Posted in: Comics | Tagged: avatar press, caanan white, kieron gillen, previews, uber

Caanan White Talks Uber Volume One Extended Hardcover

Published Thu, 22 Aug 2013 14:30:03 -0500

With today being the last day you can pre-order the Uber Volume One Extended Hardcover, I got a couple quick questions in with series artist Caanan White about his work on the series and how it has changed him.

BLEEDING COOL: Your work on this series has been described using words like "horrific" and "brutal" in the most complementary ways. How do you approach working on a page for Über and how does that differ from other projects you have worked on?

CAANAN WHITE: Horrific and Brutal eh? Well I can't deny that… heheh. As a lot people may know by now, after reading interviews from Kieron, this is a book in which you discover just how wicked and destructive war was, and is. The violence and seemingly endless cold cruel tone of the book is not for the reader to be entertained but rather be shocked and even repulsed by it all. We're showing the amount of darkness the human soul can achieve when fueled by hate or even desperation. There are no winners in this. Only those with power and those that try to make a futile effort, at times, to resist. With that in mind, each page needs to convey that every time. Even in the case of calm scenes, there still should be an underlying unease in the atmosphere, like the reader knows at any minute now, something gut-wrenching is about to happen.

I remember hearing Kieron say that that in Uber, no one is safe. That is absolutely true. There is little in the way of sentiment in regards to the Übers. at least from those in power. they are simply weapons to be aimed and fired. if one dies, well, we'll just make another. Twisted huh?

BC: Artists tend to grow with every page they draw. Now with the first story arc complete and the hardcover coming out, how do you see your artwork having evolved since starting?

WHITE: There is a confidence and a flow to it now. Knowing what the characters look like as well as the world of Über coupled with adjustments to my drawing style, have made the the next set of Uber issues flow even smoother. Its also a lot cleaner then earlier issues. So you'll notices a transition, as was testing out different techniques, as recent as issue 6. From there, the style I was comfortable with is used, which will be the basis for all the upcoming issues. Now its just a matter of honing that, which any true artist knows, you will never stop doing – always growing.

Cutoff for pre-ordering the Uber Volume One Extended Hardcover is today (August 22^nd). Its 336 pages: 176 pages of the original story and 160 pages of additional material including behind-the-scenes interviews, original pencil art, notes from the writer on the development of the story, and a cover gallery. The volume is limited to 5000 copies and an additional 350 'Remarqued' pieces that includes an original sketch and signatures of Gillen and White. This will be the only collection of the series published this year.