Talking With David Nakayama About ‘The Marvel Art Of David Nakayama’ — Crowdfunding Now

David Nakayama sumptuous artwork has been adorning the comic book covers of comics for a good decade and change now. And Marvel has partnered up with Clover Press to present some of this inimitable artwork in an oversized hardback art book, The Marvel Art Of David Nakayama,  currently crowdfunding on Kickstarter. As a huge fan I couldn’t resist the chance to interview Nakayama (hey, it’s one of the perks of being a Senior Editor!), and so I did. 

Olly MacNamee: To comic book fans we know you primarily from your beautiful covers, which you are collating for your new book, The Marvel Art of David Nakayama. But, will we see more than just this? What can fans expect in the way of content by backing this art book?

David Nakayama: So the really exciting thing about this book, The Marvel Art Of David Nakayama, is that I’ve never had any kind of art book before. Ever. Not even a sketchbook! Fans have been asking for years for something like this, and we’re finally delivering it. And it’s very comprehensive, including not just a huge collection of, covers, but also toy and video game illustrations— some that have never appeared in print before!

MacNamee: It must feel like a huge honour to be given the The Marvel Art of… treatment. How are you feeling being up there with such contemporary greats as David Mack and Alex Maleev?

Nakayama: It’s quite an honor! Those guys are amazing, and I’m a big fan of the quality that Clover Press puts into all of their books. Made it very easy to team up with them for this project. I can’t wait for fans to see all the cool features of the book when it’s revealed on Kickstarter (Editor’s note: not soon, but now!).

MacNamee: In sifting through so much past work with Marvel, I imagine it was a fond nostalgic trip down memory lane. Any vivid and fond memories come to mind when you were looking back at your Marvel work so far?

Nakayama:  Haha—at first, I was dreading it! You’re always growing and improving as an artist, so sometimes it can be tough to look back on past mistakes. But you know, it actually did end up being a fun nostalgic trip. Older pieces were not as bad as I feared, and sometimes I could see germs of my modern style appearing years before I thought. That was fascinating! I was nice to think about old favorites like Big Hero 6 and Rocket Raccoon again.

MacNamee: As a comic book fan and Kubert Art School alumni, which Marvel characters were on your hit list to portray when you first moved to Marvel?

Nakayama: Oh, man! I’ve been a Marvel fan my whole life, so just about everything has been exciting to me. But my entrance into comic art and fandom has always been Jim Lee’s X-Men, so of course X-Men has a special place in my heart. Captain America too, because I think he’s just the most pure superhero there is, and that remains a future project I would love to tackle some day.

MacNamee: As well as a sumptuous art book, what other rewards can backers find on the campaign? Any stretch goals, as I imagine this will be a very successful campaign from day one?

Nakayama: Here’s hoping! I’m feeling pretty good about it, especially because we’ll be offering all kinds of juicy incentives including special additions, signed copies, remarques, maybe some sketching too 😉.

MacNamee: Finally, David, you have a very varied career. So, why still give time over to comic book work?

Nakayama: All I ever wanted to be when I grow up was a comic book artist. It was a goal of mine when I was 12 years old, and I never really looked back. I did a long tour in video games, and I enjoy freelancing on other stuff too, but at the end of the day, my heart will always be with comic books. As long as the fans are enjoying  my work, I’m planning to stick around until I can’t hold a pencil anymore.

MacNamee: All the best with the campaign, David. Although something tells me it’ll be a huge success.

Nakayama: Thanks a lot, Olly! Great to chat with you!