Interview - Ryan Odagawa

We had the opportunity to talk with Ryan Odagawa, who was an artist intern during the launch of the WildStorms CCG, about his experience with the game. Ryan did many illustrations the game, including character illustrations that wound up being Chase Cards for the Limited and Unlimited Sets.

By World Of WildStorm Staff

What was day one like at WildStorm?

Day one was sort of surreal! About a year before, I was in High School, doodling in my notebooks, wanting to join Wildstorm, and the next thing I know, I’m working there!

Once you were in the trading card dept., how long before you were given work on the WildStorms CCG?

I’m pretty sure my first assignment were for Wildstorms CCG. There were a few card illustrations to a page.

Were you given any art instruction for illustrating the cards? For non-character cards, were you given free reign to design what you wanted?

We had printed out assignment descriptions for each card. Probably varying degrees of description.

Were there any characters or scenes you drew for the game that were not included? Or any you had to redraw?

It’s been such a long time... I don’t think there were that much re-draws.

Is there a particular card you illustrated that stands out as your favorite?

I liked doing the Gen 13 ones, because that was my favorite at the time (even before getting in).

Ryan at his booth during a convention.

Was there ever any competition in the card dept. to have more card pages added to your workload?

No, I don’t think so. We just did what they gave us.

Were there any characters/cards that you wanted to draw but didn't?

Again, it’s been a while, but I did quite a bit of the characters, so I think I was satisfied.

You drew a lot of the ultra rare chase cards for the Limited and Unlimited sets. Can you talk a bit about those cards and how that work landed on your desk?

They mostly just gave us what they gave us. We didn’t look at any as being “rare” or anything. I think that only is thought of by the collectors.

Did you or anyone in the department get any WildStorms CCG games started? If so, who was the person to beat?

Maybe it’s bad to say, but I don’t think we ever played. It’s funny, because some of my other friends are D&D or card game type of “nerds”. I’m more of a comic book nerd, so it’s slightly two different kinds of nerd. [Laughs] I think my brain functions more to create the games more than to play them.

Thank you, Ryan, for taking the time to share your experiences!

All nine additional chase cards for the 1996 Unlimited Set illustrated by

Ryan Odagawa.

Illustrations for character cards, including Chase Cards, for the 1995 Limited Set by Ryan Odagawa.