Monday, July 2, 2012

Good Girl Art: Young X-Men no. 2 by Terry and Rachel Dodson

That title sounds so wrong.

According to wikipedia "good girl art" is:
"...found in drawings or paintings which feature a strong emphasis on attractive women no matter what the subject or situation."
Whereas Young X-Men was a secondary storyline to the X-Men "Divided We Stand" story.

However, my interest really lies with Terry and Rachel Dodson's artwork!

I was first introduced to Terry and Rachel's work when I stumbled upon DC's Harley Quinn in 2001. There was something special about the comic. Well written, great characters, fun stories, and the clincher - Harley herself. No longer a whimsical cartoon depiction from Batman The Animated Series, Harley took on a whole new level of reality. Terry and Rachel drew Harley with the form of a fully realized person (albeit an 'idealistic' person). But here was a Harley who was athletic, emotional, capable, and ultimately, sexy.

And right there is the truth to why the Dodson's artwork is so appealing. The women the Dodson's draw are not weak, docile characters whose only strength is their exterior. The women they draw are fully realized both internally and externally and in essence are not just attractive women, but attractive characters.

Mantra by Terry Dodson
Over the years I've kept an eye out for Dodson's work, be it their run on Spider-Man or their current work on X-men, but a few years ago I realized that I had seen their work from way back in my past. Digging through my comics I came across my old copies of Mantra. Judging from the cover art I knew why I purchased these comics as a 13 year old boy and looking at them now as an adult I appreciate them for much more than a prepubescent thrill they were then, but now a realization that even at 13 I had great taste in good girl art.






Young X-Men #2 written by Marc Guggenheim, penciled by Yanick Paquette, inked by Ray Snyder, colored by Rob Schwager, lettered by Dave Sharpe. Marvel July 2008.





Terry and Rachel Dodson Gallery

Black Cat
Wonder Woman
Poison Ivy
Harley Quinn as Batgirl
Harley Quinn cuttin Supermans hair
Harley Quinn



More Comix 365 articles:  

Mantra
Where the Wild Hulks

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

TCAF and I'm looking for work...

Art by Fabio Moon & Gabriel Ba
Three years ago I returned to school to chase my dreams - I wanted to be an artist and animator. As of April 2012 I have finished my studies and am halfway to achieving those dreams. The crap part of chasing those dreams though is having to deal with the possibility of not achieving those dreams - ie. finding a job I love. So the pros and cons for looking for work:

Pro: can now devote some time to this neglected blog o'mine.
Con: looking for work with the rest of my time. 

Ah well...let's get to it: some comics!

Went to TCAF 2012 on Sunday. Met Tom Neely - who was gracious enough to sign his wonderful pin-up for King Conan #4 (Dark Horse). Also picked up Doppelganger from him, which is his Popeye existential comic. I feel like Good Guy Greg! Even though I have a digital copy of Doppelganger at my fingertips, I still bought the comic! +1 for Good Guy Goodness! (I've also recently gotten hooked on  reddit). Enjoy Tom Neely's fantastic art! (He also has the original for sale - check out the uncensored version! Tom rules!)

Conan killing big time!

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Necrosha The Gathering

Writer: Craig Kyle & Christopher Yost
Artists: Ibraim Roberson, SotoColor's L. Molinar, Gabriel Hernandez Walta, Leonardo Manco, SotoColor's C. Fidler, Kalman Andrasofszky, Cam Smith, SotoColor's J. Roberts, Mateus Santolouco
Pub: Marvel
Pub Date: Feb 2010

Only bought this because of Walta's art. He's got a great style. Not to knock the other artists of course, they're a bonus.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Uptight No. 3


Jordan Crane
Fantagraphics
2009

First tale is depressing. Second tale is pretty neat. Cover is great.



Monday, March 5, 2012

Cover of the Week!



Cover Artist: Yanick Paquette

Check out his line work on this issue! Fantastic!


Sunday, May 29, 2011

The Toronto Comics Arts Festival 2011

banner
On May 7 me and my lady went to TCAF. Great event. Went to two panels: The first had Paul Pope, Sam Hiti and Brandon Graham discussing their ideas on story creation, fav artists, and independent work vs studio work. The second one we attended starred Darwyn Cooke, Ray Fawkes, Kathyrn Immonen, Stuart Immonen, and Jillian Tamaki. The topic was regarding their ideas on a Canadian voice in mainstream comics. As ever, the panel was fun due to the fact of Darwyn just being Darwyn.

Overall I loved TCAF. My personal highlight was meeting James O'Barr. He signed my Crow comic, which is awesome, but more importantly, we caught him outside the event, and we got a chance to shoot the shit with him. I couldn't help but smile when he started playfully razing Paul Pope. I didn't know it, but I guess when Pope started out in the biz, he went and saw James and Dave Sim to show off his work and get advice. Pope draws on these huge art boards, and James joked that Paul should start drawing on 11 by 17's instead of bed sheets. It was neat to hear one of my favourite creators jokingly pick on another of my favourite comic creators.

Also slightly offended Chester Brown. That was amusing. He asked me why I didn't want to buy his new book, so I told him I'm not attuned to autobio comics. The real reason is I didn't want to buy his new book because I was tapped. I eventually told him that, but the sting was there. Also I laughed when I read his new books title aloud, "Confessions of Being a John". I just thought it was a funny title.

Here's some photos of TCAF.

TCAF groundfloor shotcomics dicussion on storydigital shot of cover of Diamond 6 comic by Paul Pope

discussion at the pilot in toronto
Comics dicussion at the pilot
comics discussion at the pilot in toronto during TCAF
blurry picture of Kathryn Immonen
close up of cover
screenshot of cover
a drawing by Chester Brown
Interior of James O'barss autograph