Turkish Illustrator of Comic Books That Made World-Wide Comics

Although comics were one of the only tools used to tell fantastic stories before the emergence of movies, they are still “even today”.comic book readerThere are millions of individuals that we can define as ”. Of course, when this is the case, new comics and new adventures are constantly meeting with the readers.

Voyagis, one of these adventures, is a Turkish comic book illustrator. Sümeyye KesginIt comes out of ‘s pen. World-renowned comic writers Jay Faerber and Mark Silvestri with Elsewhere and Rise of the Magi We had a short conversation with Kesgin, who has signed successful series such as his new comic book. In this interview, Voyagis, the world of comics and artificial intelligence We talked about many things, including.

How did you decide to become a comic book illustrator? Did it suddenly come to your mind, or was it always in you?

Like every human being, I have been scribbling for as long as I can remember myself. Realizing that I could not focus on the lessons while studying at university and that I could be happy in the field of drawing. I left school and entered the graphic design department. At first, my intention was to do album covers, cartoons, posters, in short, everything, but I was always fond of comics. In fact, my final project is “Ghost Rider” which is a version adapted to the conditions of Turkey.Ghost Horseman“ had happened.

Elsewhere (Başkabiryer) made a great impression both in our country and globally. In my opinion, one of the biggest reasons for this is that the characters are people who are lost and cannot be found in real life. In addition, the most striking point of the comic was the way the characters were drawn. We could easily understand the course of the event even from just the facial expressions of a character. Did these details emerge spontaneously, or did you specifically work on them?

This depends a little bit on the priorities of the comic book artist. We tell a story with sequential pictures, but the characters’ body language, expressions and overall composition are very important. But for me the looks and facial expressions of the characters come first. Over the years, I involuntarily began to pay attention to many fine details, from the squinting of the characters’ eyes to the twisting of their mouths.

So why can’t we see such details in global companies like Marvel or DC?

I’ve also done some work for Marvel before. There, the illustrators are given a very short time and unfortunately there is not much time for facial expressions. Because action is more important than emotion, often in superhero comics, facial expressions and emotion transfer may remain in the background.

You are currently working for Image Comic, which is the only platform where comic book artists can freely publish their works. Would you change your job here to become a full-time illustrator at Marvel or DC?

Working at Image Comics is an absolutely amazing feeling. I was both a co-creator and illustrator on Elsewhere. Voyagis is completely my own project. You own the works you produce within Image Comic and the company only receives a certain percentage from the revenues of this project.

In large corporate companies such as Marvel and DC, you draw the projects they want you to draw or you sell your projects to the company. The biggest advantage of these companies is gaining popularity. When you work on a popular project, you have fans following you every minute of every day. Working on popular projects can lead to a larger following. Although it is my dream to continue drawing my own projects I also want to continue working with Marvel from time to time.. Both have their own good sides.

Let’s talk a little bit about Voyagis. The adventure, which started with the discovery of one of NASA’s Voyager satellites by aliens, was liked by many comic book readers. Has the story of Voyagis become clear to you over the years, or did inspiration strike you one night?

I’ve always had a passion for space science. Especially the Voyager satellites have always been fascinating to me. After I finished Elsewhere, I started to sit at the table and think about what I could do, and this is how Voyagis was founded. Designing the characters was the longest part. For the reader to relate I wanted it to look human. but I also wanted to stay away from classical looks. I tried to create as many original characters as I could and then I built the story.

You have more or less determined the roadmap of Voyagis in your mind. Do you have a long-running series in mind for this story, or will you just collect a few stories and set sail for new adventures?

I actually thought of Voyagis as just a five-issue story and was almost firm in my decision. But my editor told me for the last issue. not to write a final and said it would be nice if the series continued. Of course, after these 5 numbers are completely gone according to the interest of the readers The roadmap of the series will be a little clearer.

Today, many young talents want to enter the world of manga or comics, but they do not know where to start and say, “Who can do what to me?” What advice can you give them?

If they are sure that this is the job they want to do, they should definitely not give up. At this point they can use their social media accounts as a portfolio and, whenever possible, they can reach companies and editors via e-mails describing their projects and ideas. In addition, if they have the opportunity, they can go to the comic book fairs and leave their portfolios to the companies there. Frankly, I was spotted by chance by Mark Silvestri and that’s how my adventure began.

Unfortunately, many “startup firms” in the industry offers very low fees to illustrators. But these firms can act as a springboard for illustrators and help large companies discover them.

If you could draw one of the stories and novels you have read recently, which would it be?

Although I haven’t been able to read many books lately due to the intensity, Alfred Bester’s “Tiger! Tiger!” I would like to adapt the book into a comic.

Lastly, as you know, the visuals produced by artificial intelligence have been abundant in recent days. moot point it happened. The fact that the portfolios of the artists included in the content used in machine learning drew a lot of reaction and an action called “No to AI” was started. What do you think about it?

This is actually a very deep and gray area. But for almost anyone who can hold a pencil and produce original drawings. these artificial intelligences are seen as an insult to the imagination. Although it is a very useful technological advance for simple designs, the moral and ethical aspects of this issue should not be ignored. However, the issue that bothers many illustrators and designers the most is a treating artificial intelligence as human.

Personally, I believe that companies that develop artificial intelligence in this regard that it should take importance by considering the illustrators as well. I’m thinking.