I personally got to draw a take on a character that I've had in my mind since I was a teenager. That was pretty sweet!

Declan Shalvey

Categorized in : Character Sweet Teenager

That's the type of thing you need to keep in mind when drawing comics. The storytelling. Consider the action and the space available to you, that's what will make it a great comics page. Once you've figured that out, you can always find/make the reference to support your storytelling decisions. So by all means, study film, but as with any reference, the results are better when they inform the craft and not dictate it.

drawing space mean

For me, I'm a fan of really dark, depressing stuff. Even something like The Wire, which can be hugely depressing and really serious, the bits I always remember are the jokes, you know?

wire depressing dark

Some guys can do digital things where they make some tricks work, but I work on paper and I work with washes. You can't just change things afterwards. You have to get it right on the page.

digital guy paper

For me, I'm a fan of really dark, depressing stuff.

depressing fans dark

You've seen the first issue and what happened in the last page. Some pretty awful stuff. I don't know why I seem to be very good at drawing it!

issues drawing firsts

You get to play with shadow, mood, and tone. And this [Batman All-Stars] is such a moody story.

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Weirdly, I'm not a horror fan, but those kind of horror leanings are something that are very easy for me to get into.

horror fans kind

There's a page in #2 where I did one of the most interesting pages I've ever drawn. I had to think, "This is a big, blockbuster comic book." You're prepared to be more fan service-y or bombastic. Yet I did one of the most challenging pages I've ever drawn, and it was incredibly satisfying to do that on a project like this [All-Star Batman].

stars book thinking

In a way, I'm glad I'm first because I won't have to panic about following anybody other than industry legend John Romita Jr. And he drew Daredevil: The Man Without Fear, which is one of the books that had a massive effect on me as a reader and an artist. It has been intimidating, scary, exciting, and incredibly satisfying.

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I feel like I've been training my entire career for this moment in a lot of ways. So many artists just want to draw Batman, and I'm getting the opportunity to do the backups in a brand-new Scott Snyder project that has so many artists.

careers artist opportunity

There's a great line by Joss Whedon: "Make it dark, make it grim, make it tough, but then, for the love of God, tell a joke." Even for a reader, there's only so much punishment they can take. You've got to give them a break here and there.

punishment dark giving

Weirdly, I'm not a horror fan.

horror-fans horror fans