Singapore Comic Con 2019 (SGCC 2019) took place at the Marina Bay Sands Expo last weekend and we received the opportunity to interview comic book artist Yasmine Putri.

For those not in the know, Yasmine Putri is an Indonesian character designer whose foray into the comics industry officially began with a cover for Marvel’s Secret Wars crossover in 2015. Since then, she has done covers for other titles including Amazing Spider-Man, Tales of Suspense, Black Panther, Star Wars, and most recently House Of X/Powers Of X.

For DC Comics, she has done covers for titles like Hellblazer, Red Hood And The Outlaws, Detective Comics, Nightwing, and Wonder Woman. She also took part in the recent DCeased mini-series and did interior work for the 2018 Nuclear Winter anthology.

She was recently in Singapore as a distinguished guest for Singapore Comic Con. I took this opportunity to ask her about Southeast Asian representation in comics, how she entered the comic book industry, and more.

Q: I’m sure that you get this a lot but how did you break into the American comic book industry?

A: I participated in a Marvel talent scouting event in 2014 in Jakarta. I was, to my surprise and delight, called back and then did my first cover for Marvel’s Secret Wars the next year. I started doing covers for DC Comics alongside Marvel in 2016.

Q: What do you think of the current level of Southeast Asian representation in comics? Most characters are from other Asian regions, with the exception of Marvel’s recent Filipino superhero Wave.

A: To be fair I haven’t been reading that many comic books to be able to come up with factual statistics, but from what I know so far characters with East Asian backgrounds are indeed more prominent. I suppose it has more to do with storytelling, as I assume typical readers in the Western world would be more familiar with countries in that region.

It’s an encouraging change and it’s refreshing to see characters that look more like us than like people in the West.

I think that it’s a good thing and it’s encouraging for young people especially if they want to pick a superhero as an inspiration, or if they want to learn drawing characters that look more like them than like other people.

Q: What would you say has been the highlight of your career so far, or
anything you’re most proud of?

A: I have a soft spot for my Hellblazer covers at DC, as classic Hellblazer (when still published by Vertigo) was one of the first titles that got me interested in American comics. And the most recent is my House Of X/Powers Of X connecting variant covers, which comes to mind.

House Of X #2 (left) / Powers Of X #2 (right)

Q: What character (from which publisher) would be your personal dream
Project?

A: I’d love to work on DC’s Hellblazer again if the chance presented itself in the future.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: I’m still working on DC covers for now, but I’ve been dipping my toes a bit into interior projects as well, mostly for anthologies.

Check out more of Yasmine Putri on her Instagram page here.