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Quite the media darling you’ve become. Well deserved, but where were they before #854 dropped.

It probably has something to do with the insane number of positive reviews out there. More keep coming each day.

I think that its great your getting a lot of exposure (you deserve it 110%). But to the above commenter, does it really matter where they were before hand, or does it just matter that there here now?

Anyway, its quite inspiring that an artist of your caliber is (in my opinion) improving. You work has always seemed to just get better and better. Even the jump from Chase to Promethea was a ramp up in the quality of the artwork. I loved the art on Chase, but loved the art on Promethea was a step up. Your Batman stuff was beautiful, but your work on Detective is truly awe inspiring.

I’m sorry if I sound like a sterotypical fanboy in away, but the issue was awesome.

Hey there Devyn
Thank you very much. I truly try to make each page better than the previous. Even when changing up art styles I try to learn something from them and improve the techniques each time around. I tend to be very hard on myself, but I feel if I ever didn’t put pressure on my skill limits then it would be time to quit.

Great interview. Particularly liked where you mention the subtle changes in Batwoman’s look. How true! If you hadn’t mentioned the skin tone, I would have never picked up on that, yet it is one of the visual aspects that really make her eye popping. Also can’t help but think you’re in the right business when it comes to not drawing fast. Comics are one of the few businesses where fans will actively wait months to sometimes years to get the next issue of whatever they’re reading. I know this for fact because I waited years to buy all of Morrison’s and Quitely’s All Star Superman (and wasn’t disappointed). Anyway, meant to ask, (maybe it was mentioned in the podcast), but when it comes to the coloring is it a collaborative process in the sense you work out basic schemes with Dave? Or is just trusting Dave to do his thing? I’ve always wondered how close or far colorists are to pencilers/inkers. Thanks!

Hey there djbakon
Drawing fast and drawing well have never gone hand in hand with me. When I used to be faster the quality seriously suffered, enough so that I would never be happy with what was coming out and I certainly was not into the idea of feeling dissatisfied with my dream job and myself on a regular basis. So I’ve taken the approach that if I’m going to do good comics, I can only draw as fast I can draw without sacrificing quality. It does cause some sacrifice financially but that can be made up later with more people wanting to actually buy my art because of it’s quality. Taking this approach to the work also helps produce books that will have more longevity on store shelves once collected. The quality produces long term sales for sure.

About working with Dave, The process is pretty collaborative. Mainly because I think in color when designing a page. I found, early on, that for design to play a role in the work I had to think about the final printed effect and the only way to see that realized is to work closely with the colorist. I find that Dave really enjoys this. I will send him notes based on my thoughts for the pages, some are very specific and others are more of a general idea. We then will talk over stuff on the phone to see what we both think will work. I get a lot of feedback and ideas from him that helps in the design process, so it’s a real give an take situation. We even talk about possible ideas that can be used later if the opportunity presents itself. The results I think have been tremendous, showing in all of our work together.

Nice! Thanks for the insight and quick reply! Looking forward to DC 855!