What advice do you have for up and coming illustrators looking to break into the world of comic book art?
Trust your instinct and follow your own ideas. It’s natural to be influenced by other artists, but try and look outside of comics for ideas. You can easily tell when an artist is too influenced by comic art. The anatomy etc. can be pretty wild. But most of all, just do your thing. Whatever you are into, try and incorporate that into your work. If you love it, the chances are it’ll strike a chord with someone else. If you bend what you do too much towards thinking what other people or editors would like to see, It normally doesn’t work out.

From the list of great comic book titles you have worked on so far, who’s your favourite character to illustrate and why?
I have a soft spot for Lenny Zero, the first strip I did with Andy Diggle. It’s set in Mega City 1 which I always love to draw. Batman was great, as was Wolverine. But Judge Dredd was my favourite character growing up and I still get a kick out of drawing him when I can.

How do the deadlines differ between producing work for film and work for a graphic novel – can you describe the creative process for both?
They’re both very different. Comic deadlines are pretty punishing most of the time. There’s always another page to draw, another scene to visualise, another environment to get referenced to show in the page. It can be relentless. The movie stuff, in my experience, has been a little more evenly paced. It gives you a little more time to work on each image to help really bring everything you can out of it. A little more calm! But the frenetic energy of producing monthly comics is an interesting thing too as it doesn’t give you a chance to stop, and sometimes that’s the best thing to do… just keep going without looking back.

Surprises can happen that way.

The last decade has seen a rise in the popularity of movie adaptations of popular comic book titles. Having worked in both the comic book and film industry do you feel there is a genuine interest from movie producers and directors to stay true to the original comic books’ essence and fan base, or are they simply looking to make the next X-Men/Spiderman multi-million dollar summer blockbuster?
Probably both. I think that since movies like Sin City Hollywood has realised that you can respect the source material and make a lot of money. But don’t be fooled! It’s the making money part that matters to studios. If that can be done while respecting the source material then great, everyone is a winner. But every case is different. It constantly changes and evolves.

What’s next in the pipeline for Jock?
Right now I’m working on a few poster prints for Mondo, I’ve been thoroughly enjoying that. Working on images for some of may favourite ’70s cult horror classics. Comics-wise, a mini series with writer Andy Diggle called Snapshot. Covers for Scalped and other various DC and Marvel titles. Designing a Batman Black+White statue based on my Detective Comics run with Scott Snyder. Some more creature design for a couple of films in pre-production. Gestating a new project with writer Alex Garland… I have a few things in the pipeline. Oh, and building my new studio at the bottom of our garden. Sometimes the best projects are closer to home.

Interview by Steve Williams
All images by Jock