Starry Eyed Press has recently joined forces with Star Wars comic author and illustrator Bill Hughes in bringing his Matt Mercury universe to our pages. We had an opportunity to sit down with Bill to discuss all things space opera:
Hi Bill. Tell us a bit about yourself and your illustrious career.
Well, I started out in the early 70’s as a kid-storytelling-artist, making comics and designs based on some original ideas… influenced by the space race, and wacky space TV of the time. When I started to actually make money with it, I was 16 working as a caricature artist. I eventually bought the lease and employed about 30 artists (of various striped), and that was when I was 19.
I went on to become a freelance illustrator, then went into the world of corporate communications (cuz that’s where the money was). I did that gig for like 30 years, but worked as an artist and designer for Lucasfilm making Star Wars action on the side. I’m also a filmmaker and animator, all on the side, of course. Everything’s on the side these days, just where I like it!
Of course, we need to know about the origin of Matt Mercury and his universe.
Matt started as an idie film project, but it’s comic book origins started far earlier. First as a self-published book in high school, then as a series for Antarctic Press in the 1990s.
What was the most difficult part of developing the Kashtong Saga?
Kashtong, as a name mainly, had been floating around for decades. The story wasn’t hard to come by. In fact, the stories just happen as I draw them. I usually have no idea where they are going. The only trouble is tying them all together in the end. The fun part, for me, is creating characters, ship designs and “sets”. I guess it’s the filmmaker in me, but I just love that part of the creative process. It’s what I found fun about my Star Wars work.
As a Star Wars artist, I got to develop all sorts of characters and ships. Some of them ended up in the films. Some even got made into toys, which I have by the way. They asked me to apply for art director’s job on the prequels, but they honestly didn’t pay enough for me to leave my big corporate money job. Besides, I really like building my own stories.
Matt Mercury has enjoyed success as a feature film, an animated series, some novels and now a comic/ graphic novel – which incarnation was the greatest challenge? Do you have a favorite?
The movie was by far the most difficult. I was literally stitching the thing together frame by frame. It only took about a week to shoot, but 2 years in post production. We didn’t have a huge budget, so it was up to me to make everything happen. That said, the actors were a huge help, since they made the characters happen. I also had a fantastic cinematographer named Thomasid Rolls. I also had an amazing digital animator named Sean Bellinger. Without those guys, I couldn’t have done it.
The most satisfying effort (to date) has been the animated series. The 30 minute, Saturday Morning cartoon format really allowed us to do some fun and thoughtful storytelling. The animated format also allowed us to expand our universe. Again, I did all the animation by hand. Matt Lavine did an amazing amount as producer. These days, A.I. Could probably spit it out with a few prompts, but I’d do it old school anyway.
Outside of space opera of your own creation, what are some of your favorite space opera franchises both now and growing up?
Obviously the original Star Trek was a huge favorite of both mine and Matt’s. There was a sense of the adventure, danger, and loneliness of space in that series. Nothing has ever come close to it. The idea of a ship exploring deep space, filled with men and women being confronted by the ACTUAL unknown was such a blast. No one has captured the sense of that again. The aliens were stand in’s for other cultures. Kirk, McCoy, and even the alien Spock were representatives of the American ideal. They confronting those who sought power, wicked intent, and general mayhem as their highest goal. It was great storytelling and inventive visuals. Also, no one could catch light like Shatner.
I also enjoyed the creativity of Lost In Space. You have to know, I was 5 or 6 when those shows came out, and they were so different than anything else on TV. They occupied my imagination to a high degree. You can see some of Dr. Smith in Professor Brainwave to be sure. I even have a full size replica of the Lost In Space robot helping me on the comics these days.
What’s the last movie you’ve seen?
The last new movie I’ve seen is “The Hail Mary Project”. It really kept my attention and entertained me. Oddly enough, I don’t believe in aliens, however. Not in that way at least. I find cinematic depictions of them to be a nice way of playing unlikely characters off each other. They are a great narrative tool, but I find them to be little more than fun fiction. I come from a time where science fiction, certainly included fiction. These days with humanoid robots and real UFO’s, Sci-Fi isn’t as fun. I like it when it was fun. That’s why I tend to watch old movies more regularly than new ones. The new ones seem to worry too much for my tastes.
Do you read comics? What are your favorites if so?
I did more comics than I read, oddly enough. I was a fan of Spiderman, Batman and Superman back in the 60s. I also liked The Gold Key comics. Star Trek and Lost In Space were favorite titles again. Even so, the Lost In Space title wasn’t the TV show… oddly enough. I’m not drawn to comics as much today. They seem to be filled with demons and evil. Those aren’t my bag at all, man!
Which era of Star Wars is your favorite (Original Trilogy, Prequels, Sequels)?
I like anything Lucas… not including the infamous Holiday Special. I’m not a fan of any of the Disney stuff, with the exception of Rogue One I guess. Yah, Yah, I know, old men always say that. I’m actually not that big of a Star Wars fan. Partly because it looks like “work” to me. Partly because it seemed like a one movie and done deal. They blew up the bad guys, TA-DA, it’s over, YEAH! Partly because I’m kind of put off by the faux-religion it produced. I like fiction in my science fiction and religion in my religion. I don’t like nuts in my ice cream and I don’t like milk in my tea. Star Trek is more enjoyable to me because it tells different stories. In the end, to me, Star Wars just tells one story. Just my opinion.
If you could meet one character in the Star Wars universe in real life, who would it be? Who would you hope never to bump into?
One character? I guess that would be Ralph McQuarry. I called him once to invite him to speak at out Illustrator’s Society and he said he had fear or public speaking and fear of getting out of the house. I explained to him that he would be embraced by pure love if he came down, but he wouldn’t budge. I think I like him for his distrust of humanity more than anything else! Who would I hate to run into? Maybe Jar Jar Binks… partly because I may somewhat be at fault for his existence! I had created a character named Boki for a film I did, and when Lucasfilm asked me to send all my characters to them, I sent them Boki as well. Binks is an exact clone of Boki, except Boki was blue. Boki and Binks have 3 of 4 (or 5) letters in common. I’m sure it wasn’t anything intentional. All that stuff just gets tossed in a pile, but I’ve always harbored a nagging guilt over him. Sorry guys!
What’s your creative process like? Music when you draw/ write? Snacks?
I usually have some 20’s or 30’s jazz playing in the other room, but I secrete myself away in my “creative suite” and just start hammering him out. The most creative fun I have is just talking with my co-producer, and Matt Mercury himself, Matt Lavine. He and I say to each other, “There’s nothing on TV, lets make another Matt Mercury!” And it happens, somehow.
Would you be interested in colonizing on the Moon / Mars if that becomes a reality?
Not really. I have friends who are astronauts and once I asked one of them, “When was the last time you were in space?” He told me, “I just came back from the space station.” I then asked him, “You know why I don’t want to be an astronaut?” He said, “Why, duffus?” I said, “Because you can’t open a window!” He knew I wasn’t wrong. I think the moon might be better than Mars, but I also think the Earth and the universe we can’t see is far more amazing than anything in space. I also don’t think we really understand what space is.
In the last Star Trek The Next Generation TV episode “Q” says to Picard, “…not mapping stars or nebulas, but charting the unknown possibilities of existence”. I thought one of the greatest lines (and missed opportunities) in all of science fiction. In the Picard series, I thought they would follow through with that promise. When Picard was dumped into an android body, they could have tackled the question of where consciousness comes from… of who WE really are, but sadly, it went nowhere.
The exploration isn’t about planting flags. It’s not about licking toads either. It’s about thinking out of the box. Remembering who we were and learning who we are. That’s what I want to see us do.
Lastly, where do we send readers looking for more information on the Matt Mercury universe?
Currently Matt Mercury exists on Youtube, Tubi, Apple TV, Amazon Prime and in books on Amazon. Mattmercury.com will point you in the right direction or just google Matt Mercury. He is… invasive!
Matt Mercury: The Kashtong Saga is available now in ebook, full color paperback and black and white.
Starry Eyed Press 