EXCLUSIVE: Colleen Doran Interview

Colleen Doran is an American comic book writer and artist, best known for her fantasy series A Distant Soil.

Doran broke into the comic book industry when still a teenager, in the 1980s. A Distant Soil was originally published by Wendy and Richard Pini's WaRP Graphics, publishers of Elfquest, but Doran subsequently left the company due to an acrimonious dispute with Richard Pini, whom she alleged was attempting to claim copyright on her work. The WaRP version of the story was never reprinted, despite its unusual all-pencil style, although Colleen Doran did reprint a short Distant Soil story that had appeared in a WaRP anthology. Doran has since illustrated hundreds of comics, graphic novels, books and magazines and dozens of stories and articles.

Rorschachs Journal recently had the opportunity to speak with Colleen about the forthcoming 'Watchmen' Film:

RJ: The Watchmen Movie, what are your greatest hopes and fears?

CD: Well, my greatest hope is that it will be a wonderful movie, true to the book! And my greatest fear is that it won't! I dread a Watchmen film that has little resemblance to the source material, but we've seen that time and again. I hope that the Hollywood people will trust Allan Moore's story enough to leave it as it is, as much as possible.

RJ: If you were chosen to storyboard the film, would you emulate Dave Gibbons' work or try a new approach?

CD: Oh, I would stick to what Gibbons has done. Definitely. It's a very clean, no nonsense approach. I've always thought that the more complex the story, the cleaner the approach should be on the art.

RJ: What do you think of the casting thus far?

CD: I was keen on all of the casting except for Ozymandius. I really had my heart set on Jude Law. Otherwise, everyone looks great.

RJ: In your opinion, what are some of the bigger script challenges the writers and Zack Snyder are facing?

CD: The massive content of the story, cramming it all into a feature film. Honestly, I'd have gone with a miniseries.

Frankly, the biggest challenge is always industry money people interfering with creative work.

RJ: Would you include the pirate sub-plot in the script if it were up to you?

CD: I don't see how they could fit in in there with everything else going on. I imagine they'll cut it, but frankly, cutting anything makes my hair go the wrong way.

RJ: Any last thoughts or comments on the film so far?

CD: Please God, let it be good!

www.colleendoran.com