Steve Hamaker is a local comic creator that has been in the business for over 20 years. Ever since he graduated from Columbus College of Art and Design in 1997, he has collaborated with some of the most notable cartoonists in the business. Steve is best known for his award-winning coloring work. His credits include the graphic novel series Bone and RASL by Jeff Smith, Table Titans by Scott Kurtz & Brian Hurtt, Strangers in Paradise by Terry Moore, and Hilo by Judd Winick to name a few. He has even worked on Mylo Xyloto, a six-part comic by Mark Osborne based on the fifth studio album by the band Coldplay. Besides coloring, Steve is a successful cartoonist in his own right. His first graphic novel Fish N Chips was published in 2010 and followed up by his webcomic PLOX in 2013. PLOX, which is set in Columbus, follows the arcs of Kim, Chad, and Roy, three gamers struggling to navigate their offline lives. You can read it online at plox-comic.com. Currently, Steve is providing art for The Pathfinders Society. To date, two books in the young adult graphic novel series have been published, The Mystery of the Moon Tower (2020) and The Curse of the Crystal Cavern (2021). Steve lives here in Columbus with his wife and son.
1) When did you know you wanted to work in comics? Were there particular creators you read growing up that inspired you?
I have wanted to create comics since my dad first taught me how to draw. He wasn’t really into comic books, but he is the reason that I fell in love with drawing. Early on, 6 to 9 years old maybe, I was really into X-Men.
Being a kid in the ‘80s makes me pretty typical for our generation… I consumed everything. G.I. Joe, Transformers, Star Wars, TMNT, the list goes on and on. The biggest influence was Eastman & Laird’s self-published Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics. My cousin introduced me to those, and I was never the same. The biggest takeaway from that moment was “oh, wow, I can make my own comics and they can look however I want.” The Marvel/DC mainstream comics weren’t the only way and that inspired me greatly.
2) You’ve had your hand in multiple roles in the comic-making process, including writing, penciling, inking, coloring, and lettering. Is there any aspect you prefer over the others? Is there any part of comic-making you haven’t tried but would like to?
Ha, ha! I’ve done all that? Self-publishing totally forced me to learn every aspect of the art form plus the business side.
I would love to write for another artist sometime. Collaboration with other artists has almost always been the most satisfying way to create comics.
3) You’ve been coloring comics professionally for a couple of decades now. What about that kind of work initially attracted you? How did you break in and begin coloring Bone for Jeff Smith?
In the late ‘90s I worked for a toy design company called Resaurus. We created licensed action figures for mostly video games, but we acquired the rights to make Bone toys for Jeff. That’s where I met Jeff and Vijaya, his wife and business partner. I was the lead designer on those figures and I worked closely with Jeff on every detail. It was a lot of fun and he hired me after I was freed up from a sad downsizing at that company.
During the next couple of years, I became really comfortable working for Jeff and Vijaya. They let me work on the publishing design in addition to the product design I was hired for. Cartoon Books is a very “all hands on deck” work environment so I dabbled in everything. I was experimenting with coloring in Photoshop one day and Jeff loved what I had done. We created the 10th anniversary Bone #1 in color for Comic-Con in 2001. That was the jumping off point when we all knew that it could be done.
When Scholastic approached Jeff and Vijaya in 2003 to color the books, they vouched for me and I got the job! I was coloring the single issue covers then, so I had a better handle on the technology plus the “style” that Jeff and I developed was pretty solid. I’m very proud of the color Bone books.
4) Let’s pretend you’ve just received a freshly inked page for a book you are working on. What do you take into consideration when deciding what palette to use on that page? Do you prefer to have a lot of freedom when making choices or do you prefer for some artists to give you detailed instructions on how to color their work?
The first thing is usually determining the time of day if it’s an outdoor scene. I don’t see the finished color in my head before I start. I do a lot of experimenting to get the right feel for what’s going on in the storytelling. I focus mostly on creating depth between the characters and the backgrounds.
With some projects like Judd Winick’s Hilo, I took over coloring in mid-series, so I had to match basic character colors and some backgrounds. That was actually a nice place to start. I didn’t have to invent the overall palette. I found other subtle ways to make that coloring “mine.” Mostly with depth and textures.
I prefer working with artists that already know how I color and mostly leave me alone until we make adjustments at the end. Jeff Smith, Terry Moore, and Scott Kurtz are people who worked that way.
5) Do you have any advice for aspiring colorists? Is there anything about the coloring process you think others would find surprising?
My advice for coloring or any aspect of making comics is the same. Know your pace and how fast or slow you are. The client or the editor shouldn’t wonder when you’ll finally get the pages done. For myself, I know I can thumbnail four to five pages a day, ink two pages a day, color four pages a day, etc. With that data, I can confidently negotiate a fair schedule and the client won’t be sweating. You don’t want to have a book due in five months when you physically can’t finish it in less than ten months.
6) Your webcomic PLOX ran for over five years. Why did you decide to run it as a webcomic as opposed to a more traditional publishing method? Were there any other webcomics or creators that influenced your decision?
My webcomic inspirations were Scott Kurtz (PvP, Table Titans) and Penny Arcade. I saw them making comics and having no barrier between themselves and their readers. I love that about webcomics.
Once I was known as the colorist for Bone, I discovered that I had better access to artists and other people in the industry. I totally used that privilege to stalk and eventually become close friends with Scott Kurtz. I would stalk/friend lots of people. That’s basically how I met Kazu Kibuishi, who was editing the Flight anthologies at the time. He was so generous and supportive to let me into that club of wildly talented people.
Later, when Scott and I started working on Table Titans in 2013, he and his business partner, Cory Casoni, helped me get PLOX a lot of exposure. He ran ads for me and let me set up at their booth at PAX (Penny Arcade Expo). He’s the reason most people discovered PLOX. He’s my comics brother.
7) The tools that webcomic creators have used have changed over time with the introduction of crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter and Patreon and comic hubs such as Webtoons. How have you seen those tools change the landscape of webcomics and how have you seen webcomics evolve in response? What tools have you found to be most useful?
Kickstarter and Patreon are incredible for artists! It’s that direct access I loved about webcomics to begin with. It’s great for people starting from scratch and building an audience, but also for established companies. Jeff Smith just used Kickstarter for his book Tuki and he had great success. I know he was nervous because he’s used to the established publishing and marketing methods.
8) PLOX seems to have ended in 2018. Any thoughts on when fans could see the end of the second story arch? Do you miss Kim, Chad, and Roy, or are you looking forward to new projects and collaborations?
I am taking a short break right now because I just wrapped the third (and final) Pathfinders Society book. I have a new idea for a graphic novel (series) that I am developing pitch material for now.
I do miss Chad, Kim, and Roy. They are always in the back of my head yelling at me to finish the second story. I will finish it! I need to color the last two chapters and hopefully get a Kickstarter going this summer.
9) Your latest project is The Pathfinders Society series written by Francesco Sedita and Prescott Seraydarian and published by Random House. For those who may not be aware, can you give us a brief explanation of what the book is about? What can you tell us about how you came to be involved in the project and where the books are headed?
Pathfinders Society is about a group of kids who meet each other at a camp for treasure hunters. They discover a mystery involving the camp’s founder who was also an eccentric relic collector and inventor. It’s a fun middle-grade adventure comic!
I was approached by Sheila Keenan and Francesco Sedita to see if I was available. I thought it was a longshot since I had never drawn a full-length graphic novel for a “real” publisher, so I kept expecting them to ask for a tryout. Little did I know at the time that they loved PLOX and realized I could do it. I was beyond flattered, and it was great to create that art for the last three years.
Working on that derailed my work on PLOX, but I don’t regret it. The Pathfinders books taught me a ton about making comics. I’m indebted to Sheila, Jen, Jim, Francesco, and Scott for the opportunity!
10) If you could make a video game based on a comic book (based on your or anyone else’s work), what would it be and what would make it cool?
Oh, wow! Um… I have no idea! Of my comics, probably Fish N Chips could be a fun game. My Fish character is totally a ripoff of Earthworm Jim, so yeah, side scroller game? I could have fun making bosses for them to fight. Ha, ha!