Hawkguy
Marvel has eyes for Annie Wu with work on Hawkeye
Marvel is about to give people another artist to fall for in the pages of Hawkeye #8, arriving Feb. 27. This special Valentine’s Day issue by Matt Fractiona and Javier Pulido will have a guest star as young artist Annie Wu takes part in the issue, as recently announced on Twitter by editor Stephen Wacker. According to Wacker, the “outstanding” Wu will provide several illustrations for the issue, which promises “Valentine’s Day with THE heartthrob of the Marvel Universe? This will be… confusing. Xoxo, Hawkeye.”
Wu is short on actual published comics on her bibliography, but creators and fans up and down the aisle have been anxiously watching for more work for her. She did a short story in a 2011 issue of DC/Vertigo’s House of Mystery, and some fashion illustrations with comic sensibilities for magazines. Wu is currently a color designer for the animated series The Venture Bros., and is rumored to have been working on a long-form project for DC this past year. On her site you can see more of her work, from covers to the upcoming First Comics’ title Public Relations and excellent costume redesigns she did for Project: Rooftop.
Conversing on Comics with David Aja
Rough around the edges but as precise as a Swiss clock. It’s an apt description for the Marvel character Hawkeye, and also the work of series artist David Aja.
Born and raised in Valladolid, Spain, the same town Don Quixote author Miguel de Cervantes called home, Aja earned a college degree in illustration as was on his way to a career in magazine illustration before he followed his childhood ambition: comics. After a prosaic debut in the Marvel anthology X-Men Unlimited, Aja grew by leaps and bounds before becoming the signature artist of the cult-hit series The Immortal Iron Fist with writers Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction. After the conclusion of his run, Aja did a series of one-off stories for titles like Secret Avengers, Daredevil and Wolverine: Debt of Death while he and his wife added two children to their home already filled with animals. This year, Aja and Fraction reunited for another series, this time taking on classic Avenger (and newly minted movie star) Hawkeye in a self-titled series that focuses on the archer’s life when he’s not working as one of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
After last week’s stupendous one-off story in Hawkeye #6, Aja seems on top of his game. And what better time to get inside his head and find out what he thinks about comics and his place in it. In our conversation, we go over his time on The Immortal Iron Fist and Hawkeye, his views on original art, and also his idea of creative teams and what his formula is for making a great comic.