David López is one of the most talented artists working in comic books today, having worked on hit Marvel series like Captain Marvel and All-New Wolverine. He’s also behind some of the most gorgeous exclusive arts in the Ultraman Card Game — Something that has continued into BP03 Shadow of Undying Vengeance with pieces like his Ultraman Geed (BP03-039) and Ultraman Nexus (BP03-013)! We caught up with López to ask him about his work, his process, and what could come next!
UC: What was the process by which you began doing art for the Ultraman Card Game?
I was one of the Marvel artists that worked in the Ultraman Books so I received the call through them.
It was a beautiful gig, because I have great memories of Ultraman and the Ultraman universe. We didn’t have the shows in Spain when I was a kid, but I had some Ultraman toys (I don’t know how they arrived to my hands) and they were fascinating. I had a drawing set with some kaijus and Ultramen (Ultramans?) that I played a lot with too. I didn’t know the characters, but I loved their charisma and all the poses, also the monsters! God… I should find it. As years went by, I saw references to all those characters in anime and manga, and finally, with the internet, I could enjoy all the Tokusatsu movies.
But I’m digressing, I came in through Marvel and I didn’t know if my style would fit, but luckily I had the chance.
UC: Your Ultraman Mebius and Ultraman Rosso card art from the previous set are extremely popular, with moody colors and shading. By contrast, this art is comparatively colorful, especially the deep reds in your Geed Primitive (BP03-039) and the watercolor feel of your Ultraman Nexus (BP03-013). What choices did you make differently with these cards than your previous pieces?
For the first ones I didn’t know what I was doing, those were my first trading cards for a game and I had to comply with a set of rules I wasn’t familiar with. I didn’t know how important it was for Tsuburaya to get the bodies right, for instance. For my second set I was more in control, and I’m very proud of my Ultraman Geed Primitive card.
UC: You’ve done a number of the most popular heroes in the Ultraman series already — Are there any Ultras or Kaiju you’d like to try your hand at next?
Obviously I would love to do the original Ultraman, he’s… you know… the most iconic one, also there are some enemies that are tremendously charismatic. My favorite is Dada (super elegant) but something weird and funny in the line of Baltan would be nice to do too.
