Friday 4 December 2009

Artist Showcase - Rudy Vasquez

Next up we have a an up and coming superstar Rudy Vasquez. Rudy is another artist I found on DeviantArt. I absolutely love his hyper detailed pencils. Rudy has worked on various projects and by what i see is getting better and better every time his pencil touches paper. His style reminds me of some of my favourite artists from the 90's including Jim Lee, Dave Finch and Liam Sharp(note: these are still some of my favourite artist) although he truly has his own style which has obviously developed from a love of great comic art. I can see Rudy becoming a much bigger name in comics over the next few years.

Below, Rudy has answered some questions to give you an insight into him as an artist and fan.

Rudy Vasquez - WolverineWhat first got you into comic books?
Well, I remember being given a small novel sized color collection of Stan Lee's and Steve Ditko's run of Spider-Man but what made me really want to be a penciler was Punisher War Journal #8 by Jim Lee. I remember thinking..."This art isn't the same as everything else, it's special." So, it inspired me to want to do the same.

Who is your favourite comic book character?
That's easy. I'd have to say, Spider-Man. For the same reasons most people love him. He's so relRudy Vasquez - Jokeratable. Most of us without a silver spoon inour mouths have experienced being late on rent or at least stressing over it. Having to do laundry, juggle our job and love life without compromising a dream. Only in Spidey's case, it's less a dream than what he feels is his responsibility. Well, we have to recognize that even though none of us have special powers like a super hero, we do have special abilities nonetheless. It can be, writing talents, drawing, singing or whatever it might be. With great talent comes great responsibility. We shouldn't waste what God has gifted us with, even if we have to juggle the rent too.

Who are your major artistic influences?
Well, I'd say Jim Lee but luckily when people see my art it's usually a different comparison. I'm grateful for that because even though Jim's been a huge inpsiration I don't want to be a xerox machine. We all have to find our own voice. I do incorporate a little of everyone I admire though, even if it's in a small way. I love, Leinel Yu, Steve Rude, Hiroaki Samura, John Romita. just to name a few.

What comics do you currently read?
I'm way behind but anything from Carnival Comics of course, One-eyed Jack! by Jon Castaneda, and Spider-Man books.

What are you currently working on?
I'm the head artist at Carnival Comics and I'm doing the art for Jazan Wild's Carnival of Souls and The Funhouse of Horrors. I'm also doing a creator owned book with writer Justin Carmona about a native El Paso super-hero called the Black-Bird. I'm excited about both because Jazan Wild has such precise vision with Carnival of Souls and the Black-Bird will give me the opportunity to have a commentary on something unique like a border city. Keep in mind that the Carnival of Souls is and will be available through your cell phone as an app, or on myebook.com for free. You should really take advantage of that!

Rudy Vasquez - UTF
Rudy Vasquez - Venger
Rudy Vasquez - Hulk vs Spawn

To see more of Rudy's work visit his DeviantArt here or his Blog.

Wednesday 2 December 2009

Artist Showcase - Carl Riley

New Feature Time!!
To Start of this new feature I could think of nothing better than talking to a fellow brit. I first came across Carl's work on his DeviantArt Page. His stuff reminded me of my favourite time in comics, the early 90's. As it turns out, read his answers below, I was spot on. Now over the last couple of years his style has developed and been refined to what you see here.

I dropped Carl an email and asked him to answer a few question so you can all know a bit more about him as well as see his artwork.

Moonknight and Ghost RiderWhat first got you into comic books?
I first got in to comics about 10 years ago when friend of mine introduced me to Fathom and Michael Turners art. As an art student myself I was amazed at the quality of work and have been hooked ever since.

10th MuseWho is your favourite comic book character?
I have a few but I'd have to go with Aphrodite ix, a super hot cyber chick created by David Finch back when i first got in to comics.

Who are your major artistic influences?
Turner and Finch have been two of my biggest influences from the outset. In more recent years I've discovered the talents of Jim Lee, Marc Silvestri, Ebas, Tyler Kirkham and various other artists with the 'Top Cow' feel to their work. Joe Mad! and Mark Brooks are two more with a different style I really look up to.

What comics do you currently read?
I started out with the books such as Witchblade, Fathom, Darkness and still read those today. I went through a stage of reading Marvel books but soon tired of endless 'superhero saves the world' stories.

What are you currently working on?
As a new dad I've not got a great deal of time on my hands for drawing right now so have had to turn down long running projects. I'm currently concentrating on commission which also help beat the credit crunch!

What is your dream project?
I'd love to work for Top Cow or Aspen as a cover artist or interiors. I guess my dream would be that Aphrodite ix would be bought back and I'd get to do the pencils....errrr.... but that is NEVER gonna happen!

Witchblade by Carl Riley
The Legend of Isis by Carl Riley
10th Muse - By Carl Riley

To see more of Carl's work visit his DeviantArt here.

Melody - Web Comic

Melody - Read on line a Zuda.comMelody Web Comic PageStraight from the Zuda Synopsis: Through chance, Mel comes into possession of the melody to “the greatest song in the world”... but not the lyrics. The tune comes straight from the Muse Of Song and it’s of supernatural power, everyone who hears it will love it! Various groups of people (politicians, the church, advertisers), they all want it for their own means. By providing their own lyrics they could shape it to be the ultimate propaganda song. Some try to buy Mel, some to charm her, some to intimidate her. And when ruthless ex-spy, Damien, goes after her she soon finds herself running for her life. She has to stay alive and do the right thing with the divine melody in her head...Now if only she could find out what the right thing is!

The Writing
I originally read the first 8 pages back when this was part of the monthly competition and was not all that impressed, not that my initial opinion mattered as it finished in 1st place winning that month's competition. I revisited this comic recently and found it had been completed. After reading through the 60 pages of well scripted, thoroughly entertaining story I take back my initial unimpressed stance. This is a really good story although i feel it might have ended too soon. We were just really getting to know the characters and their motivations.

The Art
The art is Nice, good solid structure and fantastic colours. Illias Kryriazis has been a pro since 2001 and it shows in this highly polished web comic. Not overly simple and not too detailed the art really lends itself to the Zuda framework. It does have a kind of European feel to it, although this may be because the artist is from Greece, which is a good thing. As with many of the newer Zuda Comics the artist seems to have designed his panels to fit a screen rather than a page and some of the layouts are really innovative. I'll definitely be checking out some of his other stuff.

Updates
Mondays

Links
Melody Online Comic
Illias Kyriazis Deviant Art

Recommended if you like. . .
Sin Titulo, Preacher, Last Warring Angel etc.

Tuesday 1 December 2009

Changes

Hi Folks,
just dropping by to apologise for the lack of updates to this blog. Way back in the first part of the year I was roaring along posting lots of Cool Webcomics for you to read. This blog was really starting to take off.
Out of the Blue I got an email from a viewer questioning my scoring system (marks out of 10). I thought about it quite a bit and in the end i agreed with this reader that the scoring system was naff. So rather than sort it out i got a bit disillusioned with the updating the blog.
Fast Forward to now. .
I'm taking away the scoring system. Instead I'll add a some information comparing the featured web comics to other things that I feel are similar in tone, genre or look. i.e. If you like Blade-Runner then Precession is a good fit for you and so on.
In Addition to Features on Webcomics I'm going to be posting some features about artists I like and featuring some of their work with links to their sites etc. I feel this still falls under the Cool Webcomics banner as they will be comic artist or aspiring comic artist who draw comics/comic related images and put them online so in essence still Cool Webcomics (stuff).

Anyway that's all for now. Thank you all for reading and sticking with me. I hope that I can bring you lots more webcomics to read and some really cool art to look at.

As always I welcome your comments, recommendations and suggestions

Nth