I have a very time-consuming page to work on today to try to get done before the FedEx deadline. I started working out a sketch… but it wasn’t coming out as well as I’d like, so I decided to set it aside and try something else. So for today, I’m going to show you two instances where I did finished layouts for a couple of splash pages during the OTHER crossover story line when I was working on FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN that upon a second look, I decided not to go with.

This first example is from FRIENDLY #2, where DOCTOR STRANGE is telling SPIDER-MAN that he had a terminal illness. My first layout was from behind SPIDER-MAN, showing the concern on the Doctor’s face as he’s forced to break the bad news to his friend. I liked the way it came out, really– but after thinking about it for a while, I thought it might be better to show SPIDER-MAN’s shock at the news instead. With hindsight, the SPIDER-MAN on the finished pages certainly isn’t the best version I’ve ever drawn of the character… I just don’t like the way he came out. Also, the body language in my first version conveys his feelings well enough… so in this instance, I wish I’d gone with my first version.

This second splash is the first page from issue #3. After drawing this, I liked the way it looked… but it felt like something was missing. I think it felt perhaps less dramatic than it could have… and I also thought that it might be a good idea to show some of the surroundings of the setting from which the previous issue left off. I’m always most conscious of trying to make my storytelling as clear as possible. I sent a scan of this layout/sketch to Tom Brevoort– my editor on the book at the time– and he agreed that a more dramatic and comprehensive take on the splash could be done. And so the page on the right is the one I came up with after rethinking the problem. In THIS case, I’m much happier with the second attempt.

OK… gotta get to work.

This is Entry 348.

Mike

Anyone who’s read a recent interview with Jeff Parker or visited his PARKERSPACE.COM web site will know that THE IMPOSSIBLE MAN plays a role in the upcoming SPIDER-MAN/FANTASTIC FOUR miniseries Jeff’s writing and I’m drawing. IMPOSSIBLE MAN is one of those peripheral characters I always had some affection for and always wished I could get a chance to draw at least in a couple of panels at one point. Now, with this miniseries, I’m getting to draw him much more than that. I think I’ve written on more than one occasion that I’m constantly surprised at the opportunities that I get to draw favorite characters from my childhood as my career chugs along. Eventually, I might get to draw them all if I’m lucky enough to continue working in this business. The FANTASTIC FOUR have so many wonderful iconic characters in their ‘mythos’ that I’ve always admired… like BLASTAAR, CLAW, MOLE MAN, DOCTOR DOOM, SUPER SKRULL and GALACTUS– many of whom I wish I had gotten the chance to draw.

GALACTUS is actually a character that I never felt I wanted to draw. It’s not that I don’t think he’s an amazingly creative and powerful figure in the FF pantheon of foes…. I just felt that there was no way to top or equal the stories that had been done using him in past FF eras. Plus– his costume is pretty damned difficult to draw. However, I believe that the higher-ups at Marvel wanted him to be used toward the end of the run Mark Waid and I worked on… and so it was done. To be honest, I think that Mark came up with an incredibly fun and interesting spin for using GALACTUS, and I ended up being very happy with the end results. Of course, that’s Mark for you– always coming up with great ways to use characters that may have seen better days.

OK… see you Wednesday.

This is Entry 347.

Mike

I was already a comic book fan when I discovered Jim Starlin’s work on WARLOCK and CAPTAIN MARVEL– but his cosmic existential epic psycho-dramas set my young mind on fire. One of the first comics I bought as a kid was CAPTAIN MARVEL #50. The creator on the title at that time was Al Milgrom…. and it was a team up with THE AVENGERS against the SUPER ADAPTOID. I was immediately enamored with the Kree soldier who had defected to earth to become its protector. I became a regular reader of the book. At the same time I was buying new comics on the news stand, my folks would take my brother and me on regular trips to downtown Lynchburg, VA to a used book store on Main Street (my whole family have always been voracious readers). This used book store also sold old comics. They were displayed in big stacks on tables around the store. We could just go through them stack by stack to our heart’s content. That’s where I discovered the Jim Starlin issues of CAPTAIN MARVEL that had been published before my first purchase of issue 50. I was immediately hooked on Stalin’s work. High-concept cosmic dramas were Starlin’s forte, and I was more than happy to go along for the ride. I just couldn’t get enough of his depiction of the good Captain. Unfortunately, since I was already buying the new issues, I knew it was a brief stint…. but I still found every issue he did and loved them all and yearned for more.

Thankfully, Starlin had taken his show to another character in ADAM WARLOCK… and for me, that was even MORE mind-blowing amazing. Starlin brought THANOS from his CM stories over to pit him against WARLOCK… and with a fascinating supporting cast with characters like PIP the troll and the beautiful GAMORA, I was again immediately hooked. Starlin gave THANOS a lust and love of DEATH– and gave DEATH a living embodiment for the mad Titan to court. The goal of THANOS was to bring death to the entire universe, and WARLOCK was determined to stop him. This was the ultimate battle between good and evil, and I just couldn’t get enough.

I often get asked about influences on my work… and I can never point to any creator who’s work has made a huge impact on my own drawing. I figure an influence is something that shows in the work you do… like an imprint that bubbles to the surface naturally (but I could be entirely wrong…). I certainly can’t count Starlin as someone who’s art influenced my own, though I loved everything he drew as a kid and spent a lot of time trying to emulate his work. Perhaps that’s the essence of an influence. I don’t know. I DO know that his work, both visually and in story, helped to fire my brain and imagination– and gave me a love of big, epic …. and especially COSMIC… stories. I’ve had the honor of meeting Jim Starlin and have seen him at many shows over the last few years. I made sure to tell him how much of an impact his work made on my love of comic books… and I’m sure he’s heard it all before. I could never express to him how much his CAPTAIN MARVEL and WARLOCK comics thrilled me without coming off as a kook.

But then… that’s the kind of passion that fun comics inspire.

OK… have a great weekend.

This is Entry 346.

Mike