pretty much “fixing things” that werent correct in the work before it went to print. Around that time, I managed to get work on an independent title(one that was by small publisher, not Marvel) I was still learning my craft and admit that I wasnt very talented yet, but of course, I didnt know that either. When I showed that work to a Marvel editor, he was kind of brash in his critique, saying he would not publish the work if it were a marvel book, it wasnt up to “Marvel standards”. That was a VERY heart-felt blow to my ego, as I thought to myself, Im a working professional, I should be getting regular work.

I stored that critique away and took a few days to lick my wounds and to mull over the critique and continued to work on improving until within a year I was offered a contract, and a monthly assignment at DC comics on a book called Dr Fate.

Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

Although I was one of the few comic pro’s that had the good fortune to dip my toes into the NFT market, I can honestly say, I really never understood the collectability of them. As an old school comic artist OWNING the original physical art was the thing. Having an NFT, also called a 1 of 1, a minted high resolution image of the art was something that was lost on me.

I had one collector who owned a few of my NFTs and he inserted them into a virtual gallery where as a viewer you could turn the camera left or right and view the art on a virtual wall. I will say, that was a really unique perspective.

Contact Info:

• Website: WWW.Markmckennaart.com
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