She was Kymera for a day! An interview with Martrese Beck!

As I do from time to time, I often post about various characters or issue synopsis stuff I have on this site. I’d just posted about issue #44 on Twitter – or X – or whatever they call it these days.

As I stared at the cover – I got an idea. I wonder if the model for this issue would be willing to do an interview type thing for the website?

Well, this idea grew – but then, I had to locate her. So using my investigation skills – I reached out to the person I believed to be her (and ironically their picture was of them scuba diving – I mean, this almost seemed too obvious that it just had to be her?) I mean, not really, but I was kind of hoping.

I had sent her a message explaining I ran NewWarriors.com and had recently posted a link to issue #44 from the website – which made me wonder – if I had reached the right person – if she would be up for a quick Q&A session.

Much to my surprise it was her! (I guess I was right – the scuba diving was a give away!) And not only that, she was more than happy to do a Q&A session. I told her I wanted to make it easy – I’d just crank out some questions and send it her way – and she could reply at her leisure. No need to jump on Zoom or Discord or anything like that. I just wanted to make this quick (and as painless as possible!) considering she was doing me an immense favor.

Well. Folks, it didn’t stop there. She explained that her roommate back then, Rob Tokar had been an editor of New Warriors – and that she was good friends with him and could talk to him and see if he wanted in on this too! I was thrilled! So she spoke to Rob and he joined in – and I sent him a list of questions as well – and he said, the key player in the photoshoot was Assistant Editor Paula Foye! And he spoke with her – and she said she’d answer questions as well.

So allow me to begin with introducing you to Martrese Beck! First and foremost, a thousand thanks to Martrese for the time taken to answer these! And bring in Rob! Who then brought in Paula! And then all the cool stuff you were able to scan (which I will include!) OK – I am trying to remain calm. Trying, I said.

OK. Regaining my composure. Ahem.

Q. First, I am curious – had you done any modeling prior to doing your work for New Warriors #44? If I did my homework correctly – you had worked at Estee Lauder and then became a Graphic Designer?

A: I’d never done modeling. I was on a one-year break from NYC when Rob and I did this project. See my answer to the next question re: career path.

Q. Well, for someone who hadn’t done any modeling, you nailed it as Kymera! Just going to get that out of the way, now. So tell us a little bit about your career?

A: My career began in the Public Relations department at Estée Lauder’s corporate office in NYC, then a one-year stint in equine veterinary care in PA, then back to Estée Lauder (in their packaging design department this time, where they paid for my graphic design degree from Parsons). The only correlation between my “day job” and doing the cover shoot would be that both involved cosmetics, though no pointy ears or scowling at Estée Lauder.

Q. After the time you spent getting those pointy ears set – you could have been an expert at Estée Lauder!

How had you been selected to model as Namorita/Kymera for New Warriors #44?

A: Rob Tokar and I met while attending La Salle University in Philly, and we’ve been very close friends ever since. SOOO many fun college memories with him! We were roommates in Brooklyn after we graduated—he was an editor at Marvel, I was in the PR department at Estée Lauder, and our third roommate was a freelance comic illustrator, James Fry. Rob came up with the idea to feature a photograph on the cover of #44. I suppose he asked me to model because of our friendship and my affinity for being in the water. I love SCUBA diving, snorkeling, swimming in general. I was probably a good fit for Namorita/Kymaera’s character.

Q. I do love the fact – that when I thought I’d found you – your profile picture was of you scuba diving! That struck me as funny when you confirmed you were you! And somehow very fitting, more so now, that you portrayed Namorita/Kymera on the cover! Speaking of that, I understand that Kate Wadsworth was brought on – to paint the skin blue, apply the pointed ears and make them look real – and even give you “Atlantean” eyebrows – was there ever a moment, since I heard this all took quite a bit of time – that you wondered, “What have I gotten myself into?”

A: No, I’m always game for fun, new adventures, especially when Rob is involved. He and I were Communications majors at La Salle, and we were always helping each other on film projects, broadcasting projects, theatrical productions, etc. When Rob says, “Hey! I’ve got an idea. . .” ALWAYS say “yes.”

Q. There’s two things I am loving more and more about this! I love how close you and Rob are! (And clearly still are since you are still in contact with him!) And I love how you’re like, “Paint me blue? Put stuff on my face and paint eye brows? Go outside? In the dark? Into questionable areas sometimes, dressed like this? Sure!” That’s such a magnificent attitude. I already thought you were cool for having done the cover – but seeing this answers, just seals the fact! But back to the questions! I need to stop side tracking myself! What was it like having to be ‘colored’ blue? And did you know that when you accepted the job that you would be colored blue?

A: Though time-consuming, the process of being transformed into this character was a blast. I did a lot of theater in high school and college, so “playing dress-up” was normal for me, and I enjoyed it immensely. I knew what the process would involve ahead of time. Remember, this was THIRTY (ohmigod) years ago, and special effects were done mostly manually back then. Not everyone had access to Photoshop and AI.

Q. Please do not remind me of how long ago it was! I understand Rob, who was the editor of New Warriors at the time, was your roommate. Were you familiar with the character (or the comics) and were there any challenges during the photoshoot to capture the ‘right feel’ of Namorita?

A: I wasn’t very familiar with comic characters, just picking up small details from living with two guys who worked in the industry, and I’d been to Marvel’s Park Avenue office a few times (which was very cool). But my lack of knowledge didn’t hinder my work that day. Just like any acting/modeling job, you get briefed on the character, and you bring it to life as you see fit.

Q. During the photoshoot did you get to meet any of the folks writing/drawing the New Warriors at the time (such as Fabian Nicieza or Darick Robertson)?

A: Not during the shoot, no. I may have met them during one of my visits to Marvel’s office, but I don’t recall. Rob might recall if he introduced me to them.

Q. What are some of the particular memories that stick out to you about the photoshoot?

A: I recall it taking a VERY long time to do the makeup, including the ears. We took photos in the studio, but we also wanted to get images outside, and we were starting to lose light. We quickly went to a nearby vacant lot in Alphabet City (East Village in NYC) where there were a lot of metal objects arranged on a chain-link fence (hubcaps, etc.), and we did some shots with the metal textures behind me. But as you can see from the finished cover, the image was extremely close-cropped, so the background really didn’t matter.

Q. When I first approached you to ask if you’d be willing – you mentioned you had some memorabilia from the photoshoot? What kind of memorabilia did you end up with?

A: I still have the contact sheets (from using 35mm film – SO old-school!), and some behind-the-scenes photos. I regret getting rid of the blue-sequined bathing suit I wore that day (that was my personal property). I loved that suit, and even though it wouldn’t fit me now, I should’ve kept it for posterity.

Q. As a graphics designer now is there anything you have taken as lessons from the photoshoot that carried over into being a graphic designer?

A: Not so much lessons, but it’s fun to think back on how far the graphics industry has come in thirty years. I use Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign every day, and especially with AI, the current tools make work SO much faster and easier. There was a LOT of hands-on labor that went into that cover—today, we could do a lot of it digitally. Same with photography. We shot on 35mm film—mainstream digital photography was in its infancy in 1993. Ah, progress!

Q. I remember bringing film in that you’d need to get developed. It could takes days before you got the pictures back. Indeed, progress! It’s been 20 years since –

A: Actually, it’s been thirty years! We shot this cover in October, 1993, for the February, 1994, issue.

Q. Listen, I refuse to believe that much time has gone by! Clearly math is not one of my strengths! You’re right – it’s been THIRTY years since the photoshoot – what have you been doing lately?

A. I’ve worked in various graphic design jobs since 1994, and I’ve enjoyed my career path immensely. I moved from NYC to Oregon in 2008, and I currently live with my scruffy dog and sometimes-scruffy partner in a suburb of Portland, working from home since the pandemic, enjoying all the fabulous things Oregon has to offer.