Comic book superheroes are the biggest they’ve ever been right now, yet with all that success there’s something that feels kind of missing. Superheroes used to capture the zeitgeist. Superman was created by two poor Jewish kids to stand up against the Nazis. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s early Marvel Comics captured the counterculture buzz of the 1960s. 1970s heroes like Luke Cage and Iron Fist jumped on trends like blaxploitation and kung-fu movies. But now modern superhero comics are fuelled seem only by nostalgia and don’t say anything about today.
That’s what made Ramon Villalobos art jump out. His sketches and comics include Daredevil wearing Y3s and Ghost Rider in Air Yeezys. Obviously that's a cool shout-out for comic-obsessed sneaker heads, but on a bigger level it showed that comics could (and should) be in touch with the modern world. So many superhero artists seem to be able to draw monsters and punching, but not how people dress and act in 2016. If only comic creators were less obsessed with being faithful to the 50-year-old continuity, and more in-tune with current day culture of ‘Hotline Bling’ memes and watching Making A Murder on Netflix.
Villalobos has just finished drawing the X-Men: E Is For Extinction spin-off from the Secret Wars mega-crosover (which returns to the world of Grant Morrison’s great New X-Men run), and will next be seen on Nighthawk, a Chicago-set series starring Marvel’s Batman allegory running around in Yeezys. With E Is For Extinction out now in trade paperback now — go cop it, it’s great — we spoke to Ramon about his favourite shoes, reflecting his culture in comics, and what kicks your favourite superheroes would wear.
Apart from the odd exception (eg you and Jamie McKelvie) it always seems to me like most superhero comics artists seem kinda tone deaf to what people actually wear in the present day — would you agree?
Yeah, I honestly feel like a lot of artists in comics are kind of blissfully unaware how people dress in real life because a lot of them came up not caring. I don’t blame them because I was same way but a lot of comics culture is heavily influenced by older comic culture.
I want to draw Batman in THESE Air Max 95 boots that I saw. Every colorway worked for a different era of Batman.
Are you much of a sneaker head yourself? What are your current favourite shoes?
Ever since I started making some money I've been buying shoes. I'd say I'm like amateur at best but I got friends and family that are sneakerheads for sure. I only buy Adidas to keep myself in check, so a lot of what I draw into comics or pinups are shoes I WISH I had. I drew Angel Saldana in E is for Extinction wearing the all black Yeezy Boost 750s because I knew after staying up all night a few times for drops and failing miserably I may just never own a pair, so I had to reconcile that in my mind.
Current favorite shoes are the triple black John Lennon Assassination Stan Smiths and the OG white and greens. Also Gonz Pros, which I think are super under rated. I have the traditional black and white colorways and the all black ones and they're rad. Also I’m really trying to get some NMDs.
What can you tell us about the new Nighthawk series that you’re drawing? Any sneakers showing up in that we should know about?
I'm not sure how much I can say other than it'll be rad and everyone should cop it when it comes out. Its set in Chicago, so there’s gonna be quite a few references to Chicago culture in the book — so he may or may not be wearing shoes that resemble ones designed by the most influential dude in culture in however long…
Why did you give Nightwing Yeezy Boosts when you did a redesign of his costume for Project Rooftop?
Ha, well the thing with that was that it was just a drawing I did because I wanted to draw the 750s right after they were unveiled. It honestly could have been anyone wearing them because the idea was I just wanted to draw those shoes right away. Yeezy season was in full effect.
You also did a Spidey with what look like Chuck Taylors — is Peter Parker a Converse guy?
Yeah those are actually PF Flyer Bob Cousy Hi's but in Spider-man colors. I like the idea of Peter Parker being a little more iconoclastic than wearing Chucks. He has one of the illest costumes in comics so I think he can wear something a little less basic. I think Superman would wear Converse though for sure. That's just the kind of guy he is. He's more classic.
I think Superman would wear Converse though for sure. That's just the kind of guy he is. He's more classic.
And why give Raphael Air Max 90s?
That was a collaboration I did with my boy Nick Dragotta of (sick future Western comic) East of West, who I hang out with and talk about this kind of shit with at comic conventions. We like working on quick stuff together cause I like his forms and he likes me lines. Nick almost exclusively wears Air Max 90s. He buys a different pair like every year for San Diego Comic-Con. I put Ralph in them as a tribute to his loyalty to them and because that infrared colorway works so great with Ralph’s red mask. We just wanted him to look hard as fuck so they worked.
And Supergirl in Air Jordan 3s?
That was just for fun and it fit the vibe of the whole thing. I had done a Spider-Gwen with Gamma Blue XII's and an America Chavez in Olympic VII's, so I just liked the idea of doing cool female comic characters with Jordans.
Are why Daredevil in Y3s?
They're rad. I just wanted to elevate that minimalist side of the drawing and I had not drawn the Y3's yet.
Basically all that sh*t I put in my drawing is just for people like me that don’t always feel represented in that culture.
And talk me through your amazing 90s Wolverine? Not just the shoes, but also the Wu Wear, the Malcolm X hat…
Haha, man, yeah that Wolverine was ignorant. A lot of people do these nostalgic pieces of the X Men or Batman or whoever and I wanted to do one, but to me the 90s weren't just comics — it was that whole "fuck you attitude." So yeah I threw in just every nostalgic 90's reference that seemed to fit that, I have the Nike Air Raids cause they have an X across the front, the Malcolm hat, the Wu logo, the Jalen Rose Michigan jersey, etc. The only anachronism was that Frank Quitely New X-Men jacket but that's just the coolest jacket so I had to do it.
Basically all that shit I put in my drawing is just for people like me that don’t always feel represented in that culture. For a long time I was really respectful of older designs and made the costumes as accurate to the source as possible. But eventually I felt like as cool as that stuff is sometimes, it doesn't represent where I think things are going, so I started tweaking stuff and adding my own aesthetic to it. Once I started working in comics professionally and I got to be a voice for this, I just lost control and started doing stuff like this or that Supergirl and Nightwing. In my first ever Marvel book I drew Ghost Rider in some Air Yeezy's surrounded by flames as a statement. This is for us again. Probably more than it’s ever been.
