Hey folks – here’s a bunch of webcomics that you should check out this month. Some are new, some are old and established, but all of them are worth a read. If you’re looking for some new reads, this is a good place to start. You can check back in the archives for other favorites that you may have missed. Click here to continue…
If you’ve wondered why I’ve taken a few days off here and there, I suppose it’s time to let the cat out of the bag. I have a webcomic project I’ve been working on entitled El Cuervo, and I’ve finally created the website and released the first 5-6 pages of the comic. It’s going to be an ongoing webcomic that updates twice a week – on Mondays and Wednesdays. So while you’re waiting for your updates on idrawdigital, you can check out El Cuervo on the off days. Click here to continue…
Tim Bradstreet is one of the quintessential noir styled illustrators who has lent his creative talents to creating book covers, movie storyboards and animation, roleplaying games, trading cards and posters. His versatility has garnered him much exposure over the years, a far cry from his early days when he struggled to be noticed. Click here to continue…
This month’s Artist Spotlight focuses on Mike Mignola, an American comic book artist and writer known mainly for his creation – Hellboy. Mignola started as an illustrator for the Comics Reader, drawing spots and covers Click here to continue…
The Grendel series is the creation of American author Matt Wagner, and has been in circulation in various forms for over 25 years. In today’s character spotlight, we’ll take a look at this intriguing villain and his/her immense underground popularity in the scene. Click here to continue…
Last week I gave you a series of webcomics to check out. This week I have something a bit different to put in front of your eyeballs. If you’re in the mood for some more reading material, check out these 10 artists and their blogs / portfolios. You may have heard of some of them, but they are not your average household names, that’s for sure. With sneak previews, upcoming projects, production images and inside looks at their processes, these blogs will definintely give you a different outlook on the lives of the everyday comic artists like you and me. Take my word for it – they’re great resource material. Click here to continue…
As a followup to my webcomics roundup for 2010, here is a list of comics bloggers that you should definitely follow this year. Some of these blogs contain valuable insights and commentary, some provide you with the latest and greatest in the world of comics, and others offer you straight up eye-candy and popular webcomic magic of their own.
Take a look and get acquainted with these blogs! They’ll definitely leave you inspired… Click here to continue…
The Graphic Novel – the term that is casually misused on a regular basis among those who collect, read and create comics. Some view it as a method of collecting a series of comics, removing the cover and by-lines and sandwiching them all together as one big long story. Others see it as a way of breaking beyond the traditional 22+ page issue format into a lengthier story form, allowing the artists/writer to develop their characters and settings with greater depth.
I don’t care to argue – I love graphic novels whether they are series of sandwiched trades, or magnum opus full length tree killing volumes. But how does one go about starting to put their graphic novel together? Click here to continue…
When I was growing up, I recall taking one look at Jim Lee’s style, and aspired to become a comic book artist with his level of efficiency and precision in his artwork. His runs on Marvel Comics X-Men, Image Comics Wild C.A.T.s and DC Comics Batman: Hush are some of his best known works. Have a look at this gallery of Jim Lee’s work throughout his career.
Lee created an instant chemistry between the young and naive Jubilee and the gruff, overprotective Wolverine during his run as the lead penciller in his own XMen title with Chris Claremont.
The famous pull-out cover of X-Men #1. This image is one of Lee’s most iconic works.
Aboveare some samples of Jim Lee’s DC comics works – note the level of precision and how dynamic his characters look. Below are some samples from his Image comics days.
It’s hard to believe that an artist of this caliber almost took a career path in psychology. Jim Lee started off as a fill-in artist for Marc Silvestri on the Uncanny X-Men title, and it became permanent after Silvestri left in 1989. By 1991, fans were so taken by his work, that Marvel launched a new line simply titled X-Men which featured Lee’s work and the writing of Chris Claremont. After Claremont left due to a working disagreement, Lee continued on until 1992 until he left Marvel with a group of artists to form Image Comics.
While under the Image Comics umbrella, Lee formed a series of titles called Wildstorm Productions, featuring his flagship title – WildC.A.T.s. For years, Image was criticized for its lacklustre story telling and its style over substance approach during the 90s. Lee managed to concentrate on publishing a number of critically acclaimed series such as The Authority (Ellis/Hitch) and Planetary (Ellis/Cassaday).
Lee finally sold Wildstorm to DC Comics in 1998 and returned to his role of illustrator on titles such as Batman – where he was involved in the 12 issue storyline entitled Batman: Hush.
After the Batman run, he worked on Superman for awhile on the ‘For Tomorrow’ story arc, and also teamed up with Frank Miller in 2005 for the oft-interrupted All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder series.
He was currently commissioned to oversee the art for DC Comics online RPG game as the creative director.
You can check out his work at some of these links:
Jim Lee Cover Gallery
Gelatometti – a blog with numerous artists including Lee
DeviantART gallery
I personally encourage you to pick up anything Jim Lee has worked on in the last 20 years. You wont be disappointed.
I’ll leave you with a video of Jim sketching Wolverine in his trademark style at the NYC comic con this year.
I don’t usually use idrawdigital as a platform for self-reflection or life-based posts, seeing as this is a resource site. But I do want to share some background history on why I decided to follow the illustration career path. If I was ever asked the question: What made you decide on becoming an artist/illustrator/designer, I’d emphatically answer – Heavy Metal magazine made me do it.
When I was a a kid, I loved comics. I’m sure there are a number of readers out there who felt the same way – I would grab all of my favorites and trace the panels over and over again until I was able to mimic the artwork by myself without tracing. I used to have stacks of 8.5 x 11 ruled paper in binders with comics that I replicated on my own. Honestly, I think this is how I ‘trained’ myself how to draw. The problem was, the subject matter was always the same – costumed superheroes duking it out, or Star Wars characters or GI Joe, He-Man or whatever the popular toys for boys were at the time.
I grew up and gave up the toys, but I still doodled and drew – eventually making skateboard graphics (DOG TOWN!) and developing detailed backgrounds and buildings. My cousin was studying to be an architect, so I would pore over all of his books and university work to get ideas on improving my own renderings. One day, while looking over his work, I noticed a magazine on the coffee table in his apartment. It belonged to his roommate, and I found myself drawn by the cover illustration of a scantily clad amazonian (I was 13… its natural.) Curiously, I picked it up and thumbed through it, half-expecting it to be some kind of smutty rag – but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was indeed a magazine with mature comic stories in it.
I was hooked – I recall reading a story called Attila by Antonio Segura and Jose Ortiz, a Spanish artist/writer duo who had created this post-apocalyptic world. The story itself was a bit thin, and pretty sexist and had everything that appealed to a teenage boy – the art style was different, the story was darker, and the idea that there was so much out there in the world of comics that stretched beyond the small circle of mainstream comics I was accustomed to. I was led to believe comics were what you found in the Sunday paper and on the news stand beside the Archie comics and the Disney crap for kids. If you wanted something more powerful, you made the huge stride to super hero comics.
Picking up Heavy Metal magazine and reading the stories was as powerful as waking up from a coma – or even being born. I realized that I wanted to step up my game and tell better stories. Ones that were darker, ones that were more cinematic and mature than the corner store pulp I was used to seeing. Yes, Heavy Metal changed my perception of how I wanted to draw and how I wanted to tell the stories bouncing around in my head.
I quickly found myself trying to get my hands on more of these magazines. Since they were classified as ‘mature’ due to their content, I had to basically beg, borrow or steal them in order to stay up to date. Eventually, I was able to bravely and boldly walk into a comic store, grab the latest issue off the shelf and purchase it. I think the conversation went something like this:
Clerk: Aha! Heavy Metal, eh? You like the adult comics, huh?
Me: Ermm…. uhmmm…. nooo. I… uhh… I like the stories…..
Clerk: I’ll bet. The ones that have the big boobs in ‘em, eh?
Me: Uhmmm… no…. seriously… I like the stories…..
Clerk: Sure, you do. They say the same thing about guys who buy Playboy magazines.
Me (mortified): ….
Clerk: It’s ok kid. I won’t tell your mom. The next issue won’t be out for three months. I’ll remind you when its around – and I’m just joking with you.
Me: O-ok.
Here’s the issue from that conversation:
I don’t think I bought another copy from the comics store again. The next time would be at a corner store, and when I was questioned by the old lady behind the counter who thought it was a nudie mag due to the racy cover, I quickly opened it up and showed her it was a comic book. She then thought it was like Conan or something. Yeah… or something! Funny thing is, when I’d see her while I was out side doing what kids did at thirteen, she would always call me over and give me an ‘advance’ copy before she put it on the shelf the next day. Good times.
I did that until I moved out of the neighbourhood. I remember starting high school in the fall, and I used to bike across 3-4 neighbourhoods to get there, and every season (the magazine came out seasonally) I would leave immediately after class and visit the old lady at the store. I’d buy the Heavy Metal, chat for a few minutes, then bike home. I think it took me less time to bike home uphill on those days than it did to bike to school downhill all the way.
I decided I was going to become an artist. I wanted to draw comics, and draw powerful illustrations and tell fantastic stories. So I wrote scripts and drew characters and made comics with the dream of getting my story printed and published in Heavy Metal magazine. I eventually grew older and the dream faded a bit, I decided that I needed to have a career that paid well and allowed me to live comfortably. I put the skills I had to good use and became a graphic designer and now I’m a creative director.
But I still love comics, and whenever I see a Heavy Metal magazine lying around, I ALWAYS pick it up and I remember that feeling I got at thirteen – and NO it wasn’t the ‘funny feeling’ you get in your pants. It was a feeling of enlightenment – like a door had been opened which would lead me down a path to fulfillment. So why am I telling you this? Well, I’ve been at a crossroads with my artistic career for a little while now. I like my day job, I really like blogging, but its difficult to have your voice heard amongst the screaming throngs of Twitter-ers, Bloggers and Net-o-philes, so I end up sabotaging my own projects for fears that I’ll never have any success. Its pretty strange, since I’m extremely confident with my design and direction while I’m at work, but I’m pretty introverted and lack self-esteem with my comics.
I was cleaning out some old books and came across an old Heavy Metal magazine. I sat down on the couch, opened it up and started reading, and a flood of memories and daydreams filled my head. Before you know it, an hour or two had passed – and I felt this sense of purpose again. Now I’ve gone full boar into producing comics again, and once again, I have Heavy Metal magazine to thank for opening my eyes.
If you want to learn more about the publication, check out the Wikipedia entry or the official site. Kevin Eastman (of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fame) is currently the editor and has managed to keep this independent magazine alive and kicking with its blend of sci-fi, fantasy and dark graphic storytelling for the past two decades. A lot of the featured content comes from European artists who have established themselves as bonafide talent, but there are a number of North American entries, and a wide variety of short stories ranging from extremely humorous to downright horrific to completely strange and abstract.
If you’ve never read through any of these issues, check them out. You may recognize work from some of the greatest non-mainstream talents out there. I will warn you – some of the material is a bit on the racy side, so you may want to exercise some caution – its not a comic for kids, that’s for sure. The stories are campy and cater more to a male audience, but pause for a moment and just look at the craft of the artists (and in some cases) the skill of the writers. I highly recommend it.
