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By Tim O’Shea
Lush jungle landscapes dominate the Savage Land and serve as the perfect playground for Frank Cho’s SAVAGE WOLVERINE. In this final installment of our four-part coverage of the series, Cho reveals the benefits of setting the tale in the Savage Land as well as his reaction to learning the legendary Milo Manara will be providing alternate covers when the book launches on January 16.
Marvel.com: The story is set on a Savage Land island where the characters find themselves trapped. Am I correct in thinking the jungle landscape is a virtual playground for an artist like you to play with visually?
Frank Cho: Exactly. You can do anything with the jungle visually. Unlike [with] cityscapes, you're not tied down by the strict visual grid and physical appearances of the buildings. When laying out the composition of a scene, you can literally create visual information that best suits that picture. If you want tall trees, you draw in tall trees. If you want curvy trees with branches that zig-zag out sideway. You draw just that. It's more fun and freeing to draw the lush jungle landscapes.
Marvel.com: Speaking of artists getting to play in the lush jungle landscape, Milo Manara is providing alternate covers. What was your reaction when you found he was going to be involved with SAVAGE WOLVERINE?
Frank Cho: I was floored when I heard the news that Manara was doing the alternate covers; been a big fan of his since I've seen his work in “Heavy Metal” as a kid.
Marvel.com: When working with colorful—literally in terms of costumes—characters like Wolverine and Shanna, am I right in thinking the color schemes of the jungle make the characters pop off the page even more? Who is your colorist on the project and what value do you think they have added to your art?
Frank Cho: My long time colorist, Jason Keith, is on board with me again for SAVAGE WOLVERINE. He and I literally broke into Marvel together about 10 years ago with the SHANNA THE SHE-DEVIL book. I simply love his brush strokes. He doesn't "color," he "paints." His sense of color and lighting makes him one of the top guys in the business.
Check out SAVAGE WOLVERINE #1, available on January 16!
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