the art of the umbrella academy vs the art of, apparently, the remainder of the industry...
The tough thing about letting The Umbrella Academy be my introduction to comics wasn't the writing. I could tell right off that it was excellent and, after all, bad writing is no surprise to you if you've ever read books, let alone fanfiction.
No, the tough thing is that Gabriel Bá's art is not only excellent - execution-wise it's probably in the top 1% - but also has an incredibly distinct style, and its uniqueness, aside from being memorable and full of character, is imaginative and playful.
If you search about for another comic to flip through, the art is not only a step down in quality (and that's even when the second GN my wife bought was Watchmen), but a disappointing step back into a more formulaic system of imagery. Way and Bá play with the genre and are masters of it; most comics I've picked up and flipped through (the ones I've read are much fewer, mainly for feminist reasons having nothing to do with the art) plod dully along within the genre, mistaking it for the limits of possibility, not even realizing what they're doing - like plebefic.
Some of the books Wax has bought have had nice art. We recently bought Volume 1 of Neil Gaiman's Sandman, which has some stunning visual design and blocking in the lines and ink, but possibly the worst, most repulsive coloring imaginable. (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
effex tells me the early volumes were re-colored in later editions, and we will have to be careful to purchase those if possible, now.) And I just got Volume 1 of newish Vertigo title Madame Xanadu, which has really beautiful line-art & coloring by Amy Reeder Hadley and Guy Major. We've also bought a special GN of Witchblade set in feudal Japan drawn not too badly by [I had to go check] Billy Tan, with some truly excellent coloring by Steve Firchow.
But none of these I've seen have so far approached the innovation and the sheer coolness of Bá's deliberately stylized noir approach, which reminds me of Batman: The Animated Series from my childhood (which received design awards at the time, I believe). (I'm sure there are other genius artists working in the industry whose work I have not happened to encounter, and this is not a cry for recs, because I still don't intend to explore comics widely and certainly not on the basis of art. I try not to buy books that don't pass the Bechdel test, for one thing, and I prefer to save most of my book budget for female protagonists.)
No, the tough thing is that Gabriel Bá's art is not only excellent - execution-wise it's probably in the top 1% - but also has an incredibly distinct style, and its uniqueness, aside from being memorable and full of character, is imaginative and playful.
If you search about for another comic to flip through, the art is not only a step down in quality (and that's even when the second GN my wife bought was Watchmen), but a disappointing step back into a more formulaic system of imagery. Way and Bá play with the genre and are masters of it; most comics I've picked up and flipped through (the ones I've read are much fewer, mainly for feminist reasons having nothing to do with the art) plod dully along within the genre, mistaking it for the limits of possibility, not even realizing what they're doing - like plebefic.
Some of the books Wax has bought have had nice art. We recently bought Volume 1 of Neil Gaiman's Sandman, which has some stunning visual design and blocking in the lines and ink, but possibly the worst, most repulsive coloring imaginable. (
effex tells me the early volumes were re-colored in later editions, and we will have to be careful to purchase those if possible, now.) And I just got Volume 1 of newish Vertigo title Madame Xanadu, which has really beautiful line-art & coloring by Amy Reeder Hadley and Guy Major. We've also bought a special GN of Witchblade set in feudal Japan drawn not too badly by [I had to go check] Billy Tan, with some truly excellent coloring by Steve Firchow. But none of these I've seen have so far approached the innovation and the sheer coolness of Bá's deliberately stylized noir approach, which reminds me of Batman: The Animated Series from my childhood (which received design awards at the time, I believe). (I'm sure there are other genius artists working in the industry whose work I have not happened to encounter, and this is not a cry for recs, because I still don't intend to explore comics widely and certainly not on the basis of art. I try not to buy books that don't pass the Bechdel test, for one thing, and I prefer to save most of my book budget for female protagonists.)
no subject
If you're looking for comics with amazing art and a decent story, I'd suggest giving the current run of Detective Comics (starting from #854) a look.
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anyway, i agree re: gabriel ba's artwork. i remember reading the first preview on myspace or whatever, and being weirded out by it because it was so different, but ultimately the artwork became the selling point for me (the story feels too "typical" somehow, for me, but i also don't usually buy single issues at a time so that could be part of it, too). often, even really excellent artists of more mainstream-style comics (like fables, for example) still mostly work in a typical semi-realistic style, and are not nearly as imaginative or emphatic in the gesturing.
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...Maybe some of Mignola's work? Shoot, all my comics are at home*.
* If you don't want me to spam you when I get home, better let me know now. I can't help myself.