Countdown to Wonder Woman: Interview With Aaron Lopresti

This is an excerpt of an interview Aaron Lopresti conducted with Rich Schepis in 2015.

How would you describe your time on Wonder Woman?

Great.  Gail Simone was terrific to work with. Matt Idelson was the editor and was also a lot of fun to work with. We started off my run with a Sword and Sorcery genre story, so how could I possibly complain? It was kind of sad to move off that book but things inevitably change.

What was the biggest obstacle you faced drawing Wonder Woman?

I was completely unfamiliar with the character. I knew who she was, obviously, but I had never read a Wonder Woman story in my life. As a result, I was constantly pulling reference to figure out who or what I was drawing. The nice thing was, Gail was sort of charting a new course for her so there were a lot of new characters and situations which made it easier on me. The first story arc was so removed from the regular reality of Wonder Woman that it gave me a chance to get to know the character a little before she returned to her regular time line.

Which issue of your Wonder Woman run is your favorite and why?

I am going to cheat and say equal parts of issues #21 and #22, my first two issues. My favorite scene from the whole series is where Wonder Woman meets and faces off with Beowulf and then teams with him to fight off the demon hordes inside the Viking lodge. The splash page from issue #22 is my favorite page from the entire series. It’s the closest I will ever come to a Barry Smith style Conan page.

What other creative team’s Wonder Woman run did you enjoy and why?

The only one I ever looked at was Terry Dodson’s which was right before me. Terry and I are good friends and I always check out what he is doing. Little did I know that I would end up following him on the series. I almost didn’t take the job because I really didn’t want to follow Terry and I didn’t want it to look like I somehow got the job because of him. But Mike Marts talked me into it and it was the right decision.

How did you and Gail Simone plot out issues?

I never really get in the way of the writer unless they ask me what I want to draw. In the case of Wonder Woman, Gail asked me what I liked to draw and I told her Sword and Sorcery and dinosaurs! I can’t remember if she crafted the first story arc to suit my tastes or if she was already going in that direction but either way it worked out great. Gail was always cognisant of our different tastes and sensibilities (me being a Christian) and always checked with me if she thought she might be writing something that I might find offensive to draw.  She was very considerate and easy to work with.