Manapul talks the Flash
Newsarama interviews Francis Manapul here. Not much about the Rogues, but artist types might be interested in hearing him talk about art.
Nrama: I know you can't say a lot about the futuristic guys that showed up at the end, but a lot of people have noticed the little details about them, like their RFTF badges. I assume you came up with a lot of their look?
Manapul: Geoff had the little details that he wanted, such as that badge. That badge was completely directed by Geoff. Once you get a closer look at the badge, it says quite a bit about the characters and about the future as well. So I can't really discuss what those things mean.
But in terms of designing the characters themselves, Geoff didn't give too much direction. He just kind of said, "draw the Rogues, but in the future." Character design isn't exactly my strong point, so I just drew the Rogues in the most natural way possible. Basically I drew the Rogues without using reference, trying to remember what they looked like, while adding in some things. I'm still learning along the way, in terms of how I'm portraying the Rogues. I've been looking at quite a bit of reference lately, looking in particular at what Scott Kolins did with Rogues Revenge. So what I did with these characters is I tried to remember that, but make it a little more futuristic while giving them a more uniform look. Even though each one has a different costume, they all have something where you know they're all part of the same team.
Nrama: Are you getting to draw the future?
Manapul: Not yet! [laughs] Right now we're hanging in the current century in Central City.
Nrama: I know you can't say a lot about the futuristic guys that showed up at the end, but a lot of people have noticed the little details about them, like their RFTF badges. I assume you came up with a lot of their look?
Manapul: Geoff had the little details that he wanted, such as that badge. That badge was completely directed by Geoff. Once you get a closer look at the badge, it says quite a bit about the characters and about the future as well. So I can't really discuss what those things mean.
But in terms of designing the characters themselves, Geoff didn't give too much direction. He just kind of said, "draw the Rogues, but in the future." Character design isn't exactly my strong point, so I just drew the Rogues in the most natural way possible. Basically I drew the Rogues without using reference, trying to remember what they looked like, while adding in some things. I'm still learning along the way, in terms of how I'm portraying the Rogues. I've been looking at quite a bit of reference lately, looking in particular at what Scott Kolins did with Rogues Revenge. So what I did with these characters is I tried to remember that, but make it a little more futuristic while giving them a more uniform look. Even though each one has a different costume, they all have something where you know they're all part of the same team.
Nrama: Are you getting to draw the future?
Manapul: Not yet! [laughs] Right now we're hanging in the current century in Central City.