WHAT IF TPB

Another rough I did for a cover.



This tpb contains the WHAT IF Elektra story I worked on written by Karl Bollers.

BREAKDOWN ONE

A series of process images from last year's What If DD/Elektra I worked on.
First up is the first prelim I did for myself, just to work out the flow and movements I wanted to convey.
I wanted it to be chaotic but also showcase distinct fight movements. My initial idea was to have the panels be actual shoji screen dividers being ripped and slashed apart as the two fought .

Problem was I only had three pages. One was reserved for a "calm before the storm" moment I worked out with writer Karl Bollers and the third was taken up by the large homage Miller/Jansen climatic panel.

I felt that this second page would be too far away from the storytelling language that framed the sequence so I stepped back and went with this second layout.

DISARM

Page from recent What If prior to color. Focus was on elements directly involved in the action.
Objects. Technique. Pulling back on the detail so that it suggests movement, but maintaining semblance of the
real life objects being referred to.

Frames box in the setup moments. Then open up and move along with the direction of the disarm.
I wanted Stick to display combative skill sets. Use of weapon of opportunity with grace and leverage.
I suggested using a Musashi quote to break up the time in small beats, which writer Karl Bollers graciously added in print version.

Background is sparse, in contrast to prior pages which were purposefully claustrophobic, full of heavy details and shadows creeping at the edges. Textures of gloss and grit.

Once the action happens, time is emptied. The backgrounds fade. Represented by subtle faux zipatone; a custom brush created from a Salinas strip. Salinas, one of the masters of pen and ink.
Nod to bold Japanese brush work on immaculate paper.

As action ends, zip texture ebb back from below the page.
The emptiness is left in Stick's unseeing eyes.

The lines are all vector based, the greys are also digital.
No physical art exists.
The irony of nothingness does not escape me.

KILL THE DEMON

Preview of my WHAT IF special can be seen here.

Available this Wednesday at all fine comic shop establishments.

"What If special based on the seminal early 80s Daredevil run by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson!

By Karl Bollers (WOLVERINE: HUNGER) and Rafael Kayanan"

Portion from ComicsBulletin.com's review by Dave Wallace:

I probably would have given the issue a score of 3 bullets had it not been for the excellent artwork of Rafael Kayanan, which is strong enough to push it just above the average rating. The opening pages are particularly arresting, with a wonderfully moody close-up of Elektra that's followed by an explosive action shot of a wounded helicarrier, before giving way to some slightly more restrained flashback sequences. Even in these quieter scenes, however, Kayanan finds a way to make the pages visually interesting, with strong design elements in the artwork (for example, the page in which Stick disarms Elektra), a great use of light and colour (as seen in the montage page that shows Elektra training with Nick Fury) and some delicate handling of occasionally disturbing imagery (such as the aftermath of the massacre in the Kingpin's HQ, or the scene in which Elektra discovers the Advocate's "gallery").

THESE TABIS WERE MADE FOR WALKING

Elektra isn't wearing the open toed Bujinkan shoes but she is walkin'.

Digital study for December issue of What If.

ELEKTRA

Drawing doodled in Illustrator.

GENE COLAN BENEFIT

Gene Colan was the first artist whom I recall copying as kid and realizing I wanted to draw comics. It was an issue of DAREDEVIL with a great splash page of DD swinging midair with a starkly lit fisheye foreshortened pov that Colan mastered at. Later on, his work with Marv Wolfman on TOMB OF DRACULA was for me the best depiction of the vampire character. I learned more about the way Gene worked in a 1970's Marvel publication titled F.O.O.M., in it they featured Gene's pencils and for the first time I could see how his grey tones and handling of the shadows was truly on another level.

Recently, a call went out from writer Clifford Meth about Gene Colan being quite ill and Cliff organized a tribute auction to assist Gene in defraying some of the bills.

So below is a link to my contribution to the auction. It is paltry to the hundreds of hours I've spent studying and admiring the work of one of the best in the medium. Please check it out and bid if you can. Thanks!

KAYANAN GENE COLAN TRIBUTE AUCTION

More on this in Cliff's Blog