New Trade Dress for Invincible Iron Man

The new trade dress for Invincible Iron Man is a delectable 60s modern look.

Ben Caldwell's Wonder Woman

Ben Caldwell’s “Wonder Woman” strip in Wednesday Comics has been the hardest for me to follow. He fills each page with dozens of panels and, even at broadsheet size, it’s all too small. The first issue I found to just be an incomprehensible mess, but one that I knew had some smarts to it, so likely its incomprehensibility was my failing, not his. As the strip has progressed over the summer, I’ve started to understand it more, and I think going back to read it when it’s done, I’ll be able to appreciate it, though I think reading it all at once is likely to be an overwhelming experience.

Anyway, for future reference, Caldwell’s own annotations to each installment.

Frank Quitely's Daredevil, Superman, and More

Just wanted to share a few amazing Frank Quitely images. He’s one of my favorite artists, partly because he works with Grant Morrison so much, but also because, well, I think you’ll be able to tell why from this Daredevil he drew:

(click to embiggen)

How fantastically dynamic. In Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud discusses how a single panel, like the one above, can show both one moment in time and have a narrative. The drawing originally appeared in Daredevil 65 as a standalone piece of art. It wasn’t part of the issue, just a piece of eye candy by Quitely (along with other artists’ work), so there’s no story to go with this. Just a Daredevil vs. ninja smackdown. But it does have a story. Let me amateurishly draw in a few gutters:

Suddenly we’re not just looking at one moment in time, we’re seeing a story. Daredevil versus a sneak of ninjas, swords flying. We have three different things going on. At the top, two ninjas are prepared, ready, posed, jumping into the fray. In the middle, Daredevil is ably dispatching a few of their friends. And in the bottom, the ones Daredevil has already defeated, their weapons in freefall below them. All in one image. This is visual storytelling.

The piece also makes homage to Frank Miller, who famously wrote Daredevil in the 80s and more or less created the treatment of the character as a ninja. Compare the composition to this iconic drawing by Miller from 300 (along with its movie version):

Birds of Prey

Just for fun, Quitely’s cover to Birds of Prey 125:

All Star Superman

And to show some mood, and not just action, All Star Super­man 1:

This cover, drawn by Quitely, came from an idea Morrison had for his never-realized Superman 2000 collaboration with Mark Millar, Tom Peyer, and Mark Waid (which Tim Callahan and Chad Nevett covered extensively last year). Morrison met a fan dressed as Superman in the middle of the night outside of a hotel and had a long conversation with him, in character. Superman.nu covers the meeting, about which Morrison says:

The thing that really hit me, wasn’t so much what Superman was saying as how he was sitting. He was perched on a bollard with one knee drawn up, chin resting on his arms. He looked totally relaxed… and I suddenly realized this was how Superman would sit. He wouldn’t puff out his chest or posture heroically, he would be totally chilled. If nothing can hurt you, you can afford to be cool. A man like Superman would never have to tense against the cold; never have to flinch in the face of a blow. He would be completely laid back, un-tense. With this image of Superman relaxing on a cloud looking out for us all in my head, I rushed back to my hotel room and filled dozens of pages of my notebook with notes and drawings.

Look again at how Quitely draws this scene. See how relaxed Superman is as he watches over Metropolis. Now look at how much depth is in that picture. It’s easy to focus just on Superman, but there’s a fully-imagined city below those clouds. You can see The Daily Planet just peaking up by Superman’s boots, with Centennial Park just beyond. The plane of clouds Superman is sitting on is hundreds of feet up, where it’s calm. Quitely captures the scope of the entire world there, floating hundreds in the sky. The city under those clouds isn’t just background filler, it’s the real focus of the image.

More of his stuff at Comic Art Community.

Wally Wood's 22 Panels That Always Work: Unlimited Edition

Wally Wood’s 22 Panels That Always Work: Unlimited Edition

Famous set of basic cartooning advice by Wally Wood, now with high resolution scans by the original’s new owner.

Marie Mundaca on designing books for David Foster Wallace

Marie Mundaca on designing books for David Foster Wallace

Book design is likely one of the most underappreciated arts, but I find it fascinating.

Gizmodo on the design of the Skynet base in Terminator Salvation

Gizmodo on the design of the Skynet base in Terminator Salvation

I think the filmmakers missed a great opportunity to show what a machine city might look like. Purely functional, all tools taking commands wirelessly from other machines, not guardrails on dangerously high structures, etc.

Gummi Venus De Milo

Gummi Venus De Milo

Sweet sweet candy.

Wolverine Anniversary Homage Covers

Wolverine Anniversary Homage Covers

To celebrate the character’s 35th anniversary, Marvel had a bunch of different artists draw Wolverine in the style of Picaso, Dali, and many more.

Star Wars: A New Heap - Triple Canopy

Star Wars: A New Heap - Triple Canopy

Great piece on the art direction of Star Wars, how it drew from minimalism and contemporary art and architecture, and more. Well worth the somewhat lengthy read.

Where Fish Sticks Swim Free and Chicken Nuggets Self-Dip

Where Fish Sticks Swim Free and Chicken Nuggets Self-Dip

Banksy's Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill - Boing Boing

Banksy’s Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill - Boing Boing

Bob Truby's Brand Name Pencils

Bob Truby’s Brand Name Pencils

Hundreds of pictures of pencils. (via rfj)

Focus on art: Dan Havel, Dean Ruck | David Airey » Graphic and Logo Designer

Focus on art: Dan Havel, Dean Ruck | David Airey » Graphic and Logo Designer

Crazy art project that looks like a house being sucked into a wormhole.

Weezer Patterns

I downloaded Weezer’s new album this morning and listened to it on the Metro. I can never tell how I feel about a new record until I’ve heard it a few times, but it’s pretty good. I loved Weezer (the green one) when it came out but it hasn’t aged as well, and Maladroit and Make Believe never made it into any lasting rotation. Really Weezer (the blue one) and Pinkerton are all I need from that band (yet I keep giving them my money).

Anyway, remember those logic puzzles from school where you’d have a pattern and have to extrapolate the next items in the series? Here’s what Weezer seems to be doing:

1. Self-titled album (blue)
2. One named album (Pinkerton)
3. Self-titled album (green)
4. Named album (Maladroit)
5. Named album (Make Believe)
6. Self-titled album (red)

So it looks like it’s a color, then either n+1 titled albums, or perhaps n*2. To stick to their pattern they need to release three or four more named albums before another color.

Soda Pop! - a set on Flickr

Soda Pop! - a set on Flickr

Images of old soda cans and bottles.

iGoogle theme by Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon

iGoogle theme by Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon

Final Crisis 1 Cover

I think I finally figured out what’s odd about J.G. Jones’s otherwise great cover for _Final Crisis_ 1: the ring’s not lit up. Clearly he spent some time playing with a flashlight and a digital camera to figure out how a Green Lantern ring would cast shadows, but the ring itself is dark and the logo easily visible. It’s like the light’s coming from the space between Hal Jordan’s knuckle and the back of the ring. Shouldn’t looking straight on at the ring be like looking right at a lightbulb?

Refacing Government Tender - a set on Flickr

Refacing Government Tender. Funny stuff.

Mortheim

Crazy ass Mordheim board someone made. The amount of detail is remarkable.

Does Cuteness Get Cuter with Better Graphics?

Does Cuteness Get Cuter with Better Graphics?