Eric Canete on Absolute Batman, Designing Poison Ivy & Coming Back to Comics
Nerdy Mewzings · Sep 21, 2026 · 1:03:04
Nerdy Mewzings · Sep 21, 2026 · 1:03:04
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Eric Canete returns to the Nerdy Mewzings Podcast following a trip to SuperManila Comic Con, which included a visit with family in the Philippines, and a year that saw him return to the world of comic books on Absolute Batman, featuring the debut of Absolute Poison Ivy! Eric talks about leaving a 15-year video-game job, getting pushed by longtime friends Matteo Scalera and Shawn Crystal to treat comics as the full-time gig, and how Ivan Brandon and Nick Dragotta opened the door for his return at New York Comic Con.
We talked about the process of finding his rhythm on the project via sample pages he made while sick after the show, designing Absolute Poison Ivy as a monster first then using the “pretty construct” as a rug pull, as well as the one line from Nick Dragotta that unlocked his ability to properly portray Absolute Batman.
He also covers his approach to using Otomo style screen tone, why he would train a new artist on six- and nine-panel pages before splash pages, creating Youngblood variants for Rob Liefeld, Skinbreaker variants with David Finch and Robert Kirkman, the possibility of Arc Athena collected editions, his time at Iconic Comics, and how storyboarding taught him to cut detail down to what the reader actually needs.
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Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ericcanete
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@eric_canete
Subscribe to Eric's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/ericcanete
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Timestamps:
0:00 - Welcome back & SuperManila Comic Con
2:30 - Family, academics & choosing comics
7:30 - Getting back in after the game-studio years
11:00 - NYCC, Nick Dragotta & Scott Snyder
16:00 - Sample pages, Poison Ivy design & the construct
23:00 - Drawing Absolute Batman like the Hulk
29:00 - Deadlines, pressure & finding a rendering approach
34:30 - How Eric would train a new storyteller
40:30 - Youngblood variants & changing his mind on Liefeld
45:00 - Skinbreaker, Kirkman & David Finch
48:30 - Arc Athena editions, Iconic Comics & Patreon Questions
54:30 - Animation habits on the page
57:00 - More Absolute? Terminal? Current Marvel covers
1:01:00 - Where to follow Eric & outro
