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KomicKarl — Storm
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Published: 2007-12-02 19:51:30 +0000 UTC; Views: 861; Favourites: 15; Downloads: 30
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#01 of a series I'm doing in a different style. I'll be posting a few more over the next few days. Maybe a color version also.Storm in this costume was awesome. J.Byrne really had a way with creating iconic costumes that were so simple but memorable.
k
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Comments: 58
Looking good Karl.
Wasn't Storm's costume a Dave Cockrum design, though, from GIANT SIZE XMEN? (OK, I'm a geek)
Agreed, Byrne's run on XMEN with Terry Austin inking was the cornerstone of me getting into wanting to draw comics myself.
That was a classic combo art-wise, like JRJR and Layton on IRON MAN and Perez and Marcos on AVENGERS.
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You are right..it is Cockrum design..but I guess for me..Byrne really made it happen..consider my geek pass revoked!!! lol....
Byrne and Austin and Miller and Janson..JRJR and Layton is like the way back machine..The Stealth Armour issue with the photo bkg was one of my faves...
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Speaking of stepping into the WayBack Machine; I just picked up the "EXCESS: THE ART OF MICHAEL GOLDEN" book.
Holy crap, THAT guy was another cornerstone in my comic art love affair as a kid! First 12 issues of THE MICRONAUTS are still hands down some of the best in the genre, and he was just getting warmed up at that point. Well worth checking out...
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I bought it last week also..it was funny I was at work drooling over it and it's shocking how little people know about Golden. There would be no Image guys or Art Adams..and in turn Joe Mad and his clones if not for Golden...I think the two issues that had the biggest impact on me was the Avengers Annual and the Dr Strange issue..I would have loved to see Austin in the Avengers Annual rather than Armando Gil...good stuff..
k
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Yeah, I've always cringed when loose inkers handle Golden's pencils. Austin's inks make everyone's stuff look a little better. I liked the Dr. Strange issue as well, and he he did this issue of STAR WARS that was pretty cool. (I think Austin inked Golden for that issue). I, too, dug that Avenger's Annual.
I agree, Golden paved the way for a ton of today's artists, and yet he remains a moderately known artist. I met him once a while back when I had a chance to tour Marvel's offices (mid 90's) and Golden was the art director. My contact there (a submissions editor) asked if I wanted to go to lunch with him, a few of the other staffers, and Golden. Seeing I was geeked about it, the guy told me "Oh yeah, don't nerd out on Mike, he's kind of down on fanboys who spaz out and recite a bunch of comic nerd info." We had a great lunch, but I was totally having to mentally reign in all my nerdly glee.
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Yeah..I think I would have nerded out a bit..that's a great story..I think what makes him so good is how effortless and seamless all of his stuff looks..Post Micronauts/Avengers Annual he really perfected his style and look..when you see his work in later books it's like every line is there for a reason. Although I enjoyed the Nam..and especially the black and white Savage Tales issue..I really wish he would have done an extended run on a more mainstream book..I mean even like 20 issues of him doing G.I. Joe would have been awesome. I don't understand the whole Jackie Chan thing but If he came out with a monthly book I would buy it. For me growing up it was Golden, Byrne, Simonson and Miller..I liked Perez but I got into his Titans stuff a little later..I also really liked Paul Smith..I think his stuff is also very under rated. I know he did a Kitty Pride book a couple years ago..I think my fave obscure guy is Leonardi..I owned everything he touched in the 80's and well into his Spiderman 2099 run..great layouts..but can someone get Dan Green off his inks!!!???
k
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To continue our geek-out, here's my list for penciller/inker teams I dug growing up:
George Perez/Joe Sinnott (Fantastic Four) or Romeo Tanghal (Teen Titans)
John Byrne/Terry Austin (X-Men) or Dave Hunt (Marvel Team-Up)
Michael Golden/Al Milgrom (Micronauts #10-12)
Adam Warren/himself
Jack Kirby/Mike Royer (Machine Man)
Carmine Infantino/Al Gordon (Spider-Woman)
Keith Giffen/Klaus Janson (Defenders)
John Romita Jr./Bob Layton
As you can see, I was a pretty heavy Marvel junkie growing up, but as I got older, I started following artists more than specific titles.
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All classic runs...did you read American Flagg back in the day? I've been waiting for the collections to come out..but it's been delay after delay...American Flagg is right up there with Dark Knight and Watchman in terms of 80's books that broke the mold.. but it does not get much love...
k
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My wife Jane and I JUST re-read it. Truthfully, I didn't dig it back in the day, but now, it holds up really well. Ahead of it's time, enough so that now everyone else is catching up. The curse of being too good, eh?
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yeah..for sure..it's graphically so interesting..the lettering and the tones and the layouts..it's really pretty far out there...story wise it has the feel of Ellis and Millar stuff..cynical..but with more sex...way ahead of it's time..
ok let's get out geek on..top five American comic artists or writers of all time.
Byrne
Miller
Simonson
Chaykin
Moore
Adams (either)
Austin
Jose Luis Garcia Lopez(I just bought his whole run of Atari Force!!!)
Golden
Mignola
I love Kirby..but I like other people more.
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Here's my list (no particular order):
Kirby/Lee (godfathers of modern superhero comic style)
Perez (perfected the readable superhero group book)
Miller (brought superheroes out of the past and into modern times, kicking and screaming)
Mignola (simple, cinematic style)
Spiegelman (gave comics a Pulitzer)
Byrne (defined the new generation of artist/writer)
Steranko (brought cinematic design to comics)
This list changes for me all the time, but these are pretty solid placeholders for me.
Alan Moore (master of rethinking bad characters into new ideas)
Warren Ellis (made science cool in comics again, and made it shocking as well)
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Nice list. Speaking of Steranko..I saw him at the last SDCC. It was interesting because he is such a huge influence on modern comics and people are more interested in a giant LEGO X-Wing than speaking with him.
Are you going to SDCC this year?
Off the wall question. Where do you think comics are going? Digital..???
k
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At this point, no SDCC for me. I'm not sure where BPM will be at that point. Done, but not sure exactly when, and I don't want to make a SDCC commitment with no new product.
Where are comics going? Digital? Oh Yeah. Death of printed books? No way. The trend I see are artists getting people excited with digital content, then following with a printed thing. I never think people will totally give up books, but just like the music industry, giving readers exactly what they want and having multiple ways to get it is going to be the way it works best.
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I'm trying to get my book ready for any show..but I wanted it for sure out by than. I was hoping to see you there man. Are you doing any shows this year?
I think the future of comics is about ownership and control of what you own and also how creators come together is a huge issue. I'm actually in the middle of writing a blog about all this. When I get it done I'll email it to you. I'd like to get your opinions.
Any new BPM pages?
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It looks like we may have lost the Motor City Comicon this year, but for sure I'm doing Wizard World Chicago. Haven't given too much more thought to touring until I get a better idea where things stand with BPM.
New BPM pages? You betcha, I'm in the thick of coloring. I'll send some directly to you soon. Link the blog post, I'd dig checking it out.
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Here is my blog in it's non updated state. [link]
Did you get the new Ultimates 03 issue. People seem to be in turmoil over it.
What happened to MCC? It used to be a pretty big show.
Are you out of Detroit or Chicago now?
k
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Sizer's thoughts on ULTIMATES 3: I've been hesitant to give my opinions on any forums (because I've got work to do!), but I was NOT impressed. The storytelling was all shock and made my head hurt. I'm willing to give Loeb the benefit of the doubt with a first issue in, but it just seemed like a lot of shock value and not much reason to do so.
As the the Joe Mad art, bleh. The whole ish looks like a dark, soupy mess, and IMO those are some of the worst choreographed scenes I've ever seen. It was a visual mess, even admitting that the colorist did an admirable job working with what Mad gave him. Scenes just made no sequential sense, locations changed with no reason, and I had to strain my eyes to figure out what the hell was going on with most pages. Wacky panel layouts for their own sake went out in 1998, and after seeing how well Bryan Hitch handled all the visual info HE had to fit in the fist two sereis, I miss his skills even more. Hate to say it, but I feel Mad is just phoning this stuff in, and it really shows, embarrassingly so.
Motor City. No "Official" word yet, but there have been rumblings that the owner and the organizer cannot agree on where and how it should be run. The fall one was cancelled (no biggie) but the spring one is a decent one, so I hope it gets worked out.
Sizer and lovely wife Jane live still in Kalamazoo, Michigan, half way between Chi-town and D-town.
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I looked through it a few times and I think it's really amazing color job..but one of the worst print jobs I've ever seen. Didn't anyone check the proofs. As for the MAD artwork. I think it was good but not such a huge leap as to make me think wow..while this guy was gone from comics all he did was draw. It was well drawn..but you couldn't see everything because of the print job. Hopefully the next issue will pick up. The story was very basic. Compared to the Millar stuff it seemed like a kid version of the Ultimates.
Bummer about the Motor City show..my fond memory was arriving there with Pneumonia and still drawing days and days of sketches..I came home and got off the plane and went right to the hospital. One of my lungs was filled with liquid. sucked..it took me two months to get over it. No wonder people dropped like flies in the middle ages..that was also the show where this girl came to my table and left me note saying I was sexist. I tracked her down and confronted her. hehehe..in between coughing my head off.
Please tell me Kalamazoo has munchicans (sp?) or a gigantic chocolate factory or something.
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No chocolate factory. We do have the home company (Pfizer, rhymes with Sizer) that makes Viagra. Yay us!
Kalamazoo is actually a pretty cool town; halfway between Chicago and Detroit, and a good city for the arts. Cheap enough to live in, decent neighborhoods. We're in the middle of the economy of our state being right in the toilet and the job market sucking mightily, but luckily I'm still kept plenty busy with freelance, so it's all cool, just need to ride it out.
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Sounds pretty cool. We need to get together in person again one of these days..it's been like a million years..
k
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Million six, but who's counting.
Yes, thanks for letting us completely destroy this thread with our back and forth. Good to catch up.
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It's cool..i mean we did turn the thread into a "chat" conversation but hey..it was good to shoot the $hit. Maybe we should switch back to email..lol..
k
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I admire the balls in trying to use a different style that so different than the one you're known for. Kudos for that right away.
Secondly, Byrne in his day was untouchable. He could take a throwaway character and tweak it a bit and make it sing. His costume designs were the best. Look at his Wolverine costume. The one most people go back to when they draw the character is Byrne's brown and yellow costume. His re-design of even Doc Samson during his short-lived Hulk run made the character cool! (And that's saying A LOT...!)
Now, about the piece itself... I like it. The style is playful. A little manga still peeking through. But very cool. Would love to see this colored...
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I work in multiple styles at work..but I rarely get to show the different stuff I work on...
Byrne was untouchable..just picked up that Michael Golden Excess book..it's pretty good..but I wish it would have just been a complete art book and less talking..
That Hulk run was so awesome because he played it so large..big shots big fights..The issue where the Avengers attacked the Hulk was bad @SS.
k
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OMG! And seperating Banner from the beast was brilliant! One of the best runs on Hulk - and one of the shortest. The Avengers fighting Hulk while Banner was getting married... Each issue packed enough to fill a storyline in today's decompressed books.
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That issue was intercut like a movie..the guilt Sampson felt was so real..my fave scene in the Avengers issue was when they started fighting each other..the pure child like Hulk just lost interest and wandered off..great Byrne writing..
k
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Yeah, I wish he'd get back to some of these classic characters. I'd love to see him write and draw a Captain America WW2 project. Or a Captain Marvel series.
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I think Byrne needs a stable inker..I loved Karl Kesel (sp?)over him..he really added a modern line to Byrnes work.. rumor had it Byrne didn't exactly dig his stuff...but yeah Karl Kesel over Byrne drawing Avengers or JLA...with Grant Morrison or Mark Millar writing it..that would be awesome..
k
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Yeah, his inker Nelson on his Action Comics work recently was lousy. The inker changed so much of the pencils that itlooked like a stale Byrne, (I know, that sounds like Byrne anymore... Stale.). But if you looked at his original pencils and then looked at the inks - the inker was changing facial expressions all over the place.
Byrne with Kesel was probably among my favorite inkers. Ordway makes his art look too dated. Austin too. I think they need to not team up anymore and have everybody just remember them for their X-Men run and the first 2 issues of Superman. John Beaty was pretty good - but a bit dark.
I think Mark Millar writing, John Byrne penciling and Karl Kesel inking - and what the heck - John Workman lettering - would be a great book. No matter what they worked on.
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I guess Byrne keeps bouncing around. I remember a time where I would buy anything he did including covers..I remember buying a Rom cover he did..I was that much of a fan..I really enjoyed the Duotone Namor books he did..if you go back and look at the Last Galactus stuff he did with Austin..it's pretty amazing..if Byrne was doing one book a month with an inker who knows how good it could be..
John Workman..good choice.
k
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Yeah, I was the same. Even the covers. He did a run of covers on the Spider-Man books when the black costume was still pretty new. Those were some of the most striking covers I had seen. Unfortunatly, the industry kept growing and changing and he didn't. When he did try to adapt, like in his page layouts on his She-Hulk, it seemed too forced. Give Byrne a JSA or Invaders type of book where his "classic" style will be more at home. Let him even write the thing. Get Austin to ink it or even Byrne himself, if it's the only book he's doing each month. (But he'd probably want to letter it himself then...)
Remember his Starbrand? That was the best thing that ever came out of the New Universe, (I know, that's not saying much...). And his Namor was great. It was fun and everything a comic book should be. And when he had Wolverine and Iron Fist guest star, he was kicking all sorts of ass...
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I think it's so strange how he was the cutting edge at one point and than he became classic in like five years. I still think the right inker would make it all better..but I think he also needs to dress people different and update the hair styles..everything seems very 80's or even more retro than that..
I still think he could just get work as a writer...even though he get's off on just blowing stuff apart..
have you read any of the recent Claremont stuff?
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I agree. He was the reason I picked up a pencil in the first place. He hasn't changed much since then. He's a good writer, I just don't care about the books he's on lately... Demon? Doom Patrol? He needs an iconic character and, like you said, a GOOD inker. He needs someone who will be to him what Scott Williams is to Jim Lee.
The most recent thing I read by Claremont was, ironically, the storyline that ran in JLA with Byrne and Ordway - that re-introduced the Doom Patrol. They're a team that shouldn't have gotten back together on anything other than an X-Men graphic novel...
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Yeah..it's like Claremont and Byrne had this moment where they made magic and they never really got that level again. Byrnes FF was cool and Man of Steel...but I think if you got the entire crew together. Byrne, Claremont and Austin they could make that magic again. Do you read this Josh Wheadon (sp?) book. I read a couple of the new issues and it's not great but it's not bad..reminds me of the classic X-Men stuff.
k
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Nah, I got the first couple issues and then the first trade. Liked it a lot but just couldn't afford to collect it monthly. It did remind me of Claremont and Byrne, too. And they were able to keep things secret, like the return of Collossus.
I think, one of the problems with the X-Men now is that they have a million books out there. When it was Claremont/Byrne and Austin - you didn't know if Cyclops would make it out of situation 'X' alive because he wasn't in four other books that month.
I'd love to see them all return on a project where Byrne's style wouldn't be out-dated. Like an elseworld's mini on how they would've continued their run if Jean Grey lived, like in the Phoenix:The Untold Story.
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Yeah..wayyyyyy toooo many X-books..but I don't even know which ones are which anymore. It's all so confused..
Did you hear this thing where fans were paying Byrne to do a fan fiction story..I hope he stays in comics and get's a on a book worthy of his ability.
k
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Yeah, and if I have a couple grand to throw around...
I'd love for him, (Byrne), to get on a book and be able to show the world he's still got it. He's influenced so many artists, it's a shame, really, that his work is looked at as dated and George Perez' stuff is still highly regarded. Don't get me wrong, I love Perez - but his style hasn't changed since the 80's either.
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Perez really hasn't changed but I think he's more loved by the fanboys..so they give them him the pass. Byrne has just as much love as hate with the fans.
k
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Yeah, Byrne used to be able to guarantee a certain amount of sales on any given book he was on - then the internet happened...
Now you can read, in his own words, how Byrne reacts to his 'fans.' I know the more I've read from him the less I've liked him as a person. It reminds me of Elton John. He's this hugely talented artist who, somewhere along the line, turned bitter toward the people he should be cultivating and thanking...
Perez is smart enough to keep his opinions to himself or he's just one of those nice guys who everyone seems to like. Whatever it is, I hope he doesn't get bitter and turn all diva on us.
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Did you hear he is doing this Star Trek book? I saw some of it and it just made me sad..maybe he is beyond being saved.
k
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Yeah, he's doing the Romulan one-shot and a mini-series starring the Gary Seven character from Assignment Earth, (which featured a guest starring role by Terri Garr). Don't know how I feel about that. He seems to have Byrned all his bridges at Marvel and DC and is now doing a lot of work at IDW. Can Boom! and Dynamite be far behind?
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True...it's sad though..I keep thinking he will take some steroids and pull a Bonds and get back to form...hehehe....oh well..I'll at least check out the Trek..book.
k
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Yeah, loved the original Trek show, so I'm kind of interested to see what these new comics'll be like...
Hey, just saw that Byrne is doing a JLA Classified with Roger Stern. [link]
Should be interesting. Stern and Byrne are a good pair. Loved their Captain America run and Marvel Lost Generation or whatever that series was called.
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I did see the JLA Classified..and Mark Farmer did a nice job. I've always like his stuff over Alan Davis and Keown...I guess that's about as good as it gets...but damn wouldn't it be nice to see Byrne doing the level of art that he did on the Last Galactus Story...he would be top dog...
k
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Yeah, I agree. Even the level of art he was doing on Superman when Karl Kesel was inking him. His art since West Coast Avengers has seemed to back-slide to me. It's not just staying at one level - it's actually almost regressing.
But, I'll probably still pick up the JLA Classified story... Byrne was the reason I really started to get into drawing. His was the first name in a creator's box that I really noticed and started to buy just because of.
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it's the lack of backgrounds and the his proportions have really slipped...I agree..I'll pick up the JLA book. It's the best Byrne going right now.
k
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Yeah, I thumbed through the book. My only real complaint is in their choice of Green Lantern. I love Byrne's Hal Jordan. Not a big John Stewart fan - unless you're talking "The Daily Show with..."
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Yeah, I was looking through his Dracula adaption. I loved his work back then. And I love his work now, too, when he actually does interiors... But there was something about his work back then - it was less exaggerated...
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