As Christopher Jones settles into his gig of providing artwork for the ongoing Young Justice monthly series, published by DC Comics and based on the acclaimed animated series, Jones took a few moments of his time to let us in on his artistic style and his approach to working on a comic series. Exclusive artwork is included. Continue below for more.

The World’s Finest: To start things off, how long does it take for you to pencil an issue of Young Justice, or any comic you’re working on? Does the time differ between working in your own style and when having to adapt to a style?

Christopher Jones: The fastest I’ve drawn a 20 page comic book to date was 12 days. To meet a deadline on my second issue of Young Justice I had to draw 15 pages of it in five days. Those were not five fun days. And that’s not a pace I can keep up. It comes at the expense of all other commitments – social and otherwise – and at the expense of sleep. I can comfortably draw a book in 2-3 weeks depending on the style and the content. I did three weeks pretty regularly on The Batman Strikes.

I had tried to draw my most recent issue of Young Justice in two weeks to try to bring the book forward in it’s schedule, and wasn’t able to do it in under three. I blame the recent heat wave, which made my 2nd floor, sun-facing corner studio not the easiest to work in, and the fact that the issue had several pages of Artemis fighting MONQI droids in trees, which made for very detailed pages that weren’t quick to draw.

I don’t know that working in “my own style” or not makes much of a difference. If I’m being asked to draw in a simple, cartoony style that can make things quite a bit faster, actually. But not until I’ve learned the style enough that I’m not still working to learn it. Young Justice is actually a much more realistic art style than either my Justice League Adventures or The Batman Strikes work. Outside of slightly stylized faces, it’s pretty close to what would be a “natural” style for me.

WF: For Young Justice, and how integrated the comic is with the source cartoon material, do you privy to episode spoilers? Does knowing what is happening in the show help when getting a script and envisioning how to translate it to the page?

CJ: I’ve had a *few* spoilers about what’s coming up in the series because of reference material that’s been shared with me (Yes, that IS Wotan in Young Justice #6). I also got to have some conversations with Greg Weisman a few weeks ago, but those were more about what’s coming up in the comic than plans for the series.

I think the comic is a lot more integrated with the source material than is typical for this kind of tie-in book. And I think that’s all due to the involvement of Greg Weisman. From the start I think it was important to him that the comic be an integral part of things, and not that he and Kevin Hopps are scripting the comic, the tone matches the show pretty seamlessly. We’re introducing some characters in the comics before they show up on the TV show, and we’re getting revelations about the main characters before they they are revealed on the show. And as a big fan of the show, that’s all very exciting to me!

WF: Looking through back issues of The Batman Strikes, Justice League Adventures, Gargoyles: Bad Guys, and now Young Justice, no matter what style you’re asked to adapt to, all of your characters share the same general look (I guess, for lack of better term). They all look like they could exist in the same world, connected. Do you think this is because of the basic similarities to the character designs for all the shows (simplified but with enough details and changes to appear different) make it easy for you to just draw your own way, or that your style is tailored-made for these properties?

CJ: I think to any extent that’s true it’s evidence of what I’ve said all along – that more of the artist’s individual style comes through on a project like this than you’d think, even if the characters are “on model” for the source material. When I started working on The Batman Strikes (based on the animation designs of Jeff Matsuda and his team) after drawing a number of Justice League Adventures stories drawn in the “Bruce Timm” style, a lot of people asked me if it was hard to learn to draw like Jeff Matsuda. And while I knew what they meant (and yes, it took a while to figure out that style), I never drew that book like Jeff Matsuda would have if he’d been the artist on it. A lot of your drawing always shows up in the look of the characters in addition to the storytelling and composition sensibilities you bring to every page of comic art.

WF: As a semi-follow-up, your The Super Hero Squad Show artwork is a dead mimic of the cartoon, but completely different than what we usually see of your work. How was it to work on those designs? A challenge?

CJ: It was a challenge like it was to learn any other style. The biggest challenge with The Super Hero Squad Show was that I was often being asked to parody an existing classic comic book cover, and the proportions of the characters were so distorted it made it hard to keep the composition close to the original design.

WF: Do you follow a certain process when you jump on to work that requires you to adapt yourself to a set style? Is there homework involved, for lack of a better term, and research? Any type of preparation?

CJ: Usually you kind of have to hit the ground running. At first you’re pretty religiously referencing the model sheets you’re (hopefully) provided with. As time goes by it becomes second nature, which not only makes the whole process move faster, but the art becomes more fluid and a more organic blend of your own style and the source material. I feel like I’m a getting there on Young Justice, but given the nature of the stories I’ve drawn so far (I just finished my fourth issue – #8) I’m more fluent with some characters than others. At this point I know Artemis pretty well!

WF: Young Justice producer Greg Weisman and writer Kevin Hopps are joining you beginning with the next issue. How does their approach differ from Franco and Art Balazar?

CJ: Well every writer has their own style and sensibility. I know Greg worked very closely with Art and Franco and the series editor to make sure the early issues were in line with plans for the show. Given Greg and Kevin’s roles on the TV series itself, the comic now seems to feel like the show on the printed page.

WF: To wrap things up, care to give us a preview of what we can expect in the months ahead in the Young Justice comic series?

CJ: Well I think I’d have several people cross with me if I revealed too much. I can tell you that the next several stories are all two-parters. Issues 7 & 8 focus on Artemis and her back story. We even get to see her first encounter with the Young Justice team from her perspective. Had you wondered why she shot that arrow through the window during that fight with Amazo and then disappeared? Read the comic and you’ll find out!

The solicitation is out for #9, so it’s no secret that we’ve got a Captain Atom story coming up. You may know that some of Greg’s earliest work in comics was co-writing the Captain Atom series for DC Comics, so that character is near and dear to his heart. The Young Justice story is a murder mystery with espionage overtones and it involves a lot of the old Captain Atom supporting cast. It’s told for a Young Justice audience that’s new to these characters, but it should be a real treat for any long-time fans. And it’s very much a Young Justice story. The team is absolutely in the thick of it all. It’s great stuff.

After that is a two-parter I haven’t seen any scripts for yet, but I’m working on the cover for part one right now. All I can say is that it involves a villain I’ve badly wanted to draw since my The Batman Strikes days, and never got to. So I’m very excited.

The World’s Finest would like to thank Christopher Jones for his participation!

Click here for our previous Young Justice Christopher Jones interview. Additionally, click here to see his The Batman Strikes works, and here for his Justice League Adventures work.

Young Justice #7, featuring art by Christopher Jones and co-writers Greg Weisman and Kevin Hopps at the helm, hits shelves on Wednesday, August 24th, 2011. More details on the issue are available here. Stay tuned for further coverage on Young Justice here at The World’s Finest.

Stay tuned for further updates, including exclusive content and more, here soon at The World’s Finest.

Discuss this in The DC Animation Forum!

Click the above image to view the trailer!

Stealing a few moments away from his busy schedule, Young Justice Series Producer Greg Weisman sat down with The World’s Finest to discuss his upcoming role as co-writer for the DC Comics-published Young Justice comic series. He and co-writer Kevin Hopps (The Spectacular Spider-Man animated series) begin writing the comic series, which expands on the continuity of the animated series of which it is based, with issue #7, due to hit shelves later this month. Continue below for the introductory Q & A.

The World’s Finest: How closely have you been working with the Young Justice comic book? What type of work was involved to make sure it synced up with the animated series?

Greg Weisman: Kevin Hopps, Brandon Vietti and myself have been working very closely with the folks at DC on Young Justice from the very beginning. We suggested story ideas for issues 1 – 6 that fit into the television series’ continuity – right down to our show’s trademark “Timestamps”. Then we reviewed all materials to maintain maximum consistency.

WF: How much input did you have on the story ideas and execution for the previous creative team?

GW: Kevin, Brandon and I suggested the three stories that made up the first six issues. As for the execution, hopefully we managed to stay out of their way. Maintaining consistency shouldn’t mean restricting anyone’s creativity. Prior to Kevin and I coming aboard, Young Justice had some terrific people working on it. We wanted them to feel free to bring their collective creative spark to the book, in story, in dialogue and visually.

WF: You and Kevin Hopps take over as writers for the Young Justice series with issue #7. Break down that first issue for us!

GW: Well, on page one, panel one… Uh. Maybe I won’t break it down quite that much. Basically, this story focuses on the introduction of Artemis to the Team and the series – but this time from her point of view. So we will see events we’ve already seen on television, but in ways we haven’t seen before.

WF: As a semi-follow-up…why work on the Young Justice comic series? What appeal does it bring to the table, to work on both the comic and the cartoon?

GW: In a way, it’s a dream come true – no matter how corny that sounds. We just have so many stories to tell that there’s no way we could fit them all into the number of episodes that Cartoon Network has ordered. The comic gives us the opportunity to give both depth and breadth to the world and the characters.

WF: What can fans expect from your run on the title? Are you in it for the long-haul?

GW: We’re definitely in it for the long haul. The goal is to make the comic book enjoyable in its own right. You don’t have to watch the series to enjoy the book. Likewise, you don’t have to read the book to enjoy the series. But if you consume both, there’s just no doubt you’ll get so much more out of the Young Justice property as a whole (Assuming we do our jobs right.)

WF: How closely will this series tie in with what we see on the series. Will your stories act as sort of…”lost episodes” or just “episodes…in comic form”? For example, can we expect vital plot points to be revealed here that may show up in an episode down the line?

GW: As I think is clear – even from the issues that preceded us – the comic will tie in very closely with the animated series. Some arcs will in fact be so-called “lost episodes” that will fill in the blanks between television episodes. Others will launch their own subplots. And things have already premiered in the comic that will have an impact on the television series down the line. And vice versa. Of course, the hardcore fan of Young Justice can always keep track of exactly where the comic fits into overall continuity, thanks to the timestamps that exist on both series.

WF: How does plotting and writing out a script for a comic differ from that of a television series episode?

GW: Fundamentally, not much at all. An individual issue of a comic book (at 20 pages) can’t quite stuff in the same amount of content as an episode of the television series, which is why we’re currently focused on two-parters, with a cliffhanger in the middle. But otherwise, we break a story down within the overall arc or trajectory of the lives of our ensemble cast. We then break each issue down beat-by-beat and then page-by-page and panel-by-panel.

WF: Much like the Young Justice animated series, do you have a long-term plan for the Young Justice comic, too? What should we keep an eye out for in this series as you start your run? Secrets? Teases? Hints to future episodes, perhaps?

GW: We have more long term plans for Young Justice then we could possibly hope to cover. But we’re going to try. Any character the audience has seen on the series is fair game for the comic. And some may show up in the comic first. But in the near term, keep an eye out for Professor Ivo, Clayface, Ocean-Master and Ra’s al Ghul!

WF: With the comic covered, can you perhaps drop a hint or two about what we can expect when Young Justice returns to Cartoon Network in the fall with new episodes?

GW: Action! Drama! Humor! Intrigue! Secrets! Lies! Romance! Covert Ops! Housebreaking!

WF: To wrap things up, tell us why fans should run out to pick up Young Justice #7 – the first issue of your run with co-writer Kevin Hopps!

GW: So far the comic has focused on the Team’s earliest days. It’s time to bring Artemis into the mix. And it’s time to reveal a few of her secrets as well. Find them in Young Justice #7 – AND ONLY IN YOUNG JUSTICE #7!!

Young Justice #7, the first issue with co-writers Greg Weisman and Kevin Hopps at the helm, and featuring art by Christopher Jones, hits shelves on Wednesday, August 24th, 2011. More details on the issue are available here. The World’s Finest’s coverage of the Young Justice comic series continues next week with a new interview with series artist Christopher Jones.

Stay tuned for further updates, including exclusive content and more, here soon at The World’s Finest.

Discuss this in The DC Animation Forum!