Last month we featured some really cool DC Comics fan artwork by Dustin Koetsch. This included a collage of several “minimalist posters” based upon the costumes of DC Comics characters, as well as a Firestorm faux cover. After running this art, Dustin and I started a correspondence which eventually led to an interview about the process of working on the pieces as well as some general comic book talk. Check out Dustin’s fantastic collage below (click to enlarge), then continue reading for the interview.
Firestorm Fan: How did you first get interested in reading comics and what were some of your favorites?
Dustin Koetsch: When I was 12 or 13 I would always buy those assorted comic book packs in Toy’s R’ Us on birthdays, holidays or with my allowance. My favorites were Batman and X-Men (I happened to start reading around the year they did Death of Superman and Knightfall in the DC Universe and X-Men just got “Rebooted” by Jim Lee.) Now my love for comics has grown exponentially and I even have Swamp Thing #1 cover tattooed on my forearm and the old Green Lantern issue #49 tattooed on my Bicep.
FF: What started you on the DC Comics minimalist poster project?
DK: Honestly it was out of trying something new and because I had seen this one guy get attention for it for doing Marvel minimalist posters and I thought, “Well I can do that and probably do it better” so I did.
FF: Do you have any favorites of your DC Comics minimalist posters? Were there any characters you had difficulty adapting for the minimalist posters?
DK: Favorite is probably the Sinestro one as it was the basis for starting the whole project, from there I did the Lantern Corps individually, then went to do any character I could think of. Anti Monitor was the hardest I would say.
FF: Have you done any further minimalist posters that weren’t incorporated into the collage (or as I like to think of it — the quilt)?
DK: I haven’t done any others recently no. I have been thinking about doing more of those faux covers with characters still, since there are SO many I could do still.
FF: Total nerdy question here… what did you use for reference when you created you Firestorm minimalist poster?
DK: I can’t recall because it was about a year ago but if I had to guess I would say a comic cover where the logo is prominently displayed, it was definitely an older issue though I know that.
FF: Your faux Firestorm cover is sheer genius! What inspired your technique and how did you go about selecting Firestorm images?
DK: Well when I was doing the faux covers I though it would be a cool idea to have the concept be “what if it was an anniversary issue culminating the years of the character in one silhouette” So I believe the first one I did was The Flash and just kept doing them from there, sometimes the reference pictures were more difficult than others but in the end they came out pretty unique.
FF: Would you consider yourself a Firestorm fan? If so, how did you discover the character and do you have any favorite storylines?
DK: I really really loved what Geoff Johns did with the character in Blackest Night/Brightest Day but with the New 52 I felt like they lost a lot of the promise that character had built up from that. I stopped reading after the first story arc because it felt too cheesy.
FF: Are there any other projects you are currently working on or have coming up?
DK: Mostly in my spare time I’m a graphic designer and when I’m not touring I make shirt designs for bands. So I haven’t had any really unique or cool ideas just yet but I’m always thinking of something to create, especially things Swamp Thing related now!
FF: Who would win in a fight – Lockjaw or Krypto?
DK: Since I’m a DC guy I have to say Krypto
My thanks to Dustin Koetsch for making time for this interview! Be sure to check out Dustin on his website, deviantART, Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, and numerous other locations on the web! Tell him FIRESTORM FAN sent you!
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The 22nd episode of 
