Aquaman Shrine Interview with Dan Schoening - 2011

As the Shrine mentioned earlier today, DC Super Friends: Big Heroes! features the art of Dan Schoening, who also drew Capstone's Aquaman: Deepwater Disaster book. Dan was kind enough to answer some questions about his work and all the Aqauman he's been drawing lately!

The Aquaman Shrine: Did you want to draw comics growing up? How did you find your way into doing so much special project-type work?

Dan Schoening: I don't think I aspired to be a comic book artist exactly, but more so to have the opportunity to just draw and make a living doing that. Back in 2006, I had a table at the Wizard World in Chicago. A great friend and excellent artist, Tim Kelly, suggested I drop off some art to the DC talent search at the show. I decided to try it out and managed to nab an interview with a Director at DC. After that I did some short animated interstitial work and then moved on to doing more book work.

TAS: What have been some of your favorite projects you've worked on?

DS: I think the Big Heroes book has been one of my favorites to date. Having the chance to illustrate a Golden Book is amazing, and having the ability to re-create the cool DC characters in a more retro art style was extremely fulfilling. I've enjoyed working on properties such as Ghostbusters, Kung Fu Panda and Green Lantern as well.

TAS: You've done Aquaman: Deepwater Disaster as well as DC Super Friends: Big Heroes that features Aquaman. Is he a particular favorite of yours?

DS: Most definitely he is! I'm a big fan of the Superfriends Aquaman. The design on that show was a great fit, really capturing the early designs for Aquaman. I also enjoyed him on STAS, in his one shot appearance. I think one of my favorite interpretations was on that two-part Justice League story, where he fights his brother Orm. A very well written episode!

AS: Your art styles on Deepwater Disaster and Big Heroes! are very different. Have you always dabbled with different mediums like that?

DS: Yes, I find mixing up my art style helps keep things fresh. Sometimes the characters you are drawing just speak to you better in certain styles. Also, the ability to draw in different styles can allow for more growth in the craft overall.

AS: What do you have coming up?

DS: I've started creating art for the new ongoing Ghostbusters comic book, which is available for pre-order now. I'm a big Ghostbusters fan, and I'm excited to be a part of the team on that book. In the summer there will be a few DC Superfriends books that I illustrated on store shelves as well. One is a cool Mix and Match book, and another is a Pop Up book. On top of that, in August I have 6 new Green Lantern early reader books out. It's a very productive and positive time!


You can check out more of Dan's work on his blog. Thanks Dan!