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2011: A Cartooning Odyssey
Somewhere along the line I have picked up the vague notion that someone out there might be interested in seeing my personal development as a comics artist. So I've decided to post samples, along with a bit of chitchat, here. By sheer coincidence, my “career” divides up rather neatly by decade:
My first serious long-term comic book project was The Titans, launched by myself and my best friend Steve Taylor in 1968 [so I was eleven]. For whatever reason, we figured we were ready to do this. And yes, Teen Titans already existed at that time, but as anyone who is eleven knows, removing the word “Teen” changes it into something quite distinct and different so we weren't “copying”! ;P
This team of five superheroes was based on characters we had created for our Captain Action action figures, so if you notice anything wonky about the character designs, that might help explain some of it. Steve and I would hash out plotlines via marathon gab sessions either over the phone or during visits to each other's rooms. But the final script/dialogue, and art, is ultimately all my responsibility.
Anyhoo, here is the very first panel of The Titans:
Drawn in pencil, on lined paper in fact. To me the Curt Swan influence is obvious. Here's another panel from that first issue -- I remember feeling that this shot was dramatic and deep and mature:
We kept working on The Titans until I was fifteen. Did twenty-six issues, all in pencil. Toward the end, I had discovered [and been heavily influenced by] Barry Smith: this shadow effect is a pure Smith rip:
Lighting effects fascinated me then, and Wally Wood was another influence in that regard:
Also, since we were working in pencil (Steve drew other series while I did this one), we sometimes made use of the medium in ways that professional artists working in ink couldn't do, such as the grey shadings in those later panels -- or (if you can make it out) the dotted background texture in this panel, which was done via rubbing:
And I wrap up this segment with this last panel, which at the time struck me as the best drawing I made in the entire series. Looking back on it now, I'm no longer sure I can see what makes it so special, but at the time I was mighty excited about this one:
My first serious long-term comic book project was The Titans, launched by myself and my best friend Steve Taylor in 1968 [so I was eleven]. For whatever reason, we figured we were ready to do this. And yes, Teen Titans already existed at that time, but as anyone who is eleven knows, removing the word “Teen” changes it into something quite distinct and different so we weren't “copying”! ;P
This team of five superheroes was based on characters we had created for our Captain Action action figures, so if you notice anything wonky about the character designs, that might help explain some of it. Steve and I would hash out plotlines via marathon gab sessions either over the phone or during visits to each other's rooms. But the final script/dialogue, and art, is ultimately all my responsibility.
Anyhoo, here is the very first panel of The Titans:
Drawn in pencil, on lined paper in fact. To me the Curt Swan influence is obvious. Here's another panel from that first issue -- I remember feeling that this shot was dramatic and deep and mature:
We kept working on The Titans until I was fifteen. Did twenty-six issues, all in pencil. Toward the end, I had discovered [and been heavily influenced by] Barry Smith: this shadow effect is a pure Smith rip:
Lighting effects fascinated me then, and Wally Wood was another influence in that regard:
Also, since we were working in pencil (Steve drew other series while I did this one), we sometimes made use of the medium in ways that professional artists working in ink couldn't do, such as the grey shadings in those later panels -- or (if you can make it out) the dotted background texture in this panel, which was done via rubbing:
And I wrap up this segment with this last panel, which at the time struck me as the best drawing I made in the entire series. Looking back on it now, I'm no longer sure I can see what makes it so special, but at the time I was mighty excited about this one:
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And the development from the first drawing to the last is just startling.
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Well, to put it in perspective: before I did that first panel, the only time I had ever even tried to draw a superhero comic book was a six-page opus called [I think] Karate Master vs. Plant Man. So I was a rank beginner at this style with nowhere to go but up. I expect to never experience such a pronounced artistic growth spurt as this, ever again.