All you have to do is look at one cover for Image Comics’ Descender to realize that artist and co-creator Dustin Nguyen is in the middle of a revolutionary work of sci-fi imagery.
Eschewing the traditional style of hyper-detailed spaceships in a Star Trek-inspired universe, Nguyen is instead bringing lush watercolors and a dreamlike landscape to the world of sci-fi, ushering in a look that is almost completely alien to the genre, while maintaining — and building upon — plenty of staples from some of sci-fi's great works.
There are parts of Descender that recall the sleek, pristine facade of a robotic Asimovian world, while other pages maintain that gritty, lived-in feeling that was felt during the original Star Wars. Couple these genre constants with soft, calming watercolors, and you get an experience that isn’t just a welcome change of pace to the world of science fiction comics, it’s the type of amalgamation the entire medium should be taking notice of.
I spoke to Nguyen over email to talk about the process behind Descender, what the collaboration is like with writer Jeff Lemire and the freedom the duo gets from Image to make this world truly their own.
What was the design process like for Descender? Jeff Lemire has an extensive background as a comic book artist, so what was the collaboration like between you two?
Our collaboration is almost too simple. I've always loved Jeff's work, not just the the writing, but also his art — and I've come to find we have a very similar storytelling style. Before we started, we talked about what we both wanted to do, and I think that was it. He writes amazing scripts that include descriptions of what he wants to see, and 99.99 percent of the time, it clicks instantly in my head and I can visualize what's going on.
It's more organic than I thought was possible in comics. I think what adds even more icing to the cake is that being it's a creator-owned book, Image is completely hands off. So it comes down to just the two of us — 100 percent freedom to both do what we love.
Descender features a unique visual mix between sterile, sleek sci-fi and a grittier, lived-in universe, with nuts, bolts and rust showing a more practical side of tech. What were the major sources of inspiration for the book from a visual standpoint?
I'm a huge Robotech and G1 Transformers fan; that along with the myriad of 80s and 90s properties. So often, you'll see this very clunky style that's reminiscent of Teletraan-1 or an Alpha Fighter. Just really stuff from my childhood that stuck with me, then combined with the tech we have now and how streamlined and super minimalistic technology is headed — it just flows out that way, I think.
How has the Descender process differed from something like your work on DC's Batman titles? What is the level of freedom that you and Jeff have?
We have so much freedom it's ridiculous, amazing, and scary all at once. It's just the two of us, and we've been able to do anything we want and at any pace we want. There's no rush to end a story or dragging out a story to fill a certain amount of pages or issues. Jeff writes as many issues as he needs to tell exactly the story he wants. Our world is so new in Descender that there's no restrictions to what I can't draw or create. It is very very cool.
The watercoloring for this book is absolutely lush and vibrant, and a lot different than what most people would associate with a sci-fi title. What was the inspiration for that, and was there any resistance to the style?
I think the biggest resistant came from me, as to whether I could do it monthly or not. It's a lot more work than I initially thought, but so far, it has been very satisfying. I mainly chose to go the route for a couple of reasons that had nothing to do with the actual look of the book.
I developed RSI, repetitive stress injury, in my arm and wrist a few years back, obviously from drawing a lot. It worsens mostly when I ink, or pencil heavily, anything that requires a stronger grip and applied pressure. I tried doing things digitally on the Cintiq for a bit, it took some of the pressure off the wrist and overall [is] just an extremely efficient tool, I've been able to do amazing things I could never do traditionally, at speeds insane. But in the end, digital was just unsatisfying for me personally no matter how much more I could do with it, I just wasn't happy with myself.
Luckily, I also liked watercoloring a lot, and there's almost no resistance in the brush when I paint. It's a bit slower, and at my level so far — I cant do quite as much in terms of effects and what I want, but it's also exactly the discipline I need due to our monthly schedule.
So long explanation, but that's pretty much where that inspiration came from, I just wanted to have fun on the book and not break my wrist.
Also, painting on paper is amazingly satisfying. If you're a car person — it's basically the satisfaction you get from driving your old-school gated/stick shift (not perfect, but fun as hell) vs. the newer DCT paddle shifters — (electronically controlled for the perfect shift every time).
The book also features a lot of lofty ideas from the science fiction genre, but it's also such a human story that fans of any genre can latch onto. How important is it to strike a balance between crafting this unbelievable world, while also crafting believable characters?
For both Jeff and I, the main idea was never about what genre we were going to approach, but really just the characters involved, and giving them life and a voice of their own in whatever world we put them in. Jeff does an amazing job of that in all his books, I honestly never have to worry about that because ... well, Jeff does an amazing job of that for us both. Really though, it's very important, and what I feel can make or break any property, be it a monthly comic book or your summer blockbuster movie, characters are everything.
The general consensus is that Descender is one of the more successful launches of 2015. Was this book something that sounded like a winner right away, or was there a specific moment during the process when you started to see it all click?
I don't know, it still hasn't really clicked, but I do feel like it's doing better than I thought it would. I think working in the comforts of DC for the past almost 15 years kept me from worrying too much if a book was a hit or not. Batman has, and always will sell great with or without me, so I never gave it much thought. For Descender, I really just wanted to draw a book and make enough to keep it going monthly; so far it has and that's pretty cool.
Lastly, are there any new projects you're working on in the future, or is everything revolving around Descender at the moment?
My day starts and ends with Descender right now, but alongside it, I'm working on two children's book projects — one is a DC project through Scholastic, that should be announced very soon this fall. The other is a book my wife wrote and drew when she was in fifth grade, and now I'm re-illustrating it decades later and BOOM! Studios will be helping us introduce it to the world next year.
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