John Van Fleet

by John Painz

I first got hip to Fleet's work when I found out there was going to be a hell raiser comic book. I had no idea who he was. This can also be said for Jon J. Muth, Kent Williams, Dave Mckean, Scott Hampton, Simon Bisley, Dave Dorman, George Pratt... I know, I know, that just sounds awful. But it's the truth.

The Hellraiser series from Epic/Marvel was probably the biggest mixed media springboard that comics had since Heavy Metal. It took from one of the greatest horror films of the 1980's, gave creative license to a vast group of very talented writers and artists... and scored, big time.

I even remember the first time I met John Fleet. It was at a comic convention in Manhattan. He was at a table with Williams, Muth and Hampton. I was in shock and awe. Those four artists defined a style that I'd been looking for... and was completely inspired for years to come. For me, they depicted what were outside the boundaries of normal comics. They showed what comics could be, should be and would be. And those four weren't alone, as I pointed out above, with that enormous list of painters. They were all ready, at the same time, to explode onto the comics scene with a force no one had ever seen before.

John Fleet has, in my opinion, the most original style out of all of the painters in comics today. Not to say that the other work isn't original, or good... the other work of those artists is incredible. But Fleet has a style completely and totally all his own. His use of mixed media, of watercolor, of computer graphics... it's all highly imaginative, stylized and intelligent.

One of his first series was, also, one of Vertigo's first series, Shadow's Fall...an epic tomb of six issues of beautifully painted work, all with a singular voice. Written by John Rieber, Shadows Fall became one of those genre defining comics that put Vertigo in the weird/great department, and paved the way for some of the greatest works ever produced.

Fleet then went on to do a number of covers, including the majority of the covers for the Topps X-Files series. All of them were dead on, with fantastic portraits of America's favorite FBI agents. The covers show off, unerringly, what is fantastic about Fleet's work.

Typhoid Mary: A departure for Fleet, to be sure. A mainstream character with her own past, her own history, her own personality and rules... and Fleet managed to show us an even darker side with Marvel's Typhoid series, written by Ann Nocenti. This was one of those works out of left field, with people thinking the work should have been left to a penciler/inker team. They were dead wrong. The work was highly stylized and came off as super dark/violent... depicting everything evil about the Mary character, and with style.

His work went from mainstream to independent. Fleet started doing a lot of work for Jurassic Park, Xena and Star Wars cards, along with man other card games and illustrations for board game manuals, all for White Wolf Publishing.

And then he hit the mainstream again.

A highly anticipated graphic novel, Fleet teamed up with pro comic scribe Chuck Nixon to produce a fantastic work, The Chalice. The work was everything it was supposed to be. Beautifully painted, economic, well sequenced. With the fantastic number of Batman graphic novels that have come and gone... most of which were just to flood the market with more Batman work... this piece comes as a sigh of relief, with Dixon and Fleet producing a serious work, something wonderful to look at and to read.

On the horizon is another Batman graphic novel... The Ankh, again with Dixon. There are some fantastic pieces up on Fleet's site, along with pieces and prints for sale. I was lucky enough to nab one of the Shadows Fall covers... it's one of my favorite pieces in my collection.

I was able to ask Fleet some questions about his work and his personal life... here goes:

John Painz (J.P.): Could you tell me who or what influenced you the most, to decide to get into comics?

John Fleet (J.F.): My first comics encounter was from hand me downs from my older brothers. I was exposed to Creepy and Eerie at a very young age and was fascinated with the art. At the time, Frazetta and an artist by the name Sanjulian where doing many of the covers and I was blown away by the art. It started the ball rolling but it wasn't untill the late 80's after graduating Pratt Institute of Art, when I was encourage by a long time friend and artist Mark Chiarello to bring my work into Marvel Comics. When I walked out I had a 10 page Hellraiser story due in 30 days, my first comics work.

J.P: How would you describe the direction of the industry (comic industry), as of today, and where it might be heading in the future?

J.F: Comics today face a lot of challenges. First and foremost, the perception of comics in America has always been off. America has long looked at comics as funny books, novelties not novels.

Overseas Comics are regarded as an art form, one ironically enough was invented right here in the USA. A lot of what we all hear about is declining sales. What the companies need to see is that the back of some dusty Pharmacy is no longer the best placement for their product. The squeaky wire rack has been replaced by the internet and they need to step up to the plate. It wouldn't hurt to pay the Editors a living wage either, then they may give a damn about what is passing for "good comics".

J.P: Are there comic books at the moment that you're particularly fond of?

J.F: I have to pled the fifth on this one, I haven't been down to the shop in over a month and the companies no longer send out comp. copies to their artists as they once did.

J.P: Who are your personal heroes? (unrelated to the comic industry)

J.F: I can't clam any Heroes these days, not that I don't have a deep respect for a great many individuals. It just when we were kids it was very different, men would willingly sit atop an untested rocket in the hopes they would reach the Moon before arriving in Heaven, those guys were Heroes.

J.P: Villians?

J.F: There is no shortage of Villains, Jesse Helms jumps to mind. But I try not to see things that way, maybe deep down I know it would scare the shorts off me if I did.

J.P: What do you do when you're stuck on an idea?

J.F: I am blessed with an rammed imagination, I only lack the time to act on my ideas.

J.P: What would you say to a young'un if they were interested in entering this industry?

J.F: I am in no position to advise anyone who is just starting out in comics, other then to say, don't look to the three main companies to share your personal vision. If you have an strong style and a clear purpose go to the web or self publish.

J.P: Have you ever 'sold out', and if you did, do you regret it?

J.F: When you get a script and read it for the first time you do one of two things, you can't wait to work or curse the day you said "sure I'll take the job". Because you do this for a living, you do the best you can with the script you are dealt, I can't say if that means you've sold out or not.

J.P: Name the last 5 CD's you've purchased.

J.F: I couldn't tell you all the titles, I tend to stick to the boring mainstream. The bands I like the most are bands like "The Bare Naked Ladies", who blend great lyrics with great music.

J.P: Name the last 5 movies you saw.

J.F: I wish I could recall 10." Oh Brother where art tho" and "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" are the only two I can say where worth the gray matter to remember.

J.P: I wonder, was it easy for you to find help in artists? Were their egos not so blown up?

J.F: I was lucky enough to meet some of comics top ten list, Jeff Jones, Berni Wrightson and Micheael Kaluta, when I was starting out. They never said 'This is the way it's done kid'. What they showed me instead was that decent caring talented people will all ways have a place at the table. They showed me nothing but kindness, and I learned from them humility.

J.P: What are your future projects?

J.F: The Ankh is the next book due out for me, another Batman project with writer Chuck Dixon. Book one of two is done and I just read the script for book two... I am a lucky man.

J.P: Thanks so much, John, for your time.

If you are interested in purchasing any of John Van Fleet's artwork, you can contact him directly, through his web site, or:

Through Graphic Collectibles, one of the best online comic book art galleries on the internet.