Relaunch

This Newsletter has become an important part of my creative expression, the promotion I do for my work, and my overall life. So it was time for me to accept that naming it after my company, while synergistic, was not my best move. I needed to rename the Newsletter to something simpler, more fun, and that felt more like me. A few years back my dear friend Cheyenne told me that if I ever hosted a podcast it should be called “The Weekly Up-Dave,” so until I decide to launch a podcast I am renaming this newsletter that title because it’s great, it’s catchier, it feels like me, and I think it will be more fun to you see in your inbox. Thanks to Cheyenne for the killer name she gifted me.

Like everything in my career, I have goals for this Newsletter. Right now we are at 50 subscribers. By the spring I would like to be closer to 150, or at least 100. Please spread the word and share this Newsletter, it would mean a lot to me, I have been putting more effort and will continue to put more effort into it. And as I have more projects coming up, and I’m grateful to say I do, I will have different types of content for these posts.

So what changes? Not much. This is me doubling down on my commitment to post weekly and to make this the most essential place to get updates about me and my career. And this week we have two great things we’re talking about, so let’s get into them!

Interview with Nikola Čižmešija

Going way back to my first Newsletter, I mentioned that I stayed at DC Comics as an editor for a few years longer than I intended for two reasons. The COVID-19 pandemic had hit, but things had also changed at DC Comics and it felt like we as editors could make even more of a difference than we had before. During the last leg of my tenure at DC, my boss was the legendary Ben Abernathy. Ben was hands down one of the best bosses I ever had. He always challenged me intellectually and creatively; we had a similar work ethic and a strong passion for working with newer artists.

One of my favorite books to edit the last few years I was at DC was the anthology Batman: Urban Legends. It was a 64-page monthly anthology title that I worked on alongside the aforementioned Ben Abernathy, the also legendary Jessica Chen, and legend in the making Jessica Berbey. It was a great place to try out concepts that maybe couldn’t immediately succeed as their own series, and it was an equally great place for new talent to work. Ben would often send me new artists he was talking to, I would say I loved them, and then immediately try to get that person to work in the pages of Batman: Urban Legends.

That’s how I met artist Nikola Čižmešija. Ben sent me some awesome sample pages Nikola had done featuring the characters The Flash, Zoom, Wonder Woman, and Cheetah, I was taken immediately and assigned him to work with writer Dan Watters on an Azrael serial we were going to do in Urban Legends. That eventually spun out into its own mini-series Sword of Azrael the two would reunite on, and I would edit alongside Arianna Turturro (definitely legend status).

On top of loving Nikola’s style, I loved his work ethic. He took notes incredibly well, you could see him grow artistically with every page, and he was always on time. Also, he was always a naturally brilliant character designer and could put together a terrific cover. I got to work with Nikola a lot during my last years at DC, and when I left I was thrilled to see him continue to work on amazing titles like Tim Drake: Robin, Batman/Catwoman The Gotham War: Red Hood, and Batman & Robin.

When my story pitch had been approved for the two-part Wonder Woman/Plastic Man Story “Man’s Underworld” for Batman: The Brave & The Bold #19 & 20, I spoke a lot with my editors Ben Meares and James Reid about who would draw the story. Ben recommended Nikola would be free, and he thought rightly that Nikola would draw a fantastic Plastic Man. I agreed immediately, but I was nervous. I had been Nikola’s editor, and we had worked well together, but he had already worked with some truly brilliant writers. Nikola said yes, and it made me challenge myself even more to write the best scripts I had yet for this story.

I’m happy to report Nikola and I worked together well and you will get to see those issues on November 27th, 2024, and December 25th, 2024 respectively. Issue 19 FOCs this Monday, October 28th and issue 20 on November 25th, but you can order them both at the same time from your local comic book store! In the meantime, you can see some beautiful pages from part one of the story at the top of this post. Then below you can read an interview I did with Nikola where we talked about the story, and I got to know one of my favorite collaborators a little bit better!

DAVE: Nikola, you are one of the artists I worked with the most during my last two years as an editor at DC, and I owe that to my former boss and former Batman Group Editor Ben Abernathy. He showed me the terrific Flash/Wonder Woman Sample pages you did, and I knew I wanted to put you on the Azrael serial we were doing with writer Dan Watters on Batman: Urban Legends. 

My first question for you is two parts, how did you decide you wanted to work in American comics and how did those sample pages with Ben come to be?

NIKOLA: I just love superheroes. My first comic was Ultimate Spider-Man/ Ultimate X-men but my first toy was Batman. I fell in love with the world and mythology of superheroes and that helped me decide that I want to draw comics as a full-time job haha. I did have a phase where I wanted to be a mangaka but after I realized how big that mountain was to climb I decided I wanted to do superheroes instead with a manga spin. Ben Abernathy is the reason I am doing comics for a living and I am forever grateful to him. He’s been following me for a while on Twitter/X and e-mailed me one day to see if I had any comics that I worked on to show him. I was still trying to break into comics and didn’t have any (sample pages) so he gave me a Flash script to try out and the rest is history.

DAVE: When I describe your art, I say that you have a very manga-influenced style. However, that doesn’t feel like enough of a description. In the same way, American or European comics are made up of multiple approaches, the same is even more true for manga. So, I wanted to take the opportunity to ask you directly, what artists have been an influence on your work?

NIKOLA: Oh I have many! I always look up specific artists for a certain situation or a problem I want to solve or simply for inspiration but some of my all-time favorite artists are Daniel Warren Johnson, Yusuke Murata, Dan Mora, Takehiko Inoue, and Pepe Larraz.

DAVE: When our current editors, the wonderful Ben Meares and James Reid, told me you were going to draw this Batman: Brave & The Bold story, I was so excited, but I also felt a lot of responsibility to write one of the coolest comics you have done yet. And you’ve already drawn many awesome comics. 

You have covered so much ground already in your few first years working at DC, drawing a lot of their great street-level vigilante characters: Azrael, multiple Robins, Red Hood, and Batman himself. What was your reaction when Ben and James said this story was about Wonder Woman and Plastic Man?

NIKOLA:  I was thrilled! Wonder Woman is such a great character and also the last Trinity member that I haven’t drawn before this comic haha. She was awesome but Plastic Man was the most fun! I’ll be honest, I didn’t know much about the character before drawing this comic. I did hear about him and what his powers were but I didn’t know much about his history so this was a great opportunity to finally get to know him. But the biggest thrill was working with you again!

DAVE: That’s incredibly kind! Thank you, Nikola!

 I recently talked to an aspiring comic book writer and he asked me about writing action sequences. I confessed to them that it was something I was always striving to get better at writing. On top of honoring Plastic Man, Wonder Woman, and our villain characters, I wanted to write some great action sequences for you. But all that means is I suggest something in the script and you figure out how far you can take it, or if it will even work.

You always seem to be striving to push what is possible in an action sequence in comics, what are you thinking about when you approach them?

NIKOLA: Action is my favorite part of any comic and something I always try to improve the most. I just love the aspects of speed and power and how to capture these moments on a page. You know when you’re watching a boxing match or a good action scene in a movie or show and you start shadowboxing with the character you’re watching? When you have a physical and emotional reaction to a fight is what I love so much about it and something I strive for the most when drawing them. The excitement and the tension they bring!

DAVE: A team-up story has to have contrast to work. Narratively it was easy to write the many differences between Wonder Woman and Plastic Man. But you drove home their differences visually. She’s tall, unflinching in her convictions, and can emanate a really special kind of warmth. And Plastic Man is charming, but unsure of himself, and always moving. What was the most fun about drawing those two characters and putting them next to each other?

NIKOLA:  Exactly what you said! The most important thing for me was to shine (a light on) their differences in character.

DAVE: In addition to all the characters I listed above, you also drew the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles this year in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Black, White, & Green and worked on a non-superhero story in Golgotha Motor Mountain. I know you’re working on your own comic in your spare time, what are some of the projects you’d like to take on in the next few years?

NIKOLA: My comic is just something I’m doing mainly for myself in my free time but professionally? I would love to draw another mini-series like Sword of Azrael. 

DAVE: Nikola, I loved working with you on this Batman: The Brave & The Bold story. I am so excited for people to read it when part one comes out on 11/27/24. And I hope that we get to collaborate again, you have been one of my favorite collaborators yet. What else do you have coming up that people can be on the lookout for? And if you can’t talk about your next project, which of your past projects do you think people should most check out?

NIKOLA: Likewise, Dave! We HAVE to work on something again! This was a real pleasure and fun to do. I hope people will enjoy this book as much as we had fun making it. As for my next project, it’s something completely new and I can’t say anything without spoiling it. I’ve drawn nothing like it so it should be fun!

DAVE: Thank you for your time, Nikola!

NIKOLA: Always a pleasure, Dave! Thank you for having me.

Batman: The Brave & The Bold #19 FOCs this Monday 10/28/24 and is on sale 11/27/25. Batman: The Brave & The Bold #20 FOC’s next month on 11/25/24 and is on sale Christmas Day. Please go to your local comic book store and order both issues. I feel confident you will love the story that Nikola and I have put together!

Lex & the City, Hawkman Story

This is a big one, guys, I am pretty shocked about this. On January 29th, 2024 I will have a story coming out in DC’s next Valentine’s Day anthology brilliantly titled Lex & The City. Where we go across some of the great fictional cities of the DC Universe and explore great romances that take place within them. Look at this amazing cover by Amanda Conner, one of our greatest living cartoonists. The story I am working on in the anthology? It stars Hawkman and it takes him back to his Silver Age home city of Midway City. And who is drawing it?

Howard Porter.

A comic artist who I would describe as a superstar, a legend, and one of the most essential DC Comics artists of all time. Howard Porter drew two of the comics that got me hooked on the medium and made me a comic reader for life. JLA: World War III written by Grant Morrison and Fantastic Four: Authoritative Action written by Mark Waid. I also had the great fortune of working with Howard as an editor when I was at DC Comics. He drew the incredible Batman One Bad Day: Bane and drew some issues of the main Batman title, both written by the wonderful Joshua Williamson.

When I finished the script for the Hawkman story my amazing editor Michael McCalister asked me if I had anyone I would love to work with, and I just took a swing and said “I would love to work with Howard Porter.” Why did I throw out this crazy suggestion? I felt like after writing the Hawkman script I wanted someone who felt as DC comics artistically as possible to draw this, and Howard was the first artist I associated with that idea. I thought there was a 35% chance it would happen. Michael came back to me a month later and said “Howard is in.” as of the writing of this Newsletter I have seen some of the pages and they are amazing.

This also crosses another item off my goal list for the year: to work with a legendary comic book artist I love. This is special. I’m proud of the story, I’m proud I got to work with Howard, and I think you are all going to love the story when it comes out!

That’s it for this week!

Originally I was going to close out the month talking about five TV Halloween episodes I love, but we did two top-five lists this month and it feels like we should rest the format. Instead, I will be talking about writing stories for Halloween, feeling like a horror writer, and taking chances. It will make for a good read to close out the month.

Stay safe!

—Dave Wielgosz