In “Origins,” comics creators talk about their formative experiences with comics. This time, we spoke with Dustin Nguyen, one of the most adventurous artists in mainstream comics at the moment. Currently the artist for Batman: Streets of Gotham, he’s also drawn extended runs on Detective Comics and WildC.A.T.S. (He also maintains a deviantART site that showcases some of his more unorthodox artwork alongside his more straightforward superhero images.)
TECHLAND: What was the first comic book you ever read? What do you remember about it?
DUSTIN NGUYEN: Power Pack # 9. I remember returning it to the library late, and then having to pay almost cover price for a worn-down book. I later went out and bought it as a back issue for about a dollar.
What comic book has made the deepest impression on you, and why?
I think that would have to be the Batman “Dark Knight/Dark City” arc. it was a great combination of story and art, and the covers were amazing.
(More on Techland: Origins: Jason Aaron)
Who were your favorite comics creators when you started getting into reading comics?
When I started reading, I was really into a lot of the classic Mirage Studios TMNT stuff, so the darker black and white stuff was big for me. On the flip side, I was also a huge Power Pack fan, so I’d have to say Jon Bogdanove and June Brigman were also some of my favorite storytellers.
Did you make comics in your pre-professional days? What were they like?
Yeah, when I actually started trying to draw comics, it was the early ’90s, so obviously, they were either very Image-inspired books or hip hop comics. I remember wasting my days away with my buddy, Lucky, in high school creating “Death Row” comics. Needless to say, we failed chemistry. Good thing it wasn’t required to graduate.
What was your first published comics work? What’s your impression of it now?
My first published comics work that was an actual comic was a 10-page story of Jet, for the Gen-Active anthology book by Wildstorm. Looking back now, I think I overthought a lot of it!
(More on Techland: Origins: Bob Layton)
You’ve been closely associated with the Batman titles for a few years now; what are the most fun and most challenging parts of drawing those for you?
The most fun is probably just drawing the books and seeing them in print each month, the most challenging is to keep every page fresh and new, keeping the story rolling smoothly and trying to illustrate an even cooler character next time.
And what are you working on next?
Even more Batman stuff!