Sneak Peek Samurai 2-Marat Michaels

From working on Brigade in the golden era of Image Comics to working on the uber' hot Deadpool Corp Marat Michaels has shown his passion for creating comics and telling stories to a huge audience.

Marat has created a new story for Samurai The Graphic Novel book 2 and here is a quick interview about his process and a sneak peek at the pencils for his exciting story.

You can find more of his stunning artwork here: http://maratmychaels.com/

To purchase your copy of Samurai The Graphic Novel Book #1 click here:
Samurai The Graphic Novel
Samurai /Poster Combo Pack

EIC
Samurai The Graphic Novel
Karl
Altstaetter

When you are approaching a page, what creatively do you address first? Storytelling, mood, characters?

Personally storytelling and page flow are my #1 concerns. After that I try to make every page as visually stimulating as possible. Comics are a visual medium unfortunately I think a lot of creators tend to forget that. I believe a lot of mood can be set in lighting and colors no matter what shot is picked for any particular panel.

What do you think is the essence of your work? What do you want to people to takeaway from reading one of your stories.

Wow "the essence of my work" huh? Well I would have to say "cool" is what I always strive for. That feeling I get when I see a bad ass comic. The industry has never had more talented illustrators then we do now...but, their are very few awesome comic book artists...guys that leap of the page and capture your imagination are few and far between. That's what I always strive for and hope readers takeaway from my work.

In regards to your Samurai story where did you literally draw inspiration from?

I wanted to do something small but epic....I know that's an oxymoron but I think I sort off pulled it off. While the focus stays on one character the circumstances around him are epic. I was kinda inspired by the movie Signs...where the movie took place inside of a small farm house but an alien invasion was taking place outside..."small but epic".

Your style has evolved so much over the years. Where do you want to take your style/work from here?

Well, I just got a Cintiq digital tablet, I want to start doing pages digitally from beginning to end so that alone will change my style somewhat. Also I've been itching to do a little bit of coloring lately. I don't particularly have a direction in mind, I believe a style should develop organically.