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I really loved the series and characters. I just wished we could have seen both of them continue (as they were) in an ongoing series. Zonjic's passion for his craft and design sense also really shinned in these books.
I was sooo tempted to bid on this piece. Such a good get. Félicitations!
I grew up wanting to be a comic book Artist. As a kid, with no guidance, that meant hours of me doodling superhero designs and trying to figure out anatomy. By the time I got to college I realised that drawing comics required a lot more than being able to draw an athletic figure in an action pose.
... and Mignola is a master of many of those other aspects of drawing for comics. Three that really stand out for me in his covers are:
This cover is a great example of all that, and is mesmerising in its marriage of simplicity and complexity. The eye really bounces from figure to figure, detail to detail. Congrats on another great pick-up.
Thanks Tatiana. I really appreciate having a knowledgeable pro championing accurate credits and giving me the behind-the-scenes info on that correction.
Genuine coincidence! :) In fact, that only really dawned on me once they were in transit. They were really Artist more than character driven pick-ups.
"Congratulations" doesn't even cut it.
When I saw this piece come up I practically had a panic attack. I was so not ready for this kind of grail piece to become available and that crashed hard into the realisation that there was no chance I could build the funds to even be in with a shot.
A true masterpiece. The quiet of a brutal moment frozen in time. I could stare at it for hours.
Someone here would probably know way more behind the scenes info on these books, but I'm assuming Adams inking this page would be possible but quite unlikely.
I always understood books being inked by multiple people as indicating that it was late or behind schedule and needed "all hands on deck" to get it done in time for print. As Adams is not known (at least at that time) as a fast penciler I doubt he'd have had the time to also ink any pages. That said, this is one of the last pages of the storyline so it's not entirely impossible that he might have finished his pencils and helped out on these last few left to ink.
I'd love the opportunity to ask either Adams or Mignola more about that in person though! :)
Keown's ability to convey density and volume to his figures (especially Hulk) always blows me away. His stuff is never flat, you really feel the mass of Hulk's body and that concrete wall/rubble. So good!
These were the "Montreal Sports Collectibles and Comic Book Show" and I only started attending them in late 87 (it was an awkward trek for a solo 15yr old kid from the burbs to get to them) so perhaps they had grown at bit by then, but I was also including the local constants like Gabriel Morrissette who was always there but never featured on the pamphlets. The last I attended was in 1989 where Todd McFarlane was the headliner in the main hall and I vaguely remember there being at least 3 others in the side room.
With the exception of the bustle and massive lines around McFarlane, I really liked the quiet side room thing as it allowed me to hang out with pros for hours and learn a lot about Art that I never would have had access to otherwise.
I love Zoe as a character. Lots of stories include that idea of a really old vampire stuck in a kid's body, but to me Moore's (non-vampire) take is the most engaging. Her personality really is a blend of a 60+ year old woman, a kid and a twisted killer sadist, and the combo just seems to work.
Oh, and: Ask and ye shall receive! :)
I added an additional photo from a lightbox photo. He made the right choice I think. The edited script is better IMHO.
Original reads:
Rachel: Zoe, come on... the anti-christ ?!
Zoe: I know, crazy. Right ?
Rachel: Yes! If you're in trouble, tell me ! Maybe I can help.
Zoe: - Sigh- I'll tell you, but there's no saving me.
Zoe: I'm so screwed.
So incredibly jealous of those who get to attend these cons and not only pick up fantastic pieces like this one... but also that they get to do it directly from the man himself.
Huge congrats on all these amazing Acheron pages.
Phenomenal piece. Everything you want in a modern Mignola page. Huge congratulations.
"It was cold that day"... I'll admit that it took me a minute, but this really made me laugh. Thanks!
Amazing find and purchase!
Super interesting to see the process as well because I had assumed those were done in colour and all on the same board. As I had those pages on my "jump on it if you see it" list, knowing that they're in multiple plates adds to my (slim) chances of one day getting a piece.
Congrats.
Zaffino pieces often feel like he’s drawn the physical manifestation of the character’s personality or mood, more than just focussing on anatomy or form.
This piece screams pure power and menace. There are centuries worth of emotions behind those eyes. Love it.
Such a great bonus to your purchase! I'm a big fan of his Frankenstein (even if I seem to always have to debate/defend his big nipple bolts with my friends) and really wish they produced more stories with him.
This is a great get from an amazing artist. Extra special for it featuring one of the most visually interesting X-Men of all. Congrats!
I might reword my description to be clearer about what I meant.
Which was: He seemed to fade from view for a while and now that I'm seeing his work again it feels quite different. Kinda me saying "this isn't a nostalgia purchase". It's a lot more raw and scratchy in his inking. It's a trickier thing to pull off well but he's certainly proven that he can.
Thanks. It's also always a bonus to have one of Byrne's "cantankerous old men" in the page. He's pretty good at doing expressive grumpy old men.
Things I really like about this page:
I definitely got this piece out of appreciation for the Artist and the image itself rather than its affiliation with the series. The book is drawn by someone else and the story actually spends very little time on the characters' early childhood training (as depicted in this cover).
The story is ok. It's essentially a classic "spies raised and trained from early childhood" story. Nothing particularly ground-breaking in it, but it flows through the standard themes of strained loyalties, deceit and intrigue at a decent pace and stuff actually happens over the course of the 4 books.
Because he was not on my radar I'm unlikely to get dozens of pages of his work, but these two pages ticked a lot of boxes for me in terms of examples of his talent: Storytelling, good establishing shots with other panels being character centric, some good close-up faces, some great full body shots showing - in the moment - emotional mindsets of characters and a cool superhero flying off shot.
Great commentary and analysis again Jason.
And thanks for the compliment. I grew up dreaming of drawing for Marvel, studied Art in college and university, and prior to my current gig I was responsible for an Art department of over 100 artists at a videogame company... so it'd be pretty shameful if I didn't have some degree of artistic instincts in this hobby. :)
(still acknowledging that Art appreciation can be quite subjective and that not that all my aquisitions have been purely driven by aesthetics.)
I really liked what Mignola (and co.) were doing with this character. I so hope he finds his way back into a new series so we can see more of him.
Thanks. It's even nicer in colour. I added that as an additional image.
Agreed. I have a few more from him that I've not gotten around to scanning and posting yet. I keep wanting to broaden the lost of Artists I collect... but there always seems to spot nice Immonen pieces that are not too expensive and pull me in for another purchase! :)
Definitely agree. You made me think to add the colour version of it.
One of my absolute favourite characters from the group. So much heart.
This is a great page, from a great comic; congrats. If I had already started collecting original art when this page became available I would almost certainly have gone for it as well.
Thanks for the comments guys. I suspect that this cover will be a key pillar to my collection for quite some time.
