Artist Hayden Sherman Talks Absolute Wonder Woman, Artistic Inspiration, and Evolving Style

Hayden Sherman is a talented artist known for their work on Absolute Wonder Woman, Batman: Dark Patterns, Into The Unbeing, Wasted Space, Dark Spaces: Wildfire, and Predator vs. Wolverine. As a growing talent in the industry with a unique style, I spoke to Sherman about their career so far, artistic inspirations and their evolving style. Check out full conversation below.

What art initially inspired you and how has that helped evolve your style?

Great question! Initially, when I was getting into the comics to start with, starting at a really young age, it was just the world of superheroes. When I was in college, I really tried to figure out what I was going to do and push into the comic space. I knew I wanted to be part of that forever — as long as I was sentient—books like Grendel War Child by Matt Wagner. Ashley Woods’ Metal Gear Solid adaptations are just these wild books. I remember picking that up for the first time or being given it as a gift and flipping to that book…. I mean damn, like that was the thing that made my head click and be like, oh, comics can look like this… Like they can look like anything if they can look like that. So early on, that.

I got less interested in stylistic experimentation and more interested in storytelling experimentation in comics. Like what makes them unique in comparison to other storytelling mediums is the paneling and the panel structures that you can create and a series of images that create a whole that's a static image in itself, but can be understood as moments in a narrative and that that can be really explored and made interesting in its own, in its own way. Then, the clearer the drawing is, the better it can serve those other narrative ideas and experimentations. Philippe Druillet is a big inspiration to me. I love, I keep Lone Sloane next to me at all times. European comic artists from that era, I want to say in the seventies into early eighties, I just think are still doing unmatched work.

What did your early work on Wasted Space (with Mike Moreci and Jason Wordie) from Vault Comics teach you? It ran for 25 issues, which is huge for an original IP from a smaller publisher.

I think the biggest thing it probably taught me was to keep it interesting for myself and to be willing to experiment. As I progressed with that book, I would hit the end of a volume and kind of be ready for the end — like I wanted to still stay with the characters. I was enjoying that time so much and working with Mike and Jason and everybody, but for me, I needed to just kind of change it up and find something new to learn from the book. So I feel like each volume or at least every other volume of that book looks a little bit different than the last. Between volumes one and five, when I look back at them, I feel like they almost looked like they were drawn by different people. So keeping things open and not being too locked in is something I even think about. It's a subtle example, but reading Scott Snyder and Gregg Capullo's Batman run was one of my foundational texts from when I was going off to school. Even that book evolves over time as Greg continued to learn and learn and learn.

So I think any book that's willing to learn and show it on the page is stuff that I love to see. So I hopefully will continue to carry that forward.

Is there a work in your career that you've kind of thought has been overlooked or underrated, or something you worked on that you'd really like people to see more of? 

I mean, I do think Wasted Space kind of is right now. I feel like there was reasonable momentum when it was coming out, but then it also was going on in the middle of COVID and everything.

We put out the collection, which had a sort of limited run. It would be nice to see it be reissued in some way, to where it could maybe find a new readership at the same time. When I look back at those early issues, you know, I, as most artists, you look at your early work and you're like, I don't know if this is quite what I'm after right now [laughs]. I'm still very proud of the whole project and everything that everybody did on that book.

It's just my stuff. I look at it and think I could do better than that now. But it'd be nice to see it come into newer readers' hands.

I remember going into 2020 with projects set up that I was looking forward to pitching and creating a little more stuff on my own. I was going to continue with Wasted Space, of course, but on the side, like getting things going, and as happened with everybody, you know, 2020 hits, boom, everything goes down, but Wasted Space remained. And it was fantastic to have that anchor still intact — I mean, I couldn't ask for a better one back then.

For Absolute Wonder Woman, how did that get on the radar for that book, and what is it like to work with two of the best in the business, in Kelly Thompson and Jordie Bellaire?

Working with Kelly and Jordie is just fantastic. It is amazing to be in the company of people that I feel like I'm just resting in their hands, like in the most assured collaborative company. Like I can turn anything to Jordie and Jordie will turn it into gold and that's remarkable. And then everything Kelly sends me for scripts is already gold. I don't need to do anything.

I'm very grateful for everybody I've gotten to work with over the course of what’s coming up on a decade now. It's wonderful to have leapt into such a thing that I think it's fair to call it high stakes with reinventing Wonder Woman in such an assured company.

It was cause I made the book Dark Spaces: Wildfire and Dark Spaces: Dungeon with Scott Synder. We had a good working relationship there. We're just going to keep trucking and making more stuff. Around the same time, he was starting to build up what became Absolute with DC. At one point he just dropped on me, like, “how does Wonder Woman sound or something like that?” And I was just like, “what?” Like he hadn't given me any context. I didn't know he was coming back to DC or anything. “Scott, what, what are we talking about?” From there, it was over the course of close to a year between that point and then actually officially being on the book. It was a very, very slow buildup, but I think that helped. Maybe it'd be a little bit less intimidating because it was such a slow ramp up because it went from the point of being like, “Oh, that's crazy.” And I’d learn more about the project and think “that's even more crazy.: And then I get used to the fact that it's crazy, but I haven't been officially asked to do it yet. And then I get to the point where I'm like, "just ask me to do the crazy thing!”

So by the time we got there, I knew Kelly was also involved. Scott really matched us individually and brought us together. By the time that we were there together, I think both Kelly and I were just excited to finally get running. We just completely hit the ground running and it's been that way ever since. So it's, it's fun though. Like I said, Kelly is golden and just amazing to have as a collaborator in this.

Working on the book, do you feel like there is kind of more creative freedom despite it being a Big Two book?

Yes. I would say my experience working at DC has been very similar, both in terms of making stuff that's early years, Batman stuff, kind of in the main universe-ish, and then with Absolute. It used to be at the start of a book, I'd ask like, “is it okay if I go weird with this one? Do we want like earlier Batman, do we want that to be a little bit more like subdued and stripped back?” With Wonder Woman, I asked if we were okay with that being a little out there? The only word I ever got back was “yeah, go do it.”

Anything I brought back, I'm just kind of like pushing, like how weird can we get? It feels like kind of everybody's doing that with the Absolute books. Like all of the artists they've assembled have such unique voices that I don't think traditionally tend to be thought of within like the superhero space, at least not within the last like decade or so. And all of like Nick [Dragotta] being given a free reign over in Absolute Batman and giving his voice to Batman. That book is amazing on so many levels, but his art is just an engine in itself. The same thing is going on with Martian Manhunter. I think Rafa [Sandoval] is giving Absolute Superman as sort of like slightly more traditional superhero appeal, but that's also like really fitting for Superman to like, still kind of have some of that, that classic comics flavor to it.

 Is there a particular sequence that's been your favorite to draw so far? 

For the sheer insanity of it, the sword becoming massive in issue four.

Just from the moment I read that in the script I thought, “that's going to be fun.” And it was fun. So that was great. I also have fond memories of drawing both the introduction of the Tetricide, it's the first two-page slash in issue two, and a similar vein, it's destruction in issue five, when it gets like blasted to smithereens. It’s all been fun.

How fun has Into the Unbeing been? 

Zach and I had been talking about making that since we did like three issues of Angel and Spike in like 2020 or something like that. We were briefly brought on and then the book was canceled and we were like, well, we did our bit. We hit it off in that time.

So, Zach had this absolutely insane idea and it's been amazing. I think Into the Unbeing, especially the first volume, is a descent into madness and stuff, where panel structures and characters are unraveling as it goes. But now, in volume two, people will continue to see as that releases, we're just like fully in it, at that point, where everything is madness, and it can be as unhinged as we want it to be. And, I mean, Zach is just great at writing eco-horror.

It feels kind of wild to think back on the fact that I actually sat down and drew it. I feel that way with most of the horror books I work on. I like to sit back and look at them like that.

What books currently inspire you these days? 

Dai Dark by Q Hayashida. I think that book is just a kind of creepy delight.

I enjoy everything Ram V and company are doing with New Gods.  It's really, really good. 

As a huge Batman fan, Absolute Batman is also up there. Anytime I have a chance to talk to Nick and Scott, I just want to know what's coming next.

Is there a character you'd like to draw that you haven't tackled yet?

Oh man. Um, I think I really want to do something a little bit more meaty with Superman. I’d love to do the Trinity. So if I can get my hands on him, I've gotten to do a couple of covers, I would really love to do some story stuff with him.

Green Lantern would be a blast. I got to do a little bit with Grant Morrison's sort of alternate universe version of him, and in Pride a few years ago. I would love to do more just straight up Green Lantern work and return to that Wasted Space vibe. And of course more Spider-Man. I got to draw a little before.

It'd be fun to do more with Batwoman too. I would love to bring Kate Kane into some more stuff.

Do you have anything in particular you think I should chase? I'd be curious.

New Gods. That would be my bias answer. I would love to see your take on those Kirby characters. Or The Demon!

Oh, Etrigan would be a lot of fun. Yeah. Etrigan's a fun one to bring up too. You're right.