F.M. :: ARATA JACK

Talent Showcase 18 page 7 by Jack Arata & Norm Breyfogle

Artists: Jack Arata (Penciller) , Norm Breyfogle (Inker)

4 Comments - 267 Views - 7 Likes

Talent Showcase 18 page 7 by Jack Arata & Norm Breyfogle Comic Art

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Artwork Details

Title:	Talent Showcase 18 page 7 by Jack Arata & Norm Breyfogle
Artist:	Jack Arata (Penciller)
Artist:	Norm Breyfogle (Inker)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Interior Page
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	267
Likes on CAF:	7 8
Comments:	4
Added to Site:	2/4/2023
Comic Art Archive:

Description

So this is the last page of that short 7 pages story, Heart of a Skeek, which made a deep and lasting impression on my younger teenage self when I first read it.

It happens to be the next sequential one after the one I posted last week and the end page of the story. What�s great is that with those two pages, you can easily comprehend what the story was all about. Everything about it is made clear with those two pages, basically.

Again, the art is certainly ok, in both style and execution, without being great BUT the storytelling is really clear and on point.

In the first panel, following the previous page last panel, we have the fleeing skeek with what we know discover is a fuel thank. I love the creature�s design by the way as you can tell it�s an innocent and unaggressive species. Both his design and rendering really scream Norm Breyfogle to me.

We have a nice close up in panel 2 with Dormin the hunter berserk with rage firing on the poor prey. The �nothin� to prove� caption is a nice touch to underline his craziness I find. The attention paid to his eyes to highlight his state of mind is great here.

Then it goes BOOM in the third panel with what feels like a typical Breyfogle
contribution in the inks.

The fourth panel has the two would be hunters discovering a completely mad Dormin in the round insert fifth panel. Everything in the fourth leads the eye to the fifth.

And what a fifth indeed. The round shape forces the reader to pause on the close up on poor Dormin who went mad realising his life mistake. Again, all the details showing him going mad are great: unaligned irises drop of saliva, the eerie sounds he is making.

And in the sixth panel, the big reveal! Dormin has been exterminating his own species his whole life basically as the explosion of the fuel canister just revealed that he is just a shaved Skeek. That whole scene felt so dramatic to my young mind. The lying body with burned fur on his torso and arms, the stare in death and the two tilted angles of the whole scene (the Skeek and the other characters in the background). It�s so effective.

And while it may be a WTF ending for some, to me the pathos of it all and the psychological consequences of the reveal were just incredible. That you could generate such an impact in only 7 pages and even dare to do so was mind blowing.

While I certainly would not mind owning the other 5 pages to complete the full story, I feel like I have the two most significant ones and I�m quite content with that.

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About the Owner

	F M Premium Gallery Owner
Joined:	May 2005
Last Login:	September 2025
Country:	BELGIUM
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Marcus Wai
Member Since 2005

1 - Posted on 2/4/2023

That layout shows a lot of the 2000AD influence with the panel 2 open upper border, the circular panel, those gun sound effects set straight on top and the other sounds floating and placed like musical notes.

Michael McIsaac
Member Since 2020

1 - Posted on 2/4/2023

While I can't say that I'm familiar with the art of Jack Arata, early work by the great Norm Breyfogle is always something to get excited about.

Ruben DaCollector
Member Since 2008

1 - Posted on 2/4/2023

A really fun end page. While I never bought New Talent Showcase when it was being published, I always admired that DC had the balls to attempt such an audacious project. Publishing a comic simply to showcase up and coming talent who were close, yet not quite yet "ready for prime time", featuring original characters rather than established ones, was a very gutsy move to make and they've always had my respect for that.

Jason Hussa
Member Since 2017

1 - Posted on 2/6/2023

Cool page, F M - always a kick to get the twist ending / shocking reveal! :) More cool inking on this one (still am loving the background textures) and I like how there's not a lot of lettering / dialogue on the page (none in the last two panels), which is basically the writer stepping aside to let the visuals (and the visuals of a newcomer, no less!) shoulder the story and take it across the finish line. Panel two even looks like it may have been set up originally to feature another large word balloon or caption (and then the border was painted over). Nice storytelling choices made by writer, artist, and inker here! Congrats again, F M!

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