Exercise #3: info and links about a comic artist etc

[Incognita Nom de Plume]

please post your (brief) info, a pic (if ppropriate) and links to online material about the subject of your in-class presentation for exercise 3

[Harry]

Too Much Coffee Man by Shannon Wheeler (American)

A modern-day satire / superhero send-up. Based around the nonadventures of TMCM, and his sidekicks Too Much Espresso Guy and Too Much German White Chocolate Woman with Almonds. Usually single page stand-alone comic strips, although there is a loose plot which runs through some of the editions. This format suits the comic as its main purpose is social commentary rather than being character- or action-based.
The comics made by Wheeler are now called 'How To Be Happy' and sometimes feature TMCM.

links:

http://www.tmcm.com/comics/tags/too+much+espresso+guy/145_MrExisten...

http://www.tmcm.com/comics/tags/too+much+coffee+man/tmcm080121

http://www.tmcm.com/comics/tags/too+much+german+white+chocolate+wom...

http://www.tmcm.com/comics/tags/too+much+espresso+guy/240_copyright

http://www.tmcm.com/comics/tags/too+much+espresso+guy/225_sim

[Viriana Zeneli]

Is the treatment due as a hard or digital copy? I'm confused OMG ha. Ok, I'm doing Mark Ryden.

BRIEF -

Mark Ryden came to preeminence in the 1990’s. Upon first glance Ryden’s work seems to mirror the Surrealists’ fascination with the subconscious and collective memories. However, Ryden transcends the initial Surrealists’ strategies by consciously choosing subject matter loaded with cultural connotation. His dewy vixens, cuddly plush pets, alchemical symbols, religious emblems, primordial landscapes and slabs of meat challenge his audience not necessarily with their own oddity but with the introduction of their soothing cultural familiarity into unsettling circumstances.

LINKS TO ONLINE MATERIAL, INCL IMAGES -

http://www.markryden.com/
http://www.picsearch.com/pictures/celebrities/artists%20and%20paint...
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/559878718Yyzeey
http://omgposters.com/tag/mark-ryden/
http://boingboing.net/2009/02/13/mark-ryden-in-tokyo-1.html

[Heejung Son]

*Edward Gorey*

Edward St. John Gorey (ca. February 22, 1925 – April 15, 2000) was an American writer and artist noted for his macabre illustrated books. Gorey's work defies easy classification. He is typically described as an illustrator, but this merely scratches the surface. His combination of words and pictures has led some to classify him as having been a cartoonist, while others regard him primarily as a writer who drew, or an illustrator who wrote. His books can be found in the humor and cartoon sections of major bookstores, but books like The Object Lesson have earned serious critical respect as works of surrealist art. His endless experimentations—creating books that were wordless, books that were literally matchbox-sized, pop-up books, books entirely populated by inanimate objects, and more—complicates matters still further, not to mention the thorny issue of whether his books are best classed as literature for children or for adults.


Links;

http://www.edwardgoreyhouse.org/
http://www.goreyography.com/
http://www.lunaea.com/words/gorey/
http://www.goreybibliography.com/index.html

http://www.lectrice.co.kr/gorey/book1_tinies_a.html
http://www.lectrice.co.kr/gorey/book1_doubtful01.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFqYtz7exBs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t5a829z-4w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ge-Yr5vkYU&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAmGsM4Dids&feature=related

[Junichiro Kuroiwa]

"Jean Giraud" also known as "Moebius"

Jean Giraud (1938~) is a french comic (Franco-Belgian comics) writer. He has amazing illustration skills. He often creates hard-boiled and science fiction stories. In the stories lots of unique characters appear such as super heroes, monsters, aliens, robots and so on. He was influenced by American comics and also influenced Marvel comics. Not only comics he was involved in movie's concept designs such as,,,

:Alien (concept design and costume design)
:Blade Runner (costume design)
:The Fifth Element (concept design)
:Star Wars Episode V (costume design)

[Jamil Luketic]

Jack Kirby (August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) - career has expanded the entire history of comic books, from the early 30's to today. When he began, his style was somewhat energetic, which gave the impression that the works would somewhat pop out and confront you...
In the 60's he worked with Marvel Comics; whom today we know are the most popular in the world. Jack Kirby with his partner Stan Lee; collaborated together and created "The Hulk, Fantastic Four, Silver Surfer" and many more versatile characters. This being the somewhat first big success of comic books with Marvel.

During the 70's, He switched over to DC Comics where he produced the fourth world. From here such comics were produced like Forever People, New Gods and Mr Miracle.. With this new universe which he created; it reflected his life style and philosophy which tied into his very own creation.

Because he was the creator of such comics, he was no longer a freelancer but more so a viewer as he came attached to how he had seen the characters lived, how the plot unfolded, the emotion dawn, and that the depth of how well he knew every character. Jack Kirby believed that once he put them down to paper, they had already lived in the way in which he wanted them to live.

What makes his stories so unique and popular are that his stories draw on emotions making them very sincere which therefore has a change reaction making them people stories. The characters are very real in his mind; maybe not in our age; but were once living and walking on this earth. They are real in the eyes of Jack Kirby no matter what the subject matter deals with.

Being done a wide range of comics his inspiration were no longer stereotypes such as gangstas; but went to a new source such as reading the bible Thus creating Galactus (fantastic four). The Silver Surfer was symbolic of the "fallen angel". Such ideas and concepts was the very thing that made Jack Kirby different from the rest. He simply revolutionizing comics today.

With such high dominance characters he thought about Gods leading him onto a new line of era which captured many more millions. The idea of incorporating "God" our creator into this 4th world, would make the plot more interesting as there were both evil and good Gods. From thus, Jack created many interesting characters and always left the viewer with unanswered questions to which he never had an answer for. This therefore creating more interest as you could always ask the question but never really know the answer.

The comic's itself were special. they showed involvement and communicated an idea..
From looking back at his career he started with only an editorial, from there adapting to comic strips to now comic books. It still asks the question knowing where the comic world is going to take us.

Finally Jack Kirby incorporates his love for comics by trying to draw on many different ideas which help connect his works to ordinary people, so even they can understand it. He loved people generally which helped him sustain an actor-audience relationship with his characters and always loved Science-Fiction; as this genre became the new craze in Hollywood.




http://scienceandreligion.com/symb_kirby.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjwAC-lw7zE&feature=related
http://www.povonline.com/Jack%20Kirby.htm
http://www.bpib.com/illustra2/kirby.htm

[Telia Nevile]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – Season Eight – The Comic

Buffy began as a 1992 teen schlock horror movie with Luke Perry and Kristy Swanson, transformed into an incredibly popular, cult classic television show, which lasted for 7 seasons, and is now being released as a comic book, published by Dark Horse Comics, and overseen by TV series creator Josh Whedon. Whedon has written a mission statement for the series (designed to incorporate 40 issues, not all of which have been released so far) and the story arc, which he briefs all his writers (old Buffy staff writers and well-known comic book writers) on. In this way, the writing is being conducted in much the same way it was done for the television series. The first and last five in the series, and a number of other scattered issues have been written by Whedon himself.

“I bring [the tv series’ characters] in slowly. The first one features Buffy and a couple of other characters. In the first four, we basically get the layout of where most of them are. I’m bringing them in as a fugue, one by one, to play their part. I’m also leaving some people out deliberately, or mentioning them without focussing on them, so that the other writers who come in can have something new to play with. Instead of just picking up my story, they get to pick whatever aspects of it interests them.”

It has some of the same humour and quick wit that made the show so good, and the character voices are also overseen by Whedon to make sure they're consistent. While I'm not sold on the transition to a comic, I understand the urge - Whedon is now freed of budgetary constraints and CGI and actor limitations.

"This is bigger variations. It’s a symphony based on the little tune we played."

Links
http://www.darkhorse.com/Features/Making-of-a-Comic/613/Making-of-a...
http://www.darkhorse.com/Features/Flip-Books/721/Buffy-the-Vampire-...
http://www.darkhorse.com/Zones/Buffy
http://wedonesque.com
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/15511286/20070131/index.jhtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffy_the_Vampire_Slayer_Season_Eight
http://www.tvguide.com/news/buffy-vampire-slayer-35722.aspx
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2007/apr/02/tvandradio.comics/print
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1562057,00.html

[Amy Alexandra]

exercise 3

[Dan Mylo]

Brief

Philip Oliver Hale, born in 1963, is an American Figurative painter who currently resides in London, England.

Prior to turning to fine arts he worked as an illustrator, doing mostly figurative work. He studied under Rick Berry and alongside with Jon Foster.

His current work focuses on figure as well, in depictions of slightly surreal scenes with strange characters performing various physical feats, usually in a confrontation of some sort. He seems to take keen interest in tension and emphasis of angular and dynamic aspects of the figure, almost always incorporating slight anatomical distortions to great effect.

He also recently formed the movie production company, unprofessional.com with his son Callum Hale Thomson. It specializes in bespoke analogue filmmaking with his son.

Links

http://www.allenspiegelfinearts.com/hale.html
http://www.comicbookdb.com/creator.php?ID=3107
http://www.fanboy.com/2008/02/phil-hale-is-a-hellblazer.html
http://www.mockingbirdsrelaxeder.com/
https://secure.grantbooks.com/z-artists-phil-hale.html

[JoshuaHook]

I Chose to look at my favorite writer instead. hope thats allowed cos i sure ain't doing it all over again.

[JoshuaHook]

heres the presentation that i never got around to doing in class, look at all the pretty pictures.

[Michael McMaster]

these are the rough notes i wrote out for the presentation, along with the powerpoint file itself

- early on, in the late 80s ware drew cartoons for a number of magazines and serial publications. he drew very large, elaborate spreads, which had a really careful sense of composition and pacing - he created a rich sense of 'language' in the way his comics read.
- one of ware's earliest recurring characters was quimby the mouse. generally, ware aimed to express a sense of emotion. these cartoons were dominated by themes of loneliness, isolation, unrequited love, those kinds of misery.
- at times, he used quite colourful, bizarre imagery with very geometric, formal panel structures.
- in terms of both visual manner and story elements they were very reminiscent of earlier cartoons, particularly george herriman's "krazy kat", which featured its three primary characters in this eternally unrequited love triangle.
- at other times, his panels were presented so densely, so tightly packed, that they read almost as animation, much like filmstrip or a zoetrope. these stories lacked dialogue and were generally illustrated in very simple pictures and symbols - this meant that these comics were 'read' more than 'seen', since there's no real reason to linger on any one panel.
- before, i mentioned a unique sense of 'language' in his comics - this was evident in a lot of his works which had to be followed along complicated routes and lines - this translated to a really unique experience of narrative and pacing.
- later in his career, this idea was taken even further in these kinds of diagrammatic, practically algebraic compositions. one comic functions as a map of the way we experience this language of comics - it shows a central image with many branching tangents to explain each step in how we process the visual information.
- his recent comics have become much more focused on elaborate narratives. his stories are about other people, and their emotions, but are generally autobiographical to varying degrees.
- his seminal work, published serially over five years, is "jimmy corrigan", this enormous story about a middle aged man dealing with his own loneliness and alienation. the character spends most of the story in an awkward reunion with his long-absent father, who he'd never met before. in reality, ware had never known his own father.
- this autobiographical element means that all of ware's comics come off as very personal, emotional works. ware has mentioned in interviews that he tries to capture the 'resonance' of human emotion, and tries to translate that into the comic form.
- this strong sense of purpose in his storytelling, combined with a very calculated approach to composing a visual narrative turn into his characteristically delicate, complex, beautiful comics.

[Grace Costello]

Raymond Pettibon links:

http://www.2ndthought.net/raymondpettibon/gallery.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Pettibon

http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/pettibon/index.html

http://www.artnet.com/artist/13422/raymond-pettibon.html