At 8/21/24 01:45 PM, StrangInk wrote:I know what books you’re all reading because of the wonderful Newgrounds Reading Challenge thread, but what comic books have you all been reading? I’m particularly interested in hearing about what comics you’ve been studying. Whose art have you been pulling as close to your eyes as possible to figure out how many layers of crosshatching they’re using or measuring the gutters because the panel-to-panel pacing is just so perfect? Whose writing are you dissecting by counting pages and speech balloons and words per panel? What collection has you flipping back and forth to compare how two different inkers handle the same penciler? And HOW does Naoki Urasawa DO THAT with those scratchy, loose lines that still feel SO deliberate?!

My bedtime book this week has been The Complete Eightball - Daniel Clowes
I’ve had the hardcover box set of Eightball forever but am just getting into the second half of it. I’ve read a lot of these stories as collections over the last twenty-ish years, but this is still my first time reading the entire thing as the complete published issues. There’s nothing you can’t learn about cartooning from Clowes (okay, maybe some stuff in terms of action). It’s as beautiful and incredible as ever. I love when a collection includes the original letters pages because you can find gems like one sent in by Joe Matt. He’s an incredible cartoonist that just passed away last year and his final issue was just published a couple months ago. I was lucky enough to attend the memorial panel held in his honor at San Diego Comic Con this year. Look into his work, he was an absolutely brilliant cartoonish. His inks are immaculate. At the panel they talked about how he’d obsessive over making them perfect and would use white out outside of the black lines to thin out the brush strokes and remove any splatter or jittery parts.

Way of the Househusband vol. 12 - Kousuke Oono
Still fantastic and one of the few things I laugh out loud at while reading. Oono’s art started great, but has really improved over these twelve volumes. It’s a real masterclass in translating traditional comic inking techniques into digital and his sense of movement is really something to study. He’s telling these tiny down to earth stories, but always impressively includes great action and pacing. Every volume I hope includes some more of Tatsu’s backstory, but I’m never disappointed that he keeps away from that and lives in the now. It’s a gag strip with some real heft to it.

I’ve been on a big Steve Gerber kick lately after finally reading the entirety of his run on Howard the Duck. I’ve read bits here and there since I was a teenager, but now I’ve read the whole thing including the MAX miniseries which is just as great as the main run. I also read his 90’s Vertigo miniseries Nevada which is more interesting than good, but a lot of my favorite comics are. It’s a shame it didn’t continue with the announced yet unreleased second volume. A lot of his work, but particularly HtD is a great lesson in keeping up a readable comic with tons and tons of dialogue. Especially at that time, a lot of comics drown in words, but every one of his feels essential. The art by Gene Colan, Val Meyerik, et al is incredible throughout. I was particularly struck by an Annual issue drawn and inked by Meyerick that has this wavy, chunky lines. I’m keeping it next to my drawing desk to look at more.

And after watching the 2007 film for the first time, I’ve been reading the original 70s run of Ghost Rider. It’s very silly and very cool. I’m always reading more than that like filling in my blind spots of Kirby and Byrne’s FF runs and some Ditko Spidey and The Question, but that’s what I’ve been learning the most from this week.

What graphic sequential story art novels have YOU been studying?

At 8/21/24 04:24 PM, PerKGrok wrote:

At 8/21/24 01:45 PM, StrangInk wrote:I know what books you’re all reading because of the wonderful Newgrounds Reading Challenge thread, but what comic books have you all been reading? I’m particularly interested in hearing about what comics you’ve been studying. Whose art have you been pulling as close to your eyes as possible to figure out how many layers of crosshatching they’re using or measuring the gutters because the panel-to-panel pacing is just so perfect? Whose writing are you dissecting by counting pages and speech balloons and words per panel? What collection has you flipping back and forth to compare how two different inkers handle the same penciler? And HOW does Naoki Urasawa DO THAT with those scratchy, loose lines that still feel SO deliberate?!

My bedtime book this week has been The Complete Eightball - Daniel Clowes
I’ve had the hardcover box set of Eightball forever but am just getting into the second half of it. I’ve read a lot of these stories as collections over the last twenty-ish years, but this is still my first time reading the entire thing as the complete published issues. There’s nothing you can’t learn about cartooning from Clowes (okay, maybe some stuff in terms of action). It’s as beautiful and incredible as ever. I love when a collection includes the original letters pages because you can find gems like one sent in by Joe Matt. He’s an incredible cartoonist that just passed away last year and his final issue was just published a couple months ago. I was lucky enough to attend the memorial panel held in his honor at San Diego Comic Con this year. Look into his work, he was an absolutely brilliant cartoonish. His inks are immaculate. At the panel they talked about how he’d obsessive over making them perfect and would use white out outside of the black lines to thin out the brush strokes and remove any splatter or jittery parts.

Way of the Househusband vol. 12 - Kousuke Oono
Still fantastic and one of the few things I laugh out loud at while reading. Oono’s art started great, but has really improved over these twelve volumes. It’s a real masterclass in translating traditional comic inking techniques into digital and his sense of movement is really something to study. He’s telling these tiny down to earth stories, but always impressively includes great action and pacing. Every volume I hope includes some more of Tatsu’s backstory, but I’m never disappointed that he keeps away from that and lives in the now. It’s a gag strip with some real heft to it.

I’ve been on a big Steve Gerber kick lately after finally reading the entirety of his run on Howard the Duck. I’ve read bits here and there since I was a teenager, but now I’ve read the whole thing including the MAX miniseries which is just as great as the main run. I also read his 90’s Vertigo miniseries Nevada which is more interesting than good, but a lot of my favorite comics are. It’s a shame it didn’t continue with the announced yet unreleased second volume. A lot of his work, but particularly HtD is a great lesson in keeping up a readable comic with tons and tons of dialogue. Especially at that time, a lot of comics drown in words, but every one of his feels essential. The art by Gene Colan, Val Meyerik, et al is incredible throughout. I was particularly struck by an Annual issue drawn and inked by Meyerick that has this wavy, chunky lines. I’m keeping it next to my drawing desk to look at more.

And after watching the 2007 film for the first time, I’ve been reading the original 70s run of Ghost Rider. It’s very silly and very cool. I’m always reading more than that like filling in my blind spots of Kirby and Byrne’s FF runs and some Ditko Spidey and The Question, but that’s what I’ve been learning the most from this week.

What graphic sequential story art novels have YOU been studying?

Alex Raymond, Hal Foster and Milton Caniff is a good starting point. Will Eisner (not only the Spirit).

Jean Giraud (Moebius), Hugo Pratt

Just a couple of names of the top of my head.

At 8/21/24 01:45 PM, StrangInk wrote:I know what books you’re all reading because of the wonderful Newgrounds Reading Challenge thread, but what comic books have you all been reading? I’m particularly interested in hearing about what comics you’ve been studying. Whose art have you been pulling as close to your eyes as possible to figure out how many layers of crosshatching they’re using or measuring the gutters because the panel-to-panel pacing is just so perfect? Whose writing are you dissecting by counting pages and speech balloons and words per panel? What collection has you flipping back and forth to compare how two different inkers handle the same penciler? And HOW does Naoki Urasawa DO THAT with those scratchy, loose lines that still feel SO deliberate?!

My bedtime book this week has been The Complete Eightball - Daniel Clowes
I’ve had the hardcover box set of Eightball forever but am just getting into the second half of it. I’ve read a lot of these stories as collections over the last twenty-ish years, but this is still my first time reading the entire thing as the complete published issues. There’s nothing you can’t learn about cartooning from Clowes (okay, maybe some stuff in terms of action). It’s as beautiful and incredible as ever. I love when a collection includes the original letters pages because you can find gems like one sent in by Joe Matt. He’s an incredible cartoonist that just passed away last year and his final issue was just published a couple months ago. I was lucky enough to attend the memorial panel held in his honor at San Diego Comic Con this year. Look into his work, he was an absolutely brilliant cartoonish. His inks are immaculate. At the panel they talked about how he’d obsessive over making them perfect and would use white out outside of the black lines to thin out the brush strokes and remove any splatter or jittery parts.

Way of the Househusband vol. 12 - Kousuke Oono
Still fantastic and one of the few things I laugh out loud at while reading. Oono’s art started great, but has really improved over these twelve volumes. It’s a real masterclass in translating traditional comic inking techniques into digital and his sense of movement is really something to study. He’s telling these tiny down to earth stories, but always impressively includes great action and pacing. Every volume I hope includes some more of Tatsu’s backstory, but I’m never disappointed that he keeps away from that and lives in the now. It’s a gag strip with some real heft to it.

I’ve been on a big Steve Gerber kick lately after finally reading the entirety of his run on Howard the Duck. I’ve read bits here and there since I was a teenager, but now I’ve read the whole thing including the MAX miniseries which is just as great as the main run. I also read his 90’s Vertigo miniseries Nevada which is more interesting than good, but a lot of my favorite comics are. It’s a shame it didn’t continue with the announced yet unreleased second volume. A lot of his work, but particularly HtD is a great lesson in keeping up a readable comic with tons and tons of dialogue. Especially at that time, a lot of comics drown in words, but every one of his feels essential. The art by Gene Colan, Val Meyerik, et al is incredible throughout. I was particularly struck by an Annual issue drawn and inked by Meyerick that has this wavy, chunky lines. I’m keeping it next to my drawing desk to look at more.

And after watching the 2007 film for the first time, I’ve been reading the original 70s run of Ghost Rider. It’s very silly and very cool. I’m always reading more than that like filling in my blind spots of Kirby and Byrne’s FF runs and some Ditko Spidey and The Question, but that’s what I’ve been learning the most from this week.

What graphic sequential story art novels have YOU been studying?

At 8/21/24 06:09 PM, blackwind677 wrote:I haven't read much in a while but last comic I really was getting into was Torpedo 1936. I think it's a spanish comic from the 80s.

Really good if you wanna study how really harsh shading is done well. I really do wanna read more european comics now that I'm here.

At 8/23/24 03:11 PM, youtherthyf wrote:do visual novels count? cuz if so scott pilgrim has pretty much affected my entire art style, not just comics

but for comics specifically i have been studying how it does paneling. how it plays with size and position or sometimes even overlap. how characters, text, and elemnts pop out of the frame sometimes or are drawing outside the frame all together.

how it switches between small frames for quick conversations and larger frames for longer scenes. or even use tilted frames to give a stressing effect like a dutch angle in film

even the empty gabs between frames is used to help readability, with white gabs for normal scenes and black ones for dreams or flashbacks. helping the reader know which is which

At 8/23/24 01:51 AM, ShadenLines wrote:Sometimes I study Paolo Serpieri's work. If you're not familiar, he created the character Druuna; in the US his comics were first published in Heavy Metal. If you're old enough then you know about it: Morbius Gravis, Mandragore, Carnivora, etc. Most of his fans like his work because, well, you know...(Serpieri is known as "master of the ass") I like it because of his use of lines & textures. The way he lays out forms with lines & hatching is like nothing I've ever seen from any American illustrator. The only one I know of in the modern era who equals him, skill-wise, is Bernie Wrightson...whose work I also study from time to time.

At 8/23/24 05:07 PM, ShadenLines wrote:

At 8/23/24 01:51 AM, ShadenLines wrote:Sometimes I study Paolo Serpieri's work. If you're not familiar, he created the character Druuna; in the US his comics were first published in Heavy Metal. If you're old enough then you know about it: Morbius Gravis, Mandragore, Carnivora, etc. Most of his fans like his work because, well, you know...(Serpieri is known as "master of the ass") I like it because of his use of lines & textures. The way he lays out forms with lines & hatching is like nothing I've ever seen from any American illustrator. The only one I know of in the modern era who equals him, skill-wise, is Bernie Wrightson...whose work I also study from time to time.

Now that I'm here via ye olde laptoppe, I can post decent-sized samples like everyone else in this thread. Feast your eyes!...


Hail Serpieri!

At 8/23/24 03:19 PM, StrangInk wrote:

At 8/23/24 03:11 PM, youtherthyf wrote:do visual novels count? cuz if so scott pilgrim has pretty much affected my entire art style, not just comics

but for comics specifically i have been studying how it does paneling. how it plays with size and position or sometimes even overlap. how characters, text, and elemnts pop out of the frame sometimes or are drawing outside the frame all together.

how it switches between small frames for quick conversations and larger frames for longer scenes. or even use tilted frames to give a stressing effect like a dutch angle in film

even the empty gabs between frames is used to help readability, with white gabs for normal scenes and black ones for dreams or flashbacks. helping the reader know which is which

When Scott Pilgrim first came out (I’m old) all of my volumes had tons of little sticky note bookmarks sticking out of them because I would stare at the pages and learn from the same things you’re describing here. I think it’s a great resource, even if you don’t draw like Brian Lee O’Malley. His sense of action, movement, and scene pacing is so great.
When I discuss comics with people it always goes back to clarity. Of image, of movement, of emotion, etc. and this comic is a perfect example of that. You always know EXACTLY what you’re looking at. So simple looking and yet so complex!
Some good examples of more detailed artists with that same quality are Naoki Urasawa, Mike Allred, and Herge. All big, obvious but perfect examples.

A good Urasawa example I saw as soon as I posted this comment, from his manga Billy Bat. If he wasn’t so good at visually telling you what’s happening, it would be easy to miss the panel of the trail of blood drips and the action that leads to it. If it were an old Marvel comic (or a new one probably) someone would say “A-HA! I’ll follow the trail of blood left by the wound from the shuriken I just threw at him!!!” Not that there’s NO dialogue referencing it, there is, but it doesn’t just repeat what we’ve already seen on panel and I could see it being done much more ham handed. I’ve always been drawn to how manga really lets action breathe over many panels and pages.

At 8/23/24 05:28 PM, youtherthyf wrote:

At 8/23/24 03:19 PM, StrangInk wrote:

At 8/23/24 03:11 PM, youtherthyf wrote:do visual novels count? cuz if so scott pilgrim has pretty much affected my entire art style, not just comics

but for comics specifically i have been studying how it does paneling. how it plays with size and position or sometimes even overlap. how characters, text, and elemnts pop out of the frame sometimes or are drawing outside the frame all together.

how it switches between small frames for quick conversations and larger frames for longer scenes. or even use tilted frames to give a stressing effect like a dutch angle in film

even the empty gabs between frames is used to help readability, with white gabs for normal scenes and black ones for dreams or flashbacks. helping the reader know which is which

When Scott Pilgrim first came out (I’m old) all of my volumes had tons of little sticky note bookmarks sticking out of them because I would stare at the pages and learn from the same things you’re describing here. I think it’s a great resource, even if you don’t draw like Brian Lee O’Malley. His sense of action, movement, and scene pacing is so great.
When I discuss comics with people it always goes back to clarity. Of image, of movement, of emotion, etc. and this comic is a perfect example of that. You always know EXACTLY what you’re looking at. So simple looking and yet so complex!
Some good examples of more detailed artists with that same quality are Naoki Urasawa, Mike Allred, and Herge. All big, obvious but perfect examples.

A good Urasawa example I saw as soon as I posted this comment, from his manga Billy Bat. If he wasn’t so good at visually telling you what’s happening, it would be easy to miss the panel of the trail of blood drips and the action that leads to it. If it were an old Marvel comic (or a new one probably) someone would say “A-HA! I’ll follow the trail of blood left by the wound from the shuriken I just threw at him!!!” Not that there’s NO dialogue referencing it, there is, but it doesn’t just repeat what we’ve already seen on panel and I could see it being done much more ham handed. I’ve always been drawn to how manga really lets action breathe over many panels and pages.

i gotta check this Urasawa guy out. that is super cool

p.s: wanna feel older? the person you are talking to rn is 1 day younger than this book lmao

At 8/23/24 05:28 PM, youtherthyf wrote:

At 8/23/24 03:19 PM, StrangInk wrote:

At 8/23/24 03:11 PM, youtherthyf wrote:do visual novels count? cuz if so scott pilgrim has pretty much affected my entire art style, not just comics

but for comics specifically i have been studying how it does paneling. how it plays with size and position or sometimes even overlap. how characters, text, and elemnts pop out of the frame sometimes or are drawing outside the frame all together.

how it switches between small frames for quick conversations and larger frames for longer scenes. or even use tilted frames to give a stressing effect like a dutch angle in film

even the empty gabs between frames is used to help readability, with white gabs for normal scenes and black ones for dreams or flashbacks. helping the reader know which is which

When Scott Pilgrim first came out (I’m old) all of my volumes had tons of little sticky note bookmarks sticking out of them because I would stare at the pages and learn from the same things you’re describing here. I think it’s a great resource, even if you don’t draw like Brian Lee O’Malley. His sense of action, movement, and scene pacing is so great.
When I discuss comics with people it always goes back to clarity. Of image, of movement, of emotion, etc. and this comic is a perfect example of that. You always know EXACTLY what you’re looking at. So simple looking and yet so complex!
Some good examples of more detailed artists with that same quality are Naoki Urasawa, Mike Allred, and Herge. All big, obvious but perfect examples.

A good Urasawa example I saw as soon as I posted this comment, from his manga Billy Bat. If he wasn’t so good at visually telling you what’s happening, it would be easy to miss the panel of the trail of blood drips and the action that leads to it. If it were an old Marvel comic (or a new one probably) someone would say “A-HA! I’ll follow the trail of blood left by the wound from the shuriken I just threw at him!!!” Not that there’s NO dialogue referencing it, there is, but it doesn’t just repeat what we’ve already seen on panel and I could see it being done much more ham handed. I’ve always been drawn to how manga really lets action breathe over many panels and pages.

i gotta check this Urasawa guy out. that is super cool

p.s: wanna feel older? the person you are talking to rn is 1 day younger than this book lmao

At 8/21/24 01:45 PM, StrangInk wrote:I know what books you’re all reading because of the wonderful Newgrounds Reading Challenge thread, but what comic books have you all been reading? I’m particularly interested in hearing about what comics you’ve been studying. Whose art have you been pulling as close to your eyes as possible to figure out how many layers of crosshatching they’re using or measuring the gutters because the panel-to-panel pacing is just so perfect? Whose writing are you dissecting by counting pages and speech balloons and words per panel? What collection has you flipping back and forth to compare how two different inkers handle the same penciler? And HOW does Naoki Urasawa DO THAT with those scratchy, loose lines that still feel SO deliberate?!

My bedtime book this week has been The Complete Eightball - Daniel Clowes
I’ve had the hardcover box set of Eightball forever but am just getting into the second half of it. I’ve read a lot of these stories as collections over the last twenty-ish years, but this is still my first time reading the entire thing as the complete published issues. There’s nothing you can’t learn about cartooning from Clowes (okay, maybe some stuff in terms of action). It’s as beautiful and incredible as ever. I love when a collection includes the original letters pages because you can find gems like one sent in by Joe Matt. He’s an incredible cartoonist that just passed away last year and his final issue was just published a couple months ago. I was lucky enough to attend the memorial panel held in his honor at San Diego Comic Con this year. Look into his work, he was an absolutely brilliant cartoonish. His inks are immaculate. At the panel they talked about how he’d obsessive over making them perfect and would use white out outside of the black lines to thin out the brush strokes and remove any splatter or jittery parts.

Way of the Househusband vol. 12 - Kousuke Oono
Still fantastic and one of the few things I laugh out loud at while reading. Oono’s art started great, but has really improved over these twelve volumes. It’s a real masterclass in translating traditional comic inking techniques into digital and his sense of movement is really something to study. He’s telling these tiny down to earth stories, but always impressively includes great action and pacing. Every volume I hope includes some more of Tatsu’s backstory, but I’m never disappointed that he keeps away from that and lives in the now. It’s a gag strip with some real heft to it.

I’ve been on a big Steve Gerber kick lately after finally reading the entirety of his run on Howard the Duck. I’ve read bits here and there since I was a teenager, but now I’ve read the whole thing including the MAX miniseries which is just as great as the main run. I also read his 90’s Vertigo miniseries Nevada which is more interesting than good, but a lot of my favorite comics are. It’s a shame it didn’t continue with the announced yet unreleased second volume. A lot of his work, but particularly HtD is a great lesson in keeping up a readable comic with tons and tons of dialogue. Especially at that time, a lot of comics drown in words, but every one of his feels essential. The art by Gene Colan, Val Meyerik, et al is incredible throughout. I was particularly struck by an Annual issue drawn and inked by Meyerick that has this wavy, chunky lines. I’m keeping it next to my drawing desk to look at more.

And after watching the 2007 film for the first time, I’ve been reading the original 70s run of Ghost Rider. It’s very silly and very cool. I’m always reading more than that like filling in my blind spots of Kirby and Byrne’s FF runs and some Ditko Spidey and The Question, but that’s what I’ve been learning the most from this week.

What graphic sequential story art novels have YOU been studying?

At 8/26/24 12:18 PM, MayaLaCookie wrote:

At 8/21/24 01:45 PM, StrangInk wrote:I know what books you’re all reading because of the wonderful Newgrounds Reading Challenge thread, but what comic books have you all been reading? I’m particularly interested in hearing about what comics you’ve been studying. Whose art have you been pulling as close to your eyes as possible to figure out how many layers of crosshatching they’re using or measuring the gutters because the panel-to-panel pacing is just so perfect? Whose writing are you dissecting by counting pages and speech balloons and words per panel? What collection has you flipping back and forth to compare how two different inkers handle the same penciler? And HOW does Naoki Urasawa DO THAT with those scratchy, loose lines that still feel SO deliberate?!

My bedtime book this week has been The Complete Eightball - Daniel Clowes
I’ve had the hardcover box set of Eightball forever but am just getting into the second half of it. I’ve read a lot of these stories as collections over the last twenty-ish years, but this is still my first time reading the entire thing as the complete published issues. There’s nothing you can’t learn about cartooning from Clowes (okay, maybe some stuff in terms of action). It’s as beautiful and incredible as ever. I love when a collection includes the original letters pages because you can find gems like one sent in by Joe Matt. He’s an incredible cartoonist that just passed away last year and his final issue was just published a couple months ago. I was lucky enough to attend the memorial panel held in his honor at San Diego Comic Con this year. Look into his work, he was an absolutely brilliant cartoonish. His inks are immaculate. At the panel they talked about how he’d obsessive over making them perfect and would use white out outside of the black lines to thin out the brush strokes and remove any splatter or jittery parts.

Way of the Househusband vol. 12 - Kousuke Oono
Still fantastic and one of the few things I laugh out loud at while reading. Oono’s art started great, but has really improved over these twelve volumes. It’s a real masterclass in translating traditional comic inking techniques into digital and his sense of movement is really something to study. He’s telling these tiny down to earth stories, but always impressively includes great action and pacing. Every volume I hope includes some more of Tatsu’s backstory, but I’m never disappointed that he keeps away from that and lives in the now. It’s a gag strip with some real heft to it.

I’ve been on a big Steve Gerber kick lately after finally reading the entirety of his run on Howard the Duck. I’ve read bits here and there since I was a teenager, but now I’ve read the whole thing including the MAX miniseries which is just as great as the main run. I also read his 90’s Vertigo miniseries Nevada which is more interesting than good, but a lot of my favorite comics are. It’s a shame it didn’t continue with the announced yet unreleased second volume. A lot of his work, but particularly HtD is a great lesson in keeping up a readable comic with tons and tons of dialogue. Especially at that time, a lot of comics drown in words, but every one of his feels essential. The art by Gene Colan, Val Meyerik, et al is incredible throughout. I was particularly struck by an Annual issue drawn and inked by Meyerick that has this wavy, chunky lines. I’m keeping it next to my drawing desk to look at more.

And after watching the 2007 film for the first time, I’ve been reading the original 70s run of Ghost Rider. It’s very silly and very cool. I’m always reading more than that like filling in my blind spots of Kirby and Byrne’s FF runs and some Ditko Spidey and The Question, but that’s what I’ve been learning the most from this week.

What graphic sequential story art novels have YOU been studying?

I been studying Johnny the Homicidal Manic for a short film I'm making. It's a great comic btw, I love it.

At 8/26/24 12:18 PM, MayaLaCookie wrote:

At 8/21/24 01:45 PM, StrangInk wrote:I know what books you’re all reading because of the wonderful Newgrounds Reading Challenge thread, but what comic books have you all been reading? I’m particularly interested in hearing about what comics you’ve been studying. Whose art have you been pulling as close to your eyes as possible to figure out how many layers of crosshatching they’re using or measuring the gutters because the panel-to-panel pacing is just so perfect? Whose writing are you dissecting by counting pages and speech balloons and words per panel? What collection has you flipping back and forth to compare how two different inkers handle the same penciler? And HOW does Naoki Urasawa DO THAT with those scratchy, loose lines that still feel SO deliberate?!

My bedtime book this week has been The Complete Eightball - Daniel Clowes
I’ve had the hardcover box set of Eightball forever but am just getting into the second half of it. I’ve read a lot of these stories as collections over the last twenty-ish years, but this is still my first time reading the entire thing as the complete published issues. There’s nothing you can’t learn about cartooning from Clowes (okay, maybe some stuff in terms of action). It’s as beautiful and incredible as ever. I love when a collection includes the original letters pages because you can find gems like one sent in by Joe Matt. He’s an incredible cartoonist that just passed away last year and his final issue was just published a couple months ago. I was lucky enough to attend the memorial panel held in his honor at San Diego Comic Con this year. Look into his work, he was an absolutely brilliant cartoonish. His inks are immaculate. At the panel they talked about how he’d obsessive over making them perfect and would use white out outside of the black lines to thin out the brush strokes and remove any splatter or jittery parts.

Way of the Househusband vol. 12 - Kousuke Oono
Still fantastic and one of the few things I laugh out loud at while reading. Oono’s art started great, but has really improved over these twelve volumes. It’s a real masterclass in translating traditional comic inking techniques into digital and his sense of movement is really something to study. He’s telling these tiny down to earth stories, but always impressively includes great action and pacing. Every volume I hope includes some more of Tatsu’s backstory, but I’m never disappointed that he keeps away from that and lives in the now. It’s a gag strip with some real heft to it.

I’ve been on a big Steve Gerber kick lately after finally reading the entirety of his run on Howard the Duck. I’ve read bits here and there since I was a teenager, but now I’ve read the whole thing including the MAX miniseries which is just as great as the main run. I also read his 90’s Vertigo miniseries Nevada which is more interesting than good, but a lot of my favorite comics are. It’s a shame it didn’t continue with the announced yet unreleased second volume. A lot of his work, but particularly HtD is a great lesson in keeping up a readable comic with tons and tons of dialogue. Especially at that time, a lot of comics drown in words, but every one of his feels essential. The art by Gene Colan, Val Meyerik, et al is incredible throughout. I was particularly struck by an Annual issue drawn and inked by Meyerick that has this wavy, chunky lines. I’m keeping it next to my drawing desk to look at more.

And after watching the 2007 film for the first time, I’ve been reading the original 70s run of Ghost Rider. It’s very silly and very cool. I’m always reading more than that like filling in my blind spots of Kirby and Byrne’s FF runs and some Ditko Spidey and The Question, but that’s what I’ve been learning the most from this week.

What graphic sequential story art novels have YOU been studying?

I been studying Johnny the Homicidal Manic for a short film I'm making. It's a great comic btw, I love it.

At 8/26/24 02:10 PM, MrFlorida2050 wrote:

At 8/26/24 12:18 PM, MayaLaCookie wrote:

At 8/21/24 01:45 PM, StrangInk wrote:I know what books you’re all reading because of the wonderful Newgrounds Reading Challenge thread, but what comic books have you all been reading? I’m particularly interested in hearing about what comics you’ve been studying. Whose art have you been pulling as close to your eyes as possible to figure out how many layers of crosshatching they’re using or measuring the gutters because the panel-to-panel pacing is just so perfect? Whose writing are you dissecting by counting pages and speech balloons and words per panel? What collection has you flipping back and forth to compare how two different inkers handle the same penciler? And HOW does Naoki Urasawa DO THAT with those scratchy, loose lines that still feel SO deliberate?!

My bedtime book this week has been The Complete Eightball - Daniel Clowes
I’ve had the hardcover box set of Eightball forever but am just getting into the second half of it. I’ve read a lot of these stories as collections over the last twenty-ish years, but this is still my first time reading the entire thing as the complete published issues. There’s nothing you can’t learn about cartooning from Clowes (okay, maybe some stuff in terms of action). It’s as beautiful and incredible as ever. I love when a collection includes the original letters pages because you can find gems like one sent in by Joe Matt. He’s an incredible cartoonist that just passed away last year and his final issue was just published a couple months ago. I was lucky enough to attend the memorial panel held in his honor at San Diego Comic Con this year. Look into his work, he was an absolutely brilliant cartoonish. His inks are immaculate. At the panel they talked about how he’d obsessive over making them perfect and would use white out outside of the black lines to thin out the brush strokes and remove any splatter or jittery parts.

Way of the Househusband vol. 12 - Kousuke Oono
Still fantastic and one of the few things I laugh out loud at while reading. Oono’s art started great, but has really improved over these twelve volumes. It’s a real masterclass in translating traditional comic inking techniques into digital and his sense of movement is really something to study. He’s telling these tiny down to earth stories, but always impressively includes great action and pacing. Every volume I hope includes some more of Tatsu’s backstory, but I’m never disappointed that he keeps away from that and lives in the now. It’s a gag strip with some real heft to it.

I’ve been on a big Steve Gerber kick lately after finally reading the entirety of his run on Howard the Duck. I’ve read bits here and there since I was a teenager, but now I’ve read the whole thing including the MAX miniseries which is just as great as the main run. I also read his 90’s Vertigo miniseries Nevada which is more interesting than good, but a lot of my favorite comics are. It’s a shame it didn’t continue with the announced yet unreleased second volume. A lot of his work, but particularly HtD is a great lesson in keeping up a readable comic with tons and tons of dialogue. Especially at that time, a lot of comics drown in words, but every one of his feels essential. The art by Gene Colan, Val Meyerik, et al is incredible throughout. I was particularly struck by an Annual issue drawn and inked by Meyerick that has this wavy, chunky lines. I’m keeping it next to my drawing desk to look at more.

And after watching the 2007 film for the first time, I’ve been reading the original 70s run of Ghost Rider. It’s very silly and very cool. I’m always reading more than that like filling in my blind spots of Kirby and Byrne’s FF runs and some Ditko Spidey and The Question, but that’s what I’ve been learning the most from this week.

What graphic sequential story art novels have YOU been studying?

I been studying Johnny the Homicidal Manic for a short film I'm making. It's a great comic btw, I love it.

Oh yeah, I’ve also been studying that comic too mainly to learn how to do some of the violence in that comic hell you know that that comic is also the one that actually inspired me to become a comic book artist as I feel like I needed to start off somewhere with my career of being a cartoonist

At 8/26/24 02:13 PM, StrangInk wrote:

At 8/26/24 02:10 PM, MrFlorida2050 wrote:

At 8/26/24 12:18 PM, MayaLaCookie wrote:

At 8/21/24 01:45 PM, StrangInk wrote:I know what books you’re all reading because of the wonderful Newgrounds Reading Challenge thread, but what comic books have you all been reading? I’m particularly interested in hearing about what comics you’ve been studying. Whose art have you been pulling as close to your eyes as possible to figure out how many layers of crosshatching they’re using or measuring the gutters because the panel-to-panel pacing is just so perfect? Whose writing are you dissecting by counting pages and speech balloons and words per panel? What collection has you flipping back and forth to compare how two different inkers handle the same penciler? And HOW does Naoki Urasawa DO THAT with those scratchy, loose lines that still feel SO deliberate?!

My bedtime book this week has been The Complete Eightball - Daniel Clowes
I’ve had the hardcover box set of Eightball forever but am just getting into the second half of it. I’ve read a lot of these stories as collections over the last twenty-ish years, but this is still my first time reading the entire thing as the complete published issues. There’s nothing you can’t learn about cartooning from Clowes (okay, maybe some stuff in terms of action). It’s as beautiful and incredible as ever. I love when a collection includes the original letters pages because you can find gems like one sent in by Joe Matt. He’s an incredible cartoonist that just passed away last year and his final issue was just published a couple months ago. I was lucky enough to attend the memorial panel held in his honor at San Diego Comic Con this year. Look into his work, he was an absolutely brilliant cartoonish. His inks are immaculate. At the panel they talked about how he’d obsessive over making them perfect and would use white out outside of the black lines to thin out the brush strokes and remove any splatter or jittery parts.

Way of the Househusband vol. 12 - Kousuke Oono
Still fantastic and one of the few things I laugh out loud at while reading. Oono’s art started great, but has really improved over these twelve volumes. It’s a real masterclass in translating traditional comic inking techniques into digital and his sense of movement is really something to study. He’s telling these tiny down to earth stories, but always impressively includes great action and pacing. Every volume I hope includes some more of Tatsu’s backstory, but I’m never disappointed that he keeps away from that and lives in the now. It’s a gag strip with some real heft to it.

I’ve been on a big Steve Gerber kick lately after finally reading the entirety of his run on Howard the Duck. I’ve read bits here and there since I was a teenager, but now I’ve read the whole thing including the MAX miniseries which is just as great as the main run. I also read his 90’s Vertigo miniseries Nevada which is more interesting than good, but a lot of my favorite comics are. It’s a shame it didn’t continue with the announced yet unreleased second volume. A lot of his work, but particularly HtD is a great lesson in keeping up a readable comic with tons and tons of dialogue. Especially at that time, a lot of comics drown in words, but every one of his feels essential. The art by Gene Colan, Val Meyerik, et al is incredible throughout. I was particularly struck by an Annual issue drawn and inked by Meyerick that has this wavy, chunky lines. I’m keeping it next to my drawing desk to look at more.

And after watching the 2007 film for the first time, I’ve been reading the original 70s run of Ghost Rider. It’s very silly and very cool. I’m always reading more than that like filling in my blind spots of Kirby and Byrne’s FF runs and some Ditko Spidey and The Question, but that’s what I’ve been learning the most from this week.

What graphic sequential story art novels have YOU been studying?

I been studying Johnny the Homicidal Manic for a short film I'm making. It's a great comic btw, I love it.

Oh yeah, I’ve also been studying that comic too mainly to learn how to do some of the violence in that comic hell you know that that comic is also the one that actually inspired me to become a comic book artist as I feel like I needed to start off somewhere with my career of being a cartoonist

Portraying visceral violence in black and white is an underrated and difficult skill. I remember noticing how Vasquez used B&W to strikingly illustrate blood and gore when I first read that.