Saturday, July 16, 2016

Some books I've read 25

I've tried out some mainstream comics...

Planetary: book 1 by Warren Ellis and John Cassaday.
Some clever dialogue, but the characters still remain distant. Nice drawings, but ugly, plastic-y colours and, even worse, blurs added in photoshop to add movement. Just... stop, okay?

Jupiter's Legacy: book 1 by Mark Millar and Frank Quitely
I liked that Flex Mentallo story by Morrison and Quitely, I still have all the issues. Quitely is a great artist, but it seems like his drawings now are scanned from pencil lines, not fully inked, and personally, I find that less appealing.

The Fade Out: Act 1 by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
My favourite of these books. An interesting story, well drawn. I like the colouring! I assume it's done on a computer, but it has a nice, handmade feel to it. Will be getting the next two parts.

Dark Corridor by Rich Tommaso
Tommaso goes pulp and a bit Tarantino. I'm a big fan of his cartooning. There can sometimes be a bit lack of focus in his stories, but it seems like in this book he maybe had to wrap things up prematurely.

Have gotten some more Saul Steinberg books...
Steinberg at the New Yorker by Joel Smith
Saul Steinberg  - Illuminations by Joel Smith
Saul Steinberg by Harold Rosenberg
The Inspector by Steinberg

All worth having. And I ordered The Labyrinth a month ago, and it still hasn't arrived, dammit.

4 comments:

  1. You're right in assuming Frank's art is now scanned pencil lines, although they are digitally manipulated to make them appear similar to inks. Dare I ask what you thought of the colours? I did 'em!!!

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    1. Oh, hello! I like the colours. Nice work! Computer colouring has evolved quite a bit the last ten - fifteen years, getting a warmer, more organic look.

      And inked lines instead of pencil lines is just a personal preference, the guy is still a genius.

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    2. Ooo, glad you like the work, Jason. Thanks!
      I do try to make my colouring not look too much like the (what seems standard) super-shiny stuff you seen in most mainstream titles.

      I know what you mean about the inked work of Frank's, I like it when he would put in blacks too, which he doesn't really do now it's just pencil work. But, yeah, he is still a genius. And a lovely fella.
      It's sickening really!!!

      PS, I'm a big admirer of your work— some of my favourite comics ever. that balance you get between humour, sadness and absurdity seems to be very real to me.

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    3. Thanks, Peter, appreciate it! Cheers!

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