Who else in their right mind would have a church named after them? None other than fan-favorite skinner and lover of the New X-men, Podmark! When he’s not representing his precious Canadia, you can find him skinning up a storm. Ok, maybe not recently, but in the past, you know it. Oh, and lest you forgot, he’s the third part and evil guy of Heroforce 2.0, which is currently down at the moment. Perhaps a well laid scheme of his? FRP is on the case to find out as we shine our light on this wonder of dastardly deeds!

FREEDOM FORCE

I know I ask this question a lot, but here we go again. How did you find out about Freedom Force, and what drew you to its community?

Actually, [I] don’t think I’ve ever said this online before. The truth is [that] I’m psychic, so I just instantly knew about the game and that I’d like it.

Seriously.

All right. A friend in high school lent me his copy and told me I’d really like it cause he
knew I was a comic fan. He specifically sold me on the skins available online. I played his
copy for a couple [of] weeks then bought my own when I returned it.

I got into the community first to make some mesh requests, like 8 of them, and eventually, all of them were done. Mostly Spidey villains. Looking around the forum, it seemed fun and useful as a place to learn what user content was coming out, so I stuck around.

You’ve been skinning for a loooong time, right? What got you into skinning and why do you continue to do so?

I don’t really remember my motivation when I started. I think it was probably that I just wanted to try it and that there were some characters I wanted to play in the game that were either my own originals or stuff I didn’t think anyone else would do.

Going forward, the thing that keeps me skinning is comics. I’m a regular comics reader and reading any given issue can inspire me to skin ‘that character’. That’s also why a lot of my skins are newer or recently used characters.

Also, I love art. I draw regularly and love to see cool pictures and animation. I can’t say [that] I’m [an] especially great artist, but I still love to draw.

Speaking of skinning, everyone has an inspiration or motivation that keeps them going. What are some things that keep you skinning, and has anyone in the community inspired you in any form?

Well, as I said above, comics are my primary inspiration. In terms of other skinners, there’s been three that always inspired me. The first was a now gone member Next_Legend; then Afghan Ant, he’s always been the skinner I’ve most been inspired by; and most recently Murs, his latest stuff is great. I really feel like I’ve gotta pick it up because of him. Those are the guys that just seeing their work made me want to skin more.

There’s other influences too. Courtnall 6 is a big one. When I was starting out, it was his style I tried to match. I wanted my skins to look similar so they wouldn’t look out of place in game with his. I learned a lot by studying his tgas and checking his tutorials. Honestly, I think I’m only now starting to get my own style.

Skoping wise, I have to mention Afghan Ant, Blkcasanova247, Johnny Patches, Style, [and] Carravaggio. I love seeing some of the stuff skopers pull off. They make the impossible possible sometimes.

Those aren’t the only people that have inspired me, but those are the ones that have made the biggest impact I think.

One kept help but notice your love for Marvel’s New X-men/Young X-men. What is it about those characters that made you want to skin the lot of ‘em?

My love of the New X-Men actually all comes down to this forum. I’d looked at some interviews about the book when it was first coming out, and it was kinda interesting. But it wasn’t until Ink meshed a couple of the characters and one of the book’s co-writers, Nunzio DeFilippis, stopped by to compliment them. That’s the only time I know of a comics creator stopping by to post here, and that made me check out the series, and I liked it. The character were new and cool. It probably wasn’t ‘til Yost and Kyle took over the book that I was really won over though. That’s when I started skinning them. I actually talked to DeFilippis over pm about the skins too, which was very cool.

New X-Men was also my real gateway into reading X-comics. Before then, I had some odd issues and a lot of interest mostly from the cartoons, but it wasn’t ‘til then that I really got into the comics. I also spent quite a bit of time at the Comixfan and CBR boards talking to other fans about the book and talking to the creators too. Defillippis, Chirs Yost, Craig Kyle, Skottie Young, and Marc Guggenheim are probably the only creators I’ve really talked to directly online.

So yeah, I’ve really grown to love the New X-Men characters. I’ve read the majority of their appearances, and my interest is always piqued when they’re used. And of course, I skin characters I love.

You’ve been associated with AA and UE for awhile now. How is it working with those two, and what do you think about their current styles?

Probably the coolest part of working with AA and UE is getting regular PMs from them and knowing that we’re a team with Heroforce. Both UE and I were on Dragon Force way back when, but it wasn’t quite the same, and with the Gamma Patrol, there were so many other people there, but with HeroForce, we run the place together. It’s also cool because, for a while, I think we were the only group skinning site running. Cool and sad, we always need more content sites.

I’ve actually teamed with AA before; we skinned the Deadly Genesis X-men together. That was an interesting experience. I think I mostly did the costume layout and he did the faces and finished textures. I haven’t worked with UE that way, but I get to see some of his W.I.P. [works-in-progress] and give some comments. And I can ask those two about my work too; that’s great. It’s great to know I work with two of the best skinners in the community and being on the site with them has pushed me to improve my own work.

Skinning is fun and everything, but have you ever allowed yourself to try a new skill such as modding or fxing?

Well, I have learned skoping, but I consider that part of skinning as it helps me capture the exact look I want. I don’t think I’ll ever get into FXs, but I really do want to do a mod one day. I learned EZ script over the winter, and I’m hoping to try some stuff this year. Probably start small like an X-Men mission and see if I can develop something bigger. Stay tuned on that front I guess.

With skoping playing a big part in skinning these days, how would you rate yourself as a skoper, and how difficult would you say it is to learn skoping?

I think I’m just an average skoper. I know the basics and I can do most of what I need to do, but some of these other skopers can just do stuff that I used to think was impossible without a mesher.

The basics of skoping are pretty easy. Taking a piece and pasting it on a mesh isn’t difficult. Everything after that is tougher. Repositioning things can be a real pain. You need some time and patience to skope. But if you’re a skinner, I think it’s an invaluable skill. I used to bug mesher all the time to add hidden parts to an upcoming mesh so I could skin some other character, but now I can add those parts myself.

You haven’t been skinning as much of late due to, I assume, a lack of free time. If you suddenly had more time in the day to pursue your skinning hobby, what would be the first skin off your list?

I actually have lots of free time these days; what I don’t have is time at my computer. I’m living between two homes, and over this summer, I’m only where my computer is maybe twice a week, and skinning isn’t the only thing I have to do when I’m there. Starting in September, I’ll be at my computer regularly again, so you’ll see more skinning. How much more is the question, as my free time might be limited.

X-Force will be what I will skin next. I did that poll, and I really don’t want a year to go by before they come out. I’m maybe 30% through the group, and once I’ve gotten the time again, that’s what I’m concentrating on. Hopefully, there won’t be a whole bunch new team members by the time I get there. After X-Force, I’ve got a few ideas about what to do. Most likely will be either the New Mutants, New/Young X-Men, or the Purifiers.

Style is something that changes drastically over time. How would you describe your current skinning style, and how would you describe the path you took to develop it?

I mentioned above that I patterned my skinning style after C6, and that’s probably stayed with me up to now. I don’t think my style has really changed significantly since I started. I like my skins to be bright, clean cut, and accurate. I really like costume details to match the character I’m doing. One change that is starting in my skins is I’m really trying to pattern my faces after the comic art I’m using for reference.

GPL, Heroforce, Yahoo, google… you’re all over the place, but that has nothing to do with this question. What would you describe as your best skin and why? Which skin took the longest to complete?

Google and Yahoo are just temporary places; like any superhero, what you really want is to be is on a team. Unfortunately, my teams keep dying on me. Maybe I’m cursed?

I’ve done over 200 skins, so there’s been different favorite skins over time. Right now, I’d probably say Madrox. I was really trying to push myself on that one, especially with the face.

Longest skin… I can’t really remember. I’m a slow skinner in general. Anything with heavy face work like Madrox takes me lots of time. If I had to guess, the longest skin might have been my Death Gambit skin. Tons of little details, terrible reference, and my motivation was low. To be honest, I really have no idea why I decided to skin him.

Speaking of all the sites you’ve been on… will Heroforce be returning to its former glory or will the fanbase be able to locate your skins on a different site?

all i can say for sure rigHt now is that thERe will be a place tO Find my skins Once i

staRt skinning again. worst CasE scenario is i’Ll be back on my google page agaIn. other

than that there haVe beEn some diScussions but i don’t know if they’ll go anywhere.

Many have found that the skills they’ve picked up while modding Freedom Force have translated nicely into the real world. Have any skills you’ve learned from FF helped you at all outside of the game?

Yes, but nothing too huge. The biggest, probably, is that I understand how video games work a lot better and understanding how to use Photoshop better. It helped my coding knowledge a bit and some general computer and internet knowledge. [It] also helped with learning how to colour, but I’ve rarely actually used that. It changed the way I look at art, specifically how closely I look at costumes in comics. Being involved in the community and game really drove up my comic knowledge. It’s had little effect on my drawing. So lots of little things but nothing that changed my life… yet.

Tons of new stuff are on the horizon and, as miracle would have it, The Champions site has finally gone live! Do you still find yourself anticipating new content for either FF or FFVTTR?

Yes, but not the same way. In the past when new skins and meshes came out, I couldn’t wait to download them and play with them or at least check them out in the Character Tool. Now, it’s more about ‘how can I use that?’ for my own work, so skopes and meshes are pretty exciting. Skins excite me more when I see an effect I’d never thought of before, but I do still enjoy downloading new stuff.

Finally, with all the mod content out there for both games, have you found yourself playing any of them? If so, are there any mods you’d recommend to the FF fanbase?

Sadly, I haven’t played any mods for a loooong time. I’ve rarely played the game in the last few years. I’d like to try out some, see what people have done. In particular, I want to try the free roam mods, those have interested me for a while.

MISC.

UE loves his Batman and BG loves his Aquaman. What is it that the Podmark loves and why?

Well, I’d say Spider-Man is my favorite hero. As a kid, I always loved him. I’ve watched all his cartoons, and the 90s Fox series and the current Spectacular Spider-Man show are among my favorite cartoons. The first comics I regularly bought were Spider-Man comics, starting with the Mackie run and into the Jenkins and JMS run, and following into Ultimate Spider-Man and Spider-Girl before I started venturing into other comics. I read Peter Parker Spider-Man and JMS’s Amazing for a while ‘til they started to bore me, and Bendis’ pace stopped me [from] buying Ultimate regularly. I’m actually back on board with BND, and it’s great to be reading Spider-Man again. I’m also working my way through the Essentials. What I really love about Spider-Man is how the stories tackle both the super hero side and the civilian life of Peter Parker with lots of great characters.

I’d say Spider-Girl was a character I really love too, but it’s subsided a bit since her first series ended.

I’m also a huge X-Fan. There’s just so many cool characters and stories in X-history; the

X-Verse could easily stand alone without the rest of the Marvel U at all.

Batman, Kyle Rayner, and probably Superboy would be my favorite DC characters.

If you want a Benton Grey-Aquaman type comparison for me, then it’s probably Cassandra Cain a.k.a. Batgirl. That’s the character I get all uptight about her portrayal, mostly because I’m convinced only like three people at DC understand the character at all.

There have been a lot of changes in the mainstream comic world of late. Do you find yourself enjoying these changes, and which company is really holding your attention this year?

I’m a Marvel man, always have been. I’m generally happy with Marvel right now. There’s a number of books that I enjoy, and the whole “Dark Reign” has created some interesting stories in some books. Norman Osborn being in charge doesn’t make any sense, but I find it fun and it does open some interesting story possibilities. I think OMD was probably the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of, but BND has been alright. I like that Spider-Man comes out 3 times a month and the stories have kept me interested. But I’m of the opinion that you still could have done this without losing the marriage, so OMD still sucks. The X-books are alright; some titles I like, some I don’t. Uncanny needs some work.

As for what I’m enjoying right now: X-Force is probably my favorite book right now. I also really like Avengers: The Initiative and Guardians of the Galaxy. At DC, my fav would be Secret Six, and I’m reading a few Geoff Johns projects Blackest Night, Flash Rebirth, and Adventure Comics.

With all the comic talk, I suppose this is an appropriate question to ask. If you had the chance to have one of your ideas green lighted, what would it be and why do you think it’d be a good idea?

I have a few ideas I’d love to try and pitch. I love to write Spider-Man, and I think it’d be interesting to write Wolverine or Cap. I want to try a New Warriors pitch; I love the New Warriors, but I’ve never come up with a strong idea. At DC, I’d want to write a Batman title; my first choice being one where I can regularly use characters like Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl etc. as supporting or main cast members along with Batman — I’d concentrate on what makes them a family, and how they work together. I’d also love to write a Superboy title.

Of course, the book I’d really want to write is X-Men. I could do any team or whatever, but I think the type of book I’d want to do is “The War”. The one between humanity and mutants. It’d probably have to be an alternate universe story, but I’d love be able to tell a long X-Men story that was about that war. If I couldn’t do that, I’d actually try something like what seems to be happening in Fraction’s Uncanny right now. Having the X-Men start a nation.

Enough with the comics! Books can be a man’s best friend on a rainy day. What are some books or authors you find enjoyable?

I used to read a lot of the Star Wars novels, but I’ve taken a break after Legacy of the Force. I was a big fan of the Harry Potter series too. Right now, I’m reading a book a friend gave me called The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury. It’s pretty decent so far.

When you’re done with books, you can always find something “good” on TV, right? What are some good TV shows you enjoy?

My favorite show right now is Lost. It’s the only ongoing show that I own all the DVD sets for, so yeah, I’m a big fan. Keeping with live action House might be [my] second favorite show right now. It kinda snuck up on me; I watched the first few seasons on DVD over a summer, and it wasn’t ‘til midway through last season that I realized how much I liked it. My favorite comedy is Scrubs. I could probably write an essay on how much I love Scrubs. It’s changing direction this year; I hope it’s still good.

Past favorites include Angel, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Seinfeld.

On the animated side of things, Spectacular Spider-Man, Avatar, Reboot, Beast Wars, JL/U, TMNT and the 90s Spider-Man show were among favorites; [I’m] probably forgetting something though. As a kid, I was huge on the original Ninja Turtles show. [I’m] not sure how it’d hold up with me now.

I’m also an anime fan. Favorites include Code Geass, Death Note, and most of Gundam.

If you were to stick your hand in a bag full of adjectives, which three would you pull out to describe yourself?

3 adjectives? I hate questions like this. Let’s go with awesome, awesomer, and awesomest. Yes, that will do.

Music can help to make, break, or emphasize a certain event, no? What are some artists you enjoy listening to?

I don’t really follow music at all. I mostly just listen to random things.

If you were given the once in a lifetime chance to meet and speak with someone you admired, dead or alive, who would it be and why?

I’m a hockey fan, so it’d probably be someone from there. Wayne Gretzky, Patrick Roy and Joe Sakic come to mind, but I’d actually rather talk to a general manager. I’m kinda a hockey nerd when it comes to rosters and trades, stuff like that, so maybe Brian Burke, current GM of the Maple Leafs. If we take away the ‘admire’ part, I’d really like to talk to Greg Sherman, who’s the new GM of the Colorado Avalanche, my favorite team. The team has fallen apart and I’d like to talk about putting it back together.

It’d probably be a lot fun to talk to Stan Lee or Kevin Smith. I also wouldn’t mind talking to some of my current favorite comic writers like Chris Yost, Craig Kyle, Mike Carey, Gail Simone, and Geoff Johns. Or Joe Quesada and Axel Alonso, so I can pitch ideas at them for an hour.

And finally, if you were to pass on words of wisdom to someone, what would those words be?

I don’t know, maybe just enjoy life. There’s always something worth it out there.

So what did we learn about this Canadian? He’s a major hockey fan, he’s awesome, awesomer, and the awesomest person around, and he’d love to write some Batman. DC, give this guy a call already! If you’re craving yourself some Podmark skins, you can check out his Google page and his Heroforce page.