Monday, July 19, 2010

Deadman


Not much to talk about this go ‘round. Which I’m sure will please those of you sick of hearing, “I’m so busy! Wah!”

Suze and I did, in fact, make time to go see PREDATORS in the theater the other night which was a nice treat. The movie itself was a pretty darned good entry in the franchise. The best one since the first, actually. I was curious to see how they’d handle the “game preserve” angle. The trailer reminded me so much of HUNTERS OF THE RED MOON I wanted to see how similar the movie turned out to be. After seeing it, I have to think the filmmakers were at least aware of the book because of the samurai's katana found by one of the characters and his observations about it. Right out of the book. Adrian Brody turns in a convincing performance as the main badass and it was nice to see Laurence Fishburne back on the big screen in an unexpected role. An all-around good time. I did have two complaints, though. First, there were a few too many homages to the original. It got to be a little distracting. And, second, Alan Silvestri’s score from the original film was practically used note for note but he wasn’t credited at all. At least not that I saw and I was looking. Still, I recommend it but see it soon. It’s not doing well and will probably get yanked in the glut of big summer blockbusters. Suze and I are hoping to see INCEPTION soon, before somebody ruins it for us.

Above is the sketch I’ve been promising. Deadman has long been one of my favorite characters. I’ve always loved the second and third-tier characters at both Marvel and DC and ol’ Boston Brand is no exception. He’s always been unique in that his special ability pretty much means very little “screentime” for him in his own stories. Since he takes over the bodies of the living, it means we don’t get to see him all that much. I guess that’s why he’s never been able to sustain a series for very long. But he’s had some great stories done with him. I’ve always loved Neal Adam’s work on the character but, up until recently, my favorite artist on him was Jose Luis Garcia Lopez. He really gave the character the slick look he deserves. But I did say “recently”. Dave Bullock’s take on the character in the WEDNESDAY COMICS experiment was a beauty to behold. Obviously, the style he used is very reminiscent of Darwyn Cooke, but he does bring a lot to the table. And he has a wonderful sense of design. I drooled over every one of those twelve pages.

With this drawing, I tried to get fancy with the shadows but I’m just not that good at it. It’s an area I hope to improve in before I start drawing THE HAND ME DOWN HORROR as lighting and mood will play a big part in the story. But I did like how using only the brush pen gave it a bolder look. This one was fun. I just wish I’d had the time to lay it out a little more dramatically.

Anyway, I hope you like it. Look for more of Mike’s action figure designs coming up.

Later.

7 comments:

Warren said...

Verah nice, Matt!

Leanne said...

Love the sketch! I think the shadows look great. And I LOVE the background-- this is the type of look I'm trying (and failing) to achieve in the backgrounds of the pages I'm working on now. Sigh.

As for films, I haven't seen any in an actual theatre in ages. Rod and I have tried to see Toy Story 3 for the past two weekends, but almost every showing at the theatre near us is in 3D. F that S. I think I'm doomed to see it via Netflix instead.

Josh said...

Great sketch Matt! The shadows look great. You draw a cool looking Deadman. I like the detail on the grave stone, the texturing and the way the light hits it.

Christian D. Leaf said...

Nicely done, ol' chap. I'd say you're starting to get the creepy tone and feel down that'll lead HMDH to the promise land.

I'm with Leanne on the 3D, too. F to the S, y'all!

Rich Faber said...

Love Deadman too, Matt, and I LOVE this "sketch!" Your shadows look great to me.

I own at least one Garcia-Lopez Deadman page from the old Adventure Comics series, and perhaps two. It's been a number of years since I looked, so forgive my faulty memory. Next time I dig it (them?) out, I'll scan for you, and email you. His work is just gorgeous, as you know, and seeing it in its full-size glory is so cool! I think you'll dig it.

Still haven't had time to seek out the brushpens, but I will, and let you know what I think.

Talk to you soon!

Best,
Rich

Brian said...

Nice work, Matt.

Deadman was one of the highlights of Wednesday Comics and I thought Bullock really took advantage of the oversized format.

Heywood Jablomie said...

wow nice work on that deadman!!

i saw predators over last weekend and really liked it, as did my wife. def a nice addition to the series.

last posts 'new' work from mike was a nice treat too, can't wait to see more!