PART 2: David Aja and the Art of Hawkeye

We continue our chat with David Aja, the Eisner-nominated artist for “Hawkeye.” If you missed part one, read it here. And read Matt Fraction’s view here and here.

Your covers are especially beautiful and work almost like advertising billboards or Russian propaganda posters. What are you trying to accomplish?

It’s the same. The objective of the cover is to sell a comic. If you have 1,000 comics in the bookshop, you have to do something different. You have to make your cover to be the first one seen. The covers have to jump out. The way to do it is to do something different. If you do the same, it’s going to get lost. Also, I like doing them this way. I like the Bauhaus, and there’s a lot of influence there, I think.

Which cover is your favorite?

I do not know. I think issue #3 is special. I’m really happy with all of them, but I don’t think I have a favorite one.

You also designed the “Hawkeye” logo?

Yes, I designed it. There have been a lot of “Hawkeye” series before, and the thing is, we were trying to do something different. I also wanted it to be different from other Marvel comics, so I wanted to say that in the logo. The logo is saying, “Hey, this isn’t the same ‘Hawkeye’ series you’ve read.” I have designed other logos. I designed the logo for “The Immortal Iron Fist.”

Purple is very prominent in “Hawkeye.” Are you a fan?

Yeah, I love that color, obviously. It’s the main Hawkeye color, but also, it’s my favorite color. If you look at my studio, my table is purple, my cup of coffee is purple, my curtains are purple.

The coloring is a bit different in that it’s “flat.” Why?

It’s more striking. These days, there are two targets to cover. There is the comic shop, but also there is the digital shop. In the digital shop, I have noticed that all the covers look very small. If you do something very complicated and without flat colors, it’s going to get lost. It’s all about the market.

It’s also about taste. I’m doing what I like.

You seem to have a strong sense of marketing.

I’m working in the market. I’m working for a big publisher, Marvel. I’m not an artist. I’m doing a job and, okay, it’s an artistic job, but it’s a job. That’s all.

But you’re still creating something.

Of course. But we must never lose that point. What I told you in the beginning, if you do things right and put love in the things you’re doing in the final product, it’s going to work.

How long do you plan to stay on “Hawkeye?”

I don’t know. In truth, it’s very, very hard. The monthly basis is crazy. I’m not even able to do it on a monthly basis. This last issue, I tried to be fast, but it’s very, very hard. Doing 20 pages in one month is easy. But the problem is not doing that 20 pages in a month. It’s, once you finish, you have to do another 20 pages. Then another 20 pages. Then another. And also the covers in between. And ink everything, because I ink my own work. You can also lose a week of work being sick. Sometimes things take longer. You do that a couple times, and you’ve lost a month. And on and on and on. I think the only way this can work is having a great relationship with the editors and the writer and the colorist. Everyone is happy working on the book. If not, we would be like, “F—!” You have to be happy doing it.

You prefer to work for while then take a break?

It would be better, I think. I think what would be great would be to work like [European] TV seasons. For example, you do six episodes, then you take a break. But when you talk about “taking a break,” you’re not really stopping work. I think it would be better to take a break for two months or three months, then continue with another six issues or something like that. Maybe we’ll do it some day. Also, Matt and I have been talking about doing some creator-owned stuff. I also have been thinking about doing graphic novels, but I have to find time. It’s difficult with the work on a monthly basis. Also, I have two kids.

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