“I’m really excited actually. I’ve been watching Tom rise, not just through the ranks, but [through people’s] big perception of him, [and] the growing aware of him over the last couple of years,” said Scott, a model/actress turned comic book artist. Scott will be attending Melbourne Oz Comic-Con alongside Taylor early next month. “I knew he’d be working through the DC Universe at some point soon, [and I’m] super excited he gets to work on his first big book and its gets to be with me.”
Raised in the suburbs of Sydney on a diet of ’70s TV shows and art, Nicola Scott has always been a determined individual. Always keen on stability, adventure, and creativity, it wasn’t until Scott’s late 20s that she discovered her desire to become a comic book artist, and her need to draw Wonder Woman.
“It was an absolute epiphany,” stated Scott, illustrating her headspace crisis at the time—she had wanted a career with direction. “I was going through the motions of working and not having any particular direction, and I felt like ‘now’s the time that I actually need some serious direction’. I [concentrated] on the creative things I could do, and what I might be able to do with them. I could sew and I could draw, [but] I decided I wanted to be drawing. After considering all kinds of different options that didn’t right true with me…I thought: ‘If I have to draw the same thing, all-day, everyday, what would I draw?’, and I thought: ‘Gosh, it would be nice if I could draw Wonder Woman everyday’. And as soon as I thought that, I was like, ‘Oh my god, there is a comic book of Wonder Woman and someone gets paid to draw that. Every day, that’s their job. I want that job.’”
From then on, Scott approached her chosen career path with ferocious vehemence. She immediately drove down to the local comic book store, bought a pile of Wonder Woman comics (and many other comics too), drove home, and begun her career as a comic book artist.
Scott quickly became immersed in the vivid line, colour, shape and panel detail that comic book artist George Pérez incorporated into his Wonder Woman comics, was inspired by “the cleanness of the lines” of Adam Hughes (The Origin of Wonder Woman, X-Men Classic) produced in the early 90s, and fascinated by Kevin Maguire’s array of facial expressions in Justice League International. However, what riveted Scott more was the innovative artistry within the comic book universe.
“When I decided to draw comes, things like Kingdom Come [a DC Universe series with Superman, Wonder Woman and the Justice League] were reasonably fresh, and I bought those and read those,” said Scott, iterating that comics that make her love, or perceive, a character in a different way are the ones that leave the most impression on her; she appreciates pure ingenuity. “I just think seeing what artists could do and seeing what boundaries could be pushed [was important to me, and] that has continued to make an impression on me.”
It was this appreciation for ingenuity, and Scott’s frank manner—“I was quite direct in my questioning and I think that kind of confidence was that made the editors consider me seriously”— that earned the Australian freelance work throughout major labels such as Dark Horse, Top Cow, IDW before securing her contracted position at DC Comics, illustrating Teen Titans, then Earth 2.
If you didn’t already know, Earth 2 is a DC comic book series dedicated to their Legacy characters like the Crimson Avenger, The Flash, Green Lantern, etc, who are not revamped every generation like Batman and Spiderman. Every generation, unlike Batman and Spiderman, new characters replace these Legacy characters, but readers are reluctant to let them go. Hence, Earth 2, an alternate universe that these characters can fight evil, and exist in.
Nicola Scott is the current comic book for Earth 2, succeeding her successful work on Birds of Prey, Teen Titans, Secret Six and Blackest Night: Wonder Woman. Her ambition of being able to draw Wonder Woman everyday became her reality after many years of gruelling work.
“You have to really know that you want to do it, and you have to be prepared to work really hard to get there,” said Scott firmly, asserting her advice for anyone wanting to pursue her career path. “Be well aware of what the potential is within [the] particular niches that you’re choosing,” which can range from superhero comics to European and Japanese, “there’s not a lot of people who make a really good living outside of superheroes. From the time I first decided to draw comics to actually getting a monthly book at DC Comics, it took me four and a half years. I didn’t get paid very much. I spent most of my time looking for work, hustling for work; just as much time as I spent doing the work. I didn’t sleep very much [either]. It was a big commitment.”
BY AVRILLE BYLOK-COLLARD
