Rich: In your submission to the recent book: Art of Comic-Book Inking, you neglected to reveal the tools that you use, and for which purposes... Was your sample inked entirely with a brush? Do you use a pen or pencil for some of the finer detailing? What's the process? Linework, first; then the heavier lines/areas with brush?

Stevens: With regard to the process of inking, I use a brush almost exclusively. Either a Windsor-Newton or one of the Kolinskys, a "Cosmos-Extra" usually does the trick. I use different sizes, from a #1 to a #3, depending on the line weight I need. I prefer brush over pen because of the obvious fluidity of line it offers. I will only use a ruling pen for long, straight lines that need no variance in weight.

As far as the procedure, there is none! I skip around all over a piece, feeling my way through it, until all the fun parts are done, then grumble through the remaining areas (backgrounds, perspective, props, etc.), cursing myself for drawing in so much detail!

Patrice: Most of your comic-book covers these days are more in the B&D, S-M area than in the tamer "cheesecake" you produced in the eighties. Is this trend a reflection of a) the changes in the comic-book market to which you have to conform to, b) changes in your own tastes? If the answer is b) can you tell us a bit more about this?

Stevens: The more overt sexual tone of recent covers is definately due to the changes in subject matter of current comics. Ten years ago, there really was no place for it.

The comics being published for today's audience are darker, meaner, and seem to celebrate the joys of ultra-violence and antisocial behavior. Today's lead characters are often homicidal, demonic, psychopathic, or razor-toothed aliens. Not at all, my cup of tea.

And, of course, that darker style has affected the female players as well. They are now: vampires, succubi, witches, demons, and dominatrix'; all dipped in latex, spandex... or shoe-strings and bat-wings!

Milt Caniff once remarked that, while audiences like the good-girl characters, they tend to remember the bad girls. I suppose that's why the current craze has hung on so long.

Some of these characters I've chosen to try my hand at, others I've declined. The bottom line is that I have to find them interesting. If not, then I can bring nothing to the project and there's no point.

Personally, I enjoy the challenge of infusing an image with the right amount of sexual potency, without becoming excessive or simply banal. I've always felt that female imagery, when done well, can be some of the most compelling work an artist can produce. And I approach each job with this in mind, striving for excellence.