Karl Story has been inking comics since the 1980s in titles like Nightwing, X-Men, and Serenity: Leaves on the Wind. His work is also featured in Action Comics, Batman ’66, The American Way, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9, among other titles. Before Baltimore Comic-Con opened to attendees, Story sat down with Scoop to talk about his career, what makes a good inker, and the convention.

Scoop: Good morning, Karl. How are you doing this weekend?
Karl Story (KS): I am doing really good. You know, I’ve had a very interesting year, and I’ve recovered from heart surgery back on May 21 and I’m feeling great actually.

Scoop: That’s great to hear. Your work in Serenity: Leaves on the Wind and Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 is beautiful. I love it. What was your process like for inking characters based on the likenesses of actors?
KS: I mean, I was very much relying on my penciller, in those cases, Georges Jeanty, and I think there were a couple times maybe when I looked at it and I was like, okay, I’ll look at some photo reference just to make sure I’m seeing things right and that it’s coming out right. I don’t think I was perfect, I am my own biggest critic. Other people’s mileage may vary, but I’m so happy with those books anyway. I loved getting to work on it. Firefly is one of my favorite things, and I cried when it got cancelled. We got the movie, but I want more. [laughs] It was great being part of more. Even if it was the further adventures in the graphic novels and the comics and stuff like that. That was great. I feel like I’ve been so lucky to do so much science fiction genre, and fantasy a little bit, urban fantasy with Buffy, properties throughout my career. I’ve gotten to do Aliens, Predator, Star Trek, Buffy, Firefly, Serenity and now I’m doing Star Wars stuff, which was maybe the last tick on my bucket list. If anyone tries to redo Space: 1999, I think that’d be pretty sweet but. But I’m pretty happy right now.

Scoop: You named a bunch of the titles you’ve provided art for, so who are some of your other favorite characters you’ve worked on?
KS: Nightwing. I got to work with Scott McDaniel and Chuck Dixon on the first Nightwing ongoing series. We did, I think, about 40 issues, consecutive issues, and that was just so much fun. I love working with Scott. Working on the book felt like being part of a family and it was just warm and cozy, and I love that. Other things… I got to work on Tom Strong with Alan Moore and Chris Sprouse, which is fantastic. And Legionnaires. There’s so many things. Almost every project I’ve done throughout my career, and I’ve been working since the late ‘80s, has been fantastic. They’re maybe just a tiny handful that I kind of struggled to get through. But for the most part it’s been great because either it was the book or the characters or the people I’m working with or all of those things together that just made it wonderful.

Scoop: What do you consider the most important qualities to be a good inker?
KS: Wow, I think you do no harm. You try to elevate the end results of the pencils. Also, being able to adjust to the different styles of different pencillers. I’ve worked with so many people and some of them have wildly different styles and I, of course, kind of have my own style, but I try to adjust things for everybody that I work with. I don’t think I ink Georges Jeanty the same way I ink Chris Sprouse, or the same way I ink Brian Stelfreeze or Adam Hughes. I sit and I look at it and I adjust and I’m like okay, I think I see where we’re going. There have been one or two people that I just felt like I couldn’t do. I just don’t feel like I’m compatible. My impostor syndrome is rearing its ugly head but almost everything’s been great. So that’s what I mean you want to elevate the art, at least the black and white artwork, and you want it to be able to stand on its own. Then when you get a good colorist on it, that’s just the icing on the cake, you know?

Scoop: What does it mean to you meet fans at cons?
KS: I mean, they make my career possible, and I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the fans. So it’s just the best thing and everyone’s so great, you know, especially at shows like Baltimore and Heroes Con and stuff like that. They are such pure comic shows. They don’t have all this media stuff going on and everything, it’s just comics. I love that.

Scoop: What do you like about Baltimore Comic-Con?
KS: So this is one of those shows, one of at least a handful of shows that is just such a pure comic book show. You go there, there’s just so many creators. You walk through part of the show and you think you’ve seen it all and then suddenly you hit another giant pocket of artists and writers and it’s just, it’s fantastic, and I love that sort of thing. All the fans that come out to see us and appreciate the work that we do are the best.

Scoop: Thanks, have fun at the rest of the show.
KS: Thank you.