Brandon Graham's Blog, page 127

Ghost in the shell or Appleseed?

By far Appleseed.

I think Appleseed was Shirow asking some HUGE questions. What would a perfect society even look like and even then what problems would arise. Granted a lot of it focuses on the Swaty-swat-swat police violence that he looooves but the big ideas are all there. 

I feel like GITS was him readjusting where he thought the future was going but in a lot of ways just a reworked Appleseed. Even Batou and Kusanagi, seem like less interesting versions of Deunan and Bri. 

Not that GITS doesn’t have excellent storytelling and ideas as well. (I like in the 1st book where a man is implanted with memories of a fake ex wife so he’ll plant bugs for the bad guys) 

With Appleseed I have to qualify that I love the complex endlessly rereadable manga but all of the animated versions are awful (sooo bad, god so bad!) and GITS #1 is great but I am not a fan of the heavily computer worked #2 but 1.5 man machine interface is also great (smaller future cop stories) and I haven’t really delved too deep into the post Shirow stuff 

hi, lone wolf and cub or usagi yojimbo?

I feel like they’re dramatically different books, but personally Lone wolf has had a lot more impact on me. 

I think about making his son choose between the ball & the sword a lot. (the ball is death, the sword is the path of the masterless samurai!!!)

Sakai’s work is great but when I think of it I think of the scene where Usagi cut a bunch of flies in two

heavymetalmagazine:Oh boy, Serpieri again. This two-page...

heavymetalmagazine:

Oh boy, Serpieri again. This two-page spread is full of all kinds of little changes that alter the story and make it palatable to the censors. You see, years ago, Heavy Metal was stopped at the Canadian border for “scenes of sexual violence” which was a very graphic rape scene. Since then, they have gone out of their way to edit out anything that could be considered sexual violence.

In the first panel, they made some significant effort to ink over the whip that the guy has in his hand. In fact, that whip gets inked out of the rest of the page. And where it was difficult to ink over (third and fifth panels) an extra dialog balloon was added to cover the action (and where the whip impacted on her ass). 

Which brings us to the two black panels. As you might guess, these are too graphic to display at all, but the dialog balloons are kept intact so that the reader can get some sense out of the weird sequence that results. 

On the second page, we can see an extraneous balloon in the third panel - conveniently placed to cover up the rather graphic penetration that Serpieri had drawn. And the last panel is very obviously clipped for exactly the same reason. Who would have thought that graphic beating and non-consensual sex from a man who turns into a monster would be a bad thing?

(Heavy Metal Software Special Issue, 1993 - Page 46&47 Carnivore by Serpieri)

I love your magazine covers, especially the one you posted from prophet recently. What's your process? Are you drawing these straight on photoshop with a tablet. Or do you pencil/ink on paper and scan in?

Thankss.

I pencil and ink the stuff onto 11 by 17 bristol and then scan it in chunks -piece it together in photoshop and color it there.

And then I color with a tablet. 

A big part of the process for me is how much I like drawing on paper– but then having the freedom to mess with any color or scanning in other random text or photos to make what I want. 

How important is color accuracy to you in your printed work? Do you often send corrections when you get a proof back from Image or are you okay with those pinks not quite hitting where you wanted them to?

The production guys I work with at Image are realllly good, so I have had no problems there. The books often print slightly darker than I color them, but I’m aware of that and plan for it. 

I feel like tone is much more important to me than color. if everything shifted a little but one shade of pink’s relation to another stayed the same then I’m cool 

I used to color with this feeling like I was running out of colors. It was so freeing to realise that I could just put a slightly different brown next to a brown – just be more subtle 

I love your little funny comics about your day to day life and comics process. You've talked about wanting to do something more about your life and real life. Dyou have any projects planned like that?

Thanks,

I’m gonna print a bunch in my next artbook- but the next big thing I do after I finish the end of Arclight & warheads will be a new sci fi book. I kind of like the idea of trying to couch my real feelings in fiction and keeping the sketchbook stuff more spur of the moment, 

Photo

REVIEW: Island #11 (comic)

greydevil13:

Island

Issue 11

Contributions by: Malachi Ward, Matt Sheean, Grim Wilkins, Robin Bougie, Joseph Bergin III, Remy Boydell, Michelle Perez, Johnnie Christmas, and Tamra Bon Villain. Brought to you by Emma Rios and Brandon Graham.

Published by: Image Comics

All right, full disclosure. I cannot be objective in any capacity when it comes to Island. It’s the single coolest thing on the shelves right now. What Emma Rios and Brandon Graham are doing might not be a new concept (anthology comics) but it is revolutionary. Bringing so many talents and skills and views and things together, it’s beautiful and amazing. That they also happen to be some of the most exciting talents and storytellers in the comic game right now is also a big bonus. Island, quite simply, is the best money you’ll spend every month on comics. The single biggest bang for your buck. So, thank you Emma and Brandon. Please keep up the great work.

And damn is issue eleven a thing of beauty. Filled to bursting with page-turning wonder and strangeness (and how about that Christmas/Bonvillain cover?), with the nothing short of epic conclusion to Malachi Ward and Matt Sheean’s Ancestor story. So massive, so deep. And so pretty to look at. If you’ve been following along (and you have been, right?) then this is a wonderful end to what has been a great piece of work. And to make things even better, the trade is coming out later this month so hopefully you’ve done the right thing and got it pre-ordered already. Seriously, this is great comic storytelling with high concepts and beautiful art throughout.

And then we get Grim Wilkins now in the pages of Island. Grim is a nice dude, and does mind-blowing work (particularly with inks). Mirenda is a stunning work of surrealism that I’m beyond happy to see now included in these hallowed pages. Wilkins does such crazy, amazing things with his work and it sucks you in and by the time you get to the last page it’s…you need more. Truly. Exciting times to be getting this kind of content (though if you were smart enough to jump in on the Kickstarter for Mirenda you already know this).

A truly trippy slice of strange is brought to us by Robin Bougie and Joseph Bergin III with The Incident. It’s short and pretty out there and if sources are to be believed the kind of thing that blasts truth way stranger than fiction. And I want to believe. I really do.

It’s all wrapped up on a somber, thoughtful note. The Pervert, from Remy Boydell and Michelle Perez is brave. It’s unflinching. It’s really the kind of story I think we need a lot more of not because it’s provocative but because it reaches out. It makes you wonder in a way people just don’t wonder enough, I think. About other people, about how they portray themselves and put themselves into the world. 

Congratulations to all and everyone involved in creating another stellar issue of Island. Like I said, it’s the single most exciting thing being put out right now and should probably get on everyone’s pull list. 

I warned you, man. Objectivity doesn’t exist here. I really, truly like Island.

– M

biggoonie:Sabertoot Swordsman Volume 1 HC by Aaron...

biggoonie:

Sabertoot Swordsman Volume 1 HC by Aaron Conley

“If you like action, adventure, humor, underdog stories and Sabertooth tigers … then this story is for you.”—Comic Bastards

Sabertooth Swordsman Volume 1 HC (Second Edition)

Damon Gentry (W), Aaron Conley (A/Cover), Sloane Leong ©, and Joseph Bergin III ©

On sale Feb 15

FC, 152 pages

$17.99

HC, 7” x 10”

A second-edition hardcover that features three bonus color stories, a remastered pinup, and sketchbook section! When his village is enslaved and his wife kidnapped by the malevolent Mastodon Mathematician, a simple farmer must find his inner warrior! Granted the form of the Sabertooth Swordsman by the Cloud God, our transformed hero embarks on a treacherous journey to the Mastodon’s fortress.

• Second edition with bonus stories!

• Pinups by Mike Allred, Brandon Graham, Aaron Conley, and others.

speakingofcomics:Brandon GrahamBack cover of Island #11

speakingofcomics:

Brandon Graham

Back cover of Island #11