We recently had a chance to chat with pinup master Adam Hughes at the 2009 Comic-Con International. While the interview started as an opportunity to discuss the breathtaking new “Cover Girls of the DC Universe” statue line, it ended up traveling down an increasingly interesting path. Did you know that when it comes to capturing Wonder Woman, it’s all in the eyes? Or that Adam aches to draw Captain America breaking Nazis in two? Read on for more interesting info straight from AH! himself.
Girls Entertainment Network: Thanks for taking the time to speak with us! First, I wanted to ask you about the new statue line. Is it the “Women of the DC Universe” or “Cover Girls of the DC Universe?”
Adam Hughes: I believe they are calling it the “Cover Girls of the DC Universe” because they are borrowing all the concepts and designs from my work.
GEN: If they are using your art as inspiration, is there much work on your end as far as the design process? Are you on hand to refine the designs so that they work better in a 3D space?
Hughes: Actually, yes. The thing about my covers is that more often than not I draw from the knees up. So a lot of times they come to me and ask “what are her feet doing in this pose?” or “what should Black Canary’s shoes look like?” So I answer a lot of from-the-knee-down questions.
GEN: Do the artists draw from one specific image then? The pose and clothing exactly? Or are they just shooting for an “Adam Hughes-esq look?”
Hughes: They tend to draw from a specific image. But DC realized that they have created a problem for themselves. Normally for DC I do runs on covers, so they have access to the Wonder Woman or Catwoman covers. But after those two statues they were like “Adam, have you ever drawn Harley Quinn?” and I was like “No” and then they are like “How about a Batgirl cover?” and again I was like…“No.” So I had to start designing a few covers specifically for the line.
GEN: Are these new covers going to be seen in a print run? Or are they just for reference?
Hughes: I am creating imagery and I think they will become covers down the road. They better use them
somewhere gosh darn-it!
GEN: At this point in the line Wonder Woman, Catwoman, Zatanna, Black Canary and Power Girl have been announced correct?
Hughes: And Harley Quinn
GEN: Oh! I haven’t seen that one yet!
Hughes: You can see a prototype at DC Direct booth right now. I think it is shiny because the paint is still wet. Monday night I got Jpegs of the wax phase from the sculpture and they were asking me to sign off on it so they could get it ready for San Diego.
GEN: So you have to sign off and approve on every piece? Give it the final “Adam Hughes seal of approval?”
Hughes: Yes, they are very nice. They want to be able to look people in the eye and say, “Adam really likes these.” But it’s really rare that I inflict torture on the sculptor and ask them to change things.
GEN: Are they usually spot-on to your rendering of a character?
Hughes: For the most part, they are very spot-on. Usually the only difference is in the actual technique. A lot of times people are like “This statue doesn’t look like Adam’s artwork.” But they have to understand that my two-dimensional artwork being interpreted by a three-dimensional artist is going to look different. And some of that three-dimensional artists technique and flair is going to come through. So there will be a lot of 
times when I look at a statue and say “Oh, that’s not really the way I do eyes,” but that is the way the sculptor does eyes whether it be on a Jim Lee version or a Adam Hughes version. He always puts those eyes on his statues. And I think that is okay because enough of me comes through and I think there should be a little bit of a fingerprint of the one doing all the work. We don’t want them to simply be a sculptor monkey—just mimicking everything.
GEN: Are there any other characters in the Cover Girls of the DC Universe line that have been announced? Or haven’t? [laughs]
Hughes: Well, they don’t like us to talk about them much. But I can say that we would be remiss in doing a Harley Quinn statue without doing someone else to go with her. So that is something to go on. But I would expect all the statues to remain women, so don’t be expecting Superman or Green Lantern any time soon.
GEN: Switching gears to your art style in general—you have a very iconic look to your work and somehow you manage to leave your mark on very established comic book characters. So when you are first approached with illustrating a new character, how do you decide your approach to the face or the body to make it your own?
Hughes: That is a good question because I struggle. If I don’t understand a character—if I don’t know who Selina Kyle is I can’t really do a good Catwoman. If I don’t have a good idea I can’t draw her very well. And so I usually feel that the first five or six covers that I draw are more in tune to a cosplayer or an impersonator—I am drawing someone in a costume.
But then somewhere along the lines I find what I call “the hook.” The hook is moment in time when I go “Oh,
okay” and it is something that dawns on me that no one else has noticed or done with the character. Catwoman is a good example because for the longest time I played around asking “Who is Selina Kyle, what is she like?” And then I realized I really liked the 1950s and 1960s “To Catch a Thief” lounge-apartment type of feel. And at one point I just went “That’s her!” She is this kind of 1950s Audrey Hepburn kind of character with way too much eyebrow makeup and short black hair. And I went “Perfect! That is it!” And from then on it wasn’t just about the face, but I had a great idea of who the character was. It takes some time for me to find my particular hook. So if you see a single illustration of a character by me and it’s kind of dull it’s because I haven’t found the hook yet.
GEN: What are your hooks with Zatanna and Wonder Woman?
Hughes: For Wonder Woman it is a bit more diffused because I have been doing her for nine or 10 years now. I am working on my own Wonder Woman comic for DC, at a glacial pace if anyone wants to ask, and it’s a very subtle and vague hook. My take on Wonder Woman is that she Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. She is a good girl from a pretty much perfect place. And why would someone like that want to leave home? It’s because she has a sense of wanderlust and an insatiable curiosity about the world, so that is my take and my hook. It’s about curiosity and wonder and it come out in the eyes.
Zatanna—I am still working on her, but with her I go a bit more superficial. Very Moulin Rouge. I look at her and think I am not drawing a superhero; I am drawing a vaudeville magician’s daughter who is caught up in a super world. You don’t’ draw her the same way you draw Supergirl or Hawkwoman. You have to treat he like an early twentieth century stage magician.
GEN: Last question then. Are there any characters that you haven’t worked with yet that you would love to put your spin on?
Hughes: Is this male or female?
GEN: Either!
Hughes: Captain America. He is a superhero I have always loved because I could relate to what was going on. It’s the tale of a non-perfect person and there is always something that keeps him from being heroic. But then someone gives you a magic potion and all of a sudden heroism is within your fingertips and you can do with it what you will. And you go off and fight a big war. That to me is a great character. But then you take him and you freeze him in ice and then you do a story about a man from the 40s being frozen and being released in the modern world. You can do a million things with this character and I would have so much fun with it. And you could just draw him beating people up. I think it would be great. I ache, I ache, to draw Nazis having their jaws broken and their ribs cracked in a gruesome way. I have wanted to do that my whole life and someday I will.
As an extra treat, Adam passed along the piece that inspired the latest addition to the Cover Girls of the DC Universe line—Harley Quinn! Enjoy!
The statues in the Cover Girls of the DC Universe line retail for $99 each and can be ordered (or reserved) through DC Direct.
