Ultimate Enemy 1 cover by Jason Pearson
Artist: Jason Pearson (Penciller)
14 Comments - 487 Views - 19 Likes
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Published cover
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DescriptionToday marks the one-year anniversary of the tragic passing of Jason Pearson, my favorite modern artist.I’m sharing this cover to honor his artistic memory. Now to be perfectly transparent, this one was not immediate love at first sight in the sense that it sat on his rep’s website for months and never sold. It then popped up on ebay with a 1$ starting bid and it was a case of “I can’t let it go for such a low price” scenario that prompted me to buy it. Obviously, I’m quite glad I did. For the obvious reason that there won’t ever be any new Pearson produced art and second, because it has quite grown on me since I bought it. The death theme of the cover is quite the on the nose fit for this sad occasion, but I believe it would have made Jason smile, as he was quite adept at (dark) humor I’m told. The sense of design is extremely strong with this one as often with Pearson’s art (just check the use of black and white and light source alone). The off-centric position of the character to highlight him against the blackest part of the skull is quite the bold choice. The big skull behind Fury quite grabs the viewer’s attention, especially on the published cover with the dark black clashing against the red. The use of plain blacks and crosshatching to delineate the skull’s features is brilliant. No need to show it all, to draw it in full, it is super effective as is. Then we have a meaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan Fury staring right at you. Obviously, I didn’t grow up with this version of the character whose “change” was dictated by the pragmatic need of a publishing house espousing the success of a more successful medium. It is what it is and by being constantly force fed to you, I confess the character has also grown on me. The sense of badassness and dread that Pearson infused him with is fantastic and subtle. His stillness, the heavy use of shadows on his face, the full black costume, the pointy v-shape of the sweater, the pointy clothes going out of his jacket pocket, his mean stare, the tiny lines around the eye socket that indicate a bad wound and scar, the fact that the sweater lines and those of the turtle neck are not perfectly aligned to the great (Golden level good) gun, everything tells you that guy is not to be messed with. And let’s not forget my favorite detail in this piece, the vaporing fumes going out of his gun, indicating that it has just been fired and showing us a character that does not show an ounce of remorse. The way it swirls up is just fantastic, adding a delicateness to a piece that would otherwise be 100% brutal. Even Jason’s signature plays into the design of the piece. He was one of the best (of his generation or any other) to put inks on paper for mainstream comics, certainly highly influential in his field of activity and his art is both treasured and missed by his fans and peers. May he draw in peace. Social/Sharing |
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Comments on this Artwork
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Ruben DaCollector 
Member Since 2008
1 - Posted on 12/19/2023
A skull on the cover, you've already sold me. Fantastic line work and beautiful lighting and composition.
K Gearon
Member Since 2011
1 - Posted on 12/19/2023
Awesome dramatic, and that contrast of deep blacks on the left to white at the right...effective stuff! Congrats!
Duke Fleed aka #1 Groo Fan
Member Since 2013
1 - Posted on 12/19/2023
Gorgeous! Are there any Pearson covers you don't own? Don't answer that! Congrats btw!!
F M
Member Since 2005
Posted on 12/19/2023
Duke Fleed aka #1 Groo Fan wrote:
Gorgeous! Are there any Pearson covers you don't own? Don't answer that! Congrats btw!!
Sadly, yes ;)
Mark V
Member Since 2021
1 - Posted on 12/19/2023
A fitting tribute to Pearson and your appreciation for his art. 👏
Marcus Wai
Member Since 2005
1 - Posted on 12/19/2023
The design works wonderfully with Fury's dead eye stare! The monochromatic published cover loses some of the sharp contrast but adds to the mood to be a standout amongst Pearson's works.
James S
Member Since 2017
1 - Posted on 12/19/2023
Maybe not love, but I really liked it at first sight!
Eranga Devasurendra
Member Since 2020
1 - Posted on 12/19/2023
I've told you I'm envious of your Pearson collection, right? Yeah.
E DLS
Member Since 2005
1 - Posted on 12/20/2023
I hate to be reminded that he's gone. But I certainly don't need to be reminded of what an amazing talent he was. Hard to imagine this wasn't love at first site for you or that you got it as a mercy buy, but I think it's classic Pearson and it's absolutely stunning. You're lucky I didn't see the auction. But it fits perfectly in your collection and I know you treasure it as much as any of your other pieces.
Dave W
Member Since 2006
1 - Posted on 12/22/2023
Wow, a perfect Pearson example, stunning!
Congratulations!!
Bill J
Member Since 2009
1 - Posted on 12/27/2023
WOW! Love this Ultimate Enemy #1 cover by Jason Pearon! Outstanding drawing of Nick Fury, smoking gun in hand. I love the huge skull in the background, the empty eyesocket surrounding Fury's head, which is, of course, lacking one eye. The whole cover is so striking! Great pick-up!
Jason Hussa
Member Since 2017
1 - Posted on 1/5/2024
Great Scott, F M - this is SENSATIONAL. A phenomenal design here, with a breathtaking balance of light and dark. Brilliant chiaroscuro with Fury's figure in front (allowing the skull behind him to emerge from the darkness as the viewer's eye moves across the page), with the pocket square and (my favorite) the coat buttons on his left sleeve cuff. The skull hovering behind Fury (and the way Jason draws the band of shadow leading to the empty left eye socket, mirroring Fury's own patched left eye) feels like a heaping bowl full of ominous foreshadowing. Brilliant. And OF COURSE the question mark shape of the smoke from Fury's fired weapon... BRILLIANT! My only issue with your fantastic write up, Fred, is that this cover pre-dates the first Avengers movie by two years, and the character model of Sam Jackson for Fury was (of course) adopted/"proposed" by Bryan Hitch even earlier than this in The Ultimates (rather than using Sam here as any type of pandering to the movie crowd... That would come later in Marvel Point One... ;) ). CONGRATS, F M - this is truly awesome.
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