F.M. :: ARATA JACK

Talent Showcase 18 page 6 by Jack Arata & Norm Breyfogle

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

7 Comments - 270 Views - 5 Likes

Talent Showcase 18 page 6 by Jack Arata & Norm Breyfogle Comic Art

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Talent Showcase 18 page 7 by Jack Arata & Norm Breyfogle

Artwork Details

Title:	Talent Showcase 18 page 6 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:	270
Likes on CAF:	5 6
Comments:	7
Added to Site:	1/29/2023
Comic Art Archive:

Description

As much as an artist follower as I am, primarily, Jack Arata has never been high on my radar.

This Kubert school alumni was only sporadically active between 1982 and 1987: https://www.comics.org/checklist/name/Jack%20Arata

I will even admit that I was not familiar with his name until this page popped up at auction. But I recognized it instantly as that short 7 pages story, Heart of a Skeek, made a deep and lasting impression on my younger teenage self when I first read it translated in French (as an obvious page filler in “Les Vengeurs 7” for those who care, which also translated some gorgeous Levitz and Lightle’s LSH ^^).

(Let me know if I was the only one please, which I am fully ready to accept ^^)

Written by Alan Rowlands (another creator whose output in Comics was also quite thin and limited), it tells the Sci-fi story of an overzealous hunter. I won’t say more in order to avoid spoiling it and some of you may want to read it.

I’d say that the art is serviceable, the style not particularly great even though you can detect signs of greatness here and there, especially on the (very DC 80s) distinctive character designs of each of the 4 alien species portrayed on this page and regarding each character’s emotions. But the storytelling is really clear and on point, which is impressive for such a young artist.

(young artists tend to multiply panels in order to tell everything they need on a page-think Art Adams’ Longhsot- whereas he went for a 6 panels layout, giving room to let the storytelling breathe).

The first panel is nice in establishing how annoyed the 2 first characters are at Dormin’s raging hunting spree. I like the expression of the first whale-like one.

The second panel expertly showcase the hunter’s berserker rage. You can (already) tell that there is something more going on as his raging emotions don’t make much sense. Only his face is clearly rendered and he seems caged in within the tree branches, a nice touch.

In the third panel, he is simply mad with rage, oblivious to the other characters who just want him to stop. What a nice close up on his crazy face.

The fourth panel is probably the weakest. I mean, it offers nice shots of the two angry hunters in training and it is an important psychological plot element withing the story but having Dormin’s face cut in two vertically while closing up on him may not have been the wisest choice, I find. Unless it was a mean to underline his intense inner turmoil?

The fifth panel is great at establishing the height of each characters but also because everything in it is designed to direct the eye of the reader from left to right (the pointing finger, the recoiling body, the placement of the word balloons and that last character pointing to the next part of the action-I love his expression here-, like he just noticed the prey moving from the edge of his vision). The shadowed vegetation around them is also nicely rendered.The open borders choice really let the whole page breathes amidst all that tension.

The last panel is excellent with the prey (a “skeek”) on the foreground fleeing the hunters with a cannister of something…The way he is looking back and is boxed in by the panel borders and the trees is perfect. Everything about him says panic.

This is blatant proof that you can be an ok artist but very apt storyteller as I find that often comic book enthusiasts will stop at style as the only parameter that matters (whereas everything should be in the service of a story, style included).

Lastly, let us note that a young (but already great) Norm Breyfogle inked and lettered that story. Now that I’ve said it, you can go back and analyze the art and inks and it will make sense. All those long daring lines filling the figures for one? One could think that he made Arata look better than he was ;)

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	F M Premium Gallery Owner
Joined:	May 2005
Last Login:	September 2025
Country:	BELGIUM
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Jason Hussa
Member Since 2017

1 - Posted on 1/29/2023

Huh - what an interesting (and lovely) page, F M! Thanks for the great write-up to give a sense of the history and context of the players here, and I agree about the storytelling; it feels really solid to me... as does Mr. Breyfogle's inking. I really like how the background trees were inked in panel one, as well as the thick black lines used for the branches in panel two. Really good work! Always cool to get a page from a story you loved (especially as a child) - congrats on the cool pick up, F M!

Ruben DaCollector
Member Since 2008

1 - Posted on 1/29/2023

You were the only one, I assure you.

Mark V
Member Since 2021

Posted on 1/29/2023

Love seeing these pages from DC's Talent Showcase. I know Lightle and Cooke had pages in these books but wasn't familiar with Jack Arata, who passed away in 2013.. Looks like you've got his only page on CAF!

F M
Member Since 2005

Posted on 1/29/2023

Mark V wrote:

Thanks Mark.

Those Lightle issues offer some super solid work from him already.

I thought for a moment that Jack Arata may have been a pseudonym. But It does not like it was: https://www.bedetheque.com/auteur-50840-BD-Arata-Jack.html

Marcus Wai
Member Since 2005

1 - Posted on 1/29/2023

Pretty nice! The kind of page that describes Arata's stint in this showcase page. A rush into the top panel and a rush exit just as quickly with the dialogue in the middle of having nothing to prove.

Gal Schwartz
Member Since 2005

1 - Posted on 2/1/2023

I'm really enjoying the inking style of this early phase in Breyfogle's career !

Fisch Benz
Member Since 2019

1 - Posted on 2/3/2023

I love how the very fine lines stretch the amount of space on the page and allow for much more to go on than a typical page. Congrats!

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