A lot of internet natter following my Wonder Woman concept design sketches for J Michael Straczynski. It’s a good thing I have most comics commentary sites on block or on strict time limits, or I’d have been sucked down the rabbit hole. My editors want me to get my books done, dontcha know.
There were some great comments, very interesting criticisms, and wonderfully funny remarks. “Wonder Cher”…that was awesome.
There are also a few things I’d like to clear up.
As I said in my original post, the concept designs were commissioned by J Michael Straczynski after he worked on the new Wonder Woman which already featured Jim Lee’s design with jacket and pants. This wasn’t an either Jim/or me decision on DC’s part. In fact, JMS ran his new Wonder Woman comic by me shortly before it was published, and I was very interested to see where it would go.
I have nothing against shaking up characters and concepts. Some things go well, and some things don’t. Some people like pants. Some people like skirts.
But, it’s not true that DC chose Jim over me. I not only wasn’t even in the running, but JMS decided to leave Wonder Woman shortly after he ran his new concept by me. It was incredibly cool of him to ask me to do these sketches, and I loved doing them. I never expected anyone to use them, and was very surprised at all the interest in the post.
The concept was for a “high fantasy” version of Wonder Woman, and that is all I can tell you. I don’t recall that he went into too much more detail, but even if I had the scoop, I’d not post it. You never know when those ideas might bubble up and get used later.
DC did not pass me over for the revamped DC books.
Not only am I working on two original Vertigo GN’s (Stealth Tribes and Gone to Amerikay,) but while DC was ramping up the new DC universe, I was finishing up an original graphic novel (Mangaman, with Barry Lyga,) and signing on for a new painted graphic novel for Dark Horse. I’m pretty much booked until the spring.
This does not alter the fact that I will whine and fret at all the cool assignments being given out that I do not get to work on. After all these years, I still delight in getting to play with all my favorite comics heroes. So, if a short story comes my way, or a really cool annual, or a pinup, and it just happens to feature The Legion of Superheroes, or Aquaman, well, heck yeah.
This very nice article at the Comic Book Resources blog notes my career has been flying under the radar for some years. That’s true. Some of you may recall I took a year off work to handle pressing personal issues, and to get some digital art training. Mission accomplished, even though my digital skills still lag. I also worked on several concept art gigs for film and television, and did some illustration. Concept art can take up months of time, and never be seen. That’s the way it goes.
Still, I’ve been working on original GN’s almost exclusively for years now. An original GN is the equivalent of about a year’s full-time work on a monthly comic. So every time I produce a new GN, it’s a year out of my life, and I am working on several at once. I didn’t leave the industry, I just worked quietly on my new stuff, which will all get rolled out over the next couple of years. That includes the final issues of A Distant Soil for Image. Yes, the series will be completed in print before any new pages are available on the website. I will continue to roll out inventory on the website to supplement the comic.
I just spoke with Warren Ellis about Stealth Tribes, and we’ve worked a way around some issues with scheduling and production. And we will finish in the next few months. No, really.
Anyway, some nice folks asked why DC had never hired me to draw Wonder Woman before. Well, I’ve drawn Wonder Woman several times, including a stint as fill-in artist for George Perez. The last time I got to play with Wondy was in 1997 in a 48 page comic written by Trina Robbins inked by Jackson Guice. Jackson is a terrific artist and a wonderful person, but we did not mesh well, and the book was not entirely well-received.
Top and below, a look at a few of my penciled pages from the book. Hard to believe this was so long ago, but I think my pencils still hold up.
I still have some ebay auctions going on, and will add more, including several more Wonder Woman concept design pages, some Marvel Masterpieces artist return sketch cards, and a Captain America and the New Warriors cover I penciled back in the dark ages, which was not used.
These penciled pages for the Wonder Woman book I did with Trina and Jackson look very different from the final version, but it’s no secret I am no fun to ink, which is why I ink all my own stuff now. Thanks for stopping in.
Never, ever have I been as disappointed in a book as I was WW: Once and Future Story. I was so excited and looking forward to it, and… well… it wasn’t what I expected.
Had it looked more like the work shown here, I’d've been happier.
Well, I loved the art despite the heavy inks by Guice. I have two pages plus the cover that sadly was not published as painted. I would have gotten a few more pages but some friends of mine who also liked the art bought some of the choice pages.
Here is a pic of the framed cover (the published cover is shown in additional images:
http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=100427&GSub=12248
I think the worst part was WW legs which looked so beautiful in the painting but just looks weird in the final cover.
Also here is a reviewer who also liked the book:
http://www.comicsreview.co.uk/nowreadthis/2009/10/06/wonder-woman-the-once-and-future-story/
Well, I have seen some very nice reviews of the book almost 15 years after it came out, but the fan press at the time savaged it.
Nowadays, publishers can print from pencils, and these were tight enough for that.
The last time I worked with an inker was about 2003. I walked off a job few years ago where an inker was a requirement of the job.
They should have let you ink your own stuff, it’s outstanding. I have no idea why there’s this need to separate one step from another when an artist is competent at both. It’s not necessary to break it up just to get another name on the book.
Historically, it’s for production reasons: while the penciller is drawing pages 11-20, the inker can be inking pages 1-10, so the book gets to the printer a lot faster. And, with monthly deadlines, that’s important.
I can ink and pencil almost as fast as I can pencil tight like this, because it is actually more difficult to get a tight clean pencil line than it is to ink it in the first place.
A major reason for division of labor was over concerns over details of work for hire law. The idea was that if one creator dominated the chores on a book, then that might mean the work did not fit the”contribution to a collective work” requirement of work for hire. I don’t agree, but I’m not the legal department.
Some companies would not hire a freelancer to do pencil and ink chores on a book unless they had an exclusive employment contract.
I have no incentive to work with an inker for obvious reasons, but also because it is a huge amount of labor for me to pencil all this, and then not be sure of the quality of the final work, and then to be required to divide half the final art. I’m much better off inking my own stuff.
I ghost inked large portions of Reign of the Zodiac, and my deal with inker Bob Wiacek (who is absolutely fantastic, BTW, and one inker I would not have a problem working with in future,) was that he would get the page rate and credit, and I would get the original art. I inked portions of most later issues, and almost all the final issue.
I also have no incentive to go back on my word if I sign a WFH deal and swear I won’t come back later and claim the goods. I didn’t create Wonder Woman, and DC doesn’t have to worry about me coming out of the woodwork 30 years later looking for my half of the rights to her because I penciled and inked a short story.
It’s funny…people seem to care a lot about Wonder Woman, at least in the abstract (as evidenced by how much attention those sketches got). And yet, the actual comic always seems to struggle to find readers.
It’s the curse of the Too Perfect Character. People love what she represents, a strong capable female, but her characters lacks quirks or conflict that would hook people properly.
I don’t know if writers are just a bit wary of making her collect ice cream wrappers or having a tortoise farm.
I think you nailed it Cottonball! I have always liked the character but I have never followed the book consistently.
I’ve done some musing about the nature of Wonder Woman –
http://scribblersguidetomyth.com/blog/tag/wonder-woman/
But beyond what I say in those two posts, there’s an inherent remoteness to her nature. I think one of the reasons Donna Troy is so popular is that she is/has been many of the things Diana is not — lover, wife, mother, close friend. I think the loss of Donna in the reboot is a big mistake, and that the Powers That Be, will have to reintroduce her eventually. She was apparently written out because she is too similar to Wonder Woman — the real problem is that her differences from Diana make her more accessible in many ways.
Hey ho. Not like I’ve been trying to pitch a Donna Troy book to DC for years or anything. Oh, no. *shuffles feet and kicks toe against wall* Oh, no, of course not.