Posted in: Comics, san diego comic con | Tagged: chip kidd, Comics, entertainment, Michael Cho, sdcc

SDCC: The Chip Kidd Panel With Michael Cho

Published Fri, 25 Jul 2014 23:45:00 -0500

Peter Earnest Sailer writes for Bleeding Cool:

"Chip Kidd will beatbox and I will freestyle rap." Cho said before the panel

Chip Kidd started beatboxing and I almost got it on tape. Illo Magazine was Kidd's first introduction to Michael Cho. Kidd was intrigued by Cho's two-tone style and researched his work online where he discovered his love for superheroes. "If anyone can manage to make Iron Fist look interesting or good, then he can make anything look good." Mark Chiarello from DC Comics contacted Chip Kidd to write an eight-page story for Batman: Black and White. For his story "Don't Know Where, Don't Know when" Kidd recommended Cho.

For one page that featured Superman flying down to save Robin, Cho asked his wife to pose. "This is me being obsessive trying to figure out the lighting because most of my work is based in light." Speaking about growing up in Seoul Korea, Cho was a fan of "giant robot comics" and was disappointed to discover Toronto did not have any. However, Cho fell in love with Iron Man. "To me, Iron Man is just a very short giant robot."
Cho discussed his art process with Kidd and its differences with Daniel Klaus. One unorthodox aspect is that Cho applies the tone on the pencils before creating a black outline. Discussing his graphic novel Shoplifter, Cho notes "Corrina Park is the protagonist of the story and she is in her mid-twenties and she is dissatisfied with her job and takes her frustration by occasional shoplifting." Delving deeper into the themes, Cho was inspired by his friends that could critique, but unable to create.

Cho separates his writing completely from his art. Unlike some artists who write while drawing thumbnails, Cho writes a full-script so he doesn't unintentionally limit his stories by avoiding subjects he doesn't like to draw. After that, Cho draws each word balloon and letters each page.

"Horses, Shopping Malls, Movie Theaters and Cats," Cho lists as his biggest fears.