We sat down with character and comic cover artist, Coran Stone to get to know him a bit better and his work on the Ashfall TikTok creator series.
You might have heard that we’re about to launch a HUGE collaboration with TikTok star, Michael Le. If not, don’t worry, we have you covered! (Click to go to the event)
Starting Sunday, we’re launching a limited TikTok series starring Michael Le and featuring Slider Jesus! This is the first look diving deeper into the Ashfall universe, created by John Garvin. The series will cover an adventure filled with exploration and excitement. To accompany the videos, everyone can head over to Coinzoom and claim a digital collectible to go with each episode. If you collect all five, you can claim a sixth.
Best part, they’re all FREE (just a small $1.50ish for fees). Every episode cover is illustrated by legendary artists. So while the press is catching up with John Garvin and Michael Le, I decided to catch up with the first featured artist, Coran Stone, and our founder, Michael Mumbauer!
Coran Stone is character artist known for his work in animation on Young Justice (2010), Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1 (2012) and G.I. Joe: Renegades (2010) as well as his viral hit, Fast Food Fighters!
Speaking of Fast Food Fighters, the collection was Michael’s first look into Coran’s work. The work inspired him to reach out to the artist about creating for the Ashfall universe.
Michael: I remember coming across Fast Food Fighters and was like, “This is genius!” How did you come up with the idea?
Coran: laughs Randomly… They used to call me Corandom when I was kid. I was also coming up with these really random ideas, so the play on my name just stuck. So I just thought, what if I draw a really cool Ronald McDonald. I added a story to it because I love storytelling and do that for all of my characters. People really enjoyed it, so I started making more and it went viral. Actually, someone reached out to me about doing a documentary on it.
Michael: The characters you come up with are just amazing. Can you tell us more about what artists inspire you and some of your fave comic artists?
Coran: That’s a very, very hard question. I have so many inspirations. I guess that’s why I have a recognizable style. I’m inspired by so many that it all fuses together and it comes out to what you see online.
Norman Rockwell was one of my favorites growing up. He added interesting stories to real life. Joe Madd back in the 90’s was a big one.
Michael: Oh yea, battle chasers!
Coran: I am actually drawing some for fun. Have you heard of Vox Machina? It’s on Amazon Prime. Phillip Bourassa works on it. He drew Battle Chasers into a cartoon. Joe Madd was like, “I’m honored.” I’m digging James Harren and for some old school guys, Jim Lee. Whatever looks good. The Picasso of comics will always be Jack Kirby. You know those guys that when you were young you were like, “What in the world is this?!” but as you get older, you realize they’re really genius. Todd McFarlane hit me up. He called my number and I was like, “How did you get my number?” He wanted me to take over his book, his spawn book. I ended up turning him down, but was like “If you ever want to do a cartoon.” So there might be something there.
Me (Cattie): That’s really insane and cool. Opportunities are really opening up for you. Speaking of cartoons and comics, how is it different working on those?
Coran: Umm… Well see… Well, the majority of the time in animation, it’s doing character designs, quick turnarounds, and some colors. It’s fun! Sometimes, I do layouts so I can help people overseas, but most of the time it’s ¾ character poses or characters in different poses and so on. But with a comic cover, I can be a bit more creative, so I like doing that. I really dig illustration. The challenge of telling an entire story in a single picture is really amazing. I’m big on storytelling.
Me: You’ve done a great job of that on this Ashfall illustration. How was it working on your first comic cover?
Coran: It was awesome! Michael gave me a really cool looking character. I am really drawing dudes and dudettes. He gave me the right amount of reference and let me go crazy. I’ve mostly been working in animation, so I haven’t gotten too many comics. I wanted to focus on covers, so to start with this is pretty awesome. Since I’ve been offered this job, other people have started hitting me up for other covers!
Michael: That’s great to hear. The reception to your cover has been amazing. One last thing before we go, I feel like you’re a Yankees fan. I’m a Yankees fan. Can we get a Fast Food Fighters: Sports Edition?
Coran: laughs We could do that. I think you’re not really from the Northeast if you aren’t a Yankees fan. laughs
We hope y’all have enjoyed getting to know our first cover artist a bit more! You can check out all of Coran’s work on his Artstation and be sure to follow him at @CoranStone on Twitter and @kizerilla on Instagram!
Be sure to grab your Coran Stone Ashfall cover over at Coinzoom for a preview of the upcoming comic Ashfall!
