Tom Derenick talks about Kentucky Fried Chicken Presents: The Colonel of Two Worlds

First Comics News: I loved the Colonel of Two Worlds,,, would you mind answering a few interview questions about the project?

Tom Derenick: Not at all. I enjoyed working on the project.

1^st: How did you get involved with the The Colonel of Two Worlds?

Tom: I was approached by Editors Alex Antone and Marie Javins. They sent sample art to KFC and I was picked out of the bunch. Then they ran it by my editor on Secret Six to see if I was available for a side project.

1^st: Are you a fan of KFC’s chicken?

Tom: Yep. Maybe a little too much, I say patting my belly, I was getting cravings for it as I was drawing the comic. I’m a big fan of their extra crispy chicken and their gravy.

1^st: Did you design Anti-Colonel Sunders?

Tom: More or less, he was described to me but I gave him things like the soft ice cream swoop hair and tweaked his glasses and facial hair.
Is the Pompadour and French Fork Van Dyke and evil hairstyle?

Tom: It is if your selling cheap chicken and robbing banks.

1^st: How much fun was it drawing Harland Sanders kicking ass?

Tom: The weird thing is I never quite thought of him that way, he was always more of a grandpa type that gave you a butterscotch candy when you came to visit kind of guy to me, but once I started drawing him in a fight it just felt right. Don’t mess with the Colonel!

1^st: What exactly is “Pink Slime”?

Tom: You really don’t want to know the answer to that do you Rik?

1^st: As a licensed project how much input did the people at KFC have in approval of the artwork?

Tom: Well like I said they more or less picked me so they had a decent amount of approval. They were really good about it all though, they looked over everything and they were very easy going. There wasn’t a whole lot I needed to redraw or tweak.

1^st: Are you set to draw the sequel where Colonel Sanders goes to Earth-3 in a Boom Tube?

Tom: Not sure yet. Pretty sure that comes down to how happy KFC was to the response to this. Which seems to be pretty positive so far, but I’ve already expressed my interest in another go around if they want me.

1^st: What else are you working on?

Tom: I sort of bounce around where I’m needed. I’ve been helping out with Secret Six which is a blast working with Gail Simone again, I did a couple of issues of Birds of Prey with her years ago, and Dale Eaglesham. When I’m not doing that, I’ve been doing some Masters of the Universe and Injustice: Gods Among us but I never know where I’m going to pop up from month to month.

1^st: What conventions can fans find you at for the rest of the year?

Tom: Well this year is probably going to be a little light convention-wise. I recently got married and found out when we got back from the honeymoon that I’m going to be a Dad so that’s going to tie me up for a bit but I may do Baltimore next year if all goes well. And I’m about due to appear at NYCC again in the next year or two so you might see me there next year. But I’ll be back out there again soon, promise.

About Author

Rik Offenberger

Rik Offenberger has worked in the comic field as a retailer, distributor, reporter, public relations coordinator, writer and publisher since 1990. He owns and operates the e-mail bases Super Hero News service, and his published works in print can be seen in The Comics Buyers Guide, Comic Retailer, Borderline Magazine, and Comics International. On the internet he has worked as a writer and/or editor for Silver Bullet Comicbooks, Comic Book Resources, Newsarama and First Comics News. He was the Public Relations Coordinator at Archie Comics for a decade. He is currently the Editor-In-Chief at G-Man Comics. For TwoMorrows Publications, Rik co-wrote The MLJ Companion with Paul Castiglia and Jon B. Cooke, charting the history of Archie’s superheroes, and for Gemstone Publishing wrote chapters of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide to Lost Universes.

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