F.M. :: WILDEY DOUG

Rio Rides Again Cover by Doug Wildey

Artist: Doug Wildey (All)

11 Comments - 578 Views - 11 Likes

Rio Rides Again Cover by Doug Wildey Comic Art

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Published cover

Artwork Details

Title:	Rio Rides Again Cover by Doug Wildey
Artist:	Doug Wildey (All)
Media Type:	Paint - Watercolor
Art Type:	Cover
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	578
Likes on CAF:	11 12
Favorited on CAF:	1
Comments:	11
Added to Site:	2/7/2021
Comic Art Archive:

Description

This is the cover to the Rio Graphic Novel published by Marvel in 1990.

What makes this cover special is that it�s (most likely) the only Rio cover available outside of Doug Wildey�s family who owns close to all the originals to Rio.

To me there is only one other Rio cover that equals this one (not that are many of them to begin with).

If you don�t know or haven�t read Rio, you are truly missing something. Rio was Doug Wildey�s western masterpiece. Excellently written with real characters whose motivations are never black or white and superbly drawn. Wildey was a natural born storyteller and Rio remains his best effort and contribution to the medium.

If you are serious about comics as a medium, if you love excellent sequential storytelling or simply good stories, I strongly recommend Rio. Try to track down the IDW complete collection, preferably in hardcover format. It was shot from the originals and feature tons of bonuses. It�s basically an artist edition, smaller in size but for a fraction of the usual cost.

Now about this cover. I always thought that there were certain artists who were fantastic at depicting rain scenes. I always thought that John Romita JR was the expert at those. Then I saw this cover and it blew my mind.

Rain. Water. Coming down from the sky, a raging river cascading on the verge of overflowing. Dripping from the rocks and his hat, obscuring the surrounding vegetation and the main character himself. You can truly FEEL he is soaked to the bone.

But most of all, seeing him hiding from behind the rocks and from the ultra-worried look on his face, you can tell he is in a very bad situation.

The heavy rain, his crouched stance, his face, that fact that we don�t see what enemy he is facing, who has him so stressed, how will he deal with the threat in such adverse elemental conditions? EVERYTHING on this cover is geared towards creating an incredible sense of tension. Almost cinematic. Off camera threats work so well on covers in general and with me in particular as it entices you to open the book.

And the monotone blueish-greenish hue obviously perfectly reflects the raging elements.

If you read the book (or know his art), you will see that Wildey was incredible at conveying emotions with very few lines. Like Alex Toth or Dan Spiegle also were (and incidentally with whom he also shared a career in animation which always helps in making a better storyteller out of any artist). It already shows here.

Produced in watercolor on skimmed illustration board with an image area of 14" x 17", I�m super excited and proud to share this masterpiece with you as the third piece of my 2021 CAF b-day party.

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About the Owner

	F M Premium Gallery Owner
Joined:	May 2005
Last Login:	September 2025
Country:	BELGIUM
On CAF:	F's Classifieds Artworks Commented On Liked Art Site Activity on CAF

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Comments on this Artwork

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Filmore W. Bedwick
Member Since 2003

1 - Posted on 2/7/2021

Fantastic!

D. J. Peters
Member Since 2006

1 - Posted on 2/7/2021

Brilliant!

Alex Johnson
Member Since 2006
Forum Moderator

1 - Posted on 2/7/2021

That's a beaut!

A K
Member Since 2017

1 - Posted on 2/7/2021

This is an extraordinary piece by a man who was a master of both comics and animation. Congratulations on getting such a meaningful piece for your collection.

kent mansley
Member Since 2015

1 - Posted on 2/8/2021

That is all sorts of amazing! I love it so much! Your description of Wildey's work is perfect. Thank you for sharing this one. I'll be visiting it often when I need a pick me up. Huge congrats!

Jason Hussa
Member Since 2017

2 - Posted on 2/9/2021

This is STUNNING, for every reason you so eloquently describe. What incredible work, and my reaction was the same when I first saw it; “Wow - that rain is Romita, Jr. good!” :) Once more I owe you thanks for giving me another series to investigate! Looking to grab a copy of the book now... Happy birthday, day three!

J H
Member Since 2019

1 - Posted on 2/9/2021

Even the light blue shading adds to the cold, wet tension of the piece. And I almost want to grit my teeth with the character. That is beautiful work. OK, you sold me, I'm going to pick this up. Thank you for sharing, FM! Congrats!

Bill J
Member Since 2009

1 - Posted on 2/9/2021

Outstanding!

NorthBay Dan
Member Since 2009

1 - Posted on 9/13/2021

Simply beautiful!

Royd Burgoyne
Member Since 2003

1 - Posted on 5/1/2022

This is an outstanding Doug Wildey Rio cover - congrats! When I posted my own Wildey Rio page back in 2009, there were no others in CAF - good to see a couple more including yours.

Comic Art Channel
Member Since 2018

1 - Posted on 7/9/2022

Love this! Big congrats!

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