Richard: How do you feel working on this William Shatner project?

Erich: It's William Shatner, Capt. James T. Kirk!! I'm excited!!

Richard: Did you watch the TV series or read any of the books?

Erich: Not yet. But Darren is sending me the DVDs and some novels. So I will.

Richard: What visual characteristics do you give to the main characters of "TekWar Chronicles"?

Erich: I haven't created the characters yet, but the only one that will have a specific characteristic will be Walter Bascom, the character which Mr. Shatner played in the TV series, he'll look similiar to Mr. Shatner.

Richard: Why did you want to work on this particular title?

Erich: I'm a big sci-fi fan and TekWar is Mr. Shatner's main sci-fi creation outside of Star Trek. TekWar was very popular in novel form and I'm hoping we can make it very popular in comic form. Also, of the four titles in the William Shatner Presents line TekWar Chronicles is the only ongoing series. Ongoing series seem to get more exposure than mini-series, cuz the minis are done after a few months and then out of sight out of mind, but a good ongoing can be in sight for years. I could use the exposure of an ongoing series right now, cuz I'm certainly not a household (or comic shop) name yet.

Richard: How would you describe your artwork on "TekWar Chronicles"?

Erich: The artwork will be less "cartoony" than I've been illustrating recently, but no where near photo-realistic. The lineart is very open, meaning without large areas of black. I almost always color my artwork and I like creating all the shading and rendering in color instead of using black so I leave it out.

Richard: Do you have any formal art training?

Erich: I'm mostly self-taught. But I did take a couple of years of foundation art courses in college.

Richard: Besides this comic which other Bluewater title would you like to work on?

Erich: I was supposed to do Wrath of the Titans, but Darren offered me TekWar instead, well actually he gave it away to another artist and I guess offering me TekWar was his appeasement. Just kidding, Darren. I would have liked to do some of the Ray Harryhausen books, but it hasn't worked out yet. And Darren has told me about some upcoming titles which I can't mention that I'm really excited about.

Richard: What future projects do you have lined up?

Erich: TekWar Chronicles is it for right now, but if all goes well maybe more Bluewater titles. I have been approved by Paramount to work on Star Trek for IDW, but haven't been given a project yet. I keep bugging Chris Ryall about it, but I'm still waiting.

Richard: What other jobs have you had?

Erich: As far as comic industry jobs, I co-created and illustrated Mail Order Ninja at Tokyopop, illustrated Victoria's Secret Service: Nemesis Rising #4 for Bluewater, illustrated and colored Cory Doctorow's I, Robot for IDW, and I'm currently finishing up two 3 issue mini-series for Viper Comics, one is unannounced and the other is Attack of the Killer Tomatoes which I'm illustrating and coloring.

Richard: Who do you admire in the comics field?

Erich: Wow, the list could be huge, but I'll try to keep it smallish and in no particular order. I really like what Olivier Coipel is doing on Thor, Ed McGuinness, Pierre Alary, Stuart Immonen, Eric Canete, Joe Mad, J. Scott Campbell, Humberto Ramos, Chris Bachalo, Josh Middleton, Sean Galloway, Jonboy Meyers, Scott Wegener, Chris Ryall, Chris Warner, and Darren Davis. I'll stop.

Richard: What type of movies do you watch?

Erich: All types. I just like movies, even the bad ones. I am a huge James Bond fan, so those are my favorite.

Richard: What comics did you read as a child and do you read now?

Erich: When I was a kid, I read Tarzan, Batman, Spider-Man, X-Men from what I can remember.

Now, I don't have much time to read comics or go to the comic shop. With taking care of our 4 kids and illustrating comics myself, I don't have a lot of time left for much else. But when I get a chance, I usually pick up issues by artists that I admire from the list above.

Richard: How can someone contact you?

Erich: At my website, www.erichowen.com

Richard: Any final words of wisdom?

Erich: Be kind to one another no matter your differences. And work hard.