Wednesday 26 February 2014

The Endling collection 4



Cover for The Endling Collection 4 (featuring issues 13-16 + bonus material) now available on ComiXology.

Tuesday 25 February 2014

Golden Age all around

Some news about our comic Golden Age...


 

Giulie Speziani talks with the Panel 2 Panel crew about Golden Age. I couldn't be there, but they also talk about me!

Some reviews:


The color and art of Golden Age are wonderful. I enjoyed the softness of the colors and the lines as this helps keep the focus on the words and ideas of the story while still illustrating life in Northern Italy in 1946. Cecilia Latella brings the story together with her art and makes this a very impressive comic book. I would recommend this as a good break form the normal super hero fare. 


The book has the look of watercolor, which lends itself to the feeling of a children’s book that I mentioned earlier. Cecilia Latella has a great eye for the tone of the book. It feels like someone has told this story, passed it down, and this is the recreation of that.
Rob Harrington and Guilie Speziani have created a book with no obvious hero, no obvious villain. (Though a case can be made for both.) It tells the story of how quickly children can heal, even after the horrors of war and loss of a parent. The comic book is only a peripheral part of the story here. It’s really about the power the imagination has to make us overlook the truly horrible things that can happen. Not only is The Golden Age a beautiful looking book, but it also packs a poignant, thoughtful story.


A truly successful element of the comic is the artwork. The artist uses a unique watercolor style for the comic. It instantly reminds you of the paintings you often see children drawing; the inside panels transport you back to those pediatric waiting rooms sitting next to the piles of mommy/kids' magazines. The magazines always had a special look to them, unique to those magazines alone. And yet, Golden Age eerily and effortlessly captures a similar feel, an age of innocence, of youth. On page five we are introduced to the comic Rosa finds on the soldier’s body. They do an excellent job stylizing and aging the images of the discovered “comic,” so it looks like the newspaper comics of the time period - a completely different look and feel from the rest of the story. The style is so convincing, it’s as if you are reading a children’s storybook.



Thursday 13 February 2014

The Endling 23/2.03 online


Some angst from a chapter devoted mainly to action.

The Endling Issue 23/2.03 is readable online on Thrillbent: http://thrillbent.com/comics/the-endling/the-endling-volume-2-chapter-3/#1

Tuesday 11 February 2014

Jonathan interviewed by Matt O'Keefe

Matt O'Keefe, the author of Deadless (for which I drew a short episode some time ago) has interviewed Jonathan about The Endling for The Beat. You can read the interview here:

Interview: For Jonathan Larsen, The Endling is only the Beginning

 I've also just read a very interesting article on Multiversity Comics (which was reblogged by Fiona Staples on tumblr),

What To Look For When You’re Talking About Comic Art, From Pro Reviewers and Pro Artists

"- It’s a story first: Reviewers often treat writers like the primary storytellers, but so much of the story – from the pacing and mood to the subtle bits that elevate the material – is created by the artist. The story isn’t a writer telling the story, but the writer and the artist doing that together."

 

 

Thursday 6 February 2014

The Endling 22/2.02

http://thrillbent.com/comics/the-endling/the-endling-volume-2-chapter-2/#1

Now on Thrillbent! http://thrillbent.com/comics/the-endling/the-endling-volume-2-chapter-2/#1

Brian Le Tendre spoke kindly of the Endling in his latest podcast (here). The part about Thrillbent and The Endling starts around minute 47. Thanks, Brian!