Comic Book Art Appreciation Day
Mood:  suave
Now Playing: Alanis Morissette's "Spineless"

for those of you who forgot, Monday was National Talk Like a Pirate Day. i know, i know. you're kicking yourself. "argh! how could i forget that day?!"

so, to make up for your callousness, i have declared today National Comic Book Art Appreciation Day. because, as you might have picked up on, i'm a big fan of the comic book.

i could talk for hours and hours about what i love about these books, but today i want to focus on one thing: the art.

i've always been a visual learner and have always been a fan of visual story telling, so i'll be honest, it was the art that first pulled me into modern myths.

right now, my favourite artists (in no particular order) are Mark Bagley, Frank Miller, J Scott Campbell, John Romita Jr, Jim Lee, Andie Tong, JonBoy Meyers and Joe Pekar (though Joe isn't quite into comic books yet, he'll be there soon).

so here you are. i haven't collaged in a while, and i could tell you were going through collage withdrawl. i call it "Some of My Favourite Comic Book Panels, Covers, and General Comic Book Art."

it annoys/amuses me when non-comic people will pick up a comic, flip through it and make a remark akin to "is her superpower being able to fit in that suit?"

yes. i will admit now that girls in comics have (stereotypically) been very robust, buxom women. they've also been predominately white -- but less people mention that.

what most people fail to see is that all (most) of these superheroes are extreme ideals. check out the dudes. look at Superman. look at Batman. look at Spider-Man, Wolverine, Cyclops, any of 'em. they're friggin' huge! i bring this up to deflate the argument that these comics create unfair expectations in boys/men who read comics who then expect and demand women look/dress the same way. it's ridiculous. i've never met a comic dork who had that small of a grip on reality. plus, no comic dork reads Superman and says, "that's how i'm supposed to look."

the cool thing is that with the advent of "plus-sized models" has also come various sized superheroes. some are big, some are small, some are pimply, others freckled and wearing glasses.

so, to recap, they are stylized ideals (and i know even that will make some people unhappy). i just had to address that because it's what everyone talks about -- that isn't a comic fan. spend some time with a comic fan, or go visit a comic book forum (there's a great one at www.superherohype.com) and what you're likely to find is a lot of people who read these books and pick apart the minutia of the storytelling, kids who can quote twenty years of continuity, and others who compare various story lines to that of Sophocles.

but today we're talking about art.

most non-comic people, as soon as you mention "comic book," get a real cartoony image in their head, probably with a "thwack," "whack," "pow," "boom," "zap" or "ka-pow" attached to it. but comic art is so much more than that.

actually, sound effects ("KA-BLOOIE") are becoming more and more rare in comics and have been replaced by amazing art that tell the stories well enough you don't need onomatopoeia. you have comics that are completely painted by the likes of Alex Ross or David Mack.

these artists are truly talented people. people who can convey deep emotions in single panels of comics, even if the character is wearing a mask. i have a deep respect for them.

many times, when i've been thinking about a film, writing a film, directing a film, i've found myself going to back issues of Spider-Man or X-Men, going, "how did they do it?"

here's hoping this road of taking comic pencillers as serious artists continues to be traversed.