It takes multiple persons to Tango

I spent a quality night last week working on files for the up-coming Tango 9 produced by local funny book aficionado Bernard Caleo and thought I'd do a plug for the soon to be launched 'Tango Collection' and 'Tango 9 - Love and War', both of which I'm contributing to. The collection, available in stores on the 23rd of November is an absolute treat - beautifully produced with a popping 2-colour cover and an impressive array of comics goodness throughout.

Here is a teaser of my work in the collection (also available in 'Tango 8 - Love and Food'):

And an exclusive frame from my work in Tango 9:

Sufficiently teased? The collection and Tango 9 both launch on the 10th of December at Dante's in Fitzroy.

... But sometimes it's an ETERNITY

This is the cover of Green Lantern No. 162, also known as 'the cover with the exploding boy'. I was looking for this image online but could not find, so I thought I'd scan it from my personal collection and post it here for the benefit of future generations.
What I like about this cover is that it accurately shows an aspect of the story inside as it actually happens, rather than offering some crazed hyperbole which is later resolved or was irrelevant to the issue. Yes, in this particular issue a child is ejected into the vacuum of space and yes, Green Lantern can do NOTHING! No, EVERYTHING WILL NOT BE ALRIGHT AND YES, WE EXIST IN A CHAOTIC AND MEANINGLESS UNIVERSE.

"Over here Mr. Lantern! I found a way out!"


Ordinarily, one-sixth of a minute flies by like nothing...

...

I was a teenager when I first read this and found it to be quite strong stuff. The pacing is brilliant, full of emptiness and culminates with a kid exploding. All the while the hero is completely helpless. The space-aged font countdown is a bonus, a chilling echo of the 'we-have-liftoff' countdown type.

But there's hope. This is, in fact, a fiction. While it may pose a number of existential questions, the truth is (allegedly) that the human body does not explode in the vacuum of space. Among other things some swelling may occur. Also, you will do better out there if you don't hold your breath first. Exhale.

If any of my readers find themselves in this awkward position, I hope I have offered some degree of assistance.

Art by Keith Pollard, written by Mike W. Barr, inked by Rick Hoberg.

This Saturday...

... Don't pay for free comic books! It's Free Comic Book Day. OBSERVE IT.

[Image by Jose Ryp, who isn't contributing any FCBD stuff this year to my knowledge, but he does excellent explosions.]

CHEEKS IS OMAC

I've been enjoying the revamped Ambush Bug Year None series, and have been waiting for the delayed issue 4 which is allegedly now on sale tomorrow (after previously being posted to be on sale 29th October). I'm wondering if the delay somehow fits with the theme of the "missing" Ambush Bug (see the cover here) as I think the logical step for this 4th-wall-violating series is to manifest itself in the real world.

Anyway, I don't want to focus on a publication being late, especially if it's some kind of high-concept meta malarkey of which I completely approve.

So here's a scan of my favourite page from ABYN #1, where Cheeks the Toy Wonder (previously blogged about here) becomes an OMAC, falls to earth and does nothing.

[Art by Keith Giffen, dialogue by Robert Loren Fleming and the Bible, inked by Al Milgrom, 2008]

A.L.I.E.E.N

I picked this book up in Paris and was initially drawn to it because of the fact that it has no written text and my skill at reading French is negligible. The author/illustrator is Lewis Trondheim (wikipedia and his site) and the book is an absolute treat. the narrative weaves in and out of itself, full of cute alien effluvia, misunderstood social connections and questionable surgical acts. An English edition is available here (although I'm assuming the only English text is a one-page intro). Here's the A.L.I.E.E.N flash game via Drawn's coverage of the book.

Images. Aliens. Eviscera.

My friend in rehab...

Comic artists rehab, that is! Vanessa Hutchinson (blog) is doing the four panel cartoon every four days for four weeks experience. Here is her intro to the site and here are entries tagged as her work - stay tuned for more!

Vanessa and I met studying sculpture together back in the heady days of the mid-nineties. Now she, like me, is earning a crust through commercial graphics work and doing personal stuff in the gaps between.

The above is a wax effigy Vanessa made in her image, and below is a panel from her rehab. Good luck with the rehab Vanessa, I hope it cures what ails ya!

Life ain't a comic strip, baby

Here are some scans from 'Sinner' - a couple of comics I've been hunting down for some time by the amazing Argentinian artist José Muñoz. I ordered these from Fantagraphics Books and have been searching the web for the rest in the volume (with the English translation) to no avail.

These scans are from the 'Viet Blues' book (the images are non-sequential, and you can click on them for larger):







And some scans from 'Life aint a comic strip, baby' edition:





That's Muñoz in the last panel, him and writer Carlos Sampayo both appear in the above comic, where they are attempting to create the comic in that they're in. Very meta. The thing I love and am studying in Muñoz's work is his line work and, to a greater extent, his use of black. He offers the slightest bit of detail in a sea of black, yet it's enough to get the idea across. Inspirational.

[Art by José Muñoz, 1989, 1990]

The Doctor is IN (CMYK)

Aah... Just sent a major print job off to press yesterday, which may help to explain why I've been a little lax on the posting front.

While my mind is still on the printing process, and to follow up on a post I did a while back, I'm going to show some example of what I think is a true four-colour hero.

Doctor Fate is one of my favourite DC heroes, and I like him because technically, Doctor Fate is the printing process. Observe:

The four colour printing process consists of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. Here you can see that Fate's costume is pure Cyan and Yellow, he's outlined in Black, and his magic is pure Magenta. Fate is made up of the stuff of comic books, the component colours of each and every one of them in their pure, unadulterated forms.

Tatjana Wood is the colourist for these pages, and I think she's one of the best. Her work on 'Swamp Thing' is incredible and she has a true mastery over mixing inks and knowing when to let them stand on their own for impact. Check this panel out:

Aside from the green (consisting of, at a guess, a mix of full Yellow and 50% Cyan) the piece is mostly percentages of Cyan and Magenta with black for little background details and text. I love how the creature is a line drawing done purely in Cyan. These panels could almost have been produced in a 3 colour spot-printing job using custom ink colours.

And just to bring it home, this incredible panel which, as above could almost be a spot-job.
The four-colour process is essentially four spot inks screened together to give the illusion of colour, but I love in these examples how they are used as the colours they are unmixed, and either at 100% or screened back a little.

[Art by Keith Giffen and Larry Mahstedt, 1985]

Typographic "No"

From the "Baxter format" (named after the paper stock used) 'Legion of Super Heroes' number 1, August 1984. Keith Giffen plotting and pencils, Larry Mahlstedt inks and Carl Gafford's colours.

I like this stage and format in comics as the colours really pop. This is due to using Process colours almost as spots, so no mixing is required. By eye, I'd say that the background is about 80% magenta, and the blue is around 80% cyan with no other colours in the mix. The green fringe I'd say is about 20% cyan and 20% yellow. The paper is a thinker stock than previous comics and takes the colour and level of ink really well.

European comic craziness

Here are some scans from a comic I picked up at the awe-inspiring La comète de Carthage (link to their blog, in French) while I was last in Paris. It's an incredible piece of work, as I can find nothing about it on the internets. The title is 'Picto Drame' and the work is screen printed on cream-coloured stock and put together in a partially glued concertina fashion. It's a four-colour screen print (yellow, red, quasi-metallic grey and black) and the colourways are put together in a masterful fashion with overprinting used to excellent effect. The only reference to the artist is the name 'Rocco'.

From what I can tell, the story is about a guy who dies and the shenanigans that his relatives get up to in his absence.

Please enjoy and - as always - click for larger.

[UPDATE] Here's the ebay France website for La comète de Carthage.

Classy Fantagraphics wallpapers

There's some classy desktop pictures over at Fantagraphics - enabling you to decorate your humble computer screen with art by some of the cream of the indie comic world. With luck they'll add more over time. Go! Go!!

Inspirational Kabuki

Here's a killer page scan from David Mack's Kabuki - The Alchemy. I found Kabuki while looking for something new in a comic book store and was browsing covers for something that stood out. I bought a copy and was an instant convert, jonesing for the next installment. David Mack is well known for working on Marvel's Daredevil.

In The Alchemy series, Mack completely breaks, bends and reconfigures comic and story-telling conventions while maintaining a fascinating readability. It's amazing, deep and entertaining. And it's good medicine for the odd creative slump.

The wisdom of...

... Proty. Make sure this doesn't happen to you this Saturday!
Art by Keith Giffen - click for bigger.

Good day!

Genius?

Too cute. It wants to make a statement

I'm obsessed with the work of Kieth Giffen - the humour, the perfect collaboration with master-inker Bob Oksner (RIP), the way his work evolved and moved over the years... I could write a small essay. But not today. While cleaning some stuff up, I found this scan of 'Cheeks the Toy Wonder'. Click for bigger.