THE VISION AND THE SCARLET WITCH 1 COVER RECREATION BY CRAIG ROUSSEAU

This piece was not something I thought I needed until I saw it at auction.

I’ve always loved Rousseau’s cartoony art. His Perhapanauts series with Todd Dezago is truly great fun. And any project he has drawn since (Young Hellboy , Kyrra, his own sketchbooks…) has been interesting for his art at the very least.

I thought I was content with the commissions I had from him, bought directly (like my colored canson She-Hulk one) or second handed (like that GREAT Tigra piece) but this cover recreation is clearly next level. Especially considering that Craig mostly draws full figures, sketch covers and head sketches nowadays as regards his commissions (and TONS of them apparently, the man is a machine).

First, it’s 11 by 17 where he tends to, again, favor smaller formats these days but even in terms of pure technique, this one is moodier and feels more developed than his usual open lined and shadows free pieces.

I confess that I’ve never read that series. Vision and Scarlet Witch ended for me with that early Leonardi effort on the first mini but all respect due, I’ll take this this recreation over the Howell original cover any day of the week.

It’s mostly due to my own taste as I prefer cartooning than the average 80s Marvel pseudo realistic style.

But I like the choices Craig made here like fully showing the villains of the piece, the geeks candies z listers Black Talon and Nekra.

The fact that Craig lettered everything himself on the board is great fun (and a lot of work obviously).

That corner box is also part of the whole fun.

But then I find he made both the Vision and Scarlet Witch look more dynamic and sexy posing and stagging (even though Craig’s style is not exactly known for his sex appeal per se).

Even those zombie hands look more threatening than in the original I find.

And of course, the way he handled the light on the piece with a full light from above and the receding shadows with all that insane and exquisite crosshatching which really make both the figures and the piece pop imho.

A fun, high quality and not expensive (a GREAT combo!) squirrel of a purchase.