At Fanexpo Boston yesterday, Eisner Award-winning artist Hayden Sharman shines the spotlight for a career-spanning conversation with IDW editor Heather Anthos, deepening his love for design in DC’s ambitious absolute universe, Sharman’s acclaimed absolute universe and brand continuity.
Antos drove things away by paying attention to the success of the absolute line’s runaway. DC’s new continuity is such a hit that all the issues so far have returned to seven times and even eight times pressing. A rare item in modern comics. Sherman admits that they were not fully aware of the scale of their success, but believes in absolute sandbox freedom to help the line resonate so strongly.
The Sherman also revealed that their path to absolute Wonder Woman began with Scott Snyder. After the two teamed up in IDW’s dark space, Snyder’s Wildfire and Dungeon, who discovered Sherman’s work thanks to recommendations from the owner of a local comic shop, casually came to mind the idea of a reboot of Wonder Woman. Although Shaman initially questioned whether such a leap from their horror collaboration would be realistic, a year later, Snyder brought the opportunity to DC, and ultimately brought the role of Shaman in the flagship absolute space title.
“It might be intimidating at first,” Sherman recounted the task, recalling a high-pressure month turnaround to design an absolute Wonder Woman before the San Diego comics. However, when the design hit readers, including the current iconic sleeve tattoo of Diana’s magical arm, the shaman felt “played” more comfortably in the space.
The tattoo revealed by Sherman experienced multiple iterations before settling down to a clean, geometric look that often shrinks in the cartoon. Early concepts were drawn from ancient pottery patterns and images of goddesses, but they simplified it to make it clear, but if Wonder Woman reached live action, they still loved to see the more complicated version.
When asked if DC might produce an “absolutely absolute Wonder Woman” version, Sharman laughs at wordplay, but admits it’s “a bit ridiculous” and what they want to happen happens.
The Sherman spoke about the joys and challenges of designing an entire shared universe. They created key characters that are set to debut in more than the absolute Wonder Woman. Some have been designed in future issues of artist Mattias Vergara, teasing the “famous DC characters” soon. Another highlight is the collaborative process with author Kelly Thompson, colorist Geordy Berele and letter Becca Carey, which Sherman calls it the “All-Star Team.”
The panel also touched on the Sherman’s wider DC work, including Batman: Dark Pattern, a noir-style miniseries installed in Gotham in retrofuture. Designing the Batsuit, Alfred, and the new Batmobile for that project was a lifelong dream for bat fans. In fact, Sherman shared that the first comic they ever created was working with Sherman’s mother when he was very young.
When asked about drawing an absolute Batman for the absolute Wonder Woman, Sherman focused on the challenge of keeping him shadows and grounding while fitting the brighter, more open tones of Wonder Woman’s book.
The Sherman also revealed that they have started working much bigger recently, taking advantage of a huge 15 x 72 inch board instead of the standard 11 x-17.
Outside of DC, Sherman reflected the path from creator-owned projects like wasted space to collaborate with Scott Snyder in dark spaces: Wildfire and Dungeon. They also touched on Marvel credits, from early work on Wolverine to writing and drawing Spider-Man shorts.
What is the biggest surprise that Shaman wants to tackle? Adam Warlock.
For every career milestone, Sherman is grounded and grateful. “It’s pretty surreal… I get paid to do this,” they said.
And with absolute Wonder Woman #1 already heading towards the seventh printing, the Shaman locations forming the new continuity of DC are totally safe.
