NYCC '08: FLOORBUZZ: DALE EAGLESHAM

[MattBrady]

by Vaneta Rogers

As we walked the floor at New York Comic Con, it was clear that some of the sketches being done by the artists in attendance were incredibly detailed, and one that caught our eye was a Kingdom Come Superman by artist Dale Eaglesham.

In the sketch, the character was paired with Batman, but seeing Kingdom Come Superman being drawn by Eaglesham brought to mind the work he's doing on Justice Society of America with writer Geoff Johns. Now a member of the Justice Society team, Kingdom Come Superman's current role in the DCU is now being defined by the pencils of Dale Eaglesham.

We stopped to talk to Eaglesham about the character as he drew and find out more about what's coming in Justice Society.

"In a way, we've seen very little of the Kingdom Come Superman," Eaglesham said as he worked on the sketch. "We saw him in Kingdom Come, then he's appeared here and there maybe after that. The Kingdom Come Superman as conceived by Alex Ross in Kingdom Come is, to me, the ultimate vision of Superman ever created by anybody. So I'm trying to capture that in a line drawing. We've seen him so well done in paints, but I'm doing my best to capture that mood of his in a line drawing."

And what does he mean by that "mood" of his?

"I think sometimes people make him a little too angry," Eaglesham said with a laugh. "He's not angry. He just has a maturity and force of will that is stronger. His morality seems really clear cut and there's no question what he's after and where he's going and what he's going to do in any given situation. And the current Superman, he can be a little bit wilder, maybe, or he's just more youthful. It's not as clear cut for him, I think."

Eaglesham said the recent issue that featured both Superman and the Kingdom Come Superman together was a challenge for him.

"It's a challenge to differentiate them," he said. "But there's more of a sense of history behind Kingdom Come Superman because he definitely looks older and more battle-scarred and a little bit more serious than the current Superman in the current continuity. And there's a whole different approach to his character."

The way he approaches the two characters is different because their personalities are so different, Eaglesham said, and he tries to capture that.

"It's so subtle. It's not subtle visually, but it's really subtle in their personalities, and it's got to come out in every pore, in every line," the artist said, his pencil shading the area under Batman's chin as he talked. "The current Superman is more like your prototypical superhero with the huge muscles and the definition. But Kingdom Come Superman is more old school. I'm trying to channel Shuster and Fleischman when I draw this character. It's a more simple drawing."

He said the obvious difference between the two Superman characters is the difference in age, and drawing Kingdom Come Superman in a more "simple" style helps convey that age difference. "Not having the detail on the characters, that denotes age as well. Without those lines of definition, you get the idea there's a little bit more fat on the body. He's way more barrel-chested. And of course he has the gray on the sides of his hair," Eaglesham said. "Don't get me wrong: He's a massive guy. He's very big. He's actually bigger and stronger than the current Superman, or at least that's been the indication from Geoff's scripts so far. Maybe that's going to tick some people off. But he's a very powerful individual. And I like to try to show that power, while still visually representing his age and maturity.

"I find him really compelling. More compelling than the younger Superman, so I love contrasting the two on covers. It's really fun," he said.

As Eaglesham put the finishing touches on the sketch, we asked about what's coming up in Justice Society #15.

"In Issue #15, it's just one big brawl. It's a rough fight all around. We haven't done anything like that for awhile," Eaglesham said. "We brought up the new recruits and we've been very nice to them. It's been pretty easy and they've been brought up fairly slowly. But now people are being put to the test. People are going to get hurt. Now they're going to get plunged into what it really means to be a hero, and some of them might make it and some of them might not, in terms of making the grade. A real test is coming up for the entire team."

He said the comic was a bit of a challenge because there is so much action in it.

"This is insane. There's stuff flying all over the place for, like, 17 pages or something like that. It's crazy," Eaglesham laughed. "It's a gang fight, if you will. There are some very prominent locations, like Battery Park. I paid really close attention to detail and did a lot of research, and hopefully people will recognize the monuments and all that stuff. And I think that's really important in the fight to really tie people to the location."

As for what comes next, Eaglesham said he honestly doesn't have a clue. "I don't know what else is coming up," he said. "I told Geoff not to tell me, because I don't want to know. I want it to really hit me when I get the script. I don't want to know a year in advance. That's going to bore me. I want it to hit me when it happens, and then I go in to draw it."

So we asked the artist -- what's a scene recently that really hit him and he wanted to do it justice?

"I guess the meeting room scene in issue #14," he said, "with everybody around the table. That took a long time because there was a lot of staging involved with the characters. That scene really said what the JSA is all about. That they're approaching the meeting table with sofa chairs and lawn chairs, and everybody's drinking their specific kind of drinks. Like Jay has tea; nobody else has tea -- just him.

"You wouldn't see that in the JLA. You wouldn't see that kind of scene at all. That family type scene, or just having a lawn chair at the meeting table. You're not going to see that in another superhero book. You're not," Eaglesham said. "I threw it in there, and I called Geoff, and I said, 'I don't know if you're going to like what I did. Is this OK?' And he loved it. So he went with it. He goes with those instincts, you know what I mean? He agreed that that's really what the JSA is all about. We do that kind of thing. We're not afraid to make fun of them. And even though you've got the main characters who are very serious, like Power Girl, Kingdom Come Superman, and Hawkman standing there looking all regal and powerful, you've got the rest of them making jokes about Gog. They don't know any better -- the young ones. They're like, 'look at that stupid helmet he's got with those funny horns.' And they're like, 'ha ha ha.' But the older ones are just sort of bringing them along slowly.

"I think that one-two spread really encapsulated the whole JSA experience right there," the artist continued. "And that's what fans are reacting to. We're doing that. We're crossing those boundaries. We're not just sticking with the superhero stereotypes and cliches. We threw them all out the window, and we deliberately threw them all out. We said we're going to do this ... natural. There are people under those costumes. You can see their folds, you know? They're real. You can look them in the eye and you can tell what they're thinking. That's the whole fun in the book. And I think that scene stuck out to me the most in #14. "

Check back all this week for more floor buzz from New York Comic Con.

[Timberoo]

I love his Power Girl.

[sebzero11]

Dale is an excellent artist. Only he could pull off the translation of Ross' paints into pencil line work, and make it seem so seamless.
JSA is the greatest team book going.

[Question86]

Mr. Eaglesham is one of my favorite current artists along with Ivan Reis.

[Lemurion]

My only problem with Dale's work is that he puts fill in artists to shame. There's one guy who does fill ins every so often and he just can't match up.

[Secret Six]

Dale drew me a sketch of Catman on Saturday, and signed my "Villians United" trade, he was extremely nice and I LOVE my Catman sketch. His wife was also there too by him and she was really funny as I waited on the line. She very supportive of his work, and.. she even did a dance for us. Very nice couple, thinking about collecting JSA now too, he drew an AWESOME varient cover with Hawkman on the front, anyone know what issue that was?

[Corpulent1]

Love Eaglesham's work. It's a shame I didn't like where Johns was going with the JSA story and thus dropped the comic. I'll miss Eaglesham's art most of all.

[rwe1138]

I've been a fan of Dale's since his work on Green Lantern. I'm so happy to see him rising up the artistic ranks.

[serge0]

He is one of my favorite artist, the only fault I see in his work is that He repeat faces, but his KC Superman is astonishing.

(sorry about my english, Im from argentina)

[krammocon]

I like Dale as an artist. He's a good one. My only sentiment is that his Liberty Belle is always prettier than his Power Girl.

[grphxkindaguy]

Originally Posted by sebzero11

JSA is the greatest team book going.

QFT

JSA is also my fave DC title, bar none.

Keep up the good work Geoff, Alex and Dale!

[Gail Simone]

Quite simply one of the best in the business. He draws with so much life and depth, it's just amazing.

Dale, you are awesome!

Gail

[vbartilucci]

Dale is now a Conspirator.

[LunarDaydreamer]

Wonderful artist, one that's constantly pushing himself and getting better and better with each and every issue. I love how Dale thinks to get inside the characters, thinks of body language, a delicious degree of nuance that reflects absolutely in the loving craftsmanship that we see each month.

[Poe]

Eaglesham is fantastic. He's my favorite penciller working right now. Thanks for the interview.

[achilles140]

He's one of a gang of pencillers that DC has gotten hold of who are simply outstanding! Dale, Ethan, Nicola---they all are performing at a level that's simply wonderful. And then of course there's Benes; and nothing more needs to be said about him. And Perez, still the Master.

DC's stockpiling the art talent; kudos to them!

[DSNG]

Dale's work is awesome. Lookin forward to more from him.


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[roblewmac]

I was lukewarm on JSA. I don't like the idea of getting in becuse you're flag-man's grandson then they let Kingdom Come Superman join. Why? He's got one hell a resume. He's jut like regular superman only more prone to live in a hologam for ten years while his world goes to hell. Even THAT asumse a lot of trust in an other earth superman.

[capsulezone]

Originally Posted by roblewmac

I was lukewarm on JSA. I don't like the idea of getting in becuse you're flag-man's grandson then they let Kingdom Come Superman join. Why? He's got one hell a resume. He's jut like regular superman only more prone to live in a hologam for ten years while his world goes to hell. Even THAT asumse a lot of trust in an other earth superman.

That's the whole point of the team... to guide the new heroes (especially the legacy ones) so that they'll make fewer mistakes along the way.

And maybe thta's also the point of letting KC Superman into their ranks. To show him that the world could become better than the bleak Earth that he came from.

[roblewmac]

Originally Posted by capsulezone

That's the whole point of the team... to guide the new heroes (especially the legacy ones) so that they'll make fewer mistakes along the way.

And maybe thta's also the point of letting KC Superman into their ranks. To show him that the world could become better than the bleak Earth that he came from.

oh I get it I just don't find it very apealing. Then the Kingdom Come Superman show up on main earth. You could'nt find a charcter less apealing to me. I know a lot of people liked KC but I REALLY did not

[Jamal Y. Igle]

I had a real opportunity to speak to Dale and his lovely wife at NYCC. Nicest guy, talented artist, a real gentleman. It was a pleasure talking to him.he deserves all his sucess.

[tfitz]

Dale probably ties Steve Epting for my favorite artist. Each one makes their respective book a thing of beauty.