etc. Liberties were obviously taken in a few scenes but for the most part I tried to keep the geography of the ship as true as possible, because otherwise there would be little point in making the story about Titanic.
Geek Syndicate
SD: God, I have watched Cameron’s film SO many times now for screenshots I could probably recite it! For me it was gathering as much accurate visual reference as possible! Titanic has to be the most iconic ship out there, and I just knew that if she didn’t look and feel like the ‘Ship of Dreams’ our story wouldn’t strike the chord we were going for. Alex started gathering all manner of books on the Titanic and very helpfully bookmarked specific photos or pages that related to scenes he had written, that coupled with my own research, 3D digital models and an air-fix model that Alex did just for fun, I was able to capture Titanic accurately from every angle! She really is quite a pleasure to draw. GS: Have you followed the Doctor Who comics and if so what was your favourite era? AB: I hadn’t read many before starting work on Impossible Crossing. I was initially unsure about turning it into a comic because, to me, it’s a medium that has never leant itself very well to Doctor Who. A lot of the stories – by Doctor Who Magazine or IDW or whoever – feel very rushed to me, and are never quite as grounded as the show was. It’s easy when writing a comic to make things bigger, more extravagant, because they’re not limited to a budget, but it’s bigger for the
132
sake of bigger and not done in the best interest of the story. Impossible Crossing is intentionally slower and smaller, more in fitting with the classic show rather than the new, and if it were an episode the budget would lie in recreating Titanic, not extravagant monsters.
stories rather than plot driven. The idea for Impossible Crossing stemmed from wanting to use the Eighth Doctor, which is why I wanted the Doctor himself in the logo. It’s a character specific logo for a character specific story. SD: I have to agree with Alex, the stories I enjoy reading the most are the ones with engaging and interesting characters. That also goes for the ones I like drawing the most too! I spend a lot of time before drawing a comic designing the characters; it’s one of the parts of the creative process on any project that I enjoy the most! GS: Can you tell us a little bit more about the creative process? SD: While the script is being written I gather as much reference as I can for locations, characters, vehicles, EVERYTHING! You need to have a thorough grounding in the things that you’re to draw, even if they’re fictional and totally fantastical. They won’t look real unless you’ve researched and you feel comfortable drawing them. This goes for every project I work on! Once I’ve got my reference I design the characters and anything else that the story requires before thumbnailing pages; and then penciling, inking and lettering. I add colour last and exclusively through Photoshop, using textures and custom brushes to create a traditional aesthetic. AB: I constantly think about character, so before I start writing anything I have to know what the characters will ultimately go through. It’s
SD: I’ve only read a few Doctor Who comics, majority of them being the Panini collections of the classic Doctor Who Monthly strips. I guess if I had to pick an era it would be that of the Fifth Doctor. Peter Davison is my Doctor and in The Tides of Time collection, Dave Gibbon’s art is just the icing on the cake! GS: What type of storytelling do you like? AB: It depends on the writer, but I prefer character driven