Last week Ignition Press released the Showdown #3 covers which are my favorites of the series thus far. Steve Lieber’s cover (colored by Jack Cole) is…beyond brilliant….what a tremendous reminder of the imagery and metaphor we can use on comic book covers. It’s bold, challenging, and direct in a way I love. And Tadd Galusha’s variant cover is stunning, the mixed media approach he used is fantastic, it reminds me of some of my favorite record covers and movie posters, I think this is a great presentation of Trish Sullivan one of our two main characters.

Issue three is all about Trish Sullivan trying to find her brother’s baseball bat so she can use it to fight Harvey Harlowe in their showdown, but….in searching for the baseball bat she has to confront her past, her mother, and deal with a whole life of her brother Michael had that she knew nothing about that will challenge her passion and eagerness to fight for his memory. We locked up the lettering recently and I am thrilled with this issue. Tadd drew the hell out of it, Triona’s colors are amazing, and as always Clayton’s letters brought the package together perfectly.

Showdown #3 is on sale 8/12/26 and FOC’s on 7/6/26.

A very small update on Showdown #2. Instead of coming out on 6/24/26 we now come out two weeks later on 7/8/26. No big dramatic story to report, just a bit of a production update. Issues 2 and 3 are done, and they are fantastic.

I did a number of podcasts promoting the launch of Showdown #1. I am hoping I can do a few interviews, both podcast and possibly text, about Showdown #2 and #3. These are the two issues where we learn the most about our lead characters and I think both issues are absolute knock out punches. I am so proud of the scripts I wrote for them. And again, I think the whole creative team brought their absolute best to these issues.

Starting with issue 2 I am going to be interviewing the different members of the Creative team for each of our four remaining issues, so long as they are down to do it. I have spoken with Tadd and we are definitely going to do an interview here at the Weekly Up-Dave for Showdown #2. Maybe I’ll go back on his podcast to talk about the next few issues, we’ll see!

Did I open this part of the Weekly Up-Dave with a cute cover of Nightwing and his dog, codename Bitewing, in order to see if I can up the traffic on my Newsletter? Yes. I am human. This Newsletter rules and more people should be reading it, send them over!!!

BUT. But…I also led with this cover because it is a terrific comic book cover by artist Serg Acuña who I collaborated with on Justice League: Heroes of the Pitch which came out last week after a couple of months of us working on it.

Serg has been doing a lot of great work for DC Comics the last few years. I got to work with him a bit as an editor on Batman: Urban Legends, and I was delighted to work with him as a writer/collaborator on Justice League: Heroes of the Pitch. This week I’m presenting you an interview I did with Serg, featuring a bunch of great art. I hope you dig it!

DAVE: Hi, Serg!

SERG: Hi, Dave!!!

DAVE: So I grew up playing soccer, and while I stopped playing in my teen years I have always had a lot of friends in my life who played soccer, and their passion of the sport gave me a love for it too. I am a big sports fan in general, so when the opportunity to write this comic came up I thought it was a great opportunity to merge my love of super heroes and sports. AND I was excited to share it with the many soccer lovers in my life.

Were you a soccer fan before you were offered this project, and are you a bigger soccer fan now after drawing this comic?

SERG: It's fun because I’m a terrible sports fan, too many names to remember, but I loved to play soccer as Costa Rica, my country, loves soccer, so big part of my childhood was play soccer with my friends, I can say I was a pretty bad player, good at running bad at everything else haha. Oh and I have been a super fan of soccer based anime, like Captain Tsubasa and Blue Lock. So when this project arrived I was super sure I wanted to put some of it into the pages!

DAVE: At least you were good at the running! Even that I struggled with as a young athlete. But you also highlighted another reason I wanted to take this on. There is a lot of overlap in sports and manga/anime. And there are definitely American comics that have sports as a component, especially in the YA and middle grade spaces, but not so much in super hero comic these days. I was excited to take on that challenge too.

Between the Justice League characters, the real life soccer players, the Fox Sports anchors, Mongul, and his team of aliens, this was by far the biggest cast of characters I have ever written. I took a lot of notes and drew many diagrams to keep track of everyone. But if there’s one thing harder than writing a lot of characters, it’s drawing them. Some super hero comic artists love bigger casts. Was it fun to draw this many characters and did you have any particular strategies to keep track of the characters because you did a great job!

SERG: I’m not gonna lie, it was super fun and super challenging at the same time, not only for the amount of characters, but also the likeness of the real life people. It reminds me of when I drew the WWE comic book, many people and likeness haha, but this time eleven players plus more real people! And now trying to put all the people into panels was the real deal hahaha I indeed did diagrams. Trying to define how much screen time each character has, who goes in front, who goes in the back, who goes big, who goes small, and trying to make it fair for every player, I was like the meme of the woman doing maths in her head haha!

DAVE: A great meme I know all too well! And that’s right! You drew the WWE comics for BOOM! Studios so this was not your first time at this.

Is it harder to draw regular comic book super hero action, or realistic sports action?

SERG:  Realistic sports action it’s a little indeed more harder, but not so much, and both are really fun to draw!

DAVE: When our editor, the great Michael McCalister, told me you would be drawing this story I was very excited. You draw all of the DC Characters with such vibrancy, hope, and strength. Your art was the perfect tone for this comic book. And we got to work with a lot of the DC super heroes: Superman, Supergirl, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and The Flash.

These are all characters I love very much, it was a thrill to get to write all of them. I won’t lie, though my favorite to write is Superman and I think when people read the comic they will see how much affection I have for the character. Did you have a favorite one of the DC super heroes to draw?

SERG: I always joke because the easy pick is always Batman, but I really enjoy drawing all the DC cast. I love Damian, Supergirl, The Flash, Green Lantern, Batman and Superman, but if I have to pick just one, I probably would go with Supes by a little! Have been my favorite Hero since I was a kid watching Super Friends. So When I found out I had to draw him and the league so much in here I was super happy! And I have to mention, that you absolutely love the way you wrote the characters, you really get them and that makes the drawing part so much more enjoyable and exciting to draw.

DAVE: Super Friends reruns were played here in the United States when I was very young on Cartoon Network so that was a big show for me too, and as my readers know I love all the DC characters but I also have a deep love for Superman.

We also got to use one of DC’s great villains: MONGUL. Mongul is a lot of fun to write, he has a lot of history and great stories behind him. What were the challenges and joys of having him be our primary antagonist, form an artistic perspective?

SERG: Man when I read Mongul in the script I said YES out loud haha. the challenge of characters like Mogul is the Anatomy and size, but when you get used to it’s just joy, I was with a smile every time I had to draw him haha. He is really fun to draw!

DAVE: So this was our first time working together as writer and artist, but this was not our first time making comics together. You were a regular contributor to one of my favorite books I edited at DC, Batman: Urban Legends. For that book you drew a Batman, Aquaman, and Mera team-up story with a lot of Jim Aparo 1970’s Brave & The Bold flavor, written by Joey Esposito. AND a Birds of Prey serialized story written by Che Grayson that starred a slightly different cast than Birds of Prey fans are used to.

I always really enjoyed working with you as an editor. Again, I think your art is so dynamic, joyful, and inspiring it’s perfect for the DC characters. And you have drawn a lot of DC characters since I left editorial: The Flash, The Titans, Raven, The Super Sons, Artemis, and more. Which characters have you enjoyed drawing the most, and what projects so far have been the most rewarding?

SERG: I Aww man thank you so much for those kind words! You were one of my favorite editors, working with you was always awesome! So when I found out you were the writer I was super excited! And now picking a project is difficult. All have been fun and all have been rewarding. I'm really grateful I have worked with so many DC characters. I have been a DC fan since I was a kid, so just the fact that I can draw a DC character is already rewarding!

But I have a special place in my heart for the story we did of Batman and Etrigan, because it was my first gig at DC and also my first time drawing Batman for DC! And close to that one the one of Batman Aquaman and Mera, drawing the Bat-cave, the Bat-sub… everything in that story is a joy to draw… scuba-Batman, the Bat-Whale haha so much fun! Super Sons, and the Annual of Flash are also special for me, I really like those characters. Oh and the backups I did for Nightwing are also great. I love the Bat-Family. Sorry as you can see I had a lot of fun with the DC characters haha.

DAVE: That Etrigan story we did with excellent writer and friend of the Newsletter Henry Barajas was your first DC credit? I didn’t remember that either, that is awesome. Yeah, you drew a fantastic Etrigan in that story!

Before you drew regularly for DC, what was your background, how did you get into comics, and where did you start?

SERG: Well, I am indeed a graphic designer, I worked for 5 years as illustrator and graphic designer before getting into comics. But working as a comic artist was my dream since I was a kid, so when I got the opportunity I took it asap haha. Back in my university years we did a comic we created like a comic group called “El Zarpe” to draw and self publish comics haha, the members originally were, Dan Mora, Kath Lobo, my brother and other friend called Daniel Mora too haha and me. We did 9 issues, and after like 15 years we did the issue 10, this time just Dan Mora, my wife, Fero Pe and me! It's fun because “El Zarpe” was our love letter and passion to draw comics and that after 15 years we had the chance to work on comics professionally. It's just awesome! So doing “El Zarpe 10” after so many years felt really special!

DAVE: Two Dan Mora’s! I worked with the Dan Mora who works at DC towards the end of my time there and it was amazing. Kath Lobo is a great artist. And I have gotten to work with Fero Pe at IDW the last few years and he’s another extraodinary talent more people should know about.

Who are some of your biggest artistic influences? Whether it’s other comic book artists, cartoons, classic art, I’d love to hear what inspired your style.

SERG: I’m a manga/anime guy so my biggest influences are mangas like Naruto, Bleach, animes like Gundam, Pokemon, Samurai X, Cowboy Bebop, Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann, ane many more anime and manga haha. And on the comic side I have been a huge fan of Jim Lee, Sean Gordon Murphy, David Finch, Lee Bermejo, Jae Lee, and in the recent years, Pepe Larraz, Jorge Jimenez, Stuart Immonen, my friend Dan Mora and much more that scape my mind right now haha

DAVE: I can see that you give a lot of your super hero characters a bit of a Spike Spiegel/Cowboy Bebop attitude! And that’s a great list of artists I am also a huge fan of.

To date, like me, you’ve done a lot of shorter work for DC. Annuals, short stories, single issues, and collaborations with other artists on projects. What is your next career goal? Do you want to do a mini-series, a short story arc, try to draw as many issues of an ongoing as you can?

SERG: Yeah that's exactly what I’m looking for, a mini-series, a short story arc, or try to draw as many issues of an ongoing story as I can haha. One thing is good about shorts and single issues or annuals is that you get the chance to work with many characters in a short period of time, but sometimes when you are truly getting the character and definitely would love to draw more about them the story ends and another character comes in to play haha. So it would be nice to stay with just a character or story a little longer, so yeah that's my goal, to do a mini-series or a short story arc or an ongoing, whatever comes first I'll be more than happy!

DAVE: We are in a very similar place career-wise. It would be nice to do a mini-series or an extended run, if I am lucky to work at DC Comics again. I feel very fortunate to have done the shorter work I have done but getting to sit at the table a little longer and eat a bigger meal does sound really appetizing.

You are also a terrific cover artist. Jessica Berbey, who was once an assistant editor, now is a fantastic associate editor overseeing her own projects, hired you for a cover for the Batman One Bad Day: Catwoman book we did written by G Willow Wilson with Art by Jamie McKelvie. And I love this cover. When I think of your art it’s one of the first things I think of. Do you like drawing covers and what thoughts do you have when you are designing them?

SERG: Man I love to do covers! They are super fun because they give you the chance to do the characters the best way you can and make a shock on the fans! I’m really grateful to you and Jess and all the amazing guys at DC that have given me the chance to do as many covers I have done till this date. When I design a cover I always think to make the character shine, make it cool and interesting, I like to play with the poses, the colors, and try to do compositions that like a visual path to the eyes of the viewer. I recently started doing some covers with full traditional colors, which has- been a wild ride because there is less room for mistakes haha!

DAVE: As I mentioned above you’ve already drawn a whole host of the DC Universe. Are there characters you have not drawn yet that you would still really like to? Are there characters you have already drawn that you would like to spend more time with? And are there any characters outside of the DC Universe you’d like to tackle?

SERG: Man one of the ones that have been my favorites but I haven't drawn him yet is “Plastic Man”, maaan I love Plastic Man, I would love to to a whole series with him haha, he have so much potential, I would love to do a story with him in his prime, that could be so much fun!!! And beside him I would love to draw Conner, Jason Todd, more of Nightwing, Damian, Batman and Supes, Zatanna, more Aquaman and Green Lantern haha any Absolute title could be a blast!

And outside DC I definitely would love to do a kind of kaiju series, or tokusatsu, but one of the genres I’m looking for is something like vampire hunters! I’m a huge fan of the Castlevania games and dream to do a comic with that tone! In fact the story I’m drawing in “El Zarpe 10” is like an homage to Castlevania haha. But talking about a specific character, definitely Godzilla, TMNT, He-Man  and more that I don't remember haha.

DAVE: I think you would excel at any of those, but I can especially see you in my mind’s eye drawing an amazing He-Man!

Serg, this project was an absolute blast. I had a great time working with you. I would be glad to work with you again as writer and artist, I hope we have the chance to do that. Can you share with our readers what you have coming up next?

SERG: Dave, it has been an honor to work with you as editor and now as a writer! And I have worked with a lot of writers and I can easily say that you are one of my favorites, this project with the amount of characters and people in to the play I can see clearly that it wasn't easy to write, but when you read it it just flows so smoothly, you managed so many characters and gave them time to shine, and so a fun story but also with the lore and background of the characters…it just browns my mind! I definitely had a great time working with you and I would be more than happy to work with you again as writer and artist!!!

And right now I’m working mostly in covers and card illustrations, I’ll be doing a creator owned project by October with a friend writer, and other comics for the guys of Nife-Wars. And probably try to pitch my vampire story somewhere haha!. I’m always looking for new and exciting projects!

DAVE: That’s so kind. Here’s hoping we get to work together again, and I wish you luck on all of those projects. I hope they are all great successes!

Thank you for your time, Serg!

SERG: Thanks to you Dave!

How about that Serg Acuña, folks? What a talented artist and a great person. It was a delight collaborating with him, and a joy getting to know him a little bit better over the course of this interview. That interview really encouraged me to get back to doing more of those, they are always rewarding, I feel more connected to whomever I talked to afterwards, and people seem to enjoy reading them.

That’s it for the Weekly Up-Dave this week. Next week is our 75th installment, and I might do something fun.

We will absolutely be doing a bigger Media Diet because I am catching up on so many things heading into the summer.

Until then?

Stay safe!

—Dave Wielgosz