In celebration of once again missing the circus that is the San Diego Comic Con, I’m posting a long overdue review of an entirely different kind of event.
In June 2002 a buddy of mine, who’s really into comic books and does a lot of design work in the field, dragged me out to this indie comics convention. As I had associated indie with underground (you know, the R. Crumb-type books) I wasn’t too excited to go.
I was pleasantly surprised.
In the world of Comic Books it’s the writers and the pencilers who typically grab the limelight. Oft overlooked are the inkers, colorists, and the letterers - especially the letterers. Only the true comics aficionado can appreciate hand over digital lettering.
Last week at the San Diego Comic Con the humorous video above caught the industry’s attention. Garson Hampfield tells us of the life of the under-appreciated crossword puzzle inker. He recounts the innovations in the profession over the years. And when he talks about the coming of the digital age he acknowledges the speed it has brought to the process, but asks us “where’s the human touch?”
While this is clearly the punch-line of this video - it’s also the quintessential question to all of us that make things for humans. A question and reminder to hang on the wall at work.
After following a trail of retweets Mario Cavalli showed up on my radar. Wow, how come I’ve never heard of this guy before?
Based in the UK, Mario creates visual texturescapes that are quite mesmerizing.
In 2001 he founded Colony Media, which represents a group of directors that seem to share a similar artistic philosophy. The group includes Dave McKean, whom I’ve been a big fan of since his days in comics. It’s interesting to see how his work has evolved with the added dimensions of motion and sound.
Side note: Years ago when McKean did some work for my magazine, I sent him some of the fonts that I created. They continue to show up in his work from time to time, which is always fun for me to discover.
A little over a year ago My Chemical Romance lead singer Gerard Way made his first foray into comic books with The Umbrella Academy. His writing was pretty good, but the surrealistic world that he creates is very entertaining. The artwork by the relatively unknown Gabriel Bá is reminiscent of Hellboy’s Mike Mignola, yet clearly has a voice of its own. The stunningly designed and painted covers tie everything up in a nice neat graphical package not seen enough in comics.
This book got a bit too much hype, likely due to Gerard’s rock and roll following. But it’s definitely worth a read. The first run can be picked up in graphic novel form. The new series The Umbrella Academy: Dallas hit the stands this past November. I long ago stopped buying single issue comics, so I’ll have to wait for the trade paperback on this one.
You’ve probably never heard of Warren Ellis. Unlike a few of the comic book luminaries that have transcended the industry, such as Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore, and Frank Miller, Warren hasn’t. Yet. This is in no way related to his talent — he’s one of the most widely regarded and respected writers in comics, and has been for a while. One of my favorites in fact.
Four or five years ago a friend recommended that I sign up for Warren’s mailing list Bad Signal, describing it as “chaotic and random, but good”. After signing up my inbox quickly began to fill up with emails (several often from the same day) on topics ranging from what comics he’s working on to the state of the world to profanity-filled ramblings to technology. Most of these sent from the pub using a fold up keyboard plugged into his cell phone.