Bringing Conan to Life

Rafael Kayanan

By Lee Atchison
April 1, 2007

Rafael Kayanan is a man of many dimensions. Most of our readers will know him for his beautiful comic book art, but his interests and talent has led him in other directions as well. Kayanan was the storyboard artist on The Hunted, but his interest in edged weapons also led him to train actors as well as choreograph fight scenes for The Hunted, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, and John Carter of Mars.

It's perhaps this interest in fighting and art that leads Kayanan back to one of the best fictional fighters of all: Conan, the Barbarian. Kayanan will be taking over the art duties on Dark Horse's Conan #39, with writing duties handled by Kurt Busiek. This is a return to the famous barbarian for the artist, who had originally worked with the character in the early '90s.

Sequential Tart: What can you tell us about the issue of Conan that you're working on?

Rafael Kayanan: Issue #39 is an all action issue. Conan and this female character called Janissa are in a search of something hidden in this tower. Utilizing the action to further define both characters, how each one is defined by how they respond to a similar problem. Not much dialogue; the only thing decompressing are the skulls of Conan's enemies.

ST: You've worked on a different version of Conan before, right? What was it like returning to it?

RK: It was exciting to get to work with Kurt Busiek. I was used to working the way Roy Thomas, and I did back in the early '90s, and Kurt was very open to working in a similar fashion. This story is very minimal in terms of dialogue, anyway. Kurt purposefully wanted to play to that type of story.

It was odd returning to the book itself. Perhaps because the Dark Horse Conan has less baggage than the Marvel one. It just felt more like I was illustrating Robert E. Howard's Conan when I did it this time around rather than Marvel's Conan. Also, I feel I have a better grasp of the character now than I did more than ten years ago, even though I had a ton of fun working with Roy on those issues. We had more restrictions as far code goes back in the Conan The Adventurer days.

ST: What is your favorite part about providing the art for this story?

RK: Breaking down the script, the beats, the setups, the reveals, and then roughing out the look of the world. The actual application of the pen line isn't that exciting; it is more about trying to keep the freshness of what was initially in my head across on the paper. Getting to live inside the character's heads for a bit.

ST: The visual look of Conan has remained consistent through the years, but each artist has his own variation on the theme. What variations did you bring?

RK: Much of drawing Conan is also drawing his surroundings, so my interests in ancient cultures became quite handy. I understand the design and purpose of weaponry shapes and armor, so I often try to make it functional even in its exaggerated representations. Also teaching edged weapons and martial arts provides Conan with some realism in his movements. I've also come across guys who personify the warrior mindset that Conan exudes, so I have that in the back of my mind when I draw him.

As for his facial features, it is has evolved closer to the Frazetta structure. He almost has that Jack Palance or Charles Bronson look. Conan isn't a model — in my mind I see him with very rugged and scarred features. Someone who has given and taken a lot of punishment. I've streamlined his body from the way I drew him in the nineties, it is more functional. Not lean, but closer to the MMA guys we see that aren't on steroids. He's got fast-twitch muscles, but you can see power on the surface like a lion.

When I added the color to his skin, I didn't want to make it look smooth but craggy and textured. Like it would hurt just making contact. The costuming is different; he's not wearing the loincloth.

ST: When working with the character, do you prefer to stay as close to the original or do you like to modernize the characters for the audience?

RK: I try to stay true to the narrative but definitely draw the image of the character that has evolved in my imagination. I don't think of it as modernizing, more like chipping away and polishing the idea in my head. Less about modernizing for the sake of it.

ST: As a comic book artist, how were you trained? Were you self-taught or did you take classes?

RK: My father was an architect, but he brought a lot of comics home. So I grew up with Filipino Komiks masters like Alcala, Coching, and Redondo mixed in with Kirby, Sy Barry's The Phantom, Kubert's Tarzan, and Hal Foster's Prince Valiant. From there I discovered Barry Winsor-Smith, Starlin, Adams, Wrightson, and Gulacy in the 70's. I copied and then drew my own stories on the backs of old xeroxes my mom would bring home from work. She would bring stacks of these xeroxes that were being thrown out. I ended up taking figure classes and then eventually moving on to art school at Ringling School of Art and Design. However, I got my first job at DC when I was in my first year so I didn't return. I would say my training has been on the job. Anyone can look back at my old work and see where I was at that point of my schooling. I'm always trying to keep evolving, looking at what's new, and also seeking out past masters.

ST: Who are your major influences? Whose artwork do you truly admire?

RK: In comics? There's so many. I've learned from just about everyone — what to do and what not to do. Today, from the top of my head I would say Michael Golden always teaches me something when I look at his work. BWS and Tim Conrad were influences because they took over the Robert E. Howard fix I needed when I was young. Joe Kubert. Gil Kane, Toth, Wood, Toppi and Neal Adams ... gee, the list is endless. Most of all, I like the storytellers the best.

In illustration, there's Loomis, Jean Leon Gerome, Frank Godwin, Roger Dean, Denys Wortman, and Howard Pyle for starters.

ST: How do you approach the drawing board? Do you have traditions or habits?
RK: I often doodle on sketchpads to get warmed up and read any ideas and notes I may have written specifically for that day's work.

ST: What comics are you currently reading that you think everyone else should as well?

RK: I always pick up Walking Dead but I'm terrible at going to the shop regularly. I have to track issues down or wait for the trades. I enjoy Warren Ellis' numerous projects, Aaron's Scalped series, [Brian] Wood's DMZ, [Ron] Marz's Samurai, and the Flight books. Superheroes — I've read [Ed] Brubaker's Captain America and [Joss] Whedon's Astonishing X-Men. I read some of the Virgin [Comics] books, which show potential as well.

ST: What other comics that you're working on do we have to look forward to?

RK: Currently, I'm doing work outside of comics that have taken up much of my schedule. Lots of developmental design and fight choreography related projects. I just enjoyed dabbling in comics again even for a small amount of time. Conan is always fun to do.

Rafael Kayanan: Art Blog
Rafael Kayanan — Wikipedia