The Outhouse - The Greatest Comic Book Forum

[Victorian Squid]

Dismiss it, whatever, you just make yourself look worse.

Dismissed.

[thefourthman]

Totally random, but this morning I pondered the possibility of one day going blind and what it would mean for my comic collection.

better read all that shit to a tape recorder and make cds quick.

[******]

better read all that shit to a tape recorder and make cds quick.

No, I probably just need to stop collecting and sell everything I have on Ebay.

Not that it's ever going to happen, but just in case.

[Royal Nonesuch]

I see that more from the DC books I've looked at lately than Marvel, but I generally don't see a lot of what either one is publishing right now. I think there's a schism between the pencils/inks and digital coloring. I think the artist is more likely than ever to go that coloring book route, leaving it to the colorist to add everything else, including the illusion of depth. But the pencils/art should be giving panels depth too, not merely line/perspective drawings like a lot of what you see in Superboy. Not enough collaboration between the artist/inker/colorist, in other words.

Also, some digital colorist just suck balls. This issue looks like 1997-era CGI in terms of the shading/gradations.

It's happening a lot outside of Marvel and DC too.

The pencillers seem to be more and more dependent on colorists. You're right about the lack of depth and shading in the pencils. The pencillers should be doing that.

I think Jamie Grant did a phenomenal job in All-Star Superman, but he doesn't seem to have as much to work with here.

[Victorian Squid]

It's happening a lot outside of Marvel and DC too.

The pencillers seem to be more and more dependent on colorists. You're right about the lack of depth and shading in the pencils. The pencillers should be doing that.

I think Jamie Grant did a phenomenal job in All-Star Superman, but he doesn't seem to have as much to work with here.

That's the same colorist?

I remember there was a lot of digital effects in that but it definitely worked better. I don't have ASS handy, but Quitely uses a lot of line work to shade usually.

[thefourthman]

It's happening a lot outside of Marvel and DC too.

The pencillers seem to be more and more dependent on colorists. You're right about the lack of depth and shading in the pencils. The pencillers should be doing that.

I think Jamie Grant did a phenomenal job in All-Star Superman, but he doesn't seem to have as much to work with here.

I still think it boils down to collaboration. I'll be honest, I don't pay attention much to colors anymore unless it is particularly bad or particularly good. I don't think Grant's modern super detailed coloring matched what the penciller was going for. I miss more minalmalist comic art, any one who has read Lemiere's self drawn stuff, knows that he is some where in between what we have here and something Terry Moore would produce. I would bet the pencils were closer to that feel as well and I wonder how the artist and penciller feel about the finished product as a result.

[thefourthman]

That's the same colorist?

I remember there was a lot of digital effects in that but it definitely worked better. I don't have ASS handy, but Quitely uses a lot of line work to shade usually.

Quitely over uses lines - that is why the super's outfits look like sweats.

[Victorian Squid]

Quitely over uses lines (about like Jim Lee does) - that is why the super's outfits look like sweats.

Yeah, he's the opposite, lines all over people.

[******]

Damn that Frank Quitely and all that detail!

[thefourthman]

Yeah, he's the opposite, lines all over people.

I edited out the Jim Lee comment, because I have reformed my opinion of his art. After seeing a lot of his pencils, Williams just takes the wrong lines out. Lee is almost as good at crosshatching as the Underground guys.

[Eli Katz]

I love looking at Marvel Essentials and seeing how much contrast there used to be between black and white space. Like this:



Or like this:



Ah, the good ol' days.

[thefourthman]

Taking a look at All Star Superman, it stands out there too. It doesn't look near as good as say the coloring on the cover to Batman and Robin #16 with colors by Sinclair.

All Star Superman #1 colored by Grant-


Batman And Robin #16 colored by Sinclair-


Batman and Robin #16 (I'm guessing this is a color guide by Quitely)-


I think that last one looks best.

[Victorian Squid]

I love looking at Marvel Essentials and seeing how much contrast there used to be between black and white space. Like this:



Or like this:



Ah, the good ol' days.

I love that stuff.

[Victorian Squid]

Taking a look at All Star Superman, it stands out there too. It doesn't look near as good as say the coloring on the cover to Batman and Robin #16 with colors by Sinclair.

All Star Superman #1 colored by Grant-


Batman And Robin #16 colored by Sinclair-


Batman and Robin #16 (I'm guessing this is a color guide by Quitely)-


I think that last one looks best.

I see what you mean. It's makes a sort of sense that Bats would be more shadowy. I found ASS art to look sort of rubbery and plastic but still less flat and 2D than Superboy. In that futuristic, almost sci-fi ASS setting, I think the digital coloring techniques worked more often than not and were more fitting to the story and environment--it seemed more like a stylistic choice between all artists involved, less like a digitally-colored paint-by-numbers using only a flat palette of colors.