Disney LongBox Interviews: Dave Alvarez

Mat here to welcome you to the very first interview I have planned with Disney comic book writers and artists for DisKingdom. I asked my good friend Dave Alvarez to be my first interviewee , I got a few more planned so look forward to those. Hopefully you will all enjoy these interviews and check out their other non-Disney works.

How did you first enter the comics industry ?
– It’s funny because I did everything the “right” way and it sort of worked out. I saw a Looney Tunes comic book at a local Walgreens and decided to write a letter and ask for their submission guidelines. I got the letter months after and I prepared a portfolio. LITERALLY a fat portfolio with a bunch of self-written comics and mockup covers.
After I send it, Peter Tuminello, head of design at that moment at WB told me that my portfolio was the last one of a bunch of portfolios to revise. That day they decided to tilt the bunch upside down and by default mine was on top. The rest is history.

What made you want to go in that line of work ?
– I wanted to work on animation but my family didn’t have the resources so comic books and comic strips were the closest thing.

What was your first job with a liscenced property ?
-The Animaniacs comic, then I was asked which property I wanted to be featured as a regular artist and I told them Looney Tunes, since they last forever.

 

                                       Sample from Animaniacs #39 (1998)

 What were some of the challenges you had with DC over your Looney Tunes stories and its eventual shift into re-printing stories later on ? 
– I had a blast with my first editors back in the 90’s. The Looney Tunes comics were experimental so we sort of lived a Golden Age. There weren’t much restrictions and we got away with a lot of things.

                                     Looney Tunes #44 ( First Interior Work)

With time, the cartoon books were more observed by Warner Bros and many stuff couldn’t be done anymore, like guns or physical violence. The look of the characters were also supervised. We couldn’t get away with drawing a story in Bob Clampett style because now everything needed to be “on model”. (the 1991 model sheet to be specific).

                                  Looney Tunes #45 ( First Cover Artwork)

Now things changed and even though, the characters need to be on model, we are allowed to do funny stuff again.

 WRITER’S NOTE : You can catch Dave’s newest Looney Tunes work in Looney          Tunes #231 coming out in June 2016 from DC Comics.

You were known for your fan drawings with Disney characters such as the Walking Dead illustration or your Lonesome Ghostbusters comics , did you ever think it would help you land your job with Disney Comics and IDW?

                            Lonesome Ghostbusters Fan Comic ( DeviantArt)

No. I thought that they would sue me at some point. LOL. Those drawings went so viral that I got worried. The Lonesome Ghostbusters fan art had a million views in less than an hour! However it was fun to see a bunch of Disney artists and licensors visiting my booth at New York Comic Con to get these prints.

                             Goofy as Iron Man Fan Comic ( DeviantArt)

Fortunately David Gerstein, their head editor and a good friend of mine gave me the chance to try my hand on the Disney characters.

Tell me what are some of the steps with drawing a cover for the IDW Disney comics ? Does it involve a lot of editing following Disney’s suggestions ?

It does. The Disney covers get heavily edited and the art needs to be on high quality shape. I’ve learned to perfect my artwork that way. Sometimes I got sloppy and a line overlapped the other and I didn’t notice. Now I do.

                      Concept and Final Cover Art for Donald Duck #2 (IDW)

What is your favourite Disney cover up to this point , mine would have to be the Haunted Mansion Mickey Mouse one ?

                              Final Art for Mickey Mouse #5 SUB Cover (IDW)

I’m glad you liked that one. That cover got edited several times. The original sketch featured Mickey Mouse being scared of the statues but Disney didn’t wanted that. So it was changed to a “happy” Mickey at the end.  My favorite would be a detective Mickey cover that I did but was never featured for being too scary. Someday I’ll share it.

Do you hope to eventually make original stories for IDW or Egmont involving the Disney characters ?
Of course. Looking forward to it if it happens

Do you have any plans with doing Disney work for Joe Books ?
Most definitely, if they call me I’ll be glad to.

If so, what are some ideas you have in mind for both companies ?
Plenty. My main interest would be to draw the characters in a very expressive way.

 

What else have you been working on, I heard you were working on a monster project involving Puerto Rican mythology ?

Yes. It’s a project that I’ve been developing with my kids based on a mix of local mythology and fantasy. It’s called “Vejigantes”. A bunch of mythical creatures that lived on the island ages ago and are discovered by these kids.

 If people are looking to buy your art, where can they find you ?
 dascomics.com   or my Facebook page DaveAlvarezStudio

WRITER’S NOTE : Commisions are highly recommended , here is one I ordered from Dave, it is very well done, be sure to get one from him for your collection.

Thank you for reading this interview ? Who do you want to see next ? How many should I upload per week or month ? Comment down below