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Pilipović graduated from the Fine Arts Academy in the early 1990s and his career as a comic strip artist had nearly extinguished aside from several panels he used to publish for magazines at home. In the meantime, he devoted his time to rock ‘n’ roll, playing guitar in several domestic bands (Džukele, Goblini).
As he continued to draw as a hobby and participated in anti-war projects in the mid-1990s, including the first the Signed By War strip compilation and eventually the AUT! #3 (AWA, 1996) joint mural comic strip together with Edmond Spierts, Peter Pontiac, Marsel Ruiters (Holland) and Aleksandar Zograf and Wostok (Serbia), this versatile artist has spent years polishing a classical and professional drawing style, ultimately proving himself as a mature comic strip drawer. Following two albums of the popular The Secret History, came The Great Game, also penned by Jean-Pierre Pécau and a serial written specifically for Pilipović.
 How did collaboration with the French publishers come about?
– A man by the name of Csaba Kopeczky saw several of my panels published in Tron magazine during the mid-1990s. He looked me up and offered collaboration with French publishers. Somewhat apprehensive and already deep into rock ‘n’ roll waters, I turned down the offer! The man could not believe I was refusing an offer that does not come by every day. Two years later, he called me up again thinking that I would change my mind, but again, I refused. However, Csaba was very persistent and in 2004 he succeeded in persuading me to at least try. I did four test panels in pencil, and to my utter surprise — after just a few weeks — a contract arrived for the fourth volume of The Secret History.
How did it feel working with internationally renowned names in the world of comic strips, people such as Jean-Pierre Pécau?
– Jean-Pierre is one of the most widely read and most productive comic strip writers in France, and this made me a bit nervous when I began working. The manner in which he writes, however, is highly adaptive in terms of drawing and leaves a lot of freedom and room for creativity. He is the only person I have worked with so far; we are a perfect match and I believe we will cooperate in the future as well.
I suppose that after The Secret History you are now working at a more relaxed pace on your new serials. Would you care to describe the difference?
– The difference is in the era in which the action occurs. Work on The Secret History involved considerations such as architecture, period dress, period armour (16th century Rome). I spent hours and hours surfing the Internet collecting the information I needed. The Great Game, for its part, abounds in military technology, especially aircraft. These were not ordinary aircraft but "designs" that ended up either on paper or in hangars as prototypes. Jean-Pierre is famous for his inclination to introduce flying contraptions into nearly every story. He simply adores aircraft.
Would you describe the drawing, painting and digital techniques that you use?
– It’s classic. A pen, brush, Indian ink...and of course, a scanner. There is also the unavoidable Photoshop that I use to wrap things up. The dialogue balloons, margins and small corrections — anything that takes up my time — I add using the computer. Sometimes I redo an entire scene if I find it wanting.
How much time does it take to complete a classical size comic strip album? What phases do you have to pass through in order to complete one?
– The deadlines set by the publishers leave ample time to complete the album and make it look good. The first volume of The Secret History took me almost a full year to complete. Now, I need about six months to complete a 46-page episode... One acquires experience and the anxiety that comes from the challenge is now gone, allowing me to work faster. Nevertheless, one does come across impasses, when nothing comes out. The hand won’t obey, and then the eraser becomes more active than the pencil. But, I suppose that is normal. All drawers go through this.
Influences, models in drawing? Which comic strips do you like?
– They are many... Hugo Pratt, Hermann, the unavoidable Jean Giraud- Moebius, Nicolas de Crecy, Didier Cassegrain, Richard Corben, Mike Mignola, Dave McKean, Bill Sienkiewitz, Simon Bisley, Igor Kordej. As for the comic strips... hmm, this is a rather more difficult question. As a kid, I was enthralled by Spider-Man, Batman and Silver Surfer. Later came Arzak, Corto Maltese… One of my most cherished albums is Nicholas de Crecy’s the Foligatto. I also like Mike Mignola’s Hellboy. I find it hard nowadays to follow all that because as many as 4,000 titles are turned out each year in France alone.
Is music a way for you to express yourself merely in terms of creativity or also ideologically, since we are talking about punk here? Which bands have made a crucial impact in your case?
– All that punk wave from the late 1970s and early 1980s had a decisive influence on me. The idea that anyone can pick up a guitar and make a song about anything with just three chords, or make one’s own fanzine, one’s own comic strip, anything really, was an ingenious revelation. If I were to set aside one band that made me pick up the guitar and start to play, then it would be the Sex Pistols. | 
