Understand, I'm not saying "Fallen Angel" is continuing. I'm not saying that. And if it were, which I'm not saying it is, I'm not saying that there would be a different artist, because it's a moot question since I'm not saying it's continuing in the first place.
But if it were continuing, which I'm not saying it is, and I were in the market for a new artist, which I'm not saying I am, who would you want to see drawing it?
PAD
Posted by Peter David at March 23, 2005 09:37 AM | TrackBack | Other blogs commentingDoes Jerry Ordway still do stuff? Maybe Dan Jurgens. I'm an old school guy...
John Cassaday.
His photo-realistic yet ephemeral style leands perfect counterpoint to the noir psychodrama of the book. You would have to be really careful with the colorist, though.
How about the guy who drew Spawn after Tod stopped drawing. It was Greg something. ;)
Well, Jim Lee or Michael Turner would both be fantastic. But if you're looking for someone a little more likely, and who is looking to land a regular gig, and has drawn strong women in "Birds of Prey", why not Tom Derenick?
Tony Harris did an amazing job on Starman bringing an entire fictional city to life. Also, I'm forgeting the name, Kelley Jones I think who used to draw Batman for Doug Moench would also do a killer job.
> Tom Derenick
Definitely. I also would like to see someone like Jae Lee... he has such a moody overtone to his work it would seem to work.
Hypothetically speaking, of course.
Travis
Gene Colan would be perfect for the moodiness of Bete Noire. George Perez would also work, as he can adapt his style to fit any mood. Rags Morales can do New Orleans/Bete Noire, but he's committed to Wonder Woman at the moment. No Ryan Sook, please.
Pie in the sky? (since you're not saying it'll continue, and this is all just a dream) Mike Mignola. I think his blend of dark and stylized would be cool as hell, especially where there's Benny in the shadows gobbling people up.
More realistic? Jim Califiore. His work on Paradise X had a good sense of dreamlike qualities (I'm thinking especially of the scenes with Steve Rogers and the Punisher trapped in their fantasy worlds, where Castle's family are still alive, and Steve's mom and dad haven't croaked yet) while still being able to pull off the gritty realism of a noir-book.
Personally, I'm not too big a fan of the art right now. I read the book for the writing mostly. The art is unobtrusive to me, so I'm not saying it's bad at all, but it doesn't really punch me in the gut either. Which at times I wished it would. This is a gut punching book, and I think it would have sold better with a gut punching artist. Maybe Gaydos, the guy who was doin Alias with Bendis? He would DEFINITELY fit.
That might be pie in the sky too, as I think he and Bendis are probably skin grafted to each other in terms of artistic endeavors.
I'm going to enter Fantasyland now:
George Perez or Alex Ross.
Or maybe, just for a laugh, John Byrne.
how about the guy who drew Outlaw Nation, Goran Sudzuka?
I second Gene Colan; that's a brilliant idea. And in B&W!
Kinda like everyone else, if you're talking pie-in-the-sky, I want a huge name that will draw sales. A Miller, Ross, Mignola, Lee, etc.
If you're talking more realistically, someone that can handle that noirish vibe. Jesus Saiz of MANHUNTER would be an excellent choice, but his profile's about to go through the roof on a major mini for DC. Gaydos would be good, as would Lark, or Maleev. I think all three of those last are under exclusives to Marvel, though. Tim Truman or David Lapham would also be good choices but it's probably unrealistic to assume they're available.
Another "name" that I think would be an EXCELLENT choice that might be available it Tom Mandrake. I don't know what he's working on at the moment but I think he'd be an excellent fit.
I think assuming you don't just arbitrarily have your pick of Big Name Artists, the most important thing is to match the tone, so a talented newcomer would be fine by me.
I've got to agree with the previous posters who put Gene Colan on their wish list. And Tom Palmer as inker of course. I know, it ain't gonna happen, but we're talking hypothetical, aren't we?
Stephen Sadowski, Paul Smith, Tony Harris, Steve Dillon, John Cassaday, Bryan Hitch, Alan Davis, Jim Aparo, Alex Maleev, Jae Lee, Colleen Doran, Norm Breyfogle, Gary Frank, JH Williams, Phil Jimenez, Chris Sprouse, Jaime Hernandez, Eddie Campbell, or Berni Wrightson.
Here's an idea sure to boost sales immeasurably... a drunken hamster with a pencil strapped to it's back. The sheer novelty of having a comic drawn by a drunken hamster would make Fallen Angel a top ten book for life.
George Perez is my pie-in-the-sky choice. Tony Harris would be a more likely one.
Of course, one question (hypothetically) is where it might end up. There are folks (Cassaday, Lapham) who might be easier to snag at a Big Three (or Four) publisher than for a smaller indy.
Of course, it's all hypothetical.
Todd McFarlane!
*Ouch!!!* *Ouch!!!* *Ouch!!!* *Ouch!!!* *Ouch!!!*
*Ouch!!!* *Ouch!!!* *Ouch!!!*
Not in the face!
Dammit I was only kidding!
Anyways, on the fantasy column I would put Mike McKone.
In the realistic column I would put Tone Rodriguez from Violent Messiah fame. He is good, the tone in both books is similar and he can do action as well as talking heads. The only thing is, I don't know if he would be able to keep up with PAD's pace. But that's something you'd have to ask him.
Geoff Isherwood (who did "Suicide Squad" with Ostrander and Yale for a bit). Jerry Bingham ("Batman: Son of the Demon"), if he's still around. Terry Beatty. Or whoever drew Robert Loren Fleming's cop drama "Underworld" for DC back around 1990. Or Mr. Gaydos, late of Marvel's "Alias."
I think Tom Mandraken would be a great choice. Or Gary Frank. Or Steve Dillon. Mind you I'd probably still buy it if Rob Liefeld was drawing it. (Please don't get Rob to draw it!)
I am not making a suggestion. I am not saying I would read FA if my non-suggestion was implemented. But since you asked, Bill Waterson. He has had a long enough rest since retiring from Calvin & Hobbes. Not saying I would start buying FA, but if any artist could get me to pick up an issue . . .
Iowa Jim
It doesn't matter to me who the artist is as long as Peter David is the writer.
Best. Post. Ever.
Uh ... anybody but Igor Kordey.
I'd like to see the crew that does the art for Gotham Central take a stab at Fallen Angel.
Dreaming options: Mike Mignola, Keith Giffen, John Romita Jr.
Other probably more attenable options: Angel Medina, Gary Frank, and as suggested above Tom Mandrake. His stuff on Spectre was awesome and I would love to see the same applied here.
Colan. Colan Colan Colan. Man, that'd be cool.
I'll also second Perez, Palmer, or Mignola.
To whoever suggested Chris Cross -- yeesh. He wasn't really my style for CM, and I don't really think he'd work at all for FA.
And a great post to start off the thread, too!
TWL
Geoff Senior!
He use to draw them Transformers so good!
funzo! Funzo!! FUNZO!!!
"Uh ... anybody but Igor Kordey."
Hunh. What's wrong with him? I'm not that familiar with his stuff, but he did an alternate cover for the "Angel" comic with the puppet Angel that looked really cool.
And, yeah, I couldn't really see Chris on this book either. Great artist...but not quite right for this.
PAD
Igor isn't really a bad choice...it's just that he got saddled with a bad rap after stepping in to finish a Grant Morrison XMen with a VERY tight deadline. When he takes his time, there's that European flavor to his work (see the Black Widow series he did with Rucka) that might work for FALLEN ANGEL.
Jim Calafiore. He was a magnificent pairing with you on AQUAMAN and could be so again.
The only way I'd buy FA with art by Liefeld is if I knew he was paying PAD to let him draw it...and even then, I might need a cut of that.
Anything but an old school guy like Ordway or Jurgens. Somebody who can do dark and moody, not someone whose forte is bright and airy.
Greg Capullo drew Spawn for forever, but he's been corrupted. I thought his art was fantastic on Quasar, but everything since ... no thanks.
Tony Harris would be good, but he's doing Ex Machina. That's been a somewhat surprising mid-list hit for DC, so I don't see him leaving that anytime soon.
Mike Mignola or Eduardo Risso would be my pie-in-the-sky choices, but they're not likely to become available except maybe for a one-off story. Fallen Angel/Hellboy?
Jim Calafiore did not do Paradise x, that was Dougie Braithwaite. He's busy doing Justice with Alex Ross.
Michael Gaydos would be another good choice for dark and moody.
Tom Mandrake is currently doing a Grimjack mini for IDW, don't know about after that. I'd assume if sales were good, he and Ostrander would want to do more instead of letting it lay fallow again.
There's lots of guys I could think of - Michael Lark, Alex Maleev, Eduardo Risso, J.H. Williams, Phil Hester, Brent Anderson, Stuart Immonen, Jock, Dustin Nguyen, Mike Oeming, Jim Cheung, Steve Epting, Sean Phillips, Lee Weeks - but they are all mostly busy doing other things.
Tom Mandrake definitely, his work on Spectre was superb. If not him then Gaydos or Kelly Jones.
As long as we're dreaming, Gary Frank or Mike Kaluta. I second the motion for Gene Colon. Mike Mignola doesn't like drawing pretty women.
Kordey got a very bad rap because of some extremely rushed fill-ins he did for Morrison's New X-Men - something like entire issues (pencils and inks) in a week or two. So far I think his best mainstream US work was on Cable and then on the relaunched Soldier X. If anyone wants to check that out, there are two collections featuring his Cable work, but a final one that would collect all of the Soldier X stuff does not seem likely. Seriously, this is the Cable book for people who hate Cable.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0785109099
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0785109633
That said, he's currently doing a three issue mini called Smoke for IDW.
Well, I'd want to see someone with a realistic style who can draw beautiful women and ominous cityscapes.
Adam Hughes?
How about Leonard Kirk and Robin Riggs? That would be awesome.
My number one choice would be Tim Sale, but I would also be very excited about Kelley Jones, Tony Harris, Paul Smith, Colan and Palmer, and most of the pie-in-the-sky choices that have already been mentioned. I wouldn't mind seeing a different artist on each storyline, or perhaps some of the artists that probably wouldn't commit to doing the monthly book would do a cover. I'd certainly love to see an Adam Hughes FA cover.
Lynn
Lynn
Mandrake isn't doing GRIMJACK for IDW, that's GJ co-creator Tim Truman. Mandrake has done GJ in the past, though, of course...
According to a post on his message board, though, Mandrake looks to have a busy year ahead. Still, couldn't hurt to ask...
I'd favor Amanda Conner or Ale Garza. Amanda Conner has experience with very detailed characters and scenes, and Ale Garza seems to work well in a dark, forbidding setting like Bete Noir.
Pop Mhan might be interesting too, if he can adapt his style. His work would definitely give the book a unique flavor.
1Nice tapdancing there, Peter. heh.
Well, George Perez would be my pie-in-the-sky choice. Adam Hughes is also a good choice and he is looking to get back into doing sequentials more these days. Or, just getting either of these guys on covers would be good.
Bobby
Bill Sinkiewicz or Marc Hempel. But PLEASE not Bart Sears or Paul Gulacy!!! PLEASE!!!
Well, if we're talking what if's and why not, does Bill Messner-Loebs have work yet?...
Brian Stelfreeze
Ed Benes
Frank Cho (yeah, right...)
Alan Davis
Sean Chen (Elektra series)
Peter, you always get such great artists. Find some new unknown talent and make him/her shine.
Hey, the perfect pratical choice would be Leonard Kirk. Why? He has worked with Peter before on a book that feature a lead female character. Further, it would really mess up the fanboys/conspiracists when you end up doing a story that details FA's origins i.e. she is not Supergirl.
Further, I think Kirk did one hell of a job on Supergirl and JSA.
If Peter is looking for someone that he has not worked with before, I suggest that he start thinking British ala the 2000 AD stable of artists. Ian Gibson, Andy Clarke, come to mind.
Kelly! WHAT A GREAT IDEA!!!
I revise my answer from Flint Henry (sorry, Flint)I say Bill Loebs!
Michael Gaydos, artist of Alias or Tony Moore, former artist of The Walking Dead.
I like the Tom Mandrake, Gene Colan, or Kelly Jones suggestions.
And just to be odd, how about Neal Adams (remember 'tec 408?) or Jose Luis Garcia Lopez? Lopez is so great, he could probably pull it off.
"How about Leonard Kirk and Robin Riggs? That would be awesome."
How about just Robin Riggs, as Leonard has enough on his plate and Robin (who also pencils) is currently "between assignments" as they say?
Michael Zulli? Jill Thompson? Ooo, ooo, Jim Mahfood!
Ashley Wood? Darick Robertson?
Really, I think some unknown with a good handle on a dark, noir-flavored style would be best. People are gonna buy it because of Peter's writing. The art is secondary. At least, for me it is.
And is that THE J. Alexander who posted a couple posts ago? Cause if it is, I would like to say that his work is fan-freakin'-tastic.
And if it's not THE J. Alexander, and simply A J. Alexander, well, I'm sure you're quite excellent at whatever it is you do, too.
How about Gene Ha? His work on Top Ten was quite excellent, and his fill ins on Starman were very good. Then again, I like the Tony Harris concept, except Tony takes his time... if you get far ahead enough on scripts that won't be an issue (badda dum, ding)...
Peter Snejbjerg might be a good choice.
Travis
Just saw Elayne's comment - Robin Riggs would be awesome as well. :)
PAD-
Eddy Newell!! I think his style would fit for Fallen Angel now that you said it's going to start up again. ; )
How about just Robin Riggs, as Leonard has enough on his plate and Robin (who also pencils) is currently "between assignments" as they say?
Seconded!
I want to concur with the Gene Ha sentiments. And as long as we are going pie in the sky, Dave Gibbons would also do a great job.
And honestly, I don't know how his work would translate to super-heros but I've always wondered how Jason Lutes would come at this genre. He's got a great simple realism going for him which might really work for Fallen Angel. But I'm not sure.
There's a new guy named Mario Gully who does the Ant comic for Arcana. If you could pry him away form that he might have just the right dark feeling for the book.
Of artists you're likely to be able to get, I'd suggest Greg Land or Gary Frank. Both guys can meet deadlines, and both can draw beautiful women.
Igor Kordey does some amazing work and his covers always look good, but his sequential stuff often seems a little rushed.
Of artists you're likely to be able to get, I'd suggest Greg Land or Gary Frank. Both guys can meet deadlines, and both can draw beautiful women.
?!? On what planet are Greg Land and Gary Frank likely to leave their current top-selling titles for a small print run series at a third-tier publisher?
Dream artist? George Perez. You two have done great work in the past.
Other choices:
-Gary Frank
-Alan Davis
-Dale Keown (if you could keep him on time)
-Keith Champagne or Leonard Kirk (both need the right inker though)
-Steve Dillon
-Amanda Conner
Actually, that third-tier publisher crack just got me thinking. It's been rumored that IDW would pick up the series, but just about the highest profile a creator-owned series can get right now is with Marvel's Icon line. If they could push it and make it work for them, they could use that as a way to market the book. "We're better than DC, blah blah blah..."
Right now, almost anyone would be an improvement over the current team (or at least the current inker—I’m not sure if the poor sense of line is the penciler’s fault or the inker’s). Even though I’m not a fan of say, Jim Lee, putting him on a few issues would raise it’s visibility, and get people to discover it. I’d put any one of my favorite artists on it, like Alan Davis, Arthur Adams, Carlos Pacheco, Rick Leonardi, Joe Madureia, etc.
But whose style do I think is the most appropriate for it? I think the best suggestions would be (in no particular order):
J.G. Jones
Alexander Maleev
Bryan Hitch
Butch Guice
Adam Hughes
Travis Charest
Barry Windsor-Smith
Phil Hester
Dave Johnson
Mike Mignola
John Paul Leon
Steve Dillon
Prozac Man: How about the guy who drew Spawn after Tod stopped drawing. It was Greg something. ;)
Luigi Novi: Jeff Purves? Yeah, he had a really nice style. But what’s he been up to lately? Haven’t seen him anywhere since Keown took over that book.
Fred Chamberlain: Angel Medina's stuff is amazing.
Luigi Novi: Ugh. The guy's hatching vascilates between competent and incompetent, but he can't draw the human cranium to save his life.
Jerome Maida: Jim Lee or Michael Turner would both be fantastic.
Luigi Novi: Jim Lee maybe, but not Turner. For this book, you need someone who understands anatomy, especially female anatomy. Turner doesn’t.
Jerome Maida: Prozac Man, It was Greg Capullo.
Luigi Novi: Greg Capullo never did Hulk after McFarlane. It was Jeff Purves.
A_ Greene: …Kelley Jones…
Luigi Novi: Except that he can’t seem to draw a rib cage correctly.
Julio Diaz: Another "name" that I think would be an EXCELLENT choice that might be available it Tom Mandrake.
Luigi Novi: YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He would be PERFECT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good call, Julio! :-)
Michael D.: Paul Smith, Breyfogle, Gary Frank, Chris Sprouse…
red-Ricky: Mike McKone.
Luigi Novi: Also good ones. :-)
Steve Premo: How about Leonard Kirk and Robin Riggs?
Luigi Novi: Kirk’s nothing special, but what irks me about his work are those unfinished lines of his, like when he draws the lower eyelid, and then just stops in the middle. He also doesn't seem to be good at spotting blacks very well. (Or are those lines Robin’s? Sorry Elayne, no offense.)
PAD, check out Shawn McGuan's work. He's an up-and-coming penciler for Moonstone. He knows how to draw women with cowls better than most:
http://moonstonebooks.com/laiwan.asp
His pencils are at the bottom.
"the highest profile a creator-owned series can get right now is with Marvel's Icon line. If they could push it and make it work for them, they could use that as a way to market the book. "We're better than DC, blah blah blah...""
and DC would say that Marvel's going through their trash bins.
My wish list in no particular order:
Darwyn Cooke
Phil Noto
Cameron Stewart
PAD:Hunh. What's wrong with him? I'm not that familiar with his stuff, but he did an alternate cover for the "Angel" comic with the puppet Angel that looked really cool.
Hmm. Most of the sequential art I've seen him do has been not so good, in my opionion. I despised his work on "New X-Men", although some posts here indicating that he may have had to step in awful late may explain some of that, but there were a few pics of the Beak that are burned into my mind in a not good way.
That being said, I hadn't seen that "Angel" cover until you mentioned it. I went looking and you're right, it is really cool. So maybe my previous post was a little hasty and I should revisit his work.
Anyway, I'd read any hypothetical "Fallen Angel" continuation you wrote if my four year old next-door neighbor drew it with crayon on a piece of cardboard.
Gene Colan would be fantastic, and he doesn't get a lot of work these days.
Bill Loebs would also be cool, and he could use the job.
The artist of Fleming's "Underworld" was Ernie Colon. Is he still around?
Kelley Jones? Ummm...no. He was too "out there" for me at the end of his Batman run...
Paul
Of McFarlane, Byrne, Perez and Colan, though I very much enjoyed the work of the former three and not much that of the latter, I do think Colan would be the one best suited. The art style of the first three just seems too 'sharp' for a setting where things are so ambiguous much of the time. Still, I can't help thinking there's gotta be someone better out there.
I'm still gonna say Kelley can do the job. yes his ribcages are weird (the ones he draws, never saw the man in person), but boy oh boy can he set the right mood but quick and draw you (no pun intended) into a noir world the kind of which fallen angel lives in.
Luigi Novi: Greg Capullo never did Hulk after McFarlane. It was Jeff Purves.
People were only ever talking about who followed him on Spawn, not Hulk.
darrik: and DC would say that Marvel's going through their trash bins.
Money talks. If Marvel could make money with Fallen Angel where DC couldn't, they win the PR battle. Besides, neither publisher has ever been above cannibalizing concepts the other has cultivated.
MANDRAKE!
MANDRAKE!
MANDRAKE!
MANDRAKE!
MANDRAKE!
MANDRAKE!
MANDRAKE!
MANDRAKE!
MANDRAKE!
MANDRAKE!
or, if he does turn out to be too busy as Julio notes.....
Eddy Newell!
Honestly, if Bill Loebs is up to drawing a monthly book, give him a call!
Hypothetically speaking, of course.
-Joe
I think Kordey would be great on FA, provided he wasn't rushed (as he was when filling in on X-Men's "Imperial" arc, where he was drawing and inking a complete issue in about a week.)
Ethan Van Sciver wouldn't be too shabby either, although I think he's DC exclusive.
Bill Sin-kev-vitch would be a great choice, even if just for a fill-in. (It's weird, for about 8 years I had no clue how to say his name, and now that I've finally learned how, I've forgotten how to spell it. Maybe it's like the Question and Answer in Hitchhiker's, where only one can be known at a time, but never both.)
I'm totally blanking on the name, but the guy who draws League of Extraordinary Gentlemen would make an interesting fit.
Tim Sale would work, as would Phil Winslade, who did some excellent moody noirish work when he was on the Bat-books.
And hey, speaking of noir, why not Pablo Raimondi, late of MadroX?
None of this is to slight David Lopez, of course, whose work I'm quite happy with. It's just, how could I resist playing with this hypothetical?
Eddy Newell would indeed be an excellent choice and I'm sorry I didn't think of him sooner.
Tim Sale!
Or, as long as we're dreaming, Frank Miller.
"Peter, you always get such great artists. Find some new unknown talent and make him/her shine."
That's a luxury one has if one is working on a high profile iconic character with a major publisher. Go that route if, hypothetically, the book were being published by an indy, and it's just one more excuse for retailers to low-ball and fans to ignore it.
PAD
Angel Medina is one artists I do like and as long as the art does not get to extreme, I think it would be good.
Leonard Kirk and Robin Riggs.
Perfect team for this book.
George Perez would be the dream choice. But I'm pretty sure he's busy.
Other possibilities:
Leonard Kirk
Pat Olliffe
Mark Bright
Sal Velluto - http://www.velluto.com/
Paul Gulacy
Kyle Hotz - http://www.milehighcomics.com/cgi-bin/backissue.cgi?action=fullsize&issue=40782470339%204
Lee Weeks
Lan Medina - http://www.milehighcomics.com/cgi-bin/backissue.cgi?action=page1&issue=30527762945%201
Pop Mhan
J.H. Williams III
Sean Phillips - http://www.seanphillips.co.uk/
Cully Hamner - http://www.splashpageart.com/GalleryDetail.asp?GCat=15
Stefano Raffaele - http://www.stefanoraffaele.com/
Richard Corben
Leinil Yu
Posted by: Rob Markowitz at March 23, 2005 03:35 PM
>Fred Hembeck!
Now Fred doing the art chores for 1 issue of this series would be great!
The opening of this thread is like the movie "Air America"..."We would do that but we're not here, here right now".
My two choices for almost anything are always Butch Guice and Darwyn Cooke. But go with Butch here.
Col
I'd support Leonard Kirk or Gene Colan. If not them, what about Jason Alexander? He's got that edgy IDW style, and has done some nice work for QUEEN & COUNTRY and GOTHAM CENTRAL.
Oh, and George Perez would, of course, rock. But that seems kind of unrealistic.
Steve Ditko.
barring that unlikely catch, I would go with Barry Windsor-Smith.
Or Frank Cho.
Leonard Kirk if available and Robin Riggs.
Were it up to me I'd still be able to buy a Supergirl title written by PAD with the above mentioned on art.
If not them, get any one of the artists who's ever done one of those "bad girls with big t*ts" books. :)
"Tom Mandrake definitely, his work on Spectre was superb."
Hear! Hear! He's the first one I thought of...but might be too busy...I miss that Ostrander-Mandrake Spectre series. Anyone remember the glow-in-the-dark-but-not-really marketed-that-way cover?
That thing scared the pi$$ out of me sitting on my bed when I turned out the light!!
-tlp
Michael Pullman: I'm totally blanking on the name, but the guy who draws League of Extraordinary Gentlemen would make an interesting fit.
That's Kevin O'Neill, but I think he's a) really slow and b) working on LoEG v3.
A lot of interesting suggestions (HOW many posts already?). Gary Frank stood out as soon as I saw his name, though someone said he's currently on a high profile book (what?) I did think of Jeff Purves before he came up up above - was not a fan of his work when he started on Hulk, but he definitely grew on me. But, I assume he's out of the business since no one's seems to know of anything from him in years (?). George Perez is a great artist, but would he be too "bright" for this title (similiar problem mentioned with Jurgens and Ordway above)? "Funzo!" may have been kidding with the Geoff Senior comment, I'm not sure, but there is a certain noirishness to his work .... (and he was one of the best Marvel Tranformers artists, for the record, the Wildman/Baskerville team being the other contender.... Anyone know what Stephen Baskerville is up to? He is quite an inker [If anyone wants to see how much of a difference an inker can make, try to find G.I. Joe #139; Baskerville only inked the first nine pages. You'll never believe the entire issue was drawn by the same artist ....]; not sure about pencils ....) As long as we're speculating (or in my case, rambling) on hypotheticals - does Larry Hama ever do pencils any more? His "name" name might help attract some interest ...? And I'll add my respect for David Lopez's work. I'll probably return with more thoughts if I have them (if there are any thoughts in this post in the first place :) ).
Okay, let's think realistically here.
Rogue was just cancelled and given Karl Moline's superb work on Route 666 and Fray, two books that, while not exactly in the same vein as Fallen Angel, had the same kinds of artistic needs as Fallen Angel.
Another ex-Crossgener I would look into would be Mike Perkins, a fantastic artist who can do great dark stuff as well (no one saw the prelims for his never-to-be published Raven House, but I did and they would suit the Fallen Angel universe perfectly)
I would also vote for Bill Messner-Loebs or Tim Mandrake. Either would be an excellent choice.
Gary Frank is currently doing Supreme Power with J. Michael Straczynski for Marvel, which is the highest selling mature readers book at either publisher in a quite while.
I thought Leonardo Manco was the one who was supposed to do Raven House. He's doing Hellblazer now before anyone asks.
Karl Moline is another good choice.
When did ROGUE get cancelled? I was planning on buying it in trades starting with Moline's issues. If he's free, he would indeed be a good choice for FA (though be prepared for the Joss comparisons yet again, PAD, seeing as how Moline first got major attention for FRAY).
I didn't have time to read through all the post just yet but if nobody has said them I'll suggest Gary Frank and Cam Smith (I think those are the correct names) from the initial run on Supergirl and run on the Hulk.
If somebody has all ready suggested them then consider this a 2nd.
Rogue is rumored to be cancelled over at All the Rage.
As for Igor Kordey... the bottom line is, maybe his X-Men work was just rushed, but that's what he is best known for. The only thing this book needs less than an unknown artist, is one that makes fans say "Oh no! Not him!" And fair or unfair, that is the reaction most fans have to him now.
Michael Gaydos.
Lee Weeks.
Brad Rader.
Lewis Larosa.
Matt Haley.
Just ideas.
I've always been a fan of Klaus Janson's work - not just his inking but his pencilling as well. I just read Batman: Death and the Maidens and was blown away. If not as a penciller, then a great choice as inker.
I'm partial to Bill Seinkiewicz art and will pick up anything he's done for a bit (unless the writing drives me away).
you know, I was going to compile this list for all ya'll, but after wasting an hour (don't worry, I'm at work, so no big deal... ;-) ) I realized I was only half-way through all the comments, got demoralized and gave up. Sorry, folx. Just as an FYI, Tom Mandrake, Tony Harris, Gaydos and Mike Mignola were leading the polls.
Why not stick with David Lopez? I like his stuff. BTW, is he moving on to something else?
What about Norm Breyfogle. I haven't seen him draw anything in years and I don't remember how his women look...
But I loved his moody style on Detective back in the day.
Kevin
If unknowns were an option I'd suggest this guy.
As it is, Colan or Mandrake would be cool indeed.
Well I'd love to see my art in it, but where reality actualy comes into play maybe someone like Ale Gazra or Ed Benes.
Ed is doing Superman now, but you worked with him before and "possibly" on the same character :)
Ale is pretty good at smooth action.
Both however may lack that "Darkness" I think is needed in the book.
-Andy
Keith Giffen.
If not. Mike Kaluta.
If not...
Ted McKeever.
But a cover by Keith Giffen, or Ted McKeever (since we had a Mike Kaluta one) works for me.
The real question now is - as so many mainstream artists have been mentione - who wouldn't you want, or is there no one left?
I'd like to see Leonard Kirk back working on the stories by PAD.
Well, one thing is for sure. There is definitely a lot of interest in FA continuing! 123 posts and counting. While I am sure it was not PAD's reason for starting this up, it sure demonstrates there is a lot of interest in this book -- if, of course, it does continue.
More power to ya.
Iowa Jim
I'll post another hopeful George Perez vote, but I'd also like to second an earlier poster's idea to use Darick Robertson.
One of the keys to FALLEN ANGEL is the unique setting. You'll want an artist who can really help a locale feel alive and emotional, and Robertson did just that for Transmetropolitan. It would also be nice to give Darick a chance to show that he's capable of doing more than the "Chaos Science Fiction City" style of Transmet.
- Isaac
If dark is what you are looking for (not that you are looking for anything), what about John Paul Leon? Easily my favourite thing about the entire Earth X series was his amazing (although admittedly highly stylized) artwork - it could be a great fit...
If a colourist is what you are looking for (not that you are looking for a colourist when you are not even looking for an artist), hey, there is always...
http://www.angelfire.com/comics/red_bee/
...but that would be shameless self-promotion :) so it is a good thing you aren't looking for a colourist on a series you aren't looking for an artist on....
Colleen Doran is working on a graphic novel called Stealth Tribes with Warren Ellis for DC and was also just announced as the artist for a new creator-owned monthly series from Marvel called Book of Lost Souls with J. Michael Straczynski.
This post seems to be very popular. Imagine if every one of them read Fallen Angel :P
I'm not sure if I'd want a new artist. David Lopez has been doing amazing work here - he's one of the reasons why I love the book so much. And I thought he was co-creator or something...
Anyway, if I really had to pick an artist...does Carla Speed McNeil (Queen & Country, Frank Ironwine, Finder) lend herself well to full-coloured works? If not how about Lan Medina?
At the risk of getting my tush kicked for going off on a tangent...
would someone please explain to me why Mike Mignola is considered a good artist? My 7 year old can draw rings around the guy.
Ed Benes, to stay on topic.
Since this is an ipotetical question I'll make some assumption ( making an ass of u and me... i know )
a) You'll need somebody reliable, that can provide monthly issues (like Lopez)
b) You'll need somebody that will stay with you for at least twelve issues
c) You'll need someone that's not a Wizard Top 10 Artist, cause he will cost you ( and the ipotetic company, like for example IDW ) too much money
d) Somebody that's not Exclusive to DC or Marvel (That's the hard one !!)
I find that the perfect choice could be the (sometimes) hated Kordey, i susggest you to look at his upcoming Smoke mini by IDW (coincidentally), and if you want to se him at his best you should also take a look at the Black Widow mini he drew (written by Rucka) and his Cable/SoldierX tenure.
His X-Treme X-men work is not at the same level, he was badly inked to look similar to the Larocca style.
He has worked in other projects ( Tarzan and others ) but I know him better for his Marvel work.
He left Marvel stating that he hated superheroes and spandex, so he is a natural for Bete Noir and its carachters...
Check him at http://www.kordey.ca/kordey/
I should also add:
- Leo Fernandez ( from Punisher & Wolverine )
- Michael Gaydos (from Alias)
- Lan Medina (Fables, Silver Surfer, District X )
Ipotetically speaking,
Good Luck,
Omar
( sorry for the grammar spelling... i'm italian )
Hmmm. If L. Kirk is not available, and you do not want to go with a British Artist, the dilemna is picking a professional artist that is not signed up to either Marvel or DC or is booked up to the next century.
I like the suggestion of Gene Colan because his artwork personifies moodyness without becoming too cartoony. I also like Mike Kaluta and Amanda Conner.
Regarding William Messers-Loebs, frankly I would not want him drawing this book as I would rather if he went back to drawing do his own book such as the return of JOURNEY.
By the way, I am not related to "the J. Alexander." No artistic talent whatsoever (me, not him). Mr. Alexander's name does bring up a good point. There are plenty of great B&W artists working for the smaller companies. I would heavily recommend Drew Hayes of POISON ELVES fame, if he is healthy enough. Peter and Drew would either end up killing each other or produce a masterpiece.
The other J. Alexander
How about the people who post here ? Chock full of talent over there.
Realistic choices:
Ron Garney: Ron had a great run with Waid on Captain America. He might fit with this title.
Lee Weeks: His recent Hulk stuff has looked really good, imo. I think he'd be a really good fit for this!
Gary Frank-Gary Frank would be a GREAT fit for this title, imo.
Keith Giffen-I liked his issue of Captain Marvel. He's done some other good stuff too. Not sure how well he would fit though. Might be interesting though!
Prob never happen, but I'd be reading the book every week and multiple times if it did:
Tim Sale-Tim knows how to do dark and moody stuff. I think he'd give this book the right feel. Still, never seen him do an ongoing monthly book, so I doubt that this would happen. And even if it did, it would only be for a short run..
Brent Anderson-The Astro City and Rising Stars artist. This guy can do dark, light, etc. He'd be a good pick for this title, though he's prob too busy to do this title! Then again, Rising Stars has ended...
John Cassaday-He's pretty busy right now with Astonishing X-men and Planetary sometimes. I highly doubt he'd do this.
Mike Mignola-The Hellboy stuff I've seen is really good. I like his style. Its unique and different. I think it would give Fallen Angel a stand out look and get people interested. I don't see him doing too much non-Hellboy stuff though (of course..I haven't read much of his stuff, so maybe he does some..). Its a long shot..though it would be cool!
And hey, if you can get Alex Ross to do the covers, Fallen Angel will sell like hot cakes!
DF2506
I'll add to the Gene Colan and George Perez voices, but I'm going to dig back into some of my favorite artists from one of my favorite series and toss out a few possibilities, some largely fantasy:
Mike Grell (excellent figures, used to scantily-clad women and violence)
Pat Broderick (wonderful work with light/dark)
Jim Sherman (The man can OOZE atmosphere)
Dave Cockrum (style never "grabbed" me, but he's a big name, needs the money/work, and is a professional)
I don't think Keith Giffen or Frank Miller would work. I loved them both in their ultra-realistic phases, but their stuff since then is way too cartoony/childish/abstract/sketchy to suit my tastes.
Non-Legion artists I think could do well would be Michael Golden and Jackson "Butch" Guice.
And if we're gonna go strictly into fantasy, including artists who have died, I think Gil Kane would have been good.
J.
Brian Douglas Ahern.
Seriously.
Nobody ever sees his super hero stuff. He's as detailed as Perez and Jimenez.
And unlike them, he's hungry for it.
You guys do realize that most of the names that are being thrown around the most (Benes, Garney etc) are exclusive to DC and therefore wouldn't be able to do anything at an indy publisher...right?
Yeah, it's not just a rumor. Rogue is gone.
Manco was supposed to do Raven House but dropped out when Crossgen began to implode so Perkins stepped in. He got a couple splashes done and then Crossgen went bankrupt. Gorgeous gothic stuff. Look no father than his miniseries Spellbinders right now to see he could be perfect for Fallen Angel
My pie-in-the-sky choice would by Phil Jimenez. I was introduced to his work on Invisibles and I decided that he does really great mystic stuff. And he draws a realllllly sexy red-head.
Of course, I strongly suspect that Phil's not a realistic option, even in a hypothectical situation like this. I like Elaine's suggestion. I've never seen Robin Riggs pencil anything, but I've seen his inks, so he sounds good, penciling and/or inking.
Marty Egeland.
And then each month slowly change Fallen Angel into FAqllen Aamagel then to fAqullen AMagn to Aquaen AMAN to AQUAMAN.
Huh? Huh? Am I on to something?
I'd like to see Norm Breyfogle. He was great on Batman and Spectre, but I don't think I've seen anything of his since that title was cancelled. He's dark and moody, but can do lighter work when required. I think he would be perfect, and probably available since he can't seem to get work from DC anymore like a lot of their top artists from 10 years ago.
--your pal, Hoy
The first artist I thought of was Tom Mandrake, and I was happy to see that many others thought of him as well.
Tomm Coker would be my second choice.
Here's a couple of Ahern drawings. His site isn't complete yet or I could show some panel-to-panel stuff.
Hows about Steve Dillon?
He has the ability to do great facial expressions and give you a nice moody, dark feel.
John Paul Leon and Tomm Coker would be excellent choices.If you could talk him into it, Lee Bermejo would be good, too.
Let me see......
Gary Frank,Lee weeks,John Cassaday,Phil Hester,
Chris Cross,Kevin Maguire,Adam Hughes,Art Adams,
Doug Mahnke,Kelley Jones,Marc Silvestri,Bryan Hitch.Salvador Larocca,
Whew!!!
Alex Maleev and Jae Lee would be great fits. Sienkewicz (I used to know how to spell his name) would really be nice. Perez, of course.
I don't read it for the pictures, I read it for the articles. I mean the story. Whatever.
So, how 'bout John Byrne? No, just kidding, just kidding, don't kill me!
In all seriousness, I think Phil Noto could be good. I'd be curious to see Robin Riggs, I've never seen his pencilling style, as far as I know. Ed Benes... can be very good for some things. His ability to do facial expressions is underrated. Not sure he's a good match for the mood of this particular character/setting.
Others... Jiminez? Definite maybe. But make sure it's someone who can get the subtleties of Lee's expressions, as Lopez does. To me, that's more important than almost any other aspect of the art. But I'll buy it regardless.
That is, I would buy it regardless, if it were to be continued.
wow. so many great artists have already been mentioned...but the one that really got me all sorts of excited as i was reading the responses was Tim Sale. I think his style would absolutely complement the tone of the story and of Bete Noir.
however, i've got a soft spot in my heart for Jim Calafiore...mostly just to see a reunion of he and PAD (i liked Marty Egeland too on Aquaman btw...even though Egeland and Calafiore had such distinct styles, both worked well...I just don't think Egeland's almost anime-ish style would work well with FA). Peter's run on Aquaman, along with his run on Hulk, are far and away my two favorite runs. I wouldn't mind seeing Gary Frank return to the Hulk title...but I don't think he's quite right for FA either (of course, he may not be quite right for this 'incarnation' of the Hulk either...still waiting to see where Peter takes it after Tempus Fugit).
so for whatever it's worth...there's my $0.02 (which i hope would be worth at least $0.02) :)
My humble additions to the ever-growing list, in no particular order:
Jim Balent - Drew Catwoman for over seventy issues then formed Broadsword Comics for his Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose series and other projects. He knows how to draw beautiful women AND ghouls, which would be a plus on the series.
Tom Mandrake - If you want moody and borderline nightmare-inducing comics, I can't think of anyone better.
Sal Velluto - He came to mind as one of the artists that doesn't get the credit he deserves.
Mike Zeck - An artist who has not been heard from nearly enough lately. Still one of my favorite Captain America artists of all time.
Joe Jusko - His paintings are some of the best in the comics world. While he may not be able to do the interiors, he could definitely provide some excellent covers.
And now I'll step aside and let the deluge continue.
Colleen Doran and Tom Mndrake are both great choices.
BATMAN!
C'mon, if the guy can make Bat Shark-Repellant, he can do ANYTHING.
Peter: If "Fallen Angel" were to, say, continue as an indy, which I realize you're not saying it is, but if it were, might the indy (or DC) have any plans to make trades of issues #7-20?
Butch Guice -- because I really miss seeing his work around. But he's exclusive to the humanoids/olympus project (I don't remember the exact name) and...gosh is it may yet...
...need to think about this one...
Tom Mandrake is quite excellent, Jan Duursema is as well. Paul Harmon is a newcomer but very talented, and Omaha Perez has a wonderful other reality feel to his work.
With regard to an artist who might be a little slow, does it HAVE to be monthly? How 'bout every 6 weeks?
I really like the idea of some of the older artists who are forgotten by the trend-of-the-moment zombies at Wizard. Call ACTOR and see who they've heard from who is up for some work. Get covers done by Greg Land (covers are all Previews wants to show anyway) and rotate the interior art teams with each new storyline.
Are Sal Buscema and Sandy Plunkett still with us? Gene Colan, Bill Loebs, Dave Cockrum, Rick Leonardi, Butch Guice, Mark Bright, Norm Breyfogle are all good ideas.
This is all presuming the current art team are uninterested in continuing at a new home (or unwanted).
Tan Eng Huat.
I loved what he did with Arcudi's Doom Patrol.
Does Denys Cowan still do comic book work? You don't get much darker or more "noir" than the Question.
Dream shot? Pie-in-the-sky? The Earth-2 Will Eisner. His style would be perfect.
Let's see...
Dick Giordano (His work on Jonni Thunder for reference to what I mean) Everyone knows Giordano's work, but not everyone knows he's good at Noir.
John Byrne, because IMHO, he does his best work when pencilling someone else's scripts, and he's enough of a craftsman to be able to do a chiaroscuro sort of vibe while keeping his well-known representational skills
Keith Giffen- see his graphic novel of that Robert Bloch story (The name escapes me at present) for his noir credentials.
Stuart Immonen, because I know him (we're not bosom chums, but we know each other well enough to say "hi!" on the street, through the London Comics Jam) and he can illustrate in any style whatsoever.(see www.immonen.ca)
Rags Morales, since his Hawkman work did a terrific job of combining noir with super-heroic dynamism
Butch Guice, though I loved his work on Micronauts and The Flash, is really too clean-lined for this sort of book, from what I've seen. As for Bill Loebs, once again, I know the man to say "hi!"- (he was kind enough to autograph a whackload of Flash issues at Rhinocon 1 back in the early nineties, and I've been priviledged to visit a Folk Festival in his company and that of his wife) He's one helluva writer, but his pencilling is very John Severin-esque- not what I picture for a Noir story. Still he deserves some work; I wouldn't turn my nose up at FA illustrated by Bill. He's capable of surprising me.
Who I wouldn't want:
Any artist who's better at crosshatching than spotting blacks- that means any of the Image-school artists including Lee, Liefeld, anyone who'd done a MacFarlane "homage", Angel Medina, etc. Jim Valentino, however, would be welcome.
PETER SNEJBJERG!!!!!!!!!!!! PETER SNEJBJERG!!!!!!!!!!!! PETER SNEJBJERG!!!!!!!!!!!! PETER SNEJBJERG!!!!!!!!!!!!PETER SNEJBJERG!!!!!!!!!!!! PETER SNEJBJERG!!!!!!!!!!!! PETER SNEJBJERG!!!!!!!!!!!! PETER SNEJBJERG!!!!!!!!!!!!PETER SNEJBJERG!!!!!!!!!!!! PETER SNEJBJERG!!!!!!!!!!!! PETER SNEJBJERG!!!!!!!!!!!! PETER SNEJBJERG!!!!!!!!!!!!PETER SNEJBJERG!!!!!!!!!!!! PETER SNEJBJERG!!!!!!!!!!!! PETER SNEJBJERG!!!!!!!!!!!! PETER SNEJBJERG!!!!!!!!!!!!PETER SNEJBJERG!!!!!!!!!!!! PETER SNEJBJERG!!!!!!!!!!!! PETER SNEJBJERG!!!!!!!!!!!! PETER SNEJBJERG!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rags Morales- I've loved his art since BEFORE Hourman even.
George Perez- Nuff said.
Thor Badendyck (sp)- Sure, it takes him half a year to draw one comic because he is paralyzied from the neck down. He still draws better with his mouth than most artists do with their hands.
Jill Thompson- Chibi-Fallen Angel. Just once. PLEASE. Pretty please. I'll buy three copies and wear a Burger King Crown while doing it. (On second thought, the idea of Chibi-Dolph disturbs me greatly.)
Keith Giffen- In his if he uses his 'This is What got me fired from drawing Legion' style-- hell yeah.
Keith Giffen- as his regular 'this is what people want me to draw' style, I don't know if it would work there.
Phil and Kaja Foglio- They draw my other favorite comic. And I don't think they do comics they didn't originate anymore.
Pop Mhan- Yeah, that could do.
Sergio Aragones- One of my personal favorites but it wouldn't work-- unless it was a dream sequence.
Oliver Coipel- I loved his Legion work.
Lee Bermejo. He's got a great moody style that's just perfect for Fallen Angel. That is, IF Fallen Angel is to be continued, and IF he is available, and not doing more work for DC.
Just saying.
First -- NOT Gulacy -- his Catwoman run was annoying (Slam Bradley kept switching between Bogart and Mitchum, instead of Richard X. Slattery).
Someone mentioned Jim Aparo -- if he's still around and available, that would be good.
(And i'm not sure why a small delirious voice in the back of my head keeps going "Severin! Severin!" but neve(r says which Severin...)
I've liked a lot David Lopez's work, but I understand that perhaps his name is not enough "known" to start selling the book on an indy company.
Have you think on Amanda Conner for drawing the book? after her JSA classifeid Issues she will became a bit more "Known" and his style is similar in some points to Lopez's work
Just containing the list to artists without exclusives or ongoing jobs, I'd like to see some one who can draw people well and tells stories clearly. Garcia Lopez and Guice would be tops, but Stuart Immomen, Lee Weeks, Gordon Purcell, Jerry Ordway, Jeff Johnson and Ron Garney would be great!
Well, Lee and Turner were stated not only because of their talent, but because they would instantly generate sales.
Of the more "realistic" options, I still think Derenick would be ideal. He is not currently doing a solo series, he recently did a "Birds of prey" that had a dark tone and had sexy, strong and realistic women.
Also, he has just snagged a "trial" high-profile gig. VERY high-profile. Once it hits shelves, from the drawings I've seen, his popularity is going to EXPLODE!
Oh, and Luigi, greg Capullo was my answer to Prozac Man's query as to who succeeded McFarlane on SPAWN, not HULK.
"Sienkewicz"?
Those suggesting him have GOT to be KIDDING. This guy is such a DREADFUL artist that he killed me off NEW MUTANTS when, at one point, he had Sam Guthrie looking almost like Frankenstein's monster. :ppp
Gene Colan, George Perez, Dale Keown, Rafael Kayanan (I loved his Conan The Adventurer art.) Lee Weeks, Sean Chen, or Gary Frank would be my choices.
JHL
You know who hasn't been mentioned yet? Pia Guerra. Brilliant artist, and I think the style used in Y:The Last Man could really suit the book.
POR
I'll toss a bone out there for one of my old co-workers...
How about Timothy Green II, from DC's Fraction and a couple of Darkhorse books...
Keeping it realistic I would have to go with:
Gene Colan, Jim Aparo, Paul Ryan
In this order; George Perez, Bernie Wrightson (there would need to be more monsters added to the series for this guy), Norm Breyfogle and or Tom Mandrake.
I don't want a new artist, David Lopez has done a very good job, and I wouldn't like to miss him
I've seen some awesome suggestions here, but I'd probably go with either Jim Aparo (assuming he's still in the business), Norm Breyfogle or Tom Mandrake. I mean, if I were to literally worship comics, these guys would be pretty good contenders for the holy trinity.
But, of course, this is just hypothetical, we're just spitballing, and all totally, 100% speculation. Not a one of us are saying who a new FA artist should be, because it may not continue. But, y'know, we'd all be buying it if it did.
Jeff Smith? And not just 'cuz he's a fellow Columbus-ite. Did you see/read the penultimate battle in Bone? Dark and Awesome.
But I'm still pulling for Bill Loebs, tho.
someone mentioned with all these suggestions it might be better to state who we would NOT like to see draw it.
My vote for someone NOT to draw this series would be for John Byrne
Oh, and if Orson Scott Card can draw, I don't want him either. ;-)
Oh, I second the Tony Harris nod. He was great for Starman, and I think he would work well on this title. Also, I've always been a fan of Peter Snedjberg (sp?).
Dream artists: Cary Nord, Dell'Otto (on covers especially). Chuck Austen would be great (look at his Elektra work), as would Zoran Janjetov (Techopriests). Also, this guy: http://www.worlds-finest.blogspot.com/ on covers.
I've always been partial to Bill Sienkiewicz. :D
Jae Lee, Larry Stroman and Sam Kieth would work as well.
I have somewhat quirky taste in artists. :)
Wildcat
Robbnn wrote; "would someone please explain to me why Mike Mignola is considered a good artist? My 7 year old can draw rings around the guy."
Your 7 year old may be able to draw rings around the artist. Hell,...you could argue that many a comic pro could draw rings around Mike Mignola.
But when you get down to the brass tacks of his design element, his ability to create a world of mood? His masterful use of blacks and his RAW ability as a pure story teller?
Your 7 year old would be stuck back in the toddlers wading pool at the "Y".
Don't mistake the fact that comics is a business. Most artists don't have the alloted month to draw thier book. Therefore, quickness becomes not only a virtue, but a survival tactic in the business of comics. Many artists try this. They succeed. But have little to offer in the way of stand out, good story telling. AND; STORY TELLING is what comics are all about. Argue as much as you want, but pretty pictures that take over a story only hinder the point of the comic.
Mike Mignola has created, not only striking powerful visuals that leap off the page at the reader, he's created the perfect story telling vehicle. He shows, panel by panel, what the reader should be concentrating on. He creates fluid motion and outstanding action that moves the reader along.
Mike not only gets the job done; he creates beautiful artwork.
And he can draw. MAN can he draw. He doesnt try to bamboozle the reader with thousands of hatching or crosshatched lines to show action or render detail in a figure. His blacks simplify and do the deed for him. He doesnt "Trick" the reader. He's as brutally honest an artist as there is today in the field of comics. Save for Frank Miller.
Now, if he aint yer cuppa joe? Then walk away. Go read something else and dont worry about it.
Starwolf writes;
" "Sienkewicz"?
Those suggesting him have GOT to be KIDDING. This guy is such a DREADFUL artist that he killed me off NEW MUTANTS when, at one point, he had Sam Guthrie looking almost like Frankenstein's monster. :ppp"
Thats the beauty of art, man; one mans garbage is another mans gold.
But if you ask an ARTIST about Bill? He's a God.
Go take some fine art courses and some story telling classes. You'll get it after that.
I'm not an artist, but I think Sienkiewicz is pretty amazing, too.
Definitely an acquired taste, though -- "jarring" is an understatement the first time you see his stuff.
(Besides, if you want to talk about dreadful artists that drove people away from New Mutants, there's a Mr. Blevins I'd like to introduce you to...)
TWL
I vote for George Perez and if possible Angel Medina from the Dreadstar run Peter did back in the 1990's
Regards:
Warren S. Jones III
Have you ever worked with this Gary Frank guy before? I think the two of you together could turn out something Incredible. :)
Hey, Peter!
Since you asked, and in no particular order:
Kerry Gammil.
Greg Land.
George Perez.
Gary Frank.
And, to keep my list from being brought to you by the letter'G':
Pat Broderick.
Mike Mignola.
Butch Guice.
Dale Keown.
Bob McLeod.
Mike Kaluta.
Bernie Wrightson.
My old friend Scott A. Gilbert of: "True Artist Tales" ( Hey, if he's good enough for Dave Sim and Harvey Pekar.... )
These are a few of my favorite artists.
I'm just sayin'.
Hooper
OOOOO OOOOOo, I know....
Call up Fox or WB or whoever's still buying reality TV, and sell them on a show called "The Artist."
Stock it with a mix of current, "old school," and undiscovered talent. Break them into teams, and then strand them in New York City. Every week, they get a new assignment, with part reward, part immunity. Last one on the Island wins the (totally hypothetical) job as Artist for Fallen Angel.
As a longtime Gene Colan fan, I'd buy anything that featured his art. And how 'bout Mike Kaluta?
Oh, God, no, not Jim Balent. Yes, he did do 70 issues of "Catwoman"--and chose cheescake over storytelling at every opportunity for about the last 50 of them.
I see lots of good suggestions, here...Colleen Doran would be fantastic if she were available. Carla Speed McNeil would be interesting--I don't think I've ever seen any color continuity from her, though, only covers. All the story pages I've seen (mostly from "Finder") are b&w, but quite nice.
John Severin was a name that popped into my head before, but I didn't think he was really appropriate for the tone of "Fallen Angel."
Paul
Kelly Jones
Jusiniano
Kyle Hotz
Dark, dark, dark. (:
Eric Powell would be nice -- after all, sooner or later he's going to get tired of drawing "The Goon"
Tone Rodriguez (Violent Messiahs) would be a good fit.
Georges Jeanty, Christian Alamy or Shawn McManus also. They'd work methinks.
Ooooh, Jan Duursema and Kyle Hotz were both REALLY good suggestions...
Call up Fox or WB or whoever's still buying reality TV, and sell them on a show called "The Artist."
That would be the second reality show I'd watch! (The first and so far last, was the comedian competition. I lost interest the 2nd season when they brought in ringers.)
Sean Phillips would be perfect IMO.
Dream pick would be Eduardo Risso.
I'm sure some above already said his name, but I'd like Phil Noto.
Kevin
1I would like to see ME drawing Fallen Angel. I promise would keep the characters consistant with the original designs, plus add my own spin on it. Ok, if not me, Jae Lee. The comic as always struck me as something akin to the old EC lines, so why not an artist who could bring out the strangness and sensuality as only Jae Lee can. Josh Pritchett, Jr
TWL:(Besides, if you want to talk about dreadful artists that drove people away from New Mutants, there's a Mr. Blevins I'd like to introduce you to...)
There's something in the back of my mind telling me I should know Mr. Blevins is but I don't. Can you help me out.
Also, almost everyone's mentioned Madrake, and though I like his stuff a lot, I don't see it as Fallen Angel art.
A_Greene writes;
"There's something in the back of my mind telling me I should know Mr. Blevins is but I don't. Can you help me out."
Brett Blevins worked on New Mutants for a loooooong time back in the 80's. His ability to draw a reader in while throwing in tons of action was amazing. He seems to contribute quite a bit to the "DRAW" magazine (Mike Manleys greatest contribution to the art world!). Blevins did a lot of the art on the "Inferno" crossover with the X-men. Again in the 80's. Check it out. That stuff is amazing.
Tom Mandrake. Longtime fan of his work, me. His wife Jan's not bad, either. Maybe Jan on pencils, Tom on inks?
Backup: Jim Calafiore (with a REALLY good inker, say a Tom Palmer type), Leandro Fernandez (poor man's Eduardo Risso, but very talented), Karl Moline (just a good solid artist)
A coup would be Bill Sienkiewicz on inks/finishes.
And PAD, I'm not saying you're saying FA is definitely coming back, but if it were, and if it were coming back as a B&W book instead of color, I'd suggest the artist/inker be able to do some nice washes/tones, 70s Marvel mag style.
~G.
So many great suggestions. I really hope something comes out of this.
Anyway, as long as Lee still maintains her look in the comic as it is now, I'll be happy. Get someone who can do female anatomy well- and not shortcut or hide things, so you need someone who can draw good, gritty facial expressions while retaining good looks, and someone who doesn't shy away from drawing feet since Lee usually goes barefoot (guys like Liefeld or Turner can't seem to draw feet to save their lives). Good facial expressions and the grittiness factor should be a factor too.
Maybe it would be realistic to go for Crossgen artists, like the artists of Mystic, Route 666 or Brath.
Hey, I'd love to see Sal Buscema get back into pencilling. His run with J.M. DeMatteis on Spectacular Spidey was really nice.
Gary Frank is Marvel-exclusive, so there went that idea. Leonard Kirk is a great choice if available, as would Dale Keown.
Do you realize that if half the people who have posted in this topic actually BOUGHT "Fallen Angel," the book wouldn't have been cancelled?
Maybe Mr. D should have made buying a copy of one of his books a prerequisite to post here.
Anyway...since you said you're doing something with Bendis, perhaps he'd be willing to let Oemig do "Fallen Angel" between issues of "Powers."
Wow! It is refreshing to see so many hits on a thread dedicated to a THEORETICAL project of PAD's! And so many names!
After seeing all of these, I would break them down this way:
THE SUPERSTARS, LEE AND McFARLANE AND TURNER - OH, MY! - Well, Jim Lee really is in a class by himself these days. The fact Azzarello's incomprehensible story in "Superman" is still red-hot is a testament to that.
I think it would depend on how well, if at all, PAD knows him.
First, he is doing "All-Star Batman". To go ffrom doing Batman to Superman to Batman to a relatively still-obsure title like "Fallen Angel" at an indy would be quite a change.
And as popular as Lee is, much of his creator-owned projects that Wizard and others gave so much ink to are in quarter boxes.
THAT, in my opinion, would be a motivation/incentive for him. To show that he could sell a book in decent numbers, with a great writer, with a book that is not of one of the icons. Of course, Marvel and DC could offer him the same opportunities on everything from "Moon Knight" to a "Storm" series. But I believe he is still exclusive to Wildstorm/DC. But since FA was just recently a DC book, could you and he convince them to make an exception. That would be SOOO cool!
As for McFarlane, same as much of the above. Only, he does so little comic work these days, this would really be a fantasy to think he would come out of semi-retirement for "Fallen Angel". If Joe Q can't convince him to come back to Marvel, when he has mended fences with so many others, that is one tough nut to crack.
On further reflection, TURNER would be completely wrong for the mood of the book.
OLD HORSES - Kaluta? Buscema? Ordway? Sorry, guys. I love many of the names here, but many, like Buscema, simply would not capture the mood of the book. Others, like janson, would. But many younger readers simply would not be famliar with their work.
GEORGE PEREZ - Deserves to be in a category by himself, and mentioned by a ton here. My caveat is would be his health problems, which seem to have contributed to his leaving the monthly "Avengers" and big delays with "JLA?Avengers" and lack of other consistent work in between. Of course, he won't have to worry about drawing scores of characters in every panel with "Fallen Angel", so that might help.
YOUNG GUNS - Finch? No way. Can't even keep "Ultimates" monthly, and I believe he's exclusive to Marvel anyway. Don't know many others who would bring readers to the book.
'ROGUE' GUYS - Sorry, but I think Cliff Richards' underwhelming art was the main reason readers dropped a book many had been waiting for rather quickly. Moline? Nice. Not terrible, but not terribly impressive either.
DERENICK - No consistent gig + a history of drawing stong, sexy women + zero ego + a high-profile project for him on the horizon + more exposure at Wizard + an ability to meet deadlines make him a dream to team with you, PAD! Please, check out his recent issues of "Birds Of Prey" to see what i'm talking about.
SALE - Believe he's DC exclusive. If not, may be anxious to do a project without Loeb's name attached to it.
Oh, and has anyone mentioned... MARK BAGLEY? He draws crisp, realistic action and sexy, realistic women. lus he draws fast, and the book would get buzz usng the artist doing "Ultimate Spider-Man".
KEOWN - No way. Not Right.
FRANK - See above.
I quit reading after a few dozen. I was surprised nobody mentioned Berni Wrightson. I would enjoy a stint by him in Bete Noire.
While I pegged Snejbjerg as perfect for this title should there be an opening, I also must affirm that I LOVE Lopez's work, and would hate to see him go. He would definitely be my first pick.
I'm really not reading 213 comments, so in case this has been mentioned... sorry.
Steve Dillon. Steve Dillon. Steve Dillon.
I hadn't thought of Breyfogle.
Now there's a thought...
Thomas E. Reed writes:
"Do you realize that if half the people who have posted in this topic actually BOUGHT "Fallen Angel," the book wouldn't have been cancelled?
Maybe Mr. D should have made buying a copy of one of his books a prerequisite to post here."
So 100 more copies would have saved Fallen Angel from cancellation? Not a big math guy eh?
Anyway, some other names not in my first post that I agree with others here on:
Butch Guice
Karl Moline
Good luck with getting the book back up and running PAD!
I don't have the energy or the inclination to see if he's bene mentioned already, but Darrick Robertson. His eye for detail would do this book well. Also I think it would blend well with the previous artist. And for something totally different, Jessica Abel.
Do you realize that if half the people who have posted in this topic actually BOUGHT "Fallen Angel," the book wouldn't have been cancelled?
Do you realize that there are barely 200 posts in this thread and that most of the respondents likely did buy the book?
YOUNG GUNS - Finch? No way. Can't even keep "Ultimates" monthly, and I believe he's exclusive to Marvel anyway. Don't know many others who would bring readers to the book.
Finch draws New Avengers. Hitch draws Ultimates.
Oh, and has anyone mentioned... MARK BAGLEY? He draws crisp, realistic action and sexy, realistic women. lus he draws fast, and the book would get buzz usng the artist doing "Ultimate Spider-Man".
Bagley is definitely exclusive with Marvel. He's got a full plate drawing the more-than-monthly Ultimate Spider-Man. He tried to have another book with the bimonthly Pulse, but that was too much and he went back to "just" doing all those issues of USM.
Gee... I'd like to see Lopez continue on... but, I'm I had to choose while being realistic (no Perez, Cassaday, Frank, Hughes or other folks otherwise committed elsewhere)-
Gene Colan (great idea, btw)
Kelly Jones
Kyle Hotz
Tom Mandrake
Stephen Sadowski
Angel Medina (be great to see you guys back together again)
Boy, Brent Anderson would be a terrific fit if he wasn't otherwise committed...
Oh, add Butch Guice and Darick Robertson to my list.
Maybe Dale Keown if he could draw monthly again.
I think Jae Lee has the sensibilities for Fallen Angel, it slide towards heavy dark inking would fit the mood in a good way.
But as a fanboy I can't help but think a Peter David Steve Dillion run on the book would add something really sweet to the mix. Especially in his depiction of the supporting characters. Bryan Hitch is an excellent choice too, no matter what subject he it given a task on he seems to catch exactly what the story calls for.
The George Perez one is too much of a wet dream (but a damn good one.) You should tap him for a cast poster, THAT would be cool-o-licious, indeedy.
Too bad independant is out of the question, there's absolutely no need to put Fallen Angel into any other continuity (though I can see areas were that can be done if an editor decided to. But it stands alone as another Peter David classic (you're racking them up there, fella). I'm seeing the movie already. (But don't go by me, when I was twelve I saw the 3-D Man movie just having to happen.)
The three that would be awesome that people picked were Gene Colan....Tony Harris...J H Williams III oh wait..one more...Steve Dilion.. Great choices.
Hmm..not sure what happened to my post, but most names I mentioned have shown up but I think the one that would be the best fit is STEVE LIEBER,
who's likely best known for Greg Rucka's Whiteout, but also did Hawkman (previous series) for a while, and some Road to Perdition stuff.
And he's a great guy!
http://www.unrewarding.com/steve/
Hmm...
Interesting choices to make here.
My first thought is Paul Pope, if you can stand everyone having thick lips. He does noir right.
My later thoughts are artists whose style I've come to love, but have taken up more writing than drawing: Matt Wagner, a la early Mage, would be perfect. In a similar vein, Mike Grell a la Sable, or Chaykin a la Black Kiss (toned down maybe just a little bit if you have to for DC), or Bill Willingham a la Elementals (I really miss his drawing style a LOT).
All these posts, and yet no one has made the obvious suggestion! So I guess the honor falls to me.
This is someone:
(a) who has worked with Peter before -- indeed, it is someone Peter specifically chose for a special and important art job.
(b) who is a tremendous fan favorite! This person's name in the credits almost always guarantees good sales numbers.
(c) who is experienced at meeting monthly deadlines.
(d) who works very well with female characters.
This is someone who loves comics, is loved by comics fans, is not currently working on a monthly series, and (apart from one minor matter) would be ideal for the book.
Without further ado, then, let me suggest the cover artist from Peter's But I Digress book collection -- Neil Gaiman!
Another vote for Stuart Immonen. Loved his work on Thor and I think he could really capture the right mood/vibe for the book.
When this is over, someone should really do a count and post up the "Fallen Angel Hit-Parade chart"... SOMEONE, not me.
Unless there's a signed book in it or something, in which case I pull out my bean counter. : )
Gene Colan's art style would be SO IDEAL for this type of book, and I think having his name on the cover would likely draw in quite a few lapsed comics readers more attracted to stories of substance (as opposed to the overstylized swill the WIZARD Zombies are feeding from these days).
Other interesting choices:
Butch Guice
Tom Mandrake
Pablo Raimondi
Tony Harris
Mike Kaluta
KET
1. Amanda Conner
2. Eric J (from Rex Mundi)
3. Gary Frank
4. Darick Robertson
5. Jim Cheung
Until later
John
OK, HERE is where I wanted to post that I'd love for you to snag George Perez for more than just covers.
Hell, I'm all for hanging on to David Lopez. but y'know, I'm liking that cover to FA #13 as well...
However...
Anyway, as long as Lee still maintains her look in the comic as it is now, I'll be happy. Get someone who can do female anatomy well- and not shortcut or hide things, so you need someone who can draw good, gritty facial expressions while retaining good looks, and someone who doesn't shy away from drawing feet since Lee usually goes barefoot (guys like Liefeld or Turner can't seem to draw feet to save their lives). Good facial expressions and the grittiness factor should be a factor too.
Buddy, I am RIGHT THERE with you.
"David Mazzucchelli!!!.....come back!"
Holy smokes I forgot about him,he was so good on Batman year one and Daredevil.
Dont know if anyone said Kelley Jones or Steve Bissete from the old Alan Moore Swamp thing days.
Hmmm, my wishlist:
Tony Daniel
Paul Smith
Bill Sienkiwicz (or something like that)
I wouldn't mind Igor Kordey....but I get the feeling that he needs more time to make his art be truly beautifull than one month....And he should definetly ink it himself. He CAN be a great artist, but I think he can't deliver the same top quality month after month (looking at his X-treme work)
1
GARY FRANK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He would make our beloved angel jump off the pages!
David Lopez, any day of the week.
(Double post, the reason of which has something to do with doing something twice on Sundays). ;)
I wouldn't mind Igor Kordey....but I get the feeling that he needs more time to make his art be truly beautifull than one month....And he should definetly ink it himself. He CAN be a great artist, but I think he can't deliver the same top quality month after month (looking at his X-treme work)
He didn't ink himself on his X-Treme work, partly because he was doing a Storm graphic novel on the side which they eventually just split up and scheduled as part of X-Treme anyway.
It really is a shame that people remember him for his New X-Men and X-Treme X-Men work since that was his worst stuff at Marvel. Comes with the ctch-up rush job territory, though.
Landron, or Gary Frank (w/Cam Smith of course), or Ed Benes. I love the idea of Mignola but I do prefere to keep even my dreams somewhat based in reality.
Of course all of this is AssYouMe...ing that a certain Artist pair of David Lopez and Fernando Blanco are not available for said hypothetical project.
Well if we're talking real pie-in-the-sky then my vote would go to Ryoichi Ikegami.
Since Hell would freeze over before that came to pass I rather like Luke Ross. The stuff he's doing for the mini-series Samurai:Heaven and Earth is just amazing. Then get Robin Riggs to ink it. :)
I'd recommend Mike Huddleston myself. The gritty, "rough" style of his artwork might be suited well for the world of FALLEN ANGEL.
I don't know if he's still around at all, but a good, solid artist from the eighties/nineties that might fit fairly well would be Luke McDonnell.
I would go with either Michael Gaydos, George Perez (in everyone's dreams), John Cassidy, or the Dodsons. Don't ask me why, but I could definetly see the Dodsons on "Fallen Angel." Again, not sure why, but yeah. Take it for what you will.
Well, I am saddened by the fact Fallen Angel is ending. I read in the DC website that is the case. I stopped reading around issue 13 not because I wanted to but because my car was acting up, and it was hard to get out to the nearby comic shop (which wasn't so nearby as it turns out) and hunt for it every month. And a hunt it was! Usually it didn't stay on the stands very long. So I am wondering how a comic book so good that sells out every month can end?? Well, maybe you are going to be busy writing Incredible Hulk and other projects. As for me, I am going to hunt down the issues of the Angel I missed.
If it's not too late, I'd like to suggest Chaz Truog!
He did GREAT work on ANIMAL MAN and other various projects -- especially Chiaroscuro: The Private Lives of Leonardo da Vinci!
His style would be perfect!
Here's some samples:
http://www.chaztruog.com
I bet he'd love the work, and the guy is GOOD!
d
I have a suggestion!
I've heard about a great artist named James Woodward!
His art can be found at http://www.vonphantasi.com/
Use him!
He'd be perfect!
Hypothetically.
If Fallen Angel continues.