David Aja’s brilliant look for ‘Hawkeye’

Although he’s only drawn two American series regularly, Spanish artist David Aja has established himself as one of the biggest stars in the biz. His art is instantly recognizable — graphic, clear and spare in all the right ways.

After breaking in with a well-regarded run on 2007’s “The Immortal Iron Fist,” Aja took a hiatus before returning to the world of comics last year on “Hawkeye.” The Marvel series is written by his Iron Fist collaborator Matt Fraction (read parts one and two of our interview with him) and has become a surprise hit. Hawkeye provides a look at what Clint Barton does when he’s not working with the Avengers.

Parallel World phoned Aja in Spain, where he had just put the finishing touches on issue #11, out now.

Once and for all, how do you pronounce your last name?

Ah, well. It’s a long story, but here in Spain, we pronounce it “Aha.” But also here in Spain, my first name isn’t pronounced “David,” it’s Da-veed.” With my last name, I don’t really know. Some people call me “Ay-juh,” or “Aha” or “Ah-juh.” As long as you say something good about me, it’s OK.

Matt wasn’t sure why this book is so popular. Do you know?

Uh, I don’t really know. It was unexpected, to be true. If there’s a point about the success, it’s just because we have some room for doing things well. It sounds so stupid. The editor, Steven Wacker, trusts Matt and me a lot. It’s like a team job. We’re working together the whole time. The way we work, it’s not like he writes the scripts then sends them to me. We are talking the whole time. He tells me what the story is going to be about, then we talk, he sends me a plot and I start sketching some things. It’s very collaborative. And the same with the colorist, Matt Hollingsworth. For example, we were exchanging emails about the color all day today and yesterday. That’s the only way that the things can work. I think this is one of the reasons for the success. There’s a lot of love from all the team in the book.

“Hawkeye” feels different from other Marvel titles. Do you agree?

I have been asked this before. And maybe right now, there are not many titles like this. But we are not doing something very different from what Marvel did in the 1970s. You pick a title like “Master of Kung-Fu” or “Moon Knight,” and the way they work, you have one story per issue.

“Hawkeye” has some things from the past, but it’s also looking into the future. You can’t do a comic that looks like they looked in the 1990s. Or even 10 years ago. If you look at the most successful graphic novels today, like Chris Ware or Charles Burns, you cannot just do things for a very, very specific superhero audience. You have to open the market.

We have taken a character, okay, he’s in the Avengers, but you don’t need to read another 100 books to understand this one. That is a very important thing.

Why doesn’t Marvel do this with more titles?

I don’t know. Me as a reader, this is what I like. I cannot follow 100 titles. I never have. I was a very hardcore reader of superheroes back in the ‘80s, but in the ‘90s, I stopped reading them. Now that I’ve been working with Marvel, I’ve been trying to read them again, and obviously if there are titles that are more accessible, I prefer it. We’re trying to do a book we’d like to read.

“Hawkeye” is set in Brooklyn’s Bed-Stuy neighborhood. Did you have to use references?

I’ve been to New York, obviously. But with the Internet and Google Maps, it’s very easy. In issue #3, there’s a car chase. I am very psycho with all of that stuff. I needed to know where all the cars were going, where it’s happening. I was checking Google Earth just to know where they’re going and how everything will look. It doesn’t say in the script what the streets are, but at least me, I need to do that stuff.

For example, the archery stuff. If you have a hero who shoots arrows, the least I can do is research how an arrow is fired, you know? I’ve very sick with all that stuff. I can lose a lot of time. But all the little details are what gives you the atmosphere. It’s not the real world because it’s the Marvel Universe, but all these little points give you more — not realism — but it makes it more believable.

Do you ever get emails from archery experts, either praising or complaining about the way you depict archery?

Yeah, that’s great. Emails and Twitter, too. There are a lot of people doing archery, and they’re like, “Oh, you’re doing it right.”

The buildings are also important. It’s very important that if you use photoreference to never forget you’re doing a comic book. What I’m trying to say is that what I’ve tried to do with “Hawkeye” is that I started in illustration. When I first started, I think I draw too much. I put too much information in panels and with the colors. Everything looked too complex. Through the years, I’ve understood that your pictures are going to be read, not looked at. Do you understand?

Yes. The images have to be simpler in the service of communicating the story.

Yeah, I think so. If you put too much information, the eye is going to stop in that picture just to look at that picture, not to read them.

Your work has a strong design influence. Where does that come from?

I am a designer. I don’t know if that’s important, but I suppose it means something. I studied for a degree in fine arts. I have also worked as a graphic designer. I also think comics are about design. It’s panel composition and words with pictures. The typography. Everything is graphic design.

Part 2 with David Aja, back here tomorrow at Parallel Worlds.

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