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4/05/2017

Brian Daley

Not a Jinx...

In school, I stumbled upon Jinx on a Terran Inheritance.

Wow. Most books in the school library were not about science fiction, if we went into the library at all (usually due to rain or forced study).

What a find. Brain told a story that was hilarious, full of action and well developed characters, namely - Hobart Floyt and Alacrity Fitzhugh.

Right, crazy names as well.

Image result for Requiem for a Ruler of Worlds

The hunt was on to learn more, to find more of his work. Jinx was the second in a series, that thrilled me, yet it was two years before finding and buying Requiem. And after that came the hunt for Fall of the White Ship Avatar.

What do you do when there is no more of something? In this case, you hold off reading the final novel...for many years.

During that time I discovered some of the Star Wars novels I enjoyed were also by Brian.

Image result for Han Solo at Stars' End

And then...

...there's Gammalaw and the Doomfarers Of Coramonde, books by Brian that have always intrigued.

My discoveries of his uncanny influence on my creative beginnings and joyful media memories didn't end there. Brian and his co-author James Luceno collaborated on a number of novels, including Robotech, while also being contributing writers to the awesome Galaxy Rangers cartoon.

Image result for robotech

Tron was never a thing for me, yet Brian wrote the novelization of the original movie.

Brian Daley passed away in 1996.

5/27/2016

Frank Robbins Fridays!

Wanted to start a Friday post series, and to talk about Frank Robbins - so off we go!

Along with Milton Caniff, Frank defined this style, both having worked with the incredible Noel Sickles, their style is refined (?) from early ink drawings of the master illustrator Harold Von Schmidt.

Robbins began his Johnny Hazard series at the end of WW2, and what a fun run it was!

Alex Toth loved (and hated) his work. There was a point at which Toth felt Robbins had lost something, and when exactly that might be is up to debate. Robbin's style in the 1970s differed vastly from his early work, but then, everyone's art evolves.

He was one of the masters of light and shadow, design and compostion. He placed large ink areas into the art with absolute confidence and grace.

Color on the strip was primitive as was a consequence of the time, technology and media, and yet, it works. A single image often held so much, but not in a cluttered way.

Many are the discussions on the difficulty of depicting water, and variety of style to do so. Robbins knew how.

Hazard was an adventure strip at its best, with all the feel of men's adventure and the pulps, and a touch of what makes Indian Jones so fun.

Robbins!

5/19/2016

Frank Thorne

Loose and detailed all at once...

The art of Frank Thorne is crazy cool and old school.

Known best for Red Sonja, Thorne depicted the toughest of female leads long before it was fashionable and PC to do so.

With the fewest of lines, he depicted the beauty of the female form.

Eyes, nostrils, lips...wild hair (a signature of his), and the faintest lines of the elbows, knees, bell button and of course, the chest.

5/10/2016

Toth Tuesdays!

Alex Toth possessed a skill to match his temperment - always striving to improve - never, it seems, content.

Yet in all his work, an attention to storytelling economy and detail only where necessary.

Details we seldom got to see because his pencils are so rarely available.

His inkers - seldom his partners, inked per their own style - with no fault suggested. His own work in ink fitted his desired finish, often it seems, in a mind to complete the work through experimentation.

His style in this Rip Hunter...!

TOTH...!

5/02/2016

Manning Mondays

What can I say, but that I like me some Russ manning art.

Deceptively simple in design and line. Yet complex in composition and detail.

Luana.

He did it all with an economy of style. What he didn't draw is the secret of masters.

4/29/2016

Earl Norem

My first encounters with the man who we came to know by the name NOREM, began with He-Man. He really captured the menacing atmosphere of Eternia, and for kids, it set the tone for the games to play with the some of the coolest action figures of the time.

Master of the Paints!

It was later that I began to see his work on the covers of the Conan magazines Marvel distributed on the newstand. He really captured the feel of Conan too, with some great covers!