Ep. 56: The Second Coming of ERIC CANETE

There's an old saying about youth being wasted on the young that's so true, it's scary. Just ask artist, Eric Canete, he'll tell you. The reference to rebirth in the title of his interview should give you a clue as to where he's been, and also—where he's going.

Eric got his professional start working in animation when he was just a 17 year old kid, not even out of high school yet. He did "ghost work" for a guy on shows like X-Men and EXO Squad, and eventually got a regular in-house gig on Phantom 2040. When 2040 ended, he got an offer from Peter Chung to come up to San Fransisco and work on a little show called Aeon Flux. You may have heard of it...

While he was fortunate enough to get started young, Canete says his early days were not without their stumbling blocks. The Cliff Notes version of his past could go like this: he worked in animation for a while, left under pretty bad circumstances for his first love—comics, had a good time in comics, but really wasn't prepared for that world either, and finally got back to animation with hopes of rebuilding his reputation. And rebuild it he did!

Since 2002, E's done storyboards, backgrounds and designs for shows like He-Man, Justice League, Teen Titans, The Batman and Legion of Super-Heroes. His full-time day job is with Cartoon Network on the re-launched Ben 10 and he still does the occasional awesome comic book job at night. Check out his Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin series for Marvel with those funky, art deco covers (the hotness!). And after Comic Con, be on the lookout for Eric's upcoming run on The End League for Dark Horse with writer Rick Remender (more hotness!).

This L.A. native's story is an interesting one for a couple of reasons. One, he went back and repaired bridges that he himself burned. Not everyone does that. And two, he's had the support of many a superstar mentor and cheerleader along the way. Names like Peter Chung, Dustin Nguyen, Bruce Timm, Dave Johnson, Mark Chiarello, Skottie Young and Glen Murakami popped up often during the conversation.

In addition to all of the above, Dwight and I also get some insights into Eric's approach to storytelling, the origin behind his blog Discard, and the 4-1-1 on how he started doing those glorious 90 minute sketches of his.

Here's to a cool interview with an even cooler person—thanks, E!

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Comments

[Mark]

I'm a little behind in my praise, so I'll make up for it now. The Matt Wagner interview was awesome, I love his dedication to a good story. Eric Canete, a great example of lessons learned. Dwight and Swain, what can I say but I await the next interview, it's one of the highlights of my week. Lastly, Michael Turner, RIP, you are missed man.

[William Blankenship]

Hell's yeah! Canete is one of my favorite artists roaming these days. I saw this on his blog and was waiting to see it up. Oh.....you're beautiful, men, beautiful. Something to listen to while working tonight.

Peace,
3!LL

[Chris Hatfield]

You also may want to check out the work of Egon Schiele, was an Austrain painter. His figurative work was inspiration for the stylistic development of Aeon Flux.

My ears perked up when I heard Canete work on Aeon Flux.

[Jeremy de la Garza]

Dwight and Swain, thanks for another awesome, informative, and entertaining episode. I love listening to these, they answer so many questions I have as a newbie trying to break into the industry. I must say, I've listened to a lot of different podcasts on comics, and you guys are by far the best. The bar has been raised:) Thanks guys!!

[kevin barber]

Just wanted to drop a line and tell you guys how much your efforts are greatly appreciated. It's like Christmas mornin every time Itunes downloads a new episode for me. Keep up the great interviews.