9/12/08
JAMAL IGLE – Putting the "Girl" back in Supergirl
By Bruce MacIntosh

Jamal Igle was one of the many superstar creators who appeared last weekend at the Comic Geek Speak Super Show in Reading, PA. I sat down with him to discuss his work Tangent: Superman's Reign and Supergirl. He discussed how he and the series' new writer Sterling Gates are returning Superman's cousin into a character who actually looks and acts like a teenage girl – but with superpowers – and how his own recently arrived super-girl has changed his life.

We started by discussing Jamal's new assignment as the penciler on DC's Supergirl, a title that has struggled to find both its identity and audience since its debut in 2005. His first issue will be #34, which will be out first week in October, and he is currently wrapping up #35.

With the encouragement of DC Editorial, he and Gates are toning down her stripper-inspired costume and making her personality more realistic as an actual teen-aged girl: "I'm trying to [take a different approach to her] than the previous artists. Catching up on older issues, the shirt got smaller… and she's supposed to be a teen-aged girl."

He verbalized the uncomfortable feeling many readers of the title have felt for several years: "I don't feel comfortable sexualizing what's supposed to be a teen-aged girl." The first thing he did, "was look at the costume, and make her less like a hooker than she's been looking."

"I think I've figured out of a way to draw the costume." He used as reference the uniforms of the University of North Carolina cheerleaders. "The point with her costume and character is to like her as a character. You should want to be empathetic with what's going on with her." He pulled out a splash (which unfortunately must stay secret for now, since the first issue of the "new look" has not been released) which was extremely attractive – without any hint of slutty. A much-improved "look".

When he was brought on the book, he was asked to make her "more presentable" than she was previously. They "went out of their way to make the character more presentable." He noted: "There's a difference between cheesecake…" and what is supposed to be a book about a teen-aged girl who is trying to find her place in her new environment.

Igle and Gates are on the same page with making Supergirl less trashy while still appealing to adult readers. "Previous writers wanted to make her edgier, but there's a way to make her edgy, and still be likable. The way Sterling writes her, you want her to win; You can tell she's trying. She's a teenager – and she'll still make mistakes" like any teenager.

He noted that the more realistic characterization, "is easier once you break down the character and think about her motivations. She's finally decided that she wants to live up to the expectations of her" based on previous stories and her role in the DC Universe. Now wants to help people, but "monkey wrenches keep getting thrown at her."

Jamal demonstrated his newfound affection for the character, and showed how he is definitely the right artist for this job: "She's a good kid… she tries really hard. Cat Grant should cut her some slack."

Where did Jamal get his fondness for Supergirl? The feeling was no doubt inspired by the arrival of his own super-girl, who arrived four months ago. "Everything I thought I knew about her is rapidly transforming. She's an absolute sweetheart: She's willful and stubborn already!" He added, "I've never had that sense of peace [until now.] I'm the luckiest man in the world!"

I next asked Jamal about his recently concluded work on the DC mini-series, Tangent: Superman's Reign: "That was a lot of fun." Working from Dan Jurgens' plots "gave me a lot of freedom."

Igle fans will have to get their fix from the Supergirl title from now on, since he will no longer be doing the pencils on Tangent. As we read in THE PULSE's Jen Contino's interview last week, Wes Craig will be performing the art duties on the mini-series featuring the super-beings of Earth-9 starting with Issue #7. "I was reticent about leaving," the Tangent title, but Jamal assured us that the story is in good hands.

Part of the challenge of Tangent: Superman's Reign, was "getting to do some of these characters I had forgotten about. Especially Power Girl: Originally, she was an artificial being." In the current story, this universe's Power Girl is a Japanese super being with powers to rival the nearly-omnipotent Tangent Superman. She takes on the entire contingent of the Justice League of America and easily defeats them. Her seemingly limitless power (and her close relationship with the Tangent Superman) serves to provide an unusual story element and considerable dramatic tension. "People were taken aback by the fact that she was able to mop up the floor with the Justice League."

The New-Earth Batman/Tangent Batman team-up was also the first time Jamal had ever drawn Batman. He was unsure about his ability to bring something new to such an iconic character, and commented that a year ago he probably wouldn't have wanted to tackle the character: "There's always been that intimidation factor, because there have been so many interpretations of him." However, if you've seen the latest issues you should agree that his "take" is unique and dynamic, while combining elements from other artists who have inspired him, such as Mike Zeck, Steve Rude and Alan Davis.

Based on his work on the character's appearances in Tangent: Superman's Reign, Jamal is confident in his interpretation of Batman. "After I get done with Supergirl and if there's an opportunity to do Batman, I'd do it."

Prior to his work on Tangent: Superman's Reign, Jamal was a regular contributor to Countdown, and Teen Titans and Nightwing before that. Although he has done work for Marvel, he confirmed that "I think I am kind of known as a DC guy." He noted that he's "been drawing for DC off and on since '92 or '93" and is now exclusive with that company.

He didn't realize until recently that he had a reputation as a "DC Guy", until he was talking with fan-favorite Geoff Johns and the writer told Jamal he was excited to see his work on Supergirl: "You're the perfect cheerleader for DC," Johns told him. Igle laughed when he told me that Johns had inducted him into a fairly exclusive club: "You're a DC lifer!"

Regarding his artistic style, Igle will approach his artwork according to the subject at hand: "I think the content shapes where I take the project." But he never tries to copy someone else's technique, and noted that even at Marvel he tried to stick with his own, unique style. "I try to break down the characters as I'd like to see them. Essentially, it has to be 90% me." With his crisp line work, he is "obsessive about having a certain sheen to it."

He added, however, that some day "I'd like to experiment with a scratchier style." Interestingly, although he has become associated with that solid line style of penciling, "my first instinct is actually very rough, and I end up refining it because I lightbox it. I wonder if I went with rougher pencils what it would end up like."

That's not likely to happen to happen on his current Supergirl project, but if he gets that dream Batman assignment next, we just might see what Jamal Igle could do with a darker, less refined style! He will be attending the Baltimore Con next, and will return to the New York Comicon in February, 2009.

Stay tuned for an interview later this week with David Peterson, the Eisner Award-winning creator of Mouse Guard, and further coverage of the blowout CGS SuperShow and dozens of creators from all corners of our comic universe! And if you would like to know about the background of the Tangent Universe that appears in Jamal's project Tangent: Superman's Reign, check out my four part series from earlier this year: Tangent Universe, Part I; Tangent Universe, Part II; Tangent Universe, Part III; Tangent Universe, Part IV.