Broken Frontier

A few months back, Aaron Lopresti of Excalibur and Mystic fame hopped onboard Gail Simone’s Wonder Woman and pleased fans everywhere with his breathtaking approch to the Princess of the Amazons.  Giving the title a solid sense of real-world life and over-the-top mythological energy, Lopresti has made his first real splash as a rising star in the mainstream comics universe.

BF: Welcome, Aaron!  So after all this time, all the guest-spots and annuals and mini-series and mid-tier characters and hopping from company to company…how does it feel to finally be the primary illustrator on one of the major icons’ main series?

AARON LOPRESTI: It is an incredible feeling to be able to work on an iconic character. There is also a lot of pressure because the Wonder Woman fans are so passionate and some times demanding. But it gives me the opportunity to work on something that may be remembered longer than 30 days after I’ve completed it.

BF: Ms. Marvel to the Amazon princess - two kick-butt take-charge heroines recently redefined for a modern audience.  What would you say are the differences for yourself, as an artist, in moving from the one to the other?

AL: Ms. Marvel is a little more emotionally messed up than I think Wonder Woman is. I also think Wonder Woman carries a heavier burden socially and heroically than Ms. Marvel does. Wonder Woman, to me, is not a cheesecake character. She has much more nobility about her, which is something I am very grateful for. 

BF: You’ve also worked on Mystic, Xena, Gen13, Elven, C.H.I.X… .lots of super women, all memorable and powerful figures in their own way. One of the things I’ve always thought, however, is that Wonder Woman’s staying power and appeal as a character is that she’s pretty much the amalgam of every other possible super-heroine. She embodies the every facet and angle and approach to potent, influential, and three-dimensional fictional women, thereby being, by default, the apex of fantastical female-driven literature. I guess this isn’t a question.  Uhm…let’s make it a question—thoughts?

AL: I agree, I think. She should be everything that can be right about female characters rolled into one persona. She is a lot like Superman or Captain America. She stands for something much more than your average character.

BF: As Gail Simone has kept you steeped in sword ‘n sorcery fantasy since you started, is this a slice of genre you enjoy?

AL: If I had my choice I would be drawing dinosaurs and Edgar Rice Burroughs adventure all the time. Unfortunately, the readers demand superheroes!

BF: Do you really think Wonder Woman is a step up from Takion ? Because I don’t know if you’ll ever beat Takion . That series rocked. Gail better step up if she wants your WW run to even come close. I mean, I’m just sayin’…

AL: Mock me will you?!  Sometimes you have to take what they are offering….

BF: Ha!  You think I’m joking. That’s cute. I know Takion didn’t exactly engender a warm fuzzy feeling in your heart [NOTE TO READERS: see one of the upcoming questions for details], but I actually, literally, no-foolin’ do think Takion was the greatest series you’ve yet done. It was so dynamic and different and odd and your art was a beautiful complement to it. Stylistically, how do you approach a page of sequential art? Has your run on WW called for anything new or specific that you’ve attempted just for it?

AL: My ideas on this subject have changed over the years.  I have gone through phases where layout was everything and then where content within the panel was everything. I think now I am somewhere in-between. With Wonder Woman I have tried to give a little something extra in terms of the design elements of the page that help either give more layers to the story or to better define scene changes. 

BF: Let’s say you’re behind on a deadline. What’s you most used trick to catching up and keeping the pages looking as good as possible?

AL: Work more hours. A long time ago I started using blue pencil for my layouts. It eliminates the need to erase the under drawing and really speeds up the process.

BF: What’s your favorite digital technique or tool? Favorite old-school non-digital?

AL: Digital? What’s that? I know just enough Photoshop to be dangerous. I am most proficient at watercolor, but I aspire to be a great oil painter. (I would settle for good, however).

BF: Who are your three greatest artistic influences in sheer style? Your three in storytelling?

AL: The big three for me would have to be Frazetta, Neal Adams, and Bernie Wrightson.  It is questionable if you can actually see any of those in my work these days, though.  Storytelling would have to be Steranko, Neal Adams, and probably Walter Simonson or Michael Golden.

BF: If you could write one single issue of your Wonder Woman run, what would you have happen?

AL: I would have her team up with Plastic Man and fight dinosaurs.

BF: My first experience (to my recollection) with your art was Darkhawk Annual #2. I was in high school and didn’t know art from Rob Liefeld, but something about your figures and faces and the particular energy you brought to the pages…it was very peculiar to my young and therefore quite dim-witted mind…but I remember finding it absolutely mesmerizing. Suffering the aforesaid dim-wittedness, I thought for certain that you were taking over the series. Because you were good and I liked you. Can you speak a bit on how you started in on comics, the mainstream gigs, and how you inevitably came to where you are today?

AL: I showed a sample Spiderman story that I wrote and drew to Terry Kavangh (former Marvel editor) at the San Diego Con way back in 1989. Months later that led to a Marvel Comics Presents story, which led to a Sub-Mariner story, which led to me writing and drawing Forbush Man stories in What The...?! After some valuable guidance from the legendary Michael Golden,  I landed a series of Spider-Man backup stories which led to the afore mentioned Darkhawk Annual. Nel Yomtov (Marvel editor) was talking to me about a Hawkeye mini-series when Malibu came calling.  They offered me more money and more creative freedom so I drew Sludge, with Steve Gerber writing, for them. Then came a short stint at Valiant followed by the aforementioned classic, Takion. My run on Takion all but ended my career, but for the friendly intervention of Tony Bedard (DC) and Scott Dunbier (Wildstorm). They kept me afloat with odd jobs until my career was resurrected at CrossGen. There is more, but I am already boring myself. 

BF: Was there ever a gig you wish you could re-do again?  At least more so than  any other?

AL: Probably all of my early Marvel work, especially those Spider-Man back up stories.  I could have done myself a great service if I had been a better artist at that time. Of course, there are multiple projects that I am thoroughly embarrassed by.

BF: What would you say is your current greatest strength? Weakness?

AL: My greatest strength is probably my ability to do competent work on time. My greatest weakness is probably design abilities. My costume designs are hit or miss and my tech designs are sorely lacking in “coolness”.

BF: If Wonder Woman could team-up or fight the dickens out of any other fictional character during your time on the title, who would you most prefer?

AL: Darkseid.

BF: And can you drop us any hints on what’s to come for Princess Diana?

AL: I don’t know anything beyond the page I am currently drawing. Seriously.

BF: Thanks for being with us, Aaron!

AL: Thanks for having me!

###

Don’t miss out on your chance to buy some original Aaron Loresti Wonder Woman art, over at www.aaronlopresti.com