EP03 - David Messina
DAVID MESSINA - INTERVIEW 2025
I would like to start off by saying thank you for taking the time to do this. I’m really humbled by the experience of getting to know artists whose work I really admire. To learn more about them and their craft has been invaluable. For context, I’ve been a lover of comics since I can remember and the most informative ones were the Ultimate Universe comics during the early 2000s and if I remember correctly that’s where I first saw your name, more precisely in Ultimate Comics Wolverine.
I read that you started out doing Graphic Design (I did the same, before moving into doing key art / posters for movies & tv shows) and also storyboarding / character design in the animation industry. What was that experience like, what lessons did you take away and how did that set up your career as a comic artist?
It was an amazing experience, I did it the first years after school. During that time I started working with the computer and also I learned how to look in art design which is really interesting and a new source of inspiration for me.
In some way my experience in Graphic Design taught me to loom in new and different ways for inspiration and references.
According to Wikipedia, you graduated from the Scuola Internazionale di Comics in Rome. How much did comics or art play a part in your life growing up there?
(As a side note, I’d like to mention that I really love Italy and try to visit it annually because of family friends or going on vacation there, mostly Rome, Venice and Florence and thankfully it’s only a 2 hour flight away from my hometown in Romania. Most of the comics in the late 90s / early 00s that were available here in were the italian imported L’uomo Ragno - Amazing Spider-Man - comics, so those served as my first exposure to the character in comics besides the animated series.)
Comics and art have played a huge part of my life since before the Scuola Internazionale DI Comics.
My father is a painter, an artist and I watched comics (Amazing Spider-Man) even before learning to read (my mother read the balloons for me), so I grew up surrounded by art, painted canvas, painters, sculptors and art critics and comics. And a lot of second hand comics, because at the time the italian publishers of Marvel was closed and it require several years before someone else brought american comics in Italy!
(you are very close to Italy!)
You joined Marvel in 2005. What was that experience like and how did it differ from previous works that you’ve done, especially that it’s a different part of the world with different styles and responsibilities?
I joined Marvel some years later in 2010 with Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man #5. In the years before I was already working with IDW and Image. To work with a different part of the world isn’t easy since there are cultural differences and different ways of conceiving the dynamics of work. Fortunately for me in my early years at IDW, I was able to count on Chris Ryall, who in addition to being a great friend, was an extraordinary editor and mentor and helped me to understand better how things work.
Your art style evolved and changed overtime, yet it remains recognizable. Do you approach each project with the intent that you change up your style slightly (of course inking / coloring matters a lot too) or that just comes based on the type of story that you’re working on?
For every project I start to study the feeling of the series, If possible I’d like to talk with the writer in order to better understand his vision of the story and then I look for the better references to see for the story, looking for them in art, illustration, movie or design.
Add to the end the desire to do better and better, and that's how I start every project!
I think I can remain recognizable because Mucha, Leyendecker, Otomo, Mignola and Hughes never leave my desk as the biggest influence in my art!
You worked at DC on Catwoman and Wonder Woman as well among other titles. Was that experience different from working on Marvel projects or at any other publisher until that point?
Yep, because DC editors asked me to see every step of the work: layouts, pencils and inks while Marvel, after the first issue, trusted me enough to let me free to do my part. It’s a different way to work, I totally respect both, even if I feel more comfortable with the second one.
On other hand I think that the biggest differences are that Marvel’s characters are pop icons while DC Comics’s characters are more archetypal figures and it requires a different approach in my humble opinion.
Since Ultimate Comics Wolverine was mentioned in the beginning, what was that project like, what memories do you have working on it?
It was incredible, my first miniseries at Marvel, done by me with one of fan favorite characters ever and in a Universe, the Ultimate one, that I really loved since the beginning.
Also I had the chance to start working with Gary Erskine, my inker, Cullen Bunn, the writer and Mark Paniccia, my editor who are really amazing people!
Ultimate Spider-Man by Jonathan Hickman is my favorite comic book in a long time. Can you talk in detail about how that project came to you and how it is working on it, what type of preparations you did or discussion you’ve had with Jonathan and Marco, if any? I just love all the nerdy, behind-the-scenes details that go into these types of things.
It was funny: it was night I was sitting on the couch with my girlfriend watching TV and I received the e-mail from Wil Moss and Michelle Marchese in which I was asked if I wanted to join the USM team, which incidentally was the series I was most looking forward to since it featured one of my favorite writers and an illustrator whom I have always admired so much and whom I proudly consider a friend.
So I asked my girlfriend: “please can you read this mail for me? I’m not sure if I have read it correctly!”
Then I talked with Marco who told me that he wanted me on the series. Marco and I share the same love for Spider-Man, and some influences like John Romita Sr and Jr, Gil Kane and we both love Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy.
Ultimate Spider-Man (2024) #4 - Art by: David Messina
You worked on Star Wars: Han Solo & Chewbacca in 2022, can you talk about what that experience was like and how did you approach it?
I was already working with Mark Paniccia (again!) on War of the Bounty Hunters when he came to me with this offer: 10 issues series about Han Solo and Chewbacca!
I was already been a huge Star Wars fan. Working on a story all by myself about one of the most beloved characters of the saga, was really exciting!
This series, other than making me work again with Mark, introduced me to Marc Guggheneim and Alex Sinclair who are not only amazing professionals but also amazing human beings!
We still talk to do again something together.
Angel for IDW is a big part of your bibliography. What was that experience like? Were you a fan of Buffy beforehand? I remember it was all the rage back in the day alongside Alias. Defined an entire generation and became a big part of nerd & pop culture.
Yep, I learned English (not very well as you can see from my answers) watching Angel on DVD with subtitles and I was already a big fan of Buffy, so to start working in the American business with such familiar characters was amazing.
During the years, Angel introduced me to a lot of people which I still consider dear friends of mine and helped me grow a lot, as an artist and as a professional.
You worked on a number of indie projects like 3Keys, can you talk about what it's like co-creating with a writer a personal project and what kind of research goes into developing the world and atmosphere of the comic? As a follow up question, what are you working on right now and / or do you have plans to publish creator owned comic books in the near future?
My first experience in the indie comics was at Image with Joe Casey and Sonia Harris with The Bounce, a 12 issues miniseries. The experience was amazing, despite the strain of working for the first time on a creator owned so I promised to myself to do it again. For a while I worked on a magazine called YAMAZAKY 18 Years created with Kaiju Club, an art collective founded by Valerio Schiti, Paolo Villanelli and me where I wrote and drew small stories in order to improve my skills and learn how to handle a comic all by myself. When I felt good enough to try something bigger, I started working on 3Keys. The book was a sum of all the things I loved, starting with 2 great passions of mine Calvin & Hobbes and the Randolph Carter cycle of Lovecraft, which I always thought had a lot more in common than it seemed at first glance.
At the moment I’m working on another 2 sequels of 3Keys: one set 23 years in the future and another one set 70 years in the past.
My favorite nerdy question, what does your sketchbook look like, what kind of tools do you use?
I use different sketchbooks, every time I find a new one in an art supply I buy it and start to try the paper with different stuff. Usually I use calligraphic Japanese brushes, Faber Castell ‘s marker, Tombow’s marker and Copic Marker (and colored pencil for the last details). The white details are done with acrylic.
Which is your favorite variant that comes to mind, that you’ve done over the years, or the one that is your most cherished?
Variant cover? I think the one I did for the German edition of Nero, the Star Trek spin-off of the J.J. Abramas movie.
Star Trek: Nero German Edition Variant - Art by: David Messina
I still think it’s one of my favorites, I can still look at it without criticizing it too much (and it’s not easy for me not to criticize my work).
If you could recommend a comic to someone who never saw your work before, which one would be? Alternatively, which is the one comic that you didn’t like for any reason, that you worked on?
Good question! I think I’d say 3Keys, since it’s the one more close to myself, my vision, without the inevitable (and necessary) compromise that working on characters not your own, on texts not your own requires. it's probably the comic that's most like me.
The one I feel least proud of I think is the second Angel miniseries (Angel: Old Friends) because I was physically too tired, (I started it right after the first one) didn't handle the work well by producing something I don't feel is mine. On that occasion I did not give my best and I am sorry.
AI is now making lots of headlines. What are the pros and cons of working traditionally versus digitally, for you? How does the process differ and what would you recommend watching out for in this regard?
The problem of AI goes beyond the question of whether or not to work digitally. All of our work is at the prey of being engulfed by them, regardless of how they are made. I think the only thing is to put up a united front, follow realities like EGAIR that are trying to lobby the European Parliament to regulate these AIs. Don't make the error to think that this is not our problem!
What kind of techniques or warm-ups would you recommend doing daily, sketching wise, to improve the skills?
Usually I do a headshot, using different art supplies every time before starting a page. Strictly on paper and strictly something I like and enjoy. No more than 30/45 minutes.
In general I believe drawing from life, whether roads or people or statues is a wonderful exercise to implement one's talent.
Last question, what was the best and worst advice you received?
The best one, told to me by Klaus Janson was definitely: Think about where you want to be five years from now. Do your best to get there. After 2 years see where you are and if you are still too far off and if necessary review your strategies or goals.
The worst?
Never pull away from a drawing that in the end, what we draw is all that is left of us: and that is how I became so slow to making sketches or commissions at show!
Thank you David so much for answering my questions. I know you’re really busy, so just simply taking the time to do this really means a lot! Hope you have a great day and can’t wait to see what’s next!
You can follow David Messina on X(Twitter) and Instagram.
