INDY'S WEEKLY ALTERNATIVE NEWSPAPER HIGHLIGHTING ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

Moody and atmospheric

Stuart Sayger’s interest in comic book art started with boredom. “There’s an awful lot of time to kill in school,” he said. “Your imagination is all you have. I learned to draw by closing my eyes and seeing what I could see and trying to create it.” He still has one artifact from that era: a crayon-drawn picture of Batman that bears at least a vague resemblance to the character’s first appearance in comics. Sayger’s interest continued with illustrations in high school and college publications; these days he still works on a wide array of non-comics freelance projects, including album covers for bands and the souvenir book for the San Diego ComiCon. Sayger went to IUPUI and majored in journalism. As far as his education in comics goes, he’s been a fixture at the Broad Ripple (and now Keystone) location of Comic Carnival for many years now. He’s worked there in some capacity since he was 13, and credits that as a big influence. “What an education! To be interested in comic books and handle so many of them, be around people so knowledgeable and to see so many writers and artists and how they developed over the years,” Sayger said. “I learned a lot about the mechanics of the industry. I don’t know if I would have been able to self-publish if I hadn’t worked here.” Though on the surface Sayger’s work has an expressionist, surreal feel more reminiscent of Bill Sienkiewicz, his biggest influence was artist Neal Adams, who worked on celebrated runs of Green Lantern/Green Arrow and The Avengers in the 1970s, not to mention a great deal of advertising work. Other early influences on Sayger’s work included Jim Aparo, Michael Golden and DC horror comics such as House of Secrets, which would have a direct impact on his most recent works. He paid close attention to the self-publishing and creator-owned movements that began to grow in the 1970s and continue to this day. “For me, I don’t want [ownership] to be an issue, which is why I like self-publishing. If it takes off, makes money, gets a TV or movie deal, I own everything,” Sayger said. “I’d work for Marvel or DC; I love the characters. But they aren’t there to make me money. If you’ve got a really good idea, a great character, I wouldn’t just hand it over to them.” The auteur potential of comics was one of the things that attracted Sayger to the form. “If you compare comics to TV or movies or any other visual medium, there’s so much more you can do as an individual,” Sayger said. “In the comic book industry there are an awful lot of books that can be a singular vision, completely by the same person.” His first published work was a 12-page homage to Adams for Big Bang Comics, who offered him the job when they saw his portfolio at Chicago ComiCon. When developing his latest project, he remembered the influence of the horror books of the 1970s. “They had great covers and splash pages. They really relied on atmosphere, mood and lighting. Those books had an incredible impact on me,” Sayger said. “Characters aren’t always nice and sweet and innocent and oblivious to the fact they have a sexual side.” From this came Shiver in the Dark, an ongoing series written, drawn and published by Sayger starting in 2002. It follows the experiences of Grace, an arrogant young college student who happens upon an ancient book of great power and who is not necessarily the most heroic of characters. “What would happen if the prettiest, wealthiest girl in class got incredible power?” Sayger queried. “It seems to me that she might not be all that wholesome. It might go to her head.” He hopes to have the book on a quarterly schedule soon. The second issue comes out in July. Shiver in the Dark also introduced him to the challenges of self-publishing. “The easiest part is writing and drawing the comic book,” Sayger said. “What’s difficult is realizing that you’re in a catalog with 400 other items, just that month, and you’re all competing for the same dollar. How do you make yourself stand out?” One of his methods is to support and promote his work with a relentless convention schedule; he averages 10 conventions a year. So far his efforts have been a success. The book has gone through two printings, and creators such as Ashley Wood, Jim Krueger and Joseph Michael Linsner have lent support to it. Shiver in the Dark and the rest of Sayger’s work is not for everyone, a fact he cheerfully acknowledges and even encourages. “If you try to do something everybody’s going to like, you’re destined to fail,” Sayger said. “You’ve got to say something. Be unique.” For more information and to order Shiver in the Dark: www.stuartsayger.com