I will be signing at Jim Hanley's Universe in Manhattan tonight from 6-8. Please stop by if you'd like me to sign your copy of the Mythos hardcover, Amazing Spider-Man #577, or Spectrum 15, all of which come out today. I'll be the guy behind the table.
Paolo - I specifically went online today to look you up and tell you how incredible ASM 577 was. I was literally stunned how simultaneously broad, expressive and detailed your work was. You somehow achieved an iconic look for Spidey, Frank, and Moses and maintain the realism of "man in costume." It's classic Marvel meets Modern era.
ReplyDeleteThere is humor and heroism in your drawings and you sell Zeb's jokes with something as simple as character placement in a panel. It looked like a blast to draw, was it?
There seemed to be a European comic sensibility to the motion lines and facial features, any particular reference or inspiration for you?
So, serious props on this issue.
Any chance you will also be doing sketches tonight?
All my best,
Michael
Man, your issue of Amazing was quite good. I loved the sound effects that you lettered yourself. I'm sure you don't have a lot of say, but do you think that next time you can get someone to hand letter your art for the speech balloons too? Just something to bring up next time. If it doesn't go well, you can blame it on me.
ReplyDeleteI thought the coloring was well done, but I would have liked to have seen that issue in black and white better.
Thank you so much for picking up the issue, guys. It was truly a pleasure to work on and I hope to do much more in this vein.
ReplyDeleteMichael, sorry I didn't reply earlier, but I did do some sketches last night. Were you there? I seem to remember a couple Mike's.
As for inspiration, I draw on a whole host of different sources, but I must say that lately I've been enamored with Milton Caniff and Noel Sickles.
Kyle, I've actually asked about the hand-lettering before, but it'll never happen while I'm at Marvel. Back when I was still painting interiors, I even asked if I could paint the word balloons. There are many different reasons for Marvel's policy, not the least of which are time constraints.
Seriously, I have been waiting for ASM 577 with huge expectations and you have blown all of that out of the water. Just amazing, amazing work, it was worth the wait. I could go on and on about how much your work kicks ass, but I'd rather just say, fantastic! Now please get back to work so we can see more :)
ReplyDeleteglad I found your blog, love your work!
ReplyDeletesteve canyon, another of my must reads as a kid.
ReplyDeleteFrancis, thanks for checking out the blog. Your work is amazing (and you're still so young)! I actually judged one of your pieces earlier this year at the Society of Illustrators, so I've been aware of your work for a little while. I'm looking forward to seeing lots more work from you.
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