Klaus

I just read this article about my good friend and mentor Klaus Janson, and thought I'd share it here.

I've worked with Klaus several times in my career, most notably on Batman: Death and the Maidens and Batman: Gothic for DC, and on the Daredevil Visionary books for Marvel, which collected his legendary collaboration with Frank Miller. I first met Klaus when I was just a teenager at Marvel, and was always impressed with how personable and supportive he would be toward me and my fellow interns. I believe that's a terrific way to judge a person's character; to see how they treat people they don't need anything from. Sadly, not all of my teenage heroes lived up to that particular test.

Later, when I was editing the Shadowline Saga titles for Epic, I had the pleasure of really getting to know Klaus, as worked with us on St. George. Shortly there after, when I decided to go freelance, Klaus was very supportive, and took me under his wing. I worked alongside him in his studio on Gothic, and I can confidently say that every important thing I know about coloring comics, I learned from Klaus. I can even give him some of the credit for getting me into digital coloring, as my first digital project was Batman/Spawn, which he illustrated. It was largely due to Klaus's support that DC gave me a shot to color this high-profile book, using my fairly untested Photoshop skills!

Klaus is a great guy, and I'm proud to have him as a friend! He's been there for me many times, including when he flew out to LA for my wedding. Congratulations on his induction to the Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy! (Even though he once put me and my family out in the snow during a blizzard...Now, that's a story...)
:)