How did you “break in” to comics?
I started by self-publishing my own comic books and taking them to comic conventions while still in highschool. For college, I attended the School of Visual Arts and interned at DC Comics my junior year. These combined things led to a full-time job at Nickelodeon Magazine, where I worked, assisting on and editing comics for over 10 years. I never stopped developing comic projects on the side and by the time Nickelodeon ceased publication in 2009, I was fortunate enough to focus on completely on making graphic novels like Astronaut Academy and Teen Boat!
Wasn’t Astronaut Academy once called Astronaut Elementary?
Yes! It began as a webcomic and series of mini-comics called “Astronaut Elementary.” The title was changed for the graphic novel. About 70% of the pages were re-drawn for the final book.
Why do the characters in Astronaut Academy speak in run-on sentences and bold statements?
One of the many inspirations for Astronaut Academy was my love of international stationary, food packaging, and designs that feature adorable characters with unique phrases and creative translations. I wanted to make comics that would be especially entertaining to read out loud.
How would you describe your art style?
The goal with Astronaut Academy was to make the characters as cute and as fun to draw as possible. The simpler the shapes and facial details, the better. That’s why most of the characters do not have noses!
What supplies do you use to make comics?
I draw on Strathmore 500 Series Bristol plate/smooth surface. I use traditional lead pencils to draw and ink with Winsor & Newton Series 7 sable brushes, with Speedball Super-Black India ink.
Some of the pages feature my original hand lettering that was produced with a crow quill Hunt 107 pen nib and Speedball Super-black India Ink. During the course of the project, my hand suffered from a torn ligament, so John Green helped create a font based on Dave’s handwriting to finish lettering the book.
So you really still draw comics by hand?
Yes! But I do a lot of clean up on each page digitally, using a program called PhotoShop. All the graytones are also applied using the same program. This takes a lot of time so I often ask friends for help.
How do you write your comics?
I usually sketch out my ideas for stories in Composition notebooks. They tend to be incomprehensible to anyone else, because the thoughts are rarely fully formed. I’m often inconsistent about my layouts. Some are done in advance at varying sizes, while some are figured out on the page as he starts drawing.
Will there be another Agnes Quill book?
Yes!
Will there be another Jax Epoch book?
Hopefully!
Will there be another X-Men: Misfits book?
It doesn’t seem likely. Raina and I wrote a script for Book 2 and Anzu completed about half the pencils, but the publisher decided not to continue their license with Marvel.
Will you come speak at my school/library/conference/convention/company picnic?
Sure! Please see my Author Visits Page for more information.
