Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, DC Comics, Image | Tagged: dustin weaver, jim lee

How Jim Lee Made An Artist Out Of Dustin Weaver

Dustin Weaver shares a tale about how he is where he is because of Jim Lee, and the time he spent with a very sick boy indeed.

After Gail Simone shared a great tale of Jim Lee, in the light of some controversy over his prices of commissions, so did Dustin Weaver. Comic book artist on Avengers, X-Force, Star Wars, Astonishing X-Men, Paklis, Powers Of X, SHIELD, Infinity, Infinity Gauntlet, New Avengers, it all came from somewhere. And that somewhere may have been Jim Lee.

Dustin Weaver posted to social media, saying; "I too have a @JimLee story and it's pretty simple. Back in 1993 I was 14 years old & I was a HUGE Jim Lee fan. When I was diagnosed with Non Hudgkin's Lymphoma my family decided, before I really started to get sick from chemo, to take a trip to southern California to visit family. By a stroke of luck, while making arrangements my dad ended up talking to someone who had worked for Jim Lee's Homage Studios and said that it might be possible to make an arrangement for me to meet Jim while we were in the area. My dad called Homage Studios and indeed Jim said we could stop by and meet him. I didn't know what to expect. I thought I'd be able to tell him what a fan I was and maybe he'd sign some comics. I had no idea… Well so, first Jim personally gave me and my dad a tour of the studios, he introduced me to the other artists and staff working there, took time to explain how the studio operated, explained how the colors were being done digitally, showed us what he was working on, He wasn't rushing us along. Then he offered to take me & my family to lunch. He answered my stupid questions, with a smile, and looked at my amateur art, while managing to find nice things to say about it. He not only signed all the comics I brought, he also gave me an Image Comics hat, a sweet Cybernary poster, a VHS of his Comic Book Greats video, AND about 8 sheets of official Image Comics art board– so I could start drawing at the size the pros did. He spent a significant chunk of his day with me and my family. It was incredible. As you can imagine, this experience had a big impact on me. Who knows if I would have ever become a comic book artist if Jim hadn't been so generous that day… Anyway, I'm still a huge Jim Lee fan."

Well, nine years later, he was interning at Jim Lee's WildStorm Studios… and he even pitched to take over the WildCATS book as an intern, which was nothing if not ambitions. His pitch, as well as art, can be read here. As well as some of the WildCATS fan art he has created over the decades.

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