The Cool Kids Table: art attack

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Art Attack: October 2013's Coolest Covers

-When I was a little kid, my family went to see "The Little Mermaid" in theaters, and I'll never ever forget my mother--an artist herself--leaning over to me during one of the underwater sequences and noting "An animator had to draw every one of those bubbles every time anything or anybody moved; that's incredible." Paul Pelletier's Aquaman cover reminds me of that story, but I also think his smooth style and use of shadows makes him a perfect match for this character. And who did those colors? Beautiful.

-Avengers #21 by Leinil Yu is my desktop background at work right now. Seriously, how long has Leinil been a top-level guy and yet he's still taking it to another level every month, particularly with these Infinity covers.

-Darwyn Cooke drawing Batwing is the LAST thing I expected to see, but hey, cool!

-Are those teeth coming out of Bloodhound's knuckles? Gross. Also, I never read Bloodhound the first time around, any recommendations for or against?

-If you haven't heard the awesome story behind the cover for Daredevil #32--which I got to hear twice at SDCC, both when Chris Samnee was on a panel with Mark Waid and again when he came on Marvel Live with us--here's the short version: editor Steve Wacker and Waid told Samnee to come up with a Halloween-themed cover planning to base the story around what he drew, Samnee drew DD with the Legion of Monsters, and now Waid has to come up with some sort of story guest-starring Werewolf by Night and the Living Mummy. I love that story, I love the Legion of Monsters, I love Chris Samnee and thus I really love this cover.

-Declan Shalvey's Deadpool cover is an example of how you can use simple shapes to make an impact. Also an example of why it's nice to have Jordie Bellaire coloring you.

-Great covers from Francesco Francavilla on Avengers Arena and Fantomex MAX this month, giving sci fi a pulp feel.

-That Fearless Defenders cover by Mark Brooks has been making me smile for weeks and I've never even seen Step Up.

-I said a couple months back that Indestructible Hulk cover artist Mukesh Singh is one to watch; I stand by that opinion.

-A book of faces, just faces, drawn by Frank Quitely would be gorgeous. Not that I don't mind when he draws other stuff mind you, but wow, look at those faces on Jupiter's Legacy.

-What's happening on that Prophet cover by Emma Rios? Intrigue smells comics.

-It took me a bit to figure out what Jim Lee cover Paulo Siqueira was paying homage to on Superior Foes of Spider-Man #4...and I'm still not sure. Shocker is Cyclops from some X-Men image, right? Gah. Help me.

100 BULLETS: BROTHER LONO #5 by Dave Johnson

ANIMAL MAN #24 by Rafael Albuquerque

AQUAMAN #24 by Paul Pelletier

AVENGERS #21 by Leinil Yu

AVENGERS ARENA #16 by Francesco Francavilla

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT #24 by Alex Maleev

BATWING #24 by Darwyn Cooke

BATWOMAN #24 by J.H. Williams III

BLOODHOUND: CROWBAR MEDICINE #1 by Cully Hamner

CABLE & X-FORCE #15 by Salvador Larroca

DAMIAN: SON OF BATMAN #1 by Andy Kubert

DAREDEVIL #32 by Chris Samnee

DEADPOOL #18 by Declan Shalvey

FANTOMEX MAX #1 by Francesco Francavilla

FEARLESS DEFENDERS #10 by Mark Brooks

GREEN ARROW #24 by Andrea Sorrentino

INDESTRUCTIBLE HULK #14 by Mukesh Singh

INFINITY #4 by Ryan Stegman

JUPITER'S LEGACY #4 by Frank Quitely

MARVEL NOW WHAT?! #1 by Skottie Young

NEW AVENGERS #11 by Mike Deodato

PROPHET #42 by Emma Rios

S.H.O.O.T. FIRST #1 by Nicolas Daniel Selma

SUPERGIRL #24 by Mahmud Asrar

SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN #4 by Paulo Siqueira

SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #19 by Ryan Stegman

ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #32 by Gabriel Hardman

VELVET #1 by Steve Epting

X #6 by Eric Nguyen

X-MEN LEGACY #18 by Mike Del Mundo

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Art Attack: September 2013's Coolest Covers

-Alex Ross has done it all in the comics biz at this point, but I'll always remember him first and foremost for Marvels, a series that had such an impact on me in terms of showing what the medium was capable of at a time when super hero books were pretty cut and dry. One of the things that really made the project pop in huge part because of Ross was the juxtaposition of the larger than life Marvel Universe against mundane ordinary folks, exactly what he's doing on this Astro City cover, a book written by his Marvels collaborator Kurt Busiek and taking a lot of what that book did to the next level.

-Leinil Yu is on fire with his Infinity tie-in covers for Avengers. These are posters waiting to happen. His Hulk this month is intense, but this Captain Marvel is a whole other level. It's great seeing more and more artists take to Jame McKelvie's great costume design and making it work in different ways. There's a Travis Charest vibe here in the texture, but the energy crackle is a bit Kirby; the overall composition is totally Yu. Also not to be overlooked, Sunny Gho's colors, which have been dynamite working with Yu, particularly on these washed Infinity covers, as the red lights up the piece here.

-I did not initially recognize that Avengers A.I. cover as being by David Marquez, as the dude's a master but this is something new for him with the cutting elements dissecting Vision. I wonder how long that took?

-Whenever I have tried in vain to draw, from childhood to present, I've found nothing more difficult than the whole "foreshortening" deal. Drawing a straight line telescoping toward "the camera" is hard enough, but a complex shape like, say, a question mark? You have my respect, Guillem March. Nice textures and facial work too.

-Mike Allred can do equal parts boundary-pushing outside the box techie pinball games and throwback vintage portraits; this kid may have a future.

-If you've been reading this blog and these entries for any stretch of time, you may know I have certain guaranteed tics that make me love covers, stuff like good homages or somebody destroying the logo...so well played, Georges Jeanty and Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9!

-I highlight Massimo Carnevale's Conan the Barbarian covers a lot because I really like not just his art, but his style of painting. It's similar to other pieces I've shown this month from Dustin Nguyen and Rafael Albuquerque where the shading is such that rather than sections being dark and others being light, it seems like the whole thing is divided into slivers, each with a distinct shade. Gorgeous stuff.

-Does that David Aja cover for Hawkeye feel like him going "Your move, Mark Brooks" to anybody but me?

-Alex Maleev's cover for Secret Avengers feels like a hat tip to lots of stuff I dig. You got some Steranko S.H.I.E.L.D. in there, a bit of Bond Girl, a touch of the water color stuff his buddy Michael Oeming does--like on Mice Templar--and more. Distinctive Maleev too.

-I like seeing Paolo Rivera drawing most things, and aliens feels like something new, right? He's good.

-That Thor cover has me so pumped to see what Ron Garney does on interiors. He and Jason Aaron always seem to bring the best out of each other, this particular approach to this character seems tailored for him to really let loose.

-I'll miss you, David Yardin's X-Factor covers.

-X-Men #5 was my desktop wallpaper at work until this week.

-Also, Aaron Kuder.

ACTION COMICS #23.1: CYBORG SUPERMAN by Aaron Kuder