Best of 2010. The Artists

There’s no such thing as a best artist in comic books, in my humblest of opinions, so I’ll use this space to write about some of the artists that caught my attention in 2010, whether they were on new projects or a part of new creative teams. Let's get started:

From Hulk #27.

Gabriel Hardman on Hulk. Talk about a thankless task—having to follow fan-favorite Ed McGuiness after his popular run with series creator Jeph Loeb ended this year. But I’ll be honest, I prefer Hardman’s work on the character. Hardman has a wonderfully 60’s retro style to his artwork that feels modern nonetheless. His Hulk is a muscle-bound monster who is more than formidable, but Hardman draws his face as the confident, courageous soldier he is. This is important because we have to believe the guy is a hero. Add Bettie Breitweiser’s astounding palette to the mix and Hulk is one of the most stunning books of the year.

Hardman draws fantastic action and series writer Jeff Parker has given the artist plenty of fisticuffs to fit into the pages of Hulk. Iron Man, Thor, and Namor have all guest-starred in the title and Hardman has gotten to create some fantastically splashy fight scenes.



From Batman and Robin #13.

Frazer Irving on Batman and Robin and Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne. If someone had shown me something Irving had drawn outside of superhero comics, I would have never thought his style appropriate for mainstream work. This is why I don’t edit comic books. Irving’s work on Batman and Robin (issues #13 through #16) and The Return of Bruce Wayne #2 has been a wonderful departure from more standard comic book art. His Joker is as creepy a version of the character that I have ever seen.

How do you describe Frazer’s haunting work? It almost looks as though you are looking into a person’s nightmare. Apropos for a Batman book for certain. Everything in the foreground is clear while the details of the background are scarce or often washed out. Irving handles the inks and colors on his own work which might seem obvious since the finishing perfectly compliments the pencils.




From New Avengers #2.

Stuart Immonen on New Avengers. If pressed to choose an artist who can draw any character in the Marvel or DC Universes, I would be surprised if many comic book enthusiasts would select a name other than Immonen. This year came one of the artist’s biggest gigs—the relaunch of New Avengers with writer Brian Michael Bendis. While I have not always been a fan of Bendis’ storytelling on the title, Immonen has killed, killed, killed on every page of this book.

Immonen can do talking heads, he can do characters sitting around a table, but most important, Immonen can do world-in-knee-deep-danger-style action. And Bendis has thrown a lot of end-of-the-world scripting at Immonen and the artist never fails to deliver (and the book is always on time). Look out in 2011 when Immonen gets what may be his biggest project to date: Fear Itself.

From Thor: The Mighty Avenger #7.

Chris Samnee on Thor: The Mighty Avenger. Samnee deservedly got a lot of buzz for his work on 2010’s new all-ages (until issue 7 at least) Thor title. The art may appear deceivingly simple, but look closer and see how much life and character Samnee brings to his character-work. Samnee makes sure to use the right body language and expressions to ensure the reader understands what Thor and Jane Foster, his Earthly lady love, are thinking.

Samnee’s version of Thor was also an intentional departure from what readers have been accustomed to for over 40 years. He’s a big guy, but not the steroid-induced hulk that he has become in the in-continuity comics. Thor: TMA was my introduction to Samnee and I’m eager to see what he moves onto after the book ends with issue #8. The first Thor: TMA trade is currently available with a second scheduled to be released in 2011.

From Superior #1.

Leinil Yu on Superior. Yu’s work has never been more… superior (I had to). Yu’s panels are filled with wonderful detail. In the past issue alone Yu drew some amazingly cinematic moments: a satellite landing in Time Square, a submarine pulled off of the coast of Long Island, and a reactor meltdown. Yu brings series-creator Mark Millar’s imagination to life, giving the book a big-screen feel the entire time.

Yu is also adept at creating the quieter more touching moments of the series in which Young Simon Pooni’s challenges with multiple sclerosis are explored. Yu has grown and grown as an artist over the last decade, but I’ve found his work on Superior to be his best.

From The Flash #4.

Francis Manapul on The Flash. Where do you begin with a guy who was born to draw splash pages? Manapul’s work on Geoff Johns’ Flash relaunch has been beyond spectacular. While the book tends to run late—if it’s going to look like this—then fine with me.

In the first issue, there’s a two-page splash of Barry pulling apart the Trickster car that is astounding. In the third issue, there’s a fantastic sequence in which Barry saves the inhabitants of a burning building then proceeds to put the entire thing back together. But Manapul may long be remembered for a breathtaking scene that has Barry rescuing two helicopter pilots in issue #4 of the series (above). Barry runs up the side of a building, runs across the propeller, into the helicopter to pull out the pilots, and onto the building beside it in a split second. Month in and out, Manapul always brings his best to Johns’ pages.

There are plenty of others to mention: Sami Basri on Power Girl, Kenneth Rocafort on Velocity, Eddy Barrows on Superman, Carlos Pacheco on Ultimate Thor, Adam Kubert on Astonishing Spider-Man and Wolverine, most everyone involved with Strange Tales II, and so many more. There was no lack of great artwork in 2010.

Leinil Yu's Completed 'Nemesis'/'Superior'/Kick-Ass' Crossover Artwork

Leinil Yu’s pencils featuring a crossover between Nemesis, Superior and Kick-Ass have been circulating for just over a month now and it looks as though it not as audacious a plan as first expected. According to Mark Millar, the creator of all three properties, there will be no crossing over of these books. This is a good thing as the writer himself admits “It wouldn't make sense as a story as they all exist in their own distinct universes.”

Marvel released the completed artwork and announced it is actually for the variant covers for each of the three individual books:

KICK ASS 2 #2
Release Date: 12/29/10

SUPERIOR #4 (of 6)
Release Date: 1/5/11

NEMESIS #4 (of 6)

Release Date: 12/29/10

Leinil Yu: 'Nemesis'/'Superior'/'Kick-Ass' Cross-Over (Finished Art)

Mark Millar offered up Leinil Yu's finished image for a possible Nemesis/Superior/Kick-Ass crossover on MillarWorld today. A draft of the image came out a few weeks ago, but there's still no official word on whether or not this event is an actual project of Millar's. Needless to say the art is again top notch from Yu.

Click on the image above to see the detail to Yu's awesome work.

'Superior' #1 Sells Out, Leinil Yu's Cover for 2nd Printing Variant

The name Millar may one day become synonymous with “2^nd Printing.”  Issue #1 of Mark Millar and Leinil Yu’s Superior has gone back to the presses after the first issue has sold out.  Check out this exquisite variant cover by Yu, whose work on the first issue was nothing less than spectacular. The 2^nd printing of Superior will be released on November 24^th.  

Leinil Yu: 'Nemesis'/'Superior'/'Kick-Ass' Cross-Over

Mark Millar just tweeted this first picture from a possible cross-over between his creator-owned properties: Nemesis, Superior and Kick-Ass. When I first heard of this triad I thought he was joking. To be honest, I'm still not sure. Regardless, I'm going to just soak in the beauty that is Leinil Yu's artwork.

Wednesday's Finest: Superior vs. Superman, 10/13/10 Releases (Part 2 of 2)

By Don M. Ventura

Two books about supermen came out this week. One features the original Last Son of Krypton and the other is an original creation from the (sometimes warped) mind of Mark Millar.

Superman #703
DC

For three months J. Michael Straczynski has taken Superman down an unfamiliar road with little success in the character’s self-titled book. The basic premise is that Superman was away with the whole New Krypton thing for over a year and now he’s back and trying to relate to the “real” people of his adopted planet.

I guess this may go down as one of the more polarizing books in recent memory because there are fans who really love what Straczynski is doing on Superman. I hate it. I’m sorry if that seems like too simple a response, and I’ll share some thoughts, but I find this to be just terrible.

I don’t feel as though Straczynski has found the character’s voice; in fact, from the beginning, Superman has done and said too many things that have been out of character for him. I just do not buy that Earth’s most powerful being would be so irresponsible as to take a walk across the country and not tell people why he’s doing it. Add to this, forced humor, heavy handed moralizing, and great leaps of logic in terms of plot points (e.g. the press stopped following him in the first issue).

This last issue in particular has a very Bruce-sounding Dick as Batman comes to town to advise Superman that trouble may follow him as he crosses the country and that would be bad. Okay. So it’s bad for Main Street, U.S.A., but it’s okay when Mongul or Brainiac rain holy hell on Metropolis?

Of course, three pages later a whole lotta bad hits Cincinnati in the form of a piece of New Krypton that landed on Earth and can make people evil and/or super powered (it affects two characters differently). Okay, so Superman gets into some fisticuffs with some brute whose secondhand exposure to the rock gave him great strength. Supes and the guy wreck up the small town.

One woman is interviewed on the news and claims that the fight wasn’t good for her heart. Another guy’s house is destroyed and, although Superman fixed everything, he lost his wedding photos. Is this a joke? I’m surprised someone didn’t say, “I was working on a presentation for tomorrow—really sweet PowerPoint—well, I was just about to hit ‘save’ before the power went out. Thanks Superjerk! Guess I’ll work over the weekend!”

If there is a bright side to this run, it’s Eddy Barrows artwork. He draws a fantastic Superman and all of his characters have distinctive characterization to their faces. In this issue and last, Barrows has been able to do some action sequences and they are phenomenal. Unfortunately the scripts condemn him more to multiple sad-faced Superman expressions and people standing around on the street.

Superior #1
Icon

Then came the big event of the week: Superior. Which it was when compared to Superman.

For those living under a rock, Superior is Millar’s somewhat unique take on a super powered man with a cape who can fly, bend steel, and all that good stuff. The spin is that Simon Pooni, a kid afflicted with Multiple Sclerosis is granted a wish from a talking monkey named Ormon in an astronaut suit. Perhaps the wish is one buried deep down as Simon never verbalizes it. He is instantly transformed into the hero Superior.

Now I mentioned that it is somewhat unique for a reason. The rest of the book plays out like Big, the Tom Hanks movie where a kid becomes and adult because he’s tired of being a undersized boy. He’s stuck in the house, his mother thinks he’s been kidnapped, he has to escape, then he goes to see his best friend. I’m interested to see where the rest of the book goes—but I couldn’t shake that it took too familiar a path in the third act.

My preconceived notions were forgotten about five or six pages in as I became totally absorbed in Millar’s story. I was worried that I would be treated to some over the top shocks, but they weren’t there (except perhaps in some crudely realistic language from teenage bullies). Millar presents an extremely touching scene in which he narrates the onset of Simon’s M.S.; these pages ring with sincerity and reminded me of the writer’s strength as a storyteller.

Previously I have had a love/meh affair with some of Franci Leinil Yu’s artwork, but his work on Superior is magnificent. He continues to improve with each project. The scene with Ormon talking to Simon is just beautiful. The guy knows how to draw a monkey.

If you’re keeping score, Millar has written the superior man-with-super-powers tale.