Lately I’ve started to think about all the artists I’ve worked with, and I realised that I know almost nothing about them. We have shared the process of creating a comic strip, something that will be read, criticised, loved or hated by complete strangers we will never know anything about.

Even though the processes of writing and drawing are separate, especially when they’re done by two different people working on two different continents, I have felt a sort of connection with each artist who worked on my scripts. I have cared about what they think, and I have tried to leave room in my scripts for them to express their creativity, even though it’s difficult sometimes to gag some authors.

An idea came to me. Why not ask them some questions? Conduct an informal interview, in which they can reveal something about themselves.

So here’s the first interview, with Carlo Vergara,the artist with whom I worked on Mysteries of Udolpho and the forthcoming The Monk and the Hangman’s Daughter, both for Graphic Classics©

When Tom Pomplun, editor/publisher of Graphic Classics© gives me a story to adapt, I usually don’t know which artist he will choose to work on my script.

So when he approached me for an adaptation of The Mysteries of Udolpho, by Ann Radcliff, I was on tenterhooks, eager to know the name of the artist I would be collaborating with. The task was huge; shrinking a 600-page tome down to less than 50 pages wouldn’t be easy, and it would have helped me to know the style in which the story would be drawn.

After several edits the script was ready, and Tom told me the name of the artist who was going to draw the strip: Carlo Vergara.

Despite the name, which sounded European to me, Carlo Vergara. is a very talented artist living and working in the Phillipines. I was thrilled. Working with someone from such a different background to mine was a good opportunity to broaden my horizons.

Radcliffe set the story of Udolpho in France and Italy, which was a break for me, since I am Italian. When I came to describe the Castle of Udolpho, I described places I visited in my youth; I saw once more in my mind’s eye Venice and its incredible light. It was a trip down memory lane to me, but I realised that Carlo has never seen these things so familiar to me, and I was curious to see how he would interpret my descriptions of the story’s setting.

Not all the artists I have worked with have emailed me artwork still at the pencils stage, but Carlo did. His drawings were jaw-dropping. I was certain Udolpho was going to be one of the best stories I have ever adapted.

Even though some critics have given this story bad reviews, as we say in Italy: ogni scarrafone e’ bello a mamma soja, which translates as; “every cockroach looks beautiful to his mamma’s eye”. I still think Udolpho is a good adaptation.

Tom seemed pleased with the Caputo/Vergara tandem, so much so that he gave us another story to work on together: The Monk and the Hangman’s Daughter, by Ambrose Bierce.

Once again, Carlo with his remarkable technique caught the essence of the drama. Even though I adapted the story and knew it inside-out, in every page Carlo sent me I discovered something completely new that I hadn’t realised was in the story.

I have only one quibble; Carlo can’t draw ugly people. I have tried to convince him that sometimes an ugly-looking character can be useful in a story, but he is such a kind person he finds it impossible to draw an ugly face.

I look forward to working with Carlo again, and this time, I promise: no ugly faces!