Some I did as commissions, some I just do because I want to and then offer them for sale. I wish I was as motivated as an artist FB friend of mine. He has done SO many. I have recreated some covers and pieces I originally inked since I am not any great shakes as a penciller. Would be great to be able to sit at comic shows and whip out nice sketches and commissions. At least I am obsessive and artistic enough to have gotten good at inking.
Look, I leave out words all the time when I type, but sorry...I can't help reading that in (how I imagine) the Hulk's voice.
Corrected copies of the massive Fourth World Omnibus by Jack Kirby have arrived: Jack Kirbys Fourth World Omnibus HC *Corrected Copies* Over 1500 pages of the New Gods.
As a kid, I was basically aware of Jack Kirby’s current comic art that was on the spinner racks: New Gods, Devil Dinosaur, Machine Man, OMAC, and 2001: A Space Odyssey. It was only after quickly hearing how his classic work was groundbreaking and iconic, through fanzine articles and interviews, that I saw his older work. I was always fascinated and drawn to how Jack Kirby’s renderings of “shiny metallic surfaces”, such as armour, machines, robots, spacecraft, shields, etc. You know - the parallel reflection lines that zig-zagged, with a thin to thick line, varied with angular and curving configurations. Random, and very stylized. At the time, I recall it was only Kirby’s art that had this unique visual feature. Was this visual effect more indicative of Kirby’s pencil work, or of his inkers, earlier by Frank Giacoia, or later, by Mike Royer, etc? (The reflections on Thor’s and Galactus’ helmets is a simple example, of what I tried to describe...)
It's the numerous black spots of varying size used to signify cosmic energy. I think it's very effective.
It's Kirby's pencil work. The Two Morrow's publication "The Jack Kirby Collector" features a lot of Kirby's original pencils and it is definitely visible in the original pre-inked artwork.
Yes. When I was eight or nine, I hated Colan's artwork, as it was so 'misty' and undefined to my eyes (British Marvel was in b7w, which didn't help). With maturity, I realised how brilliant it was. I still think his work on Howard The Duck and Daredevil was his best stuff, though.
Here's a history of the evolution of the Kirby Krackle technique. Like many things he developed, it's become heavily-imitated and prevalent in almost all superhero comics.
Re: Gene Colan and Jack Kirby. Back when Tales Of Suspense had Iron Man and Namor, the Sub Mariner as co-features there was a storyline where they crossed over. I recall, as a kid, how jarring it was to see the 2 art styles of Kirby and Colan also 'crossing over'! Colan was an acquired taste, he excelled on his Iron Man, Daredevil, & Dracula runs but oddly enough, I really disliked his work on Doc Strange.
What used to annoy me about British Marvel was the use various shades of grey or - initially - pale colour, which used to obscure the beauty of the artwork. Weren't the sixties Marvels printed using paper plates, so the ink became clogged in places and the reprint never had the definition they should have? can't remember where I read that...
I think you may right about that. Colan's work definitely suffered the most in transition to b and w.
Getting off topic here, but another issue with those British Marvels was the ridiculous censorship of cleavage in the Conan stuff...
