Staff Sgt. Eric Henson uses the discipline and hard work he learned in the Air Force to become a professional comic book artist. (U.S. Air Force video/Drew Breese and Staff Sgt. Chris Pyles)
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Staff Sgt. Eric Henson was 20 years old when his dad gave him a box.
“I’ve been saving this for a long time, and now I want you to have it,” his dad said.
At the time, it didn’t seem like much, just an old cardboard carton covered in dust and reeking of staleness.
While the container itself was uninspiring, its contents changed Henson’s life.
“It was just a bunch of old comic books,” he said. “And I was like, that’s nice, what am I going to do with all these?”
His first idea was to sell them. Henson went home and began researching the value of each comic. He pulled some out and started looking through them, trying to determine what kind of condition they were in and what they were about.
Then, something happened.
“While I was paging through these comic books, all of the sudden I was like, I could do this,” he said. “I was drawn to the art and the stories and knew right away I wanted to make comics.”
Staff Sgt. Eric Henson works on a Spiderman sketch in his home at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., in August 2010. Henson was first inspired to become a comic artist when he was five years old and his father gave him a ÒSilver SurferÓ comic book. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Benjamin Stratton)
Henson had always shown an affinity for art. His talents first exhibited themselves when he was three or four years old. He drew a picture of a fish that looked better than one drawn by an older cousin, who was an artist. Seeing this, his dad enrolled him in advanced art classes and Henson fell in love with drawing.
Henson discovered he liked drawing people because he found their expressions, details and physiology fun to recreate. After graduating high school, he even started drawing portraits and selling them to make extra money.
“I didn’t like to draw inanimate objects,” he said. “If I had my choice, I always preferred to draw people.”
But, something was missing.
“Drawing is great,” Henson said. “But I was always looking for a way to tell a story through my art. Then, right in front of me, I saw these comic books and knew this was how I could draw and tell a story.”
He began studying the art form and taught himself how to draw in the comic book style. He practiced illustrating popular superheroes and placing them in new situations while putting his own spin on the characters.
“Drawing a comic is more than just sketching a character,” Henson said. “You have to learn techniques like angles and shot selection and variety and how to have your art complement and advance your story. It’s really an involved process.”
It’s also time consuming. As an administration specialist at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., as well as a husband and father, Henson simply didn’t have the luxury of spare time. His art started taking a back seat to the demands of daily life, while his drive and passion started to wane.
Then, Henson deployed to Kuwait, and a comic once again changed his life.
He was walking through the base exchange when he noticed a rack with some comic books on it. They were free, special edition comics made for the Army and Air Force Exchange Service.
Henson picked one up, thumbed through it and then, on an impulse, flipped to the last page to find the artist’s contact information. The artist, Lt. Col. Robert Payne, was also an Airman, and this gave Henson hope.
“I thought, ‘If this guy could do it, so could I,’” Henson said. “I figured I’d contact him to see if he could give me any pointers or information on the business.”
Henson emailed the colonel some samples of his work, not expecting to hear back. Surprisingly, Payne responded with good news.
“He said he loved my artwork and thought I had great potential,” Henson said.
Henson and colorist Ross Hughes created this print of comic heroes The Perhapanauts. (Courtesy image/The Perhapanauts © 2012 Todd Dezago and Craig Rousseau)
Spurred by this encouragement, Henson started drawing again. He dusted off the pages of his art pad, sharpened his pencils and tried once again to bring the images in his head to life.
“I drew a lot on that deployment,” he said. “I was inspired and found a new appreciation for my art.”
However, he was still an artist without an audience. No one else was seeing his work.
That was about to change.
One day, after Henson returned home from his deployment, a production company contacted him about a documentary it was creating on the comic book culture and industry. The company was looking for several young, unpublished artists to highlight.
Recognizing the opportunity he was being offered, Henson applied and was accepted.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “They said I’d be great for the movie and even loved the fact that I was in the military.”
Henson then found himself in the middle of a whirlwind. Camera crews showed up at his house and followed him around for days, at home, at work, everywhere. As part of the process, Henson traveled to San Diego, where he attended the city’s comic convention, called “Comic Con.” There, he joined hundreds of other up-and-coming artists who were all vying for their chance to meet representatives from the big-name comic book companies and impress them with their portfolios.
“It was insane,” Henson said. “You sit there and wait, and wait and wait until they call your name, and then you go sit in front of some guy who looks at your portfolio and tells you how good or bad you are. Then, you do that all over again with a different company. The whole time, there are all these cameras filming you. It was really quite a nerve-racking experience.”
Henson’s nerves held up, though, and so did his art. His portfolio impressed several critics and one company hired Henson on the spot.
“This is the best Hulk I’ve ever seen,” the reviewer said, referring to a picture Henson drew of the iconic giant, green character, the Incredible Hulk.
Henson couldn’t believe it. In one day he went from an unknown, unpublished artist to a card-carrying member of the mainstream comic book industry.
His good fortune was just getting started.
“Being there and experiencing that was amazing,” he said. “Then, the (documentary) came out and things really started to get rolling.”
Henson was invited to the premiere of the movie “Comic Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope,” where he met and talked to some of the biggest names in the industry. For him, it wasn’t just an artist’s dream, but a comic enthusiast’s as well.
“[Spider Man creator] Stan Lee now calls me by my first name and greets me at all the comic conventions,” Henson said. “That is something I never thought would happen.”
The movie didn’t just offer Henson the chance to meet some boyhood heroes. It also gave him something invaluable to any artist: exposure.
Soon after the documentary was released, offers started coming in, some from people who saw the movie, others from companies that saw Henson’s work.
“It’s just been amazing,” Henson said. “People are now seeing my work, appreciating it and, better yet, paying me for it.”
Henson sketched himself with his daughter, Nevaeh, 6. Nevaeh has asked Henson if he is a hero who protects people, since the heroes in his drawings aren’t real. (Courtesy image/Staff Sgt. Eric Henson )
It’s not just his art that gets Henson noticed. His dedication, work ethic and demeanor are a welcome surprise to the people who work with him in the comic book industry.
“Because of his military service, Eric is very disciplined,” said Craig Rousseau, a fellow comic book artist who is working with Henson on several projects. “He knows what he has to get done and he gets it done. We give him a script and expect to see art in three weeks and he gets in done in two.”
Ironically, time is still Henson’s biggest hurdle. He is currently stationed in Stuttgart, Germany, and this makes it hard for him to attend conventions and stay in contact with fellow artists in the U.S. Also, in addition to being an Airman, a father and a husband, Henson is a practicing minister. He says the ministry allows him to give back and show how thankful he is for his good fortune.
“I have so many blessings in my life, and ministering is a way for me to show my appreciation and share with others,” Henson said. “My faith has always played a large role in who I am and the decisions I make.”
Henson is quick to point out that his success is not all from his own efforts. He owes much of it to the inspiration and support of his family and the Air Force.
“My family has been great, putting up with the long hours I spend every day drawing,” he said. “The Air Force has been supportive, too, letting me chase my dreams and giving me the time and opportunity to do it.”
Henson loves serving in the Air Force and doesn’t plan on leaving it any time soon, newfound fame or not.
“I love to draw, but I also love what I do in the Air Force,” he said. “And, while I spend a lot of time drawing superheroes, I get to work with real heroes every day in the military.”