November 2, 2015: Interview With Len Peralta - Guest Artist For Star Munchkin

I got an early peek at the Star Munchkin Guest Artist Edition featuring Len Peralta's illustrations and, Wow! It's come a long way since the first sketches we looked at. The different artistic styles of John Kovalic and Len Peralta make the set stand apart from earlier versions. I reviewed a previous interview and wanted a more in-depth look at where Len gets his style . . . and he was kind enough to oblige!

What is your favorite card from the set?

Augh! Are you trying to Sophie's Choice me here? I love them all. I did have a lot of fun drawing the different "grenades" though. They were variations on the same art, only they had different effects. Like vomiting, or flash blindness. I had a ton of fun drawing those. I also have to say my personal "Peralta" set exclusive cards are pretty sweet too. (You'll have to pick up the set in the Spring to see what they are! I'm very happy with them!)

Did you play Munchkin before working with Steve Jackson Games?

We have a bunch of Munchkin sets yes, but we don't get to play it as much as we'd like. I did know, however, that the moment I was introduced to the game at Dragon Con several years ago, that I had to make it a part of my life. And now with my work on Munchkin The Guild and Star Munchkin, it's REALLY a part of my life!

What have you worked on before with Steve Jackson Games? What was that like?

The only set I've had the fortune to work on before was Munchkin The Guild in 2012. It was a small set, but I had such a blast working on it, I had to do more. I really enjoyed drawing an entire Munchkin set though. And I've made more than a few overtures to Andrew and Phil to work on more. So hopefully, you'll see more from me in the future. When I work on full sets, I get in this "zone" and I'm completely immersed in it. Working on Star Munchkin was challenging, but it was a lot of fun. It went by too quick though, and I would love to experience more game creation! (This is a hint in case you didn't notice, lol.)

Tell us about your Geek a Week project. What inspired it? Have you learned or grown as an illustrator from it?

I'm a collector at heart and I spent a great deal of time collecting Star Wars Trading Cards and Wacky Packages growing up. So the idea of "collecting" the world's greatest geeks and making a collectible piece of memorabilia seemed like a great idea. I've learned so much as an illustrator working on that project. It shows on how drastically different the cards look from Season 1 to Season 5. I did a lot more digital painting in season 5 and really tried to push myself as much as I could. I'm hoping to do that again as I get ready to start working on Season 6 in the New Year.

What other projects are you working on?

I am looking forward to working on two comics. The first is for BOOM! Studios. I'm doing a special issue of the Munchkin comic that coincides with the release of Star Munchkin in the Spring. That will be really special because not only did I get to draw the comic, but I wrote the script for it as well, which is something I haven't done in quite a long time. Then after that, I am tackling all the duties on Issue 2 of a comic called We Are The Depaysement which is about a real Japanese rock band that is called to play the moon. It's as weird as it sounds. I'm also preparing my online store for the holidays. For the past 3 years, I've been offering a service where I draw customized holiday cards for your family. It's been fairly successful and I look to do more this year. After that, hopefully more games!

What do you see yourself doing next?

After this interview? I'm looking to celebrate my birthday on October 29. And then maybe catching my Cleveland Cavaliers as they make a run to the NBA Finals in 2016. No big deal.

-- Rhea Friesen