Tops and Bottoms 5/6/24

Morning everyone.

We exit bleary-eyed from the dramas happening all around the world and find happiness in the pages of comic books. I’m on a countdown to a trip to North Carolina and it could not come sooner.

Something crafty to begin with.

I’m not an artist. I dabble in drawing and admire from afar. I read about, listen to and study the art in comics and elsewhere. I enjoy and love a big chunk of it. However, the thorny subject of using reference came up again in a group of comics pals this week. I believe that reference is totally required. Otherwise how do you know how something looks, moves, acts etc. I won’t argue with you there. You wanna know what a Bolivian Tree Frog looks like? Then you have to get reference. The list of examples is endless.

But, as with everything in our argumentative world of polarisation, there are levels and differences. (That fact may be a surprise to some.) If your reference is drawing over photographs then do it so I can’t tell. Please. Sadly, either by making it so obvious it’s come from a photo-origin or by a social media post showing your process it can on occasion ruin the comics page magic for me. You can tell when it’s a tracing a lot of the time. Not always and your mileage as a reader may vary. But the experienced eye can see something, often, is amiss. It removes my mind from the story, the last thing I’m guessing that you wanted.

But does reference stop and cheating begin when you just import photographs and then add a filter over the top? Is that still classed as reference? Is it still classed as a drawing? Where does art end and ‘cheating’ begin? We can only really apply a case-by-case decision making process. But, how far is it to just turning art into button pushing and by extension how far away is that from AI art? It’s a slippery sloppy slope right? Standing back lazily and allowing the Devil’s Window to do your work for you. But maybe I’m just an old bastard with a head filled up with great cartooning!? I suppose time and money will decide, they often do. Just not for me.

Back to the last week. A busy one. Work has been relentless. I’ve studied a bear and some horror in the comics world. I’ve also been prepping lists and lounges for Heroes Convention next week.

First up is the ACP. We are on quite the lucky streak. Honoured to have Sandy King Carpenter. As well as being the publisher, editor and writer at Storm King Comics she’s also a legendary filmmaker with her partner John Carpenter. She also has a wicked sense of humour and a heart full of comics. Go and have a listen here. Sandy has great insight into the work of a publisher and an editor and gives some teases at the new books coming from Storm King.

Living at what you could say is the opposite end of the newsagents shelf from body horror and wars in Hell is the world of Nuttwood. Most people in the UK over the age of forty will have nostalgia for that Bear called Rupert. Myself and Alan take a look through his rich history, tv and musical appearances and a certain controversy at the High Court in London that involved the creator of ‘Rumpole of the Bailey’ John Mortimer, John and Yoko, Andy Warhol and others. Well worth a listen and can be found right here.

Back to our task at hand. The favourite comic I read this week and the least favourite. This week I choose from 115 comics.

Tops.

I’m cheating this week as I’ve called the top space a draw between two titles. The first is a brilliantly written satire on social media in a science fiction setting. Death Ratio’d written by Mark Russell who is quietly becoming one of the best in the business. The art by Laci has a realistic flavour and carries the drama along very nicely with a focus on faces and reactions.

Companies like AWA, Ablaze, Ghost Machine and Mad Cave are always surprising me with comics I hadn’t heard about previously but are done with an eye to craft. This is just a one-shot and was available day/date on Global Comix if you fancy having a nose.

Rook: Exodus issue 2 is another triumph.

This is at the top, so far, of what I have seen from Ghost Machine for my tastes. Written by Geoff Johns and art by Jason Fabok it’s the apocalypse with a twist.

It has the scope and craft of the best of Franco/Belgian comics and shows what two creators who know what comics can do. I await every issue keenly. Don’t hang about for the trade/hardback, get on this now.

Bottoms.

Worst interiors and worst cover from the comics I read this week.

What happened to her hand!!??

I’ve been reading the annuals that just came out from DC and there are some stinkers in there. Nightwing almost made it onto the list, mostly because he is barely in the issue and it’s all about another character. This is increasingly common as writers are left to do whatever they like. But feels more of a wind-up given the money they are now asking!

But this Harley Quinn issue (what’s up with that logo btw, and why is it signed again on the left?) with it’s dead-eyed character drawing front and centre was just a mess. Plus, is that a rock she is sitting on or a chair? I’m guessing the text on the cover is mean’t to look like a social media tagging thing? It doesn’t work.

Here’s an internal page.

Thanks for reading and see you next week.