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Miss Fury is a golden age heroine who was actually crated by a lady cartoonist, June Tarpe Mills. Originally published by Timely, Miss Fury was a rich socialite who donned a black panther costume to fight crime, as so many women of the era did, or at least women in comics books. She’s come back […]

Since her beautifully delicate line-work graces the cover to the latest issue of Swords of Sorrow this week, we shine a light on the work of “renaissance woman” Tula Lotay! Working up her artwork in multiple layers of hand-drawn, hand-painted art, along with digital color/inks, Lotay spoils comics readers with an extraordinary amount of moody texture. She’s been contributing cover art and interiors to many books the past few years including Elephantmen, Zero, Rebels, American Vampire Anthology, The Wicked + The Divine, and Dynamite’s Swords of Sorrow.

Lotay is probably best known for her recent collaborations with writer Warren Ellis(Supreme Blue Rose, Blackcross; as cover artist, and their upcoming book Heartless), and her role as founder/organizer of the yearly Thought Bubble Festival in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which celebrates sequential art in all its forms.

If you like what you see, you should go follow Tula Lotay on her twitter page here!

For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com – Andy Yates

by Zachary Clemente

Tula Lotay is a comics artist and illustrator from the UK. Her published works include Supreme: Blue Rose, Bodies, and Elephantmen. She also serves as Director for the lauded Thought Bubble Festival in Leeds. On a very busy Saturday of San Diego Comic-Con 2015, Tula and I caught up on her work on Supreme and Zero as well as her upcoming work in The Wicked + The Divine and Heartless.

Comics Beat: So, Supreme: Blue Rose is all wrapped up. How are you feeling about it now that it’s all done and collected in trade?

Tula Lotay: I feel great about it! We’ve both put a lot of time into the book, we both loved working on it and I’m really proud of it – it’s the first full book I’ve done. Before it was anthologies or small parts in other people’s books, but this was my first, proper book. It’s a really nice way to start.

CB: How has the reception been for that?

TL: It’s been amazing, it’s just blown me away! I had no idea that people would like it as much as they did. I mean, you always hope that when you put so much of yourself into something that that’ll be the case but the response has been incredible – people are just so nice about my work and our story.

CB: The story of Supreme: Blue Rose is rather complex as Warren Ellis is wont to do, how much of the story did you know going in to the first issue?

TL: I think Warren had maybe two issues written. I think it kind of changed as we went along – I think he tailored the story more towards what I wanted. I kind of thought it would be a lot close to Rob Liefeld’s Supreme – that I’d be drawing a lot more of the superhero stuff, but it ended up being this dreamlike sci-fi mystery and I’m really pleased Warren took it in. I loved his story for that, it’s really multi-layered.

CB: It’s not like he left you in the dark, rubbing his hands maniacally? It sounds like a much more collaborative process.

TL: Absolutely, it’s always like that working with Warren. He’s got these incredible stories, but he also trusts me and gives me the breathing room to interpret things in my own and change things if I want to. He’s always been very happy to let me do that and I really love working with him for it.

Supreme: Blue Rose #3

CB: You were responsible for shaping the vision of many worlds, in a sense, and making sure they’re visually distinctive. Did you relish that challenge?

TL: Yeah, it’s really challenging. I’ve not really drawn this many sequential art pages before. I’ve always illustrated all my life, but I was having to draw things in that book that I’ve never drawn before so I was kind of learning as I was going along. There were certain things like the bridge in space connecting Earth to the Moon that I had no idea to draw.

I tried my best with that stuff and I’m really glad that people liked it but as the issue was going on and I was visualizing these worlds, I was getting into it and getting more confident – I think you can see that in the book, I start finding my feet a little bit.

CB: As Supreme went on, you got tons of cover and illustration work, the last (and a very important) issue of Zero, how do you feel about this transition from just starting out to becoming a major part of a number of comics coming out?

TL: It feels amazing! It’s all happened so fast, I’m kind of still trying to get to grips with it all. I have this thing, which I guess a lot of people have, that because I’m new to all this and it’s just starting I think “okay, I’m getting all of this work right now and I don’t know how long it’s going to last, so I’ll do it all” I’ve taken way too much on, it’s been pretty intensive, but I’ve kept on top of it. I think I need to slow it down and have a bit more confidence to realize that I will continue to have work. [Laughs] I don’t know if I should be saying that, but there’s always that worry at first. You ask yourself if your work is a fad and if you’ll just die into the ether. But yeah, I don’t know if I should be saying that.

CB: It’s a real, legitimate fear and I bet it affects a lot of people. How was it transferring from Warren’s work over to the established word of Ales Kot’s in Zero for this last scenario?

Zero #18

TL: It’s strange, actually. I don’t know if other people have noticed this but with Ales’ writing, I think he’s heavily inspired by Warren. I definitely found their writing styles to be similar and they’re both very collaborative with their artists. Ales’ scripts are never rigid; he has panels and scenarios in there but he doesn’t always number the panels so we wants the artist to interpret in their own way. So I was working in a very similar way to Ales as I was with Warren and you know, it was such an honor to do the last issue or Zero because he’s brilliant and that series has been amazing.

CB: Just that spread with the horses alone…

TL: Everybody keeps talking to me about that! People have been tagging me on that image a lot online or come up and commented on it specifically to me. It’s really nice that people enjoyed that – I loved drawing it and Jordie colored it so well. Those pastel colors…she’s just the best.

CB: Upcoming, you’re doing a guest issue of The Wicked + The Divine. When did that conversation start for you?

TL: I think it was about seven to eight months ago when Kieron came to me saying that they’re picking up a few guest artists to do some issues asking if I wanted to do one and all I could say was “Oh my god, yes!” He came back saying he wanted me to do issue #13 – it’s about Tara and he wanted it to be a heavy-hitting issue. He sent the script and it was…jesus. I don’t think I can say too much about it, but it’s an amazing issue.

CB: Do you feel up to the task?

TL: I hope so! I loved drawing it but it’s kind of scary following in Jamie McKelvie’s footsteps. I reread the first volume again in preparation and just looking at Jamie and Matt Wilson’s work – it’s so clean and crisp and beautiful. It got me thinking that my work is so messy and scratchy and I was unsure if the audience would go for it…and that’s always the worry, isn’t it? My style is quite different to Jamie’s and I tend to be quite loose and use a lot of textures, so you know, it’s a bit scary, yeah? I hope people like it.

CB: Are you coloring it?

TL: Yeah, I’m coloring it – I did everything on it. I always want to color my own stuff, really. I’m not an inker. I’d like to practice being an inker but really my art, from beginning to end, has color as part of the process.

The Wicked + The DIvine #13

CB: That’s the nice thing about working on covers and at Image is that you have that freedom – you’ll always get to color your own work.

TL: Yeah, I’m really glad that’s the case. It’s nice to be able to do that.

CB: Heartless was announced barely a week ago at Image Expo, that’s got to feel a little exciting?

TL: Yeah, it’s amazing! The reception for it was nuts. I went on Twitter, doing the regular search function later on the day…it brought up my promotional image and we were trending! What the hell? It was nice that they were using my image as promotion for the whole Expo because there were so many incredible books so it’s super exciting. I’m just so excited about Heartless. I think with Supreme, I was just getting started and I feel a bit more confident about my work now. Warren and I are just gonna create something entirely new from scratch, and we’re just gonna have so much fun with it, we’re really gonna experiment and go wild.

CB: I love seeing trends in creators’ stories like those of Gillen and McKelvie or Mariko and Jillian Tamaki. Do you think there exists that kind of connection between Supreme and Heartless?

TL: I think there will be, it’s kind of inevitable that it’ll happen because so much of ourselves are in Supreme and so much of ourselves will be Heartless. We’re inspired by a lot of the same things, a lot of the same movies. There’s a lot of musical inspiration that flows throughout Supreme that not a lot of people have picked up on – various lyrics and stuff. That sort of thing will be in Heartless too. I lot of people describe my work as being otherworldly or ghostly and I don’t know if I did that deliberately but I kind of feel that’ll be my style for Heartless as well. Even though I will be experimenting and trying new things to see where I can take things, that is my style and it’ll come out in the book.

CB: Last year you told me that you were stepping back from Thought Bubble. What is your involvement with the show now?

TL: I go to sleep thinking about this every night. I’ve got at least 200 emails to answer in the Thought Bubble accounts and it terrifies me. I could always concentrate on it so much and I used to stay up until six in the morning trying to get on top of things, but it’s never been my sole job. Now with the illustration work and with my schedule just being so intense constantly, it’s becoming harder and harder. Thankfully Thought Bubble has grown enough for us to be able to employ a full-time staff member which we’ve never had before. Her name is Martha Julian and she’s really taken things in a great direction – she amazing. But it’s still a hell of a lot of work for her, so Clark, the Assistant Director, is there holding things together. There’s loads of people who’re involves, volunteers and stuff, but because I’m not always there so it can be quite difficult and it probably drives them crazy when I don’t answer questions.

So the answer is that I’m trying to step back a bit because I have no choice, but Thought Bubble is in my heart and it’s my event. I love it so much and though I don’t have the time, it’s really important to me to make sure it’s still okay and keeps going. We do such great work with the educational program and the charity stuff.

CB: Thank you so much Tula – any last thoughts?

TL: Buy Heartless, pre-order Heartless! It’s out in January. Warren and I will be posting teaser images soon, we’re very excited and hope people like it.

CB: Safe to say, I know I am.

TL: Thanks very much!

Tula Lotay colors prints at HeroesCon 2015

by Harper W. Harris

Certainly one of the busiest artists at HeroesCon 2015 was Tula Lotay, who has burst onto the mainstage of comic artists in the last year, working with Warren Ellis on Supreme: Blue Rose as well as the unique Vertigo title Bodies written by Si Spencer in which each issue shared four different artists. Her art recalls classic illustration, and is visually lush with gorgeous character work and fascinating design. We got a chance to speak with Lotay to hear about her interesting path to being a professional comic artist, her experiences working with Ellis, and a little about what’s coming up for her.

Harper W. Harris: I’m here with Tula Lotay, who is working hard to finish up coloring some beautiful prints on the last day of HeroesCon, have you had a good time at the con so far?

Tula Lotay: It’s been amazing! I love the show, it’s just wonderful. Everyone is so friendly and there’s such a nice atmosphere, I’ve just been so unbelievably busy. I haven’t had time to stop and eat for two days. It’s wonderful though, I’m having a great time. I love Charlotte, too, and Sheldon and Rico do such an amazing job. They must work so hard all weekend…I know what it’s like running a festival because I run one in the UK called Thought Bubble, and it’s just so wearing and these guys–this is like four times bigger than ours so I know they must work so hard. So thanks to them!

HH: That’s a perfect transition, I was going to ask you about Thought Bubble! Can you tell us a little bit about what Thought Bubble is about and what’s going on this year–it’s coming up in November, right?

TL: Yeah, we’re a comic art festival so it’s very similar to this. A lot of the comic conventions around do mainly media and film stuff…we don’t do any of that. We’re just like Heroes in that we focus just on artists and writers. The convention runs over two days, but the festival lasts over a week, and in the run up to the convention we have a series of free writer’s workshops, screenings, lots of special events. We try to make a lot of them free as well and educational in relation to comics. On the Friday before the show we always do a big book crossing as well where we give away thousands of graphic novels for free around the area. We try and have as many events as we can for children, too, to kind of inspire the next generation, get them to appreciate comics and have fun with it as well.

HH: You have a really interesting story about how you came into the industry as an artist, moving into that from running the festival.

TL: I’ve worked in comic shops all my life really, and so I got to know so many people in the industry and then after a while I thought it would be wonderful to start a very small event, just get people to come along for small signings and a few panels, like industry stuff to find out how people work, where people can learn, how to get into stuff. From there I got to know so many people in the industry. I had an Instagram account at the time, and I started posting bits of my work, because I’ve always drawn and illustrated. A lot of people that I knew in the industry started to see it and they were like, “Oh, you can draw?” and a lot of them started liking what I was posting. I started getting lots of job offers and people wanted to work with me. I kind of knew Warren as well, I met up with Eric Stephenson and he said, “Warren’s got a new project and I really want you to draw it.” Warren asked me to take a look at the script and see what I thought and it just kind of snowballed from there! It’s all down to a mix of working hard, just practicing with my art all the time, posting it online so people could see it, and then knowing people in the industry and just having them be really kind about what I do and kind of liking it.

HH: I definitely want to talk a bit about Supreme: Blue Rose that you worked on with Warren Ellis–what was the process like working with him, and was it challenging to visually illustrate such a complex story?

TL: It was amazing working with Warren. I get on with him so well and I really love his writing. On the first issue he was giving me lots of pointers and I was running all my pages by him, but as I got to know his writing and he got to know my art a bit more he kind of just sent me scripts and left me to it and I could do whatever I wanted. I really felt there was that trust there from him, that he would allow me to take panels in a different direction if I felt they needed to be or add panels or lose them. With that trust and the freedom that he gave me, it was just such an amazing story to work on because I could really put myself into it and I was servicing these wonderful pointed words that Warren had as well. I love working with him, and I think that’s why we’re choosing to work together again on a creator owned project because we like working together so much.

HH: You have a really unique art style with really beautiful character work and then a lot of times you’ve got these really interesting kind of design elements added on top of it. What are your influences for your art style, and where does that design part of it come from?

TL: When I studied fine art at University I was always really interested in a lot of design work, so I studied some graphic design as well. I’ve always been really into design work by people like Chip Kidd and stuff, Saul Bass–I absolutely love the kind of stuff he did, he was a massive influence. I guess that’s where the design stuff came from. In terms of my illustrative style, I really love the old Saturday Evening Post illustrations, illustrations from the ‘40s, ‘50s, and ‘60s. Robert McGinnis, Robert Maguire, Bernie Fuchs all those people are just incredible, like Mitchell Hooks, I’m a big fan of him. You get these scratchy styles, and rather than showing a wardrobe they might just have an angular line to suggest it and then the faces are really detailed. I tend to look at that stuff more than anything else really. But then I’ve always been a massive fan of comic art, so when I was growing up I was reading like Kent Williams, Jon J Muth from Meltdown, Dave McKean. I always tended to go with the more painterly stuff like Jon J Muth and John Bolton, Bill Sienkiewicz’s Elektra: Assassin, so I think a lot of that kind of stuff has influenced me as well. A lot of the European greats as well, like I love Bernet and obviously Mobius. I just really like really good art, so when its done well in any style really it tends to inspire me.

HH: So I love that I’m asking this as I’m watching you color a print–it seems like you color most of your own work, what do you find are the advantages or challenges of doing the whole process yourself like that?

TL: I think that’s the only way I want to work, really. I just came off working on Bodies, the DC/Vertigo title, and they had the same colorist Lee Loughridge throughout the entire story. His work’s absolutely incredible, but for me I find it quite–it’s not natural for me to just do bold line art and have someone else color it because I don’t just do finished line art. I tend to do my line art and then put the color on and work into it again, and put more color on and work into it again, and so on with textures. I feel like I only really feel satisfied with my art at the end when I’ve been about to go through the whole process rather than just doing one aspect of it. I think for the future that’s probably the way I need to work, really. It’s really nice having a great colorist color your work because you get to recognize things about yourself more and, like, Jordie Bellaire has just colored me on Zero, which is amazing seeing her stuff, she’s mind-blowing. So it is nice to have that, but I want to do it all myself really.

HH: So you’re a a bit of a one-man band! So what have you got coming up that you’re really excited about?

TL: Zero is going to be out soon and it’s the last issue so I hope people like that, it was really nice working with Ales Kot on it. I’ve just done an issue of Wicked and the Divine the tower issue which is #13 I think that will be out in August which was just amazing to work on. Kieron Gillen’s a brilliant writer, I loved working with him on that. In two weeks Warren and I are announcing a new project at Image Comics and I’m super, super excited about that. I can’t say anything about it because we’ll be announcing it at the Image Expo, but that’s coming up and I’m just so excited to get started on it, I can’t wait!

by Zachary Clemente

Tula Lotay (aka Lisa Wood) is a comic artist hailing from the UK. Her work includes Elephantmen, Bodies, and the new Image book Supreme: Blue Rose with writer Warren Ellis. She also consults for the well-regarded Travelling Man comic shop and heads the annual comic arts festival Thought Bubble. I was fortunate enough to speak with Tula about her work in comics, illustration and otherwise.

Comics Beat: How has the convention been going for you so far?

Tula Lotay: It’s amazing! I was kind of expecting it to be super busy, but I wasn’t expecting to be personally busy because I don’t think anyone knows who I am as my comic’s only just come out. I wouldn’t have thought anyone would have read it but it’s gone nuts. I’ve been having signings with Image, DC, and Comicraft; every one has been full up with queues. I’ve never had that before!

CB: It’s exciting, I think. Supreme with Image has Ellis on it, who is a big name; Comicraft and Elephantmen have been around for some time, and you’re working on Bodies over at Vertigo now?

TL: Yes! It’s with Si Spencer and three other artists – Dean Ormston, Phil Winslade and Meghan Hetrick – it’s a murder mystery that spans four different time periods, the same body turns up in each one – it’s a fascinating story and that’s what really appealed to me, plus the character Maplewood who I got to draw, she’s a sassy amnesiac.

CB: What’s the time-frame for all these projects happening for you?

TL: Well, I’ve been working on Supreme since last year actually, but because of Thought Bubble organizing I had to put it on hold for two months which is unfortunate. I’m getting so much illustration work right now, but I can’t just let Thought Bubble go. I needed to make sure that it was all okay last year especially; this year the same thing worries me again but I’m hoping that more people can take on the running of the show and I can just continue to draw. Bodies was similar – I started it about three months after I started Supreme and I’m well ahead on both of those titles.

CB: You’ve been around for a while – running Thought Bubble with Travelling Man, which has been going on for seven years now?

TL: Yeah, Thought Bubble is seven years old. I’ve been with Travelling Man for maybe 11 years and I still act as a consultant for them. I was super proud to see Travelling Man short listed at the Eisners last night.

CB: How do you see your place in comics changing with the new projects you’re working on – the new way people may view you and your work?

TL: I definitely want to continue what I’m doing and make my illustration a priority – it should have been a priority years ago. But I’m doing it now and that’s great. I’d ultimately like to work on my own stories. But I felt I needed a bit more experience before putting it out there. I love that story thought and want to tell it soon. I do love working with great writers that allow me space to explore new ideas and different styles though. Working with Warren is amazing. He’s so good. I’d like to keep learning – I think there’s so much for me to learn still and I think there’s so many ways for me to channel my art so I can maybe simplify it more, tighten it. I’m quite excited about how that’s going – moving forward into the future and becoming more confident so things can be simplified.

I’m a big fan of simpler art that’s done perfectly and I think only great masters can do that, like Toth for instance, obviously I don’t think I would ever be anywhere near his skill, but that’s my goal.

CB: Toth is definitely a name thrown out as very inspiring – along with Moebius and Miyazaki. Who do you look to as inspiration for the direction you want to go?

TL: Oh, there’s so many people I’m inspired by – I’m like a kid in a candy shop wherever I go! My friends joke with me and call it “Lisa’s World of Wonder” (that’s my real name) because I get so excited about everything! With regards to art , I like looking back to a lot of Saturday Evening Post illustrations from the 50s and 60s – I’m really inspired by that kind of stuff. Bernie Fuchs, Bob Peak, Robert Fawcett, Robert McGinnis, Robert McGuire – I love all that pulpy stuff.

Growing up, massive influences that have still stuck with me were people who did more painterly art styles like Kent Williams, Bill Sienkiewicz, John J Muth, Dave McKean; so I think I sort of edge towards that style more often than the typical stuff. But still I adore Steranko, Bernet, Mazzucchelli or anyone who masters their style – I’m inspired by any great artist.

CB: I’m reminded of another artist, in career path and a bit of style; Christian Ward, currently on Ody-C with Matt Fraction.

TL: Oh yeah? How so?

CB: Mostly in style – I see a lot of dashes and touches of affection and emotion that isn’t necessarily just about the figure.

TL: I can see that! Christian’s stuff is amazing and his color is just out there – it’s so intense and just adds to his beautiful lines. So that’s a really nice comparison, thank you.

CB: Even on the career side – he just got on with Fraction, who is a really big name right now, as is Ellis. There’s things going on there…

TL: Yeah, both British too.

CB: I wasn’t going to say it!

[General laughter set to the sounds of the very loud Star Wars display looping in the background.]

CB: Do you see your involvement in Thought Bubble lessening as your illustration picks up?

TL: I have to do that and I’ve been trying to, really. I should probably give it up completely and pass it on, but it’s a business I built from scratch seven years ago and it’s been more successful than I ever could have anticipated. As a business person – doing something like that, succeeding at it, and then just passing it on…that’s not something I can do because it’s something I’ve invested so much time, blood, sweat, and tears into. I’m still planning to continue with things and I still want to continue being Director but I think this year is going to be very telling as to how much I can actually do.

I’ve got some great people that I work with, I couldn’t do it without them. I’m managing to pass on the running of the show more and more, but one of the problems I have is that I’m not great at delegating. I have real issues with it, people are always willing to help but It can be hard to let go of something you’ve built up. But fingers crossed, this year will be okay.

CB: Why do you think Though Bubble has become such a well-regarded show?

TL: There’s definitely a reason everyone says it’s brilliant and that it’s so well-organised….. but … I don’t think I’m well-organized; I didn’t have any experience of event management when I set it up… But I think because I and so many of the people I work with care so dearly about what we’re doing – we make it work. Everyone; guests, exhibitors, and attendees must see that, shining through.

I’d like to think it’s successful because people can see that it’s put on by people who just adore the art form and, we may not always do things right, but we’ll do everything in our power to ensure everyone has a nice time. On top of that, we have the best people working in the industry – in the world – coming to our show – I think that’s kind of spiraled. The incredible talent that comes ends up leaving with quite a nice opinion of us – it gets passed around and it’s sort of snowballed.

CB: It seems like the passion shines though, as with your illustration. Jumping back to Supreme, how did the project come to be?

TL: I think it first came about when Eric Stephenson came to Thought Bubble, Richard Starkings had showed him my work. Eric really liked it and asked for a meeting and was keen for me to do something with Warren at Image. So I started chatting with Warren, since we’ve known each other for a little while. We went back and forth with ideas, talking about movies and music because we love a lot of similar things. Then Warren decided to re-work Supreme and asked if I was interested and obviously I was super interested because I love Warren’s writing.

CB: Without giving anything away, what kind of winks, nods, or references will we see in Supreme?

TL: There’s a lot of [David] Lynch in there. Since the title is Supreme: Blue Rose, anyone who’s an avid Twin Peaks watcher will know what “Blue Rose” means. There’s some Philip K. Dick in there, little nods to Kubrick and Jacques Tourneur, mainly  sci-fi  but a little mystery and horror as well.

CB: That sounds like it would mesh really well.

TL: I hope so. The response so far has been amazing. I can’t answer all the tweets I’m getting! I’m not used to that. But it is really nice hearing people say so many positive things about Supreme - it’s blown me away, really.

CB: Do you have fears or concerns about this change in your career?

TL: Yeah, I think anybody entering into something that’s new can feel a little bit fearful of it and certainly, with creatives, it is always a worry as to whether people are going to appreciate or like what you’re doing especially when you create something you’re so passionate about.

But you’ve really got to be fearless – you’ve got to feel the fear and do it anyway.

CB: Thank you very much, Tula.

TL: Yeah, thank you!

You are not dreaming. 
We are trying to communicate with you. 
Local reality has been reinstalled. 
Things have gone wrong. 
The revision has corrupted. 
Finding Ethan Crane is your supreme priority. 
We are speaking to you from the ultimate bunker within the structure of multiversal time.
Do not trust Darius Dax. 
We are all going to die. 

“One day I woke up with an idea, that came out of nowhere, for how to extend this most strange and storied of ‘analogue’ properties into a new space. A new floor on top of Alan Moore and Rob Liefeld’s house,” said Ellis. “And, since I had some time on my hands that year, I emailed Image, and we got my friend Tula Lotay involved—and her work will be a revelation to people.”

The series debuts in July.