An Interview with Artist Ryan Hill - FCBD Avatar: The Last Airbender :: Blog

Follow Dark Horse Comics:

An Interview with Artist Ryan Hill - FCBD Avatar: The Last Airbender

04/24/2013 12:00pm

Free Comic Book Day 2013 is coming this May 4th and we've got a great selection of comics for you. One of which is a brand new Avatar: The Last Airbender story written by Gene Luen Yang with art by Ryan Hill. We sat down with Ryan to ask a few questions about his work.

Dark Horse Comics: You’ve been a fan of Avatar: The Last Airbender for quite some time. What was it like being able to do the art for a new comic?

Ryan Hill: Thrilling. Both in the exciting and slightly fearful sense. The show holds such amazing standards for both design and storytelling; I wanted to try to do that justice. As stated, I’ve been a huge Avatar fan for a very, very long time and was even allowed to be part of the group that helped to bring the license to Dark Horse in the first place. I was at the first meeting with Mike and Bryan in San Diego and worked on the production side of the art book and initial graphic novels. Little did anyone know at the time that getting to do something like this was my plan all along.

DHC: What was the most important thought for you going into this project?

RH: Not dropping the ball. Getting the chance to contribute to something you love, your hope is for that care and respect to be extremely visible in your work. But you also (obviously) have to manage that expectation against whatever time and deadline you have. Trying to squeeze the perfect version in your head into the timespan you’ve got can be frustrating. But that’s standard Creative Endeavor Problems 101. The pressure gets put on just a little more when you already have an immense amount of respect for the subject matter and its known level of quality beforehand.

DHC: Why do you think the Avatar: The Last Airbender series as a whole connected with so many people?

RH: The characters. For me, that’s always the biggest way people attach themselves to a story. The show’s cast was amazingly realized. In one episode you can have a multitude of characters being funny, angry, afraid, determined, and back to funny with it never feeling forced or didactic. The writing and animation worked at such a level that I constantly forgot I was watching a cartoon and just felt like I was looking into this world. It’s a testament to the show and the people who put it together that there is a very large audience, I believe, that feels the same way.

DHC: What can fans expect from the Airbender Free Comic Book Day offering from Dark Horse Comics?

RH: Mai. When I found out the story was Mai-centric, I really got excited. She’s introduced as a kind of a mysterious badass at the beginning of season 2. Then over the course of the series she’s slowly revealed to have this amazing character arc. She gets her moments in the spotlight during the series but she’s kind of a side character. In this story Gene put her front and center, and I was over the moon to get to draw it.

DHC: What kind of challenges did you have to overcome with this project?

RH: Not letting the perfect be the enemy of the completed. In the end, though, I gave it my all and am very proud of the result. I am really excited for everyone to get to see it.

DHC: If you had a superpower, what would it be?

RH: I’ve always wanted to be able to manipulate talent in people. Being able to make my loved ones effortlessly great at everything they are already incredible at, so it’s easier for them to do more and more of it. Conversely, making my enemies terrible at everything they like to do seems like a pretty great comeuppance.

Dark Horse Comics

An Interview with Artist Ryan Hill - FCBD Avatar: The Last Airbender

Tags

Recent Posts

Archive

Services

Sites

Company

Contact & News

Dark Horse Comics

An Interview with Artist Ryan Hill - FCBD Avatar: The Last Airbender

Tags

Subscribe

Recent Posts

Archive

Services

Sites

Company

Contact & News