Dan Panosian Talks SABRETOOTH

[Stephanie]

Dan Panosian, who recently worked on X-MEN ORIGINS: SABRETOOTH with writer Kieron Gillen, agreed to answer a few questions about the comic. We started by talking about Sabretooth and the fresh artistic features Panosian gives him. The artist endeavors to bring as much life as possible to Sabretooth and all the characters he draws.

Panosian (right) with long-time friend Art Thibert at SDCC

“It's always my goal to infuse as much personality and character into my drawings. Even though the panels are single images I want them to be as alive as a motion picture. I want all the subtlety of expression in their faces and gestures.”

In the story, the reader watches as Victor Creed grows up—from his years as a young boy to bar fights with Wolverine, his time with Team X, and finally a decade later on Logan’s birthday. The changes to Creed’s appearance over his lifetime are detectable throughout the issue.

“In each era, I tried to capture that 'look' and what would work for Sabretooth. If you'll notice, when he's working as a special operative, he sort of has an early Robert Redford look to him. The hair, the turtleneck ...”

Did you catch Logan’s healing factor at work after Logan and Victor’s first side-by-side bar brawl? The level of detail present in the artwork required a meticulous process and lots of research to make each panel and period in Victor’s life look just right—and that includes interior decorating!

“He's wearing a leisure suit when we see him at that government office. At the end of the book he's donning that classic look John Byrne gave him in those very early UNCANNY X-MEN. I had a blast getting the details right. There's a George Nelson wall clock in the sparse Special Ops office. Things like that made the whole experience authentic for me. If you look at government offices back then and even now, there's not much in the way of furniture or interior design to date them. So making something look like it's taking place in the sixties required some creativity.”

One aspect of the comic focuses on communicating Sabretooth’s personality through his chilling blue eyes and the variation of shadows around them. According to Panosian, playing around with that feature adds layers to the character and boosts the overall strength of the comic.

“I wanted him to look unpredictable. He's a villain, but I also wanted him to be ever so slightly likeable. I posted the cover [on my Deviant Art Gallery] and on my blog, and I was surprised by how many female fans found the cover I drew sexy. I guess he has that 'bad boy' look down! I loved drawing his expressions. His eyes tell the story. He may be saying one thing, but he most certainly means something else entirely.”

The comic’s depth is certainly attributed both to Panosian and storyteller Kieron, who worked confidently with each other.

“Working with Kieron was easy. I received the script and there was only one part we needed to change for the sake of continuity. I didn't question his storytelling and he didn't question mine. It worked out perfectly well.”

Ian Hannin’s colors turned out to be a perfect fit for the issue visually. Panosian was happily surprised by the competency of his work and how his colors emphasized the pages.

“Ian Hannin did a brilliant job. I'm incredibly picky about color and I was blown away with what he did with it. Every time I made a suggestion he was happy to oblige me. As excited as I was to draw the issue, I was even more excited to see how Ian made the pages come to life. He did all sorts of subtle things on every page. Little gems. Sometimes you get a colorist that fights with the art. It gets too dark, too muddy or over-powering. I was really worried. Sometimes you get colorists that aren't really artists; they just know Photoshop really well. Ian painted those pages with color. He truly enhanced the book with his approach. And he's fast!”

Panosian enjoyed the whole experience of working on SABRETOOTH, contributing the success to his editor, Nick Lowe.

“Before this issue I drew an eight-page story for X-MEN: MANIFEST DESTINY #2 and that was a blast. He's setting me up with some great projects! SABRETOOTH was a dream-come-true for me.”

So what made him agree to taking on the comic? He’s already a fan of the two central characters, and Kieron’s portrayal of Sabretooth made the hard work at the artist’s desk even more worthwhile.

“I love any book with Wolverine in it—particularly when he's just 'Logan.' And Creed is such a great character. He's the ultimate Wolverine villain, in my opinion. We love Logan because he's flawed. Creed is beyond flawed, but he smiles the whole time. I think that was one of Kieron's story points. A lot of villains laugh and smile while committing terrible atrocities, but you never really connect with them. Creed is really just being himself. He's reckless to a fault and doesn't believe in consequences. He's his own man, for good or ill. It's almost an admirable trait.”

Panosian believes that the origin comic uncovers the powerful dynamic between Logan and Sabretooth—and it’s all in the family. Okay, maybe that's just wishful thinking.

“When he's picking fights with Logan it's like he's wrestling with his brother. But what's great about Logan is you can keep smacking him around. He doesn't break. There's a scene where Creed is beating Logan senseless with a stick of Hickory wood (think Clint Eastwood in Pale Rider, one of my favorite movies) and he's batting him around. Finally, he bats him far enough away that he loses interest. He's done playing with his toy. I think Creed loves him like you love your family. Of course, Kieron couldn't drop the bomb as to whether or not Creed is even truly related to him, but still—there's this connection.”

Dan Panosian’s time on SABRETOOTH might have ended with the release of the one-shot, but his work isn’t done! More of his art will be hitting the shelves soon from a couple publishers, but there’s always one place you can expect to find him the happiest.

“I'm doing a series of covers for Mark Waid's new book IRREDEEMABLE, and next I'm penciling and inking a special issue of SKAAR: SON OF HULK. After that, I'd like to write and draw some stories for Marvel. We'll see. At this point, I'm just happy to be back at Marvel and drawing comic books. I'm home.”