The Art and Design of Damian K. Sheiles: J H Williams III

It's that time of year again, when everyone reflects on what they enjoyed or disliked the most over the course of the almost concluded year. In no particular order, here's my favourite reads and visuals for 2014.

Sugar Skull - Charles Burns.

The above image compares the cover to X'ed Out to the cover for TIN TIN The Shooting Star - an obvious nod to Herge's work

The concluding chapter of Charles Burns three book series that started with X'ed Out, continued with The Hive came out late this year and well worth the wait and entry fee. There's no one else quite like Charles Burns in any medium. Burns is a meticulous draftsman, savvy story teller, wildly imaginative, a little dark and twisted (okay, very dark and twisted) and one of the sharpest, finest Inkers in the comic's industry.

The payoff for this trilogy which is also a tribute to Herge's Tin-Tin (see the character "Nit-Nit" in this series), was superbly executed. All loose ends were tied up. Everything even made perfect sense as all the separate stories from the different worlds come together in a very much "Oh, yeah" obvious human way.

Interior page from Sugar Skull

If you're a fan of quirky, multi-layered storytelling, you'll dig this 3 book series from Charles Burns. Check it out and delight to this unusual, freaky yet somehow very human tale.

Pictures That Tick Volume 2 Exhibition - Dave McKean

I have followed the work of Dave McKean since the early '90's. His style has evolved, morphed, transcended and developed into a unique visual language all his own. There have been many imitators over the years but none hold any weight against McKean's work and any aficionado of the craft would do well to study his latest tome collecting his unpublished work from the last 10 years. There are lessons to be learnt contained within.

In Pictures That Tick Volume 2: Exhibition, McKean reminds us yet again that he IS the master illustrator at the top of his game. I am still (slowly) working my way through the pages of this book, taking my time to absorb the beauty and/or ugliness on every page. Stand out stories for me so far include; Sky Woman, The Coast Road and Blue Tree.

McKean explores themes in original execution, leading the way for illustrators from all corners and disciplines to alter their approach to their craft. His work inspires by simply being.

The Wake Hardcover Collection - Scott Snyder & Sean Murphy

Art by Sean Murphy - that's the only reason I need to buy this book. I'd buy anything drawn by Murphy. I love his sense of design, those sharp angles, his story telling and clever use of contrast to convey a sense of depth and intrigue.

Synopsis: When Marine Biologist Lee Archer is approached by the Department of Homeland Security for help with a new threat, she declines ...but quickly realizes they won't take no for an answer. Soon, she is plunging to the depths of the Arctic Circle to a secret, underwater oilrig filled with roughnecks and scientists on the brink of an incredible discovery. But when things go horribly wrong, this scientific safe haven will turn into a house of horrors at the bottom of the ocean!

The entire 10 issue mini series is collected in this hardcover along with a cover gallery (including all variant covers) as well as a sketchbook/process section. My only complaint (and it is only a very minor one) is that the book was standard trim size and not the larger deluxe size that DC Comics publish. I was looking forward to seeing the art in a larger sized format.

The Sandman Overture Issues 3 & 4 - Neil Gaiman with J H Williams III

The Sandman Overture continues with a few more issues this year. This limited series arrives with the weight of 75 previous issues bearing down heavily. The emotional connection to the main character (and some of the supporting cast) is already present. I, as the reader, am invested with what is at stake for the Dream Lord but still find myself thrilled at how intense Gaiman & JHW3 are making this story.

Every double-page spread is a jaw-dropping-detail-heavy-work-of-art. I must take my time reading and re-reading every panel so I don't miss a trick. At the core of The Sandman was a story detailing change, growth and evolution told in a multifaceted way. The Sandman Overture thus far has taken this premise to the next level. This is graphic story telling at its best. I can't wait to revisit the complete 6 issue story once told, when it is inevitably published in a deluxe hardcover edition. Personally, I'm hoping for a landscape edition so the double-page spreads can be viewed/printed without a page spine running down the centre. Hopefully DC/Vertigo has the same idea. Time will tell.

Graphic Ink - The DC Comics Art of Frank Quitely

Frank Quitely is one of the most in demand illustrators working in the comics industry today. Graphic Ink: The DC Comics Art of Frank Quitely collects all of Quitely's Big Book stories, his All Star Superman and Batman & Robin: Reborn covers, Batman: The Scottish Connection, The Kingdom: Offspring (oneshot), The Invisibles Vol 3 Issue 1 excert, all of Quitely's Vertigo Comics Anthoplogy stories plus Batman & Robin issues 1 - 3. Basically everything else Frank Quitely has done for DC/Vertigo Comics that has not been published already.

This book is an essential addition for any comic fan's bookshelf. It a giant-massive-helping of Quitely goodness in a single volume. I await the publication of his next project with Mark Millar, Jupiter's Legacy with a salacious smile.

Soho Dives, Soho Diva's - Rian Hughes

The title says it all but if you need further convincing, simply do a Google Image search on the book's title and gawk at the results. Clever design, great colours, sublime concept and voluptuous content - this book's page count is overflowing with burlesque and strip club art in a myriad of illustrative, design and photographic styles. Highly recommended - purchase a copy for yourself here.

The Art of Neil Gaiman - Hayley Campbell

I'm still making my way through this massive book compiled over time by Hayley Campbell (family friend of Neil Gaiman's and daughter of Eddie Campbell). It's high page count. 320 in total, outlines in words and pictures the art that has influenced, shaped, inspired and been created as a result of Gaiman's presence in our world.

Synopsis: Novelist, comics writer, scriptwriter, poet, occasional artist - a master of several genres and inadvertent leader of many cults - there are few creative avenues Neil Gaiman hasn't ventured down. From unforgettable books like The Ocean at the End of the Lane and American Gods to ground-breaking comics and graphic novels like The Sandman and Violent Cases; from big screen fantasies like Coraline to small screen epics like Doctor Who; and from short stories to songwriting, stage plays to radio plays, journalism to filmmaking and all points in-between, The Art of Neil Gaiman is the first comprehensive, full-colour examination of Gaiman's work to date.

Essential reading for fans of Gaiman's work.

Daytripper - Fabio Moon & Gabriel Ba

The deluxe edition collects the Eisner Award Winning 10 part miniseries into a beautiful larger size hardcover volume. Originally published in serialised form in 2010 and then collected as a trade paperback in 2011. This book came to my attention this year when it was published earlier this year (April 2014) in it's deluxe hardcover format.

This for me, was my favourite read for 2014 and once I started this book, I found it very hard to put down. The lush water colour art contrasting against stylised human figures draws you in to the world and life of Bras de Olivias Dominguez. The surprise twist that comes at the end of each and every chapter further deepens your resolve to continue the story and invest your emotion in to the pay-off that you hope arrives at the end of the tale (it does).

Here's some interesting facts about the series or book collection;

"Daytripper" was selected as the 2014 Life of the Mind book at the University of Tennessee (UT) in Knoxville. The Life of the Mind program at UT is a common reading program for all incoming first-year students. "Daytripper" is the first graphic novel and the first Brazilian work to be selected for UT's Life of the Mind program.

Awards 2011:
Won "Best Limited Series or Story Arc" Eisner Award
Won "Best Single Issue or Story" Harvey Award
Won "Favourite New Comicbook" Eagle Award

If you like your graphic stories to engage your senses on a much deeper level, to add a sense of weight to your life and to leave a mark on your conscience, then I thoroughly recommend this book.

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That's it for this week's blog post. Thanks for reading.

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Best wishes,

Damian K. Sheiles

www.dks.net.au

It's that time of year again where we reflect on what we liked throughout the year. All the top "....." lists are surfacing on the net so I thought I'd throw my highlights into the mix as well. My top comic or comic related reads for 2013, in no particular order, are as follows;

Strange Attractors by Charles Soule and Greg Scott.

The City is an Engine. Heller Wilson has found the key. From acclaimed writer Charles Soule (27, Strongman, Swamp Thing) comes a mathematical thriller about Chaos, Probability, and the race to stop a citywide disaster. In 1978, Dr. Spencer Brownfield saved New York City from itself, bringing the city back from the verge of collapse and ruin. And for thirty years, his small, unnoticed adjustments to the city's systems have kept the city afloat. Or so he claims to Heller Wilson, a young graduate student that Dr. Brownfield has chosen as his successor. But are Dr. Brownfield's claims about The Butterfly Effect and how his "complexity math" apply to the city's patterns of life real, or are they the ravings of a man broken by the death of his wife and daughter, desperate to find some kind of control over the world around him? Part sci-fi, part philosophical exploration, part thriller, Strange Attractors examines what you can control in your life and what you can't, and how important it is to recognize the difference.

The Nao of Brown by Glyn Dillon

Nao Brown is 'Hafu': half Japanese, half English. She suffers with OCD, but not the hand-washing, overly tidy type that people joke about. Nao suffers from violent morbid obsessions and a racing, unruly mind. She works part time in a 'designer' vinyl toy shop, whilst struggling to get her own design and illustration career off the ground. She's looking for love - the perfect love. But in meeting the man of her dreams, she realises that - dreams can be quite weird. Nao meditates in an attempt to quieten her mind and open her heart and it's through this that she comes to realise that things aren't so black and white after all. In fact, they're much more...brown.

The Sandman Overture #1 by Neil Gaiman & J H Williams III

http://sequart.org/magazine/33323/the-sandman-overture-1-review/

Batwoman: Worlds Finest (Vol 3 Hardcover) by J H Williams III, W Haden Blackman and Trevor McCarthy.

Batwoman's search for Medusa brings her together with the Amazing Amazon, Wonder Woman, but even the teaming of the World's Finest might not be enough to bring down the mythological monster - leading Bones, the DEO, Abbot and the Religion of Crime to all descend on Gotham City to take part in the fight.

Locke and Key by Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez

... tells of Keyhouse, an unlikely New England mansion, with fantastic doors that transform all who dare to walk through them...and home to a hate-filled and relentless creature that will not rest until it forces open the most terrible door of them all...! Acclaimed suspense novelist and "New York Times" best-selling author Joe Hill creates an all-new story of dark fantasy and wonder, with astounding artwork from Gabriel Rodriguez.

X'ed Out and The Hive by Charles Burns

X'ed Out: Meet Doug, aspiring young artist. He's having a strange night. A weird buzzing noise on the other side of the wall has woken him up, and there across the room, next to a huge hole torn out of the bricks, sits his beloved cat Inky. Who died years ago. But that's no longer the case, as he slinks through the hole, beckoning Doug to follow. So he does. Now there's no turning back. What the heck is going on? To say much more would spoil the creepy, Burnsian fun, especially since - unlike Black Hole - X'ed Out has not been previously serialised anywhere and will have readers guessing at every unnervingly meticulous panel. Drawing inspiration from such diverse influences as Herge and William Burroughs, X'ed Out is an engrossing new comic book fever-dream, from a true master of the form at the height of his powers.

The Hive: Doug is still in the netherworld. He's working a cleaning job in the Hive's stinking hallways, trying to ignore the screams, and reading romance comics to the breeders. But as the stories unravel on the page, frame by frame, mirrored memories plunge him back into his waking life. And that's where the real nightmare is. In Burns' trademark hard-edged style, "The Hive" is horrifying and completely absorbing: an incredible new installment from one of the most exciting artists in the comic's world.

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Well there you have it. For me 2013 was all about independent comics making a huge impact on the scene. The majority of output from DC Comics and Marvel has left me cold of late.