Catching up with Steven Cartoccio's Concrete Jungle Studio is a lot of fun. Over the past year he has released two very fine examples from his ongoing imaginative line of twisted comic characters that are as familiar as they are a whole other species. We've had the pleasure of reviewing, up close and personal, the first two releases (Frankpool and Stanley) in this wild kingdom of limited edition resin figures. And hot on the heels of the last comes Markneto on pre-order and Frank Venom in the prototype stages for presentation at this years' conventions. We had a bit of a chat to fill in the blanks some......
Q: It's great to have a chance to chat with you today. I have a few questions about your Concrete Jungle Studio series of resin figures. Where did you come up with the fusion concept for these? How fun is it making them? A: The resin series was developed from a bunch of subway sketches I would do on my way to and from my day job. I would mess around mashing up characters from my animated series with various pop culture characters I liked. I decided to expand on one of the sketches and Frankpool was born. I have a ton of fun blending my own characters with iconic characters I have been a fan of since I was a kid. Q: Frankpool and Frank Venom.... any relation? A: This second series will be a play on characters from the Spider-Man universe. The only connection is that Frank the bulldog is one of the main characters from my animated series. X-Men and Spider-Man were two of my favorite comics when I was younger so I thought it would be fun to pay some homage to the characters.
Q: Can you talk about being an animator, and how that evolved into realizing 3D objects? A: I actually began sculpting before I started animating. I took part in a program with Hasbro Toys in college where we were able to create our own action figures using the old wax casting method. At this time I was about to graduate with a degree in advertising. After graduation, I decided to pursue a career in art and went back school at the School of Visual Arts where I began learning digital sculpting. I quickly saw that this would be the future of toy creation. At this time I also began experimenting with stop-motion animation. I really feel in love with the medium and I decided to focus my thesis on animation, creating the stop-motion version of Concrete Jungle. After I graduated I turned Concrete Jungle into a 2d web series and I'm currently working on the season one finale. Last July, I started Concrete Jungle Studio. With the resin figures, I'm hoping to build some recognition for the characters from the series and expand on the Concrete Jungle brand.
Q: I noticed that the Stanley figure was in an edition of only 25 while the others were, or plan to be, editions of 100. Any reason you decided that? Did he get his name from the great Stan Lee? A: The choice to do a low number run of Stanley was simply because at the time I didn't have enough money to produce more than 25. I wanted to have a new figure ready for Designer Con and I had to come up with the cash to produce the fourth episode of the animated series. It's always better to do a higher number of figures as it brings the unit price down, but at the time I simply couldn't swing both the sculpture and the series.
Stanley was named before I created the sculpture, but when I was deciding what to name the statue I thought a nod to Stan the Man was very fitting.
Q: Markneto is now up for pre-order and he's a real beauty! The base looks super cool, as is the flowing cape. The contrasting colors....I can't wait to see him in person. And you are back to adding an additional headsculpt which was missing in Stanley. Is it all resin, even the translucent parts? This figure looks more ambitious than the last two, can you say some about the making of? A: Thank you! I think a base is a very important part of creating figures like this and I'm trying to incorporate more ambitious bases into my work while keeping the price to produce and sell them affordable. Markneto comes with one interchangeable magnetic head like Stanley, but also an interchangeable hand. I think the number of interchangeable parts will depend on the character I'm referencing. The entire sculpture is resin, except for the tail which is metal to avoid breakage in shipping. The translucent base is just a different type of resin.
Q: And just when we thought you might be taking a rest, POW!, here comes Frank Venom hot on the heels of Markneto, just announced. Do you have a team or are you like a one man factory? With an elaborate diorama base and exchangeable heads!? A: I'm very excited to release the "Frank Venom" (I'll come up with a new name before launch, I don't want to get sued by Marvel) Venom has always been one of my favorite bad guys. My workflow is as follows: I digitally sculpt the figure in Zbrush and establish how it will key for molding and mass production. Once the sculpt is finished, I digitally paint the model and produce multiple renders of how I'd like the final physical sculpture to look. The sculpt is 3d printed and then I have a factory that molds, casts and paints the figure following my guides. I get a prototype sent to me, and once I approve it the figures are mass produced and shipped to me. I do a final check and sign and number each figure.
Q: Can we expect Frank Venom in the Fall? A: I'm planning to show the painted prototype at the 5 Points Festival in May, and will have the finished sculpture ready before NY Comic Con. Q: After the successful sold out 'X-Force' version of Frankpool, are there any exclusive variants of the others planned? A: Definitely. I have one last Frankpool exclusive planned for 5 points, which I will reveal a little closer to the festival. This will be an edition of 10 again. I have something cool planned for the Venom as well, but I'd like to wait a little to reveal that as well.
Q: Not that all we discussed isn't more than enough, but anything else coming up for you that you want to share with our readers? A: As I mentioned before, I'm currently animating the season finale (episode 4) of Concrete Jungle. I have some really amazing voice talent on this once including: John DiMaggio (Futurama, Adventure Time), Eugene Mirman (Bob's Burgers), Dana Snyder (Aqua Teen), rapper Open Mike Eagle and many others. Hoping to release in a couple of months so look out for that soon.
I'd also like to thank everyone that has picked up, or pre-ordered one of my sculpts as well as all the bloggers that have written about the pieces. The response to the figures has been really great, so thank you guys!