F.M. :: BENNETT RICHARD

Stormwatch Sourcebook 1 featuring Nautika by Richard Bennett

Artist: Richard Bennett (All)

6 Comments - 425 Views - 8 Likes

Stormwatch Sourcebook 1 featuring Nautika by Richard Bennett Comic Art

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Artwork Details

Title:	Stormwatch Sourcebook 1 featuring Nautika by Richard Bennett
Artist:	Richard Bennett (All)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Pin Up
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	425
Likes on CAF:	8 9
Comments:	6
Added to Site:	3/28/2023
Comic Art Archive:

Description

Let’s get the elephant out of the room first, this is a pure guilty pleasure wrapped in nostalgia pick up :)

First, Richard Bennett has left the comic for the movie industry a long time ago and his original art is consequently pretty scarce (Platt level), especially if we are talking his own pencil and ink art. This is but my second piece from him.

Second, out of all the various Image “studios” back in the day, the Wildstorm universe is the one I’m still the most fond of, probably the best in quality content (art and writing). Savage Dragon probably ranks up if only for the fact that it’s still (mostly) ongoing and fun.

Wildstorm produced many pin up books disguised as TOHMM/Who’s Who type sourcebooks. A perfect way to both sell a new book and train/showcase the newbies artists at the same time.

I have always LOVED that kind of books from any publisher, considering them as little artbooks and enjoying the fun fact sheets that come with the art to learn more about the featured character.

Case in point, Nautika from Stormwatch, a title which would later benefit from a higher profile recognition under Warren Ellis’ tenure.

Bennett at the time was a more seasoned artist/pro (than the other artists of the book) due tohaving worked for Continuity comics (CybeRad, anyone?) and it shows at the very least with the insane inks he provided for this piece.

I always liked Nautika as I like characters with no nose if done right (Toriyama does it a lot, Keown did it with Pitt). The higher cowl of her costume design is also a nice touch.

Now YES, she is meant to be sexy and yet the anatomy is a bit awkward here. The overlapping legs which means you do not know how she could be standing, the overlong torso, the super thin waist, her rib cage and the position of her breasts on each side like a boob job gone bad, the fact that she has no nose but he felt he had to draw some beginning of her nasal arch, I could go on…

But it’s 90s Image, so perfectly in style ^^.

The precision of Bennett’s very thin line and inks, the use of the light source coming from her hand and the way he drew her energy display (which was butchered and thickened by the coloring, by the way), some of it with white out, is super impressive. The crosshatching around her blast is positively insane (Art Adams level).

Lastly, it’s good to fully appreciate the art as it was badly cropped for publication, not to mention the overlapping text on top of it (don’t you just hate when it happens ^^ ?).

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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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Ruben DaCollector
Member Since 2008

2 - Posted on 3/28/2023

Uh....Congratulations?

Marcus Wai
Member Since 2005

2 - Posted on 3/28/2023

It's a hot 90's bad girl pin up and there needs to be no excuses for it. It exists and there we did too to experience it!

Jason Hussa
Member Since 2017

1 - Posted on 3/29/2023

This is really lovely! Okay, it's absolutely "of an era" (and one that I find generally doesn't speak to me in terms of mainstream comic art), but I really like the textures (especially of the backgrounds) and the inking here. Congrats on snagging a really nice '90's pinup (that's really fun to look at) by Bennett! Cool pick up, F M!

James S
Member Since 2017

1 - Posted on 4/5/2023

Guilty pleasure nostalgia is the best nostalgia! Well-inked, 90s-published lady pinup is a good grab in my book!

Gal Schwartz
Member Since 2005

1 - Posted on 4/10/2023

Richard Bennett is an artist I quickly became a fan of once I saw his few stints on the X-titles... Beautiful example of his exquisite ink work !

Michael McIsaac
Member Since 2020

1 - Posted on 4/12/2023

I'm in agreement with you that Wildstorm produced the overall highest quality of work of the Image studios, particularly once writers like James Robinson, Alan Moore and Warren Ellis got involved. I'll admit that I gave up on most Image books around the time of Deathmate, but I picked up most of them a few years later and found the Wildstorm stuff the most enjoyable. Congrats on the cool pickup from what was a studio that produced a lot of fun work.

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