In today’s entry into Artist August, we’ll be featuring Evan “Doc” Shaner. Evan is a guy who has really seen his star rise in the past few years, and it’s obvious why: the guy is flat out awesome. His work can currently be seen in “Dark Horse Presents” as he and writer Nate Cosby put together the Wu Tang quoting, laugh inducing “Buddy Cops.” Join us as we talk to Shaner about what made him want to work in comics, why Captain Marvel is the best, and a whole lot more.
Thanks to Evan for chatting with us, and check back in a bit for a post featuring Shaner’s art.
Can you look back on your life and recall the single moment or work that made you want to work in comics? Or was it more of a natural progression that led you here?
Evan Shaner: Yes and no. I started out wanting to work in newspaper strips, growing up on a healthy diet of Peanuts, Calvin & Hobbes, and Pogo. I got the bug early, reading those and trying to copy the drawings. Later on I had drifted into music, then back into comics again in high school through the superhero books. In college, I got a job working as the staff cartoonist and knew right away that I wanted to keep doing something like that forever.
When I look at your work, it seems to have a good amount of Silver Age influence. Who or what would you say has influenced the development of your art the most?
ES: In terms of how I work now, Joe Kubert and Alex Toth are probably the biggest two. I discovered Kubert when I got back into drawing and his work has always stuck with me. I didn’t get into Toth until much later but it was the same thing. From there, Frank Robbins, Jordi Bernet, Mike Wieringo, and Darwyn Cooke are always in the back of my head somewhere.
Let’s get one more obvious one out of the way: where does the nickname “Doc” come from?
ES: A music teacher in middle school who knew my dad and called him “Doctor” Shaner started calling me “Doc”. It stuck throughout high school and then I started using it publicly because it seemed to be easier for folks to remember, pronounce, and spell than Evan. You might be surprised how often people get it wrong.
The first thing I saw from you and your Buddy Cops collaborator, Nate Cosby, was a little six-panel monologue from Captain Marvel that he wrote and you illustrated. First off, what is it that appeals to you about working with Nate, and second off, why do you love Captain Marvel so much?
ES: Nate likes to have fun with whatever he’s doing and I think that’s what makes working with him work. We have a lot of similar sensibilities and tastes, at least in terms of comics, and he’s always made working with him very easy.
Something about Captain Marvel’s attitude and the tone of those Fawcett books has always attracted me. Especially in contrast to a lot of the books out today, I love a story that dares to take chances on wild concepts and pulls it off so effortlessly. Captain Marvel has always struck me as friendly and endlessly optimistic, which is incredibly endearing to me. Plus, C.C. Beck drew some of the greatest comics ever.
Buddy Cops just debuted in the most recent issue of Dark Horse Presents, and our first dose of the characters was a blast. What’s the origin of this story for you and Nate, and when you two were developing it, what did you look to for inspiration?
ES: Nate had been developing the idea before he and I started talking, sometime late 2010. I think it was called “FUZZ” at the time. I can’t speak for Nate, most of my contribution was in the design of the characters and less so them as personalities. I’m not sure that we even had full story ideas at that point.
How did Buddy Cops end up at Dark Horse?
ES: Former Assistant Editor John Schork wrote me and I asked if I’d be interested in pitching something for Dark Horse Presents. I’d never written anything before so I turned to Nate and asked him if he might want to take Buddy Cops to DHP. John seemed to like the idea and was very supportive of us early on.
Continued belowWhat’s the current plan for Buddy Cops? I know when it was introduced originally, it sounded like it was going to be Dark Horse Presents only, but has that plan changed?
ES: Right now we’ve just got the three stories in Dark Horse Presents #14, #15, and #16. I just finished my work on them last week. We’re looking at trying to spin it off into a miniseries. If that’s something that sounds fun to any readers then telling Dark Horse so directly would go a long way to helping that happen.
You can find your art all over the web on sites like Comic Twart and Project: Rooftop, and it seems to me you frequently collaborate or share the experience of creation with others in the process. What does participating in something like Comic Twart do for you as an artist? Do you feel like that experience has pushed you to want to do more with your work?
ES: It certainly has. Especially at the beginning, being a part of the Comic Twart was great for me. It got my name out there and when you’re in a group with those guys, all very talented artists, it definitely pushed me to work at a new level. Plus they’re all friendly guys who were more than willing to share their experience and advice when I was starting out. Having a weekly theme like that was a lot of fun too, especially when it was a character or book I wasn’t familiar with or would have normally been outside my wheelhouse.
I came across the concept work you did for fun with Jon Morris for a “Young Inhumans” book on Project: Rooftop. First off, I feel like I need that book in my life. Second off, it seems to me when I look at some of the things you’ve created online that you have great interest in all-ages projects and characters. Would you say that’s a fair assessment? If so, where does that personal interest come from?
ES: Ha, thanks! I told Jon immediately after I drew all those designs that I wish it were a real book. I loved the idea.
Working on some all-ages material is very important to me. I came into reading comics through a lot of work that was decidedly all-ages and most of my favorite books and movies are all-ages. To me it means a chance to reach as many people as possible, especially younger readers, who I think are infinitely more fun to try and tell a story to. In a broad sense I think they’re more willing to entertain more adventurous ideas.
What would be a dream project for you? Any particular writers you’re dying to work with or titles you’d like to take a stab at? Perhaps a personal project you just want to see come to fruition?
ES: I try not to get too caught up in dream projects for folks like DC and Marvel, because who knows? My career may just not be down that path. There are certainly a number of characters I’d love to take on though. Captain Marvel, or any of the Marvels, of course. Plastic Man. The Fantastic Four, Daredevil, the Agents of Atlas, I’m sure there are plenty more. I’ve always really wanted to a Zorro book, that’s pretty high up on my list. Jonah Hex, but I just really like drawing westerns in general. B.P.R.D. too, those books always seem like so much fun to work on.
I’ve worked with him before, but I’d love to work with Paul Tobin again. I’d really like to work with Jeff Parker at some point too. Roger Langridge, Phil Hester, Mark Waid, Kurt Busiek, probably far more.
I’ve got two projects that I’ve come up with myself, but I’m still figuring out what I want to do with them exactly. Trying to learn more about writing in the meantime.
Desert Island question: one book, one album, one film and one comic. What do you take with you?
ES: This might be the toughest question yet. I’m having trouble thinking of just one for each.
Book: Neil Gaiman’s “American Gods”
Album: Freddie Hubbard’s “Red Clay”
Film: Back to the Future
Continued belowComic: DC: The New Frontier Absolute Edition
Who are your favorite artists working in comics today?
ES: I know I’m going to forget some people with this one. Chris Samnee, Daniel Acuña, Goran Parlov, Paolo Rivera, Joe Quinones, John Paul Leon, Colleen Coover, Denis Bodart, Tom Fowler, Mitch Gerads, Declan Shalvey, Eric Canete, Guy Davis, Ming Doyle, Olivier Coipel, Jake Wyatt, Stuart Immonen, Mitch Breitweiser, Bettie Breitweiser, and Jordie Bellaire to name a few. That’s just off the top of my head but I know there’s a lot more.
Besides Buddy Cops, what projects do you have coming up?
ES: I’m working on a short story for an issue of Four Star Studios’ “Double Feature” with a writer named Dave Hendrick, which should be coming up soon. I’m also working with Nate Cosby again on a western, which is all I’m going to say about it at the moment.
