John Calimee Art (Image Intensive) [Archive] - AlphaFlight.net

DelBubs

09-14-2006, 02:11 PM

Del

I worked with John as an inker WAAAAAY back in the day- can you pass my email to him and tell him to drop me a line?
Thanks!

Mike

Oeming@aol.com
I'll pass that along tonight. He did have a message which I posted elsewhere, but have bought it over here.

Quote:
John Calimee

Best news here is reading Mike Oeming is taking over the chores of Alpha, well Omega Flight. How cool is that! And he posts to the forum??? Say hi to Mike! I'm a big fan. I did a few (very few) ghost layouts for Mike back in his self publishing days. The little guy with the big guns. -He didn't know it but I was fond of calling him 'Mini-Hulk' back in the day. -A great guy. Talented as hell. And he's leading the life I always dreamed of. The bastard.

You may quote all that. :-)

Northcott

09-14-2006, 03:19 PM

Whoa!....I didn't like John C's artwork on Alpha Flight...but now I realize it must have been the penciler muddying the pencils. Those are absolutely gorgeous. Sorry John.

Dana

People undervalue inkers. A good inker is worth their weight in gold. If you're not inking your own stuff, you're gambling on the skill of someone else, and that can be a nerve-wracking thing. The right inker can actually make your art stronger, but in the hands of someone who just doesn't get it the very best, clearest of pencils can go to Hell in a handbasket.

Very nice backgrounds on the shots. Detailed backgrounds take me too damned long. Lovely work.

Guardian

09-14-2006, 03:41 PM

Me likey. Especially the one with Galactus in it. :)

DelBubs

09-14-2006, 03:44 PM

I'm kinda hooked on the Hulk pic myself, I would love to see that inked and coloured (hint! hint!).

Le Messor

09-15-2006, 04:43 AM

Beautiful work!

DelBubs

09-19-2006, 05:19 PM

http://www.filelodge.com/files/room16/411483/images/AlphaFlight.jpg

http://www.filelodge.com/files/room16/411483/images/SilverSurfer.jpg

http://www.filelodge.com/files/room16/411483/images/SpiderMan.jpg

http://www.filelodge.com/files/room16/411483/images/THOR.jpg

http://www.filelodge.com/files/room16/411483/images/THOR2.jpg

I have been toying with these pics a little and using a little package called Snap Fire have come up with the following.
Thor (http://www.filelodge.com/files/room16/411483/Snap%20Fire/THOR2%20%20Snap%20Fire.jpg), Thor 2 (http://www.filelodge.com/files/room16/411483/Snap%20Fire/THOR%20Snap%20Fire.jpg), Spiderman (http://www.filelodge.com/files/room16/411483/Snap%20Fire/Spide%20Man%20Snap%20Fire.jpg), Silver Surfer (http://www.filelodge.com/files/room16/411483/Snap%20Fire/SilverSurfer%20%20Snap%20Fire.jpg), Iron Man (http://www.filelodge.com/files/room16/411483/Snap%20Fire/IRONMAN%20Snap%20Fire.jpg), Hulk (http://www.filelodge.com/files/room16/411483/Snap%20Fire/HULK%20Snap%20Fire.jpg), Green Lantern (http://www.filelodge.com/files/room16/411483/Snap%20Fire/GL%20Snap%20Fire.jpg), Fantastic Four (http://www.filelodge.com/files/room16/411483/Snap%20Fire/FF%20Snap%20Fire.jpg), Aquaman (http://www.filelodge.com/files/room16/411483/Snap%20Fire/AQUAMAN%5B%20Snap%20Fire.jpg).

Phil

09-19-2006, 10:00 PM

http://www.filelodge.com/files/room16/411483/images/AlphaFlight.jpg

Dude... freaking amazing....

Respect to John.

maniac mike

09-20-2006, 07:19 PM

Those are some very sweet pencils Mr. John Calimee has done. I would love to see a AF vs. Llan the Sorcerer pin-up, (hint hint). Thanks for sharin' those with us Del.

MM

Legerd

09-20-2006, 08:12 PM

Man, those are some nice pics! :shock: I especially like the GL one.

EDIT TO ADD: Yeah, DB thanks for sharin'.

Le Messor

09-22-2006, 09:06 AM

He's really good these days; but I can still see the 'old' Calimee in there, in the Alpha and Thor pics.

It's in the poses, I think.

Man, I wish he'd drawn like that back then!

Come back, John Calimee! All is forgiven!

- Le Messor
"Nostalgia isn't what it used to be."

Obsidian3d

09-22-2006, 12:43 PM

These are tight! You've covered my two absolute favorites -> Alpha Flight and Green Lantern. Awesome stuff John.

John Calimee

09-22-2006, 11:36 PM

After years of being villified for my early Marvel run, it's nice to hear someone say something pleasant about my drawing. Although, in fact there is a great deal of the 'old' Calimee in these drawings. It's very hard to escape one's self and I am no different.

Now, I know more. Thank god. It would be frightening for 15 years to pass without SOME growth. I understand drawing principles better now than I did then. There was no internet. And I hadn't as yet thought of spray painting action figures white. (I didn't have any action figures!) There are days I wish I was as lucky as Steve Rude to have discovered Andrew Loomis and Jack Faragasso at age 9 instead of my 30's. What a different life I'd be living. What is, is. But in the end, these pages are very much an homage to to comics circa 1969. Back then, a wide eyed kid bought hook line and sinker every line uttered from Stan Lee's typewriter, every pencil scratch from the brilliant mind of Jack Kirby, and every stroke of india ink that graced those bare pencils. I love that stuff.

I'd like to think 'you guys' today get the same bang and kick out of the comics of your generation as I did out of mine. It's hard for me to imagine that being possible given I wouldn't trade a deconstructed comic for Stan's early Spider-man if you threw in a kitchen sink. But then, hey, I'm 'old balls'...... I like dialogue covering the upper 3rd of my panels, please.

What can I say? I was there for the first unveiling of MJ. I paid all of twelve cents to see this strange chick with medusa-like red hair signal to the likes of Paste-pot Pete that things were about to beyond AWESOME. -

If I could do the kind of comic "I" wanted, they'd look a bit like these covers. Very much 'in the tradition of.' I may have been a 'pro' (?), may never be a pro again, but I will always be a fan. It's in my blood. I'm just scratching the surface.

Thanks for the likes.

And a big shout out to the Alpha Flight fans in Vancouver!!!!!!! -You might need a time warp to remember, but I remember like it was yesterday.

Mike, don' be lazy and skimp with the dialogue. I want it should take a half hour to READ my Oem-ega. :wink:

maniac mike

09-22-2006, 11:56 PM

Hey John, I'm curious, have you ever thought about redesigning Llan the Sorcerer, Witchfire, Auric & Silver and Zeitgeist? Just a thought. Thanks!

oops! :oops: don't want to forget Captain Forsa either.

MM

shaman

09-22-2006, 11:57 PM

That Dreamqueen pic....WOW!!!!!!

DelBubs

09-23-2006, 06:23 AM

That Dreamqueen pic....WOW!!!!!!
I'm very partial to that pic as well :wink: 8)

JohnnyCanuck

09-24-2006, 01:48 AM

Ok I have to say these are beautiful pieces. I have to say that it shows that practice practice practice are not meaningless words.
I don't forgive the art of then. I plunked down a lot of money for a title i believed in and the art didn't deliver. Carl Potts and myself are to blame. Carl for trying to believe in someone not ready for it and me for not talking with my dollars and buying something else. Let's face it those issues are a lot cheaper now.
I do praise the art of now though. This kind of work then might have kept a lot of people with the book.

Shawn

If anyone cares I may take on something colourwise with that alpha pic.
But I'm not in a rush.

Le Messor

09-24-2006, 02:01 AM

Carl Potts and myself are to blame. Carl for trying to believe in someone not ready for it and me for not talking with my dollars and buying something else. Let's face it those issues are a lot cheaper now.

I was no fan of the art, but I loved James Hudnall's writing. Made it much harder to make such a vote.

... Come to think of it, I bought them as back issues anyway. But that had more to do with when I started collecting comics than any other factors.

- LM
"Any excuse will serve a tyrant."
- Aesop

DelBubs

09-24-2006, 09:02 AM

If anyone cares I may take on something colourwise with that alpha pic.
But I'm not in a rush.
Please do Johnny, it's something I wouldn't mind seeing.

John Calimee

09-25-2006, 02:00 AM

Hi Maniac Mike,

I've got more things to finish off than hours in a day, but if time allows I'll crank up more Alph stuff. If I do, you got dibs. :wink:

Why fault Carl? Ok, the book wasn't the greatest thing on earth and the best reaction is probably to vote with your wallet. But there were a lot of forces that come together when things don't go well. Even bad movies require skill and hard work. Which, in the end makes it all the more frustrating for everyone involved. A tweak here -or there- and things might have turned out for the better. -These images aren't here to 'make up' for the past.

Life plots a strange, mysterious path and the comics industry is no exception. In it's birth, Illustration was still a formitable art field while comics were a wasteland. It was what one did if you couldn't get 'real' work. Guys like Jack, Steve, Gene slogged on for years learning their craft. And in time proved comics to be an art form. They'd been in the industry for years cultivating what would become the boom years of the 60's. Then, you had 40 somethings -at the top of their craft- producing books for readers 20 years their younger.

By the 80's it was obvious new talent was needed to replace the old talent. But who could wait 20 years for talent to master their craft? And where would they master it? To make matters worse, a whole host of art talent took the collegiate route and went to art schools that had faculty ill equiped to show them the ropes. Fine art colleges were full of faculty busy pouring paint down inclines. What did they know of perspective or storytelling?

Today, it's all flipped. The field of Illustration is a disaster, thanks to the computer. Talent is a dime a dozen and comics illustration shines like a beacon of hope (?) by comparison. There are a huge number of artists working in the comics field who would be in better places if things were better elsewhere. A talent like James Jean would be where Rockwell and Leyendecker were, not doing covers for DC.

And while the Illustration of comics booms thanks to the arrival of the field's very best young ILLUSTRATORS.... comic story tellers that have honed their craft for years are having a heck of a time finding work. Today, the trendy hot talent is practically the same demographic as their reading audience. Young and hip. It makes for very, very, very purdy comics, but I fear -with exceptions- it's lacking.... something.

Eventually, that something is going to leap off of someone's drawing board... out of someone's typewriter. A meeting of heart, spirit, imagination and a deep sensitivity to the human condition will do the trick. It will usher in the next 'new' age of Comics. Maybe it's happening now. Maybe it's Mike's OmegaFlight!

I think sensitivity to the human condition is the key. The next golden age is coming and when it does, I'll happily plunk down my thirty five dollars to read it. Or in a more perfect world, be one of the guys making the magic.

Le Messor

09-25-2006, 07:41 AM

John,

You have been reading Scott McCloud, haven't you?

I hope you're right, that the new age comes, and soon.
That comics will stop trying to be movies, and take advantage of the strengths of the field, instead of playing little brother and copying its 'better' sibling.
Done right, they can be a thing of beauty.

Maybe, John, you should start writing as well as drawing? You do both well.

- Le Messor
"Any philosophy that can be put in a nutshell belongs there."
- Sydney J. Harris

John Calimee

09-26-2006, 04:57 PM

You know Messor, there's nothing I love more than a good story. I marvel at the guys, like Oeming, who can tell a great yarn. I particularly enjoy revisiting successful stories to appreciate the economy and structure, be it books, dvd, or comics.

My buddy Neil gives me grief for my affection for Next Generation dvds. He grimaces at the thought of the girlie vulcan boy, among others. So there are a few bad eggs in the batch? I'd rather delight in the good stories, that are amazingly well crafted. Like the episode where Riker brings a addictive game aboard ship. -Beautiful bit of storytelling there. I've watched 30 times, easy and every time I'm sucked into the story with a big grin on my face.

Good stories embrace human emotions and human reactions. We've all had days where life feels utterly helpless... and as such we can tap into the emotional state that overwhelms Frodo at the prospect of recovering the ring. Or we've sat in the dark, alone feeling a bit TOO alone for safety's sake. When a story rings true about our human experience, it just works.
Unfortunately, american story telling tends to assume it's the bells and whistles that are the thing. The plot point IS the explosion. The good guy is the last man standing. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

The idea should be to tap into human emotions. Set up a situation where WE CARE, WE FEEL and we wonder "OH, MY GOD! WHAT WOULD I DO?!?"
Case in point: the FF cartoon. What a forgettable experience... It's like a demographicly plotted pastiche of 'kewl.' There are enough light effects in the backgrounds to simulate watching Akira on acid. Johnny's got just enough gel in his hair and point to his chin to brand him as 'hip' from half a mile away. I'm shocked they didn't draw him with just enough droop to his belt line that we could read 2ist, or whatever the latest hip brand is on his underwear. -Attitude abounds. Much of it the worst attitude... Sue is a complaining 4 year old. "I want it and I WANT IT NOWWWWWWW."

All very sleek and edgy...

But do I care??????????????????

Does anyone CARE? Why would they? What human experience can I relate all this too? I suppose the lights remind me of looking at Christmas tree lights in my youth. But those lights sat still long enough to be savored. And as much as I like kids, whining 4 year olds drive me mad. Whining 24 year olds make me want to slap them. What a loss. I watched the first cartoon and the story was so misdirected towards being hip, rather than pulling me into their humanity... I haven't the slightest care to come back.

Now that Moriarity story on NextGen, I've done that a thousand times... love it. Love it. Love it.

RolandT

09-26-2006, 07:01 PM

Nice to have your opinion, sir. From a professional's point of view. Me, I can barely trace my hand, writing is not my gig on even my best days.

maniac mike

09-27-2006, 02:25 AM

I've got more things to finish off than hours in a day, but if time allows I'll crank up more Alph stuff. If I do, you got dibs

WOO-HOO!!! Thanks John. :D

MM

Le Messor

09-27-2006, 07:58 AM

You know Messor, there's nothing I love more than a good story.

You've said in the past that you and I think very differently.

But I agree with everything you said here.

... including the 'Love Nex-Gen' stuff. :) I have them all, too, and love those Moriarty eps.

'Girly Vulcan boy'? Who? Nex Gen doesn't have any Vulcans... not as ongoing characters. Tuvok from Voyager? (I like that, too.)

- Mik
"Professor, it's black magic."
"Surely the best kind."
- the aforementioned ep.

DelBubs

09-27-2006, 08:52 PM

You know Messor, there's nothing I love more than a good story.

'Girly Vulcan boy'? Who? Nex Gen doesn't have any Vulcans... not as ongoing characters. Tuvok from Voyager? (I like that, too.)

I couldn't by any stretch of the imagination call Tuvok 'Girly' looking, but the only other Vulcan with deep character developement was the one from 'Enterprise' and she was a woman, I think. My eyes aren't what they use to be.

Obsidian3d

09-28-2006, 01:43 AM

While I fully admit to only buying comics with artwork I like, I'll agree with John and say that many are woefully short on good story nowadays. There's nothing worse to me than plunking down my cash and feeling like all I got was a bunch of pretty pictures. A good story would still be a good story with stick figures and scratchy backgrounds. All the beautiful illustrations in the universe won't cover up a stinker of a story. The same goes for TV or film. Story doesn't (usually) cost nearly as much to produce as drawings or footage, so why it doesn't get more attention never ceases to amaze me.

Mokole

09-28-2006, 02:05 AM

I liked Deep Space Nine, the Original series, and Next Generation a whole lot more than Voyager. Heck, only episode of Voyager I actually liked was "Message in a Bottle" and it really had nothing to do with the Voyager crew.

Even that Voyager episode paled in comparison to "City on the Edge of Forever", "Balance of Terror", "Doomsday Machine", "Tosk, "Way of the Warrior", "The Siege of AR-558" (no, I don't remember all the episode tiles that well), the great "Trials and Tribble-ations". Lots of good Next Gen episodes, too, like "Yesterday's Enterpries", "The Best of Both World's, and "the Wounded", "redemption Part II" and "The Pegasus".

Never liked "Enterprise" much, too much sex, WAY too much soap opera, boring. Like Voyager it had few good characters/actors (Robert Picardo and Jeri Ryan in Voyager were the only good ones, Peter Billingsley in Enterprise; DS9 had Avery Brooks, Armin Shimmerman, Colm Meaney, Siddig El-Fadil, Rene Auberjonois, Nicole De Boer, and more. Next Gen had Stewart, Spiner, Burton, McFadden,... TOS had a great starting cast with Nimoy, Kelley, Nichols, Shatner...). Best thing about the TOS, Next Gen, and DS9: You could tell the cast had fun, the stories could be funny, and, especially in DS9, the actors got to stretch themselves a lot.

Boy, I said too much Off topic stuff... :wink:

John Calimee

09-28-2006, 03:46 AM

Don't sweat 'off topic.' Is is the general discussion forum after all.

Just wondering, are there fan spin offs of DC/Marvel comics on the net, the way there are spin offs of the Trek universe? And if if there were, would the big 2 shut them down? The thought crossed my mind that if the forum wrote a good story, I could draw it. Del could enhance it for the web. Someone could net letter. We could use uncle Joe's barn. -All we'd have to left to do is channel Mickey Rooney. -Just a thought...

Writing is hard. At least for me it is. I've been working on a self-publishing idea for 2 years now and it's still a fractured, messy heap of... The whole thing looks soooo simple when you watch someone else do it. Or maybe not so simple, given the big television networks have all but given up written material for reality tv shows. I find sitcoms and trek shows very much like comics because they have a recurring cast in essentially one and done stories. Who does one and done anymore?

I don't read enough of today's comics to know if this is true or not: but I sense the kind of super hero/capes comic of the 60's thru 80's has been entirely set aside. Villian threatens world. Hero intervenes. Big slug fest. Hero wins. -Is any of that around any more? Do any of you want that around anymore?

If you could have it any way you like, what kind of stories would make for a good AlphaFlight comic book? The type of stories/covers/plots/writing of today? Or a 'Byrne' type run? Or some other approach? -Not that I'm engaging in the popular comics now vs. comics then battle found often on the JB forum. I'm curious is you want spandex heroes in action against clearly defined bad super-powered villains? Has comics story telling grown beyond that?

Barnacle13

09-28-2006, 09:52 AM

John,
I think you hit on it earlier. I'd much rather have a story that engages the human condition. Sure you have to see action in a superhero book, but if you don't care about the characters you won't keep coming back. For me it's good character driven stories with a splash of combat and flash.
As for spin off stories, fanfics are all over the place. I've never really heard of Marvel or DC trying to shut down any of the sites that engage in fan fiction. There are some great stories in many of these places, and most have little or no art to go with them. Some good examples around these parts are a Second Flight round robin that was a spin off of Alpha Flight and the MC2 universe. You can find some of those stories posted on the forum here. Are any of them publisher worthy? Maybe not, but they are a fun read and do get you hooked on the characters.

Tom

Snowsquatch

09-28-2006, 11:42 AM

I'm curious is you want spandex heroes in action against clearly defined bad super-powered villains?
Yes. (Spandex optional. See Sasquatch or Hulk.)

Barnacle13

09-28-2006, 12:58 PM

The best villains are also very human! Nothing makes a better villain than someone who is just at the end of their rope. I think that's why we've been able to see some villains like the Thunderbolts rehabilitated. They found another way to use their powers and had to struggle with their past sins. Mach V was a great character early in that series as he dealt with his guilt and responsibility for past actions as the Beetle.

Legerd

09-28-2006, 01:57 PM

I find sitcoms and trek shows very much like comics because they have a recurring cast in essentially one and done stories. Who does one and done anymore?

The BBC with Doctor Who!

I don't read enough of today's comics to know if this is true or not: but I sense the kind of super hero/capes comic of the 60's thru 80's has been entirely set aside. Villian threatens world. Hero intervenes. Big slug fest. Hero wins. -Is any of that around any more? Do any of you want that around anymore?

While I (somewhat) miss the the whole B/W of good guys vs. bad guys, I prefer a more complex story. Give me a straight forward, honest hero who will do the right thing even if it means he/she will have to sacrifice something to do it. Then stick that hero into a story where the B&W is all grey. The villain, I feel should be the more complex of the characters. I guess you could say I like a simple hero in a complex story.

If you could have it any way you like, what kind of stories would make for a good AlphaFlight comic book? The type of stories/covers/plots/writing of today? Or a 'Byrne' type run? Or some other approach? -Not that I'm engaging in the popular comics now vs. comics then battle found often on the JB forum. I'm curious is you want spandex heroes in action against clearly defined bad super-powered villains? Has comics story telling grown beyond that?

In AF's case, yes I would like to see the spandex and clearly defined villains. The story doesn't have to be a simple punch-em-up style, but like I said above, simple hero complex story.

DelBubs

09-28-2006, 07:19 PM

As to Star Trek, STNG is the series out of all of them that I regulary watch. Episodes that I enjoy most are 'Skin of Evil', 'Measure of a Man', 'Drumhead', 'Yesterday's Enterprise'. I can't say there where any bad episodes, but the one's mentioned stand out for me.

I wasn't a fan of DS9, because to my mind the same type story is told in Babylon 5 and B5 is by far the better series to my mind. Voyager is watchable, but if you can't empaphyse with the central characters then half the battles lost. I managed to get through season one of Enterprise before my eyes gave up and I started to read books again.

I have deliberately left STOS to last, I feel like a traitor and some kinda low life for not liking it. "You can't enjoy Star Trek, without enjoying the classic", hmm, yes I can. Why couldn't Kirk have been disfigured and Pike go and boldly go? :wink:

Reading through all that, one thing occurs to me, I don't care what the story is or whether there is any action or whatever, just as long as it's told well. I enjoyed Ellis's year run on 'The Authority', not really character driven, biff bang boom in your face action, but told well. While his 'Transmet' is prolly more character driven. To be able to figure a five year story with beginning, middle and end, that's good story telling imho. Fabian Nickezia (sp) did an excellent run on 'New Warriors', his first 25 issues stand up pretty well alongside Byrnes AF run. All well written stories that drew me in. Oh and I nearly forgot, the first eight issues of 'ClanDestine', their return prolly next best news after 'Omega Flight' :-) . I don't think how a story is told should be the main focus of anydiscussion, what happened in the story and how the characters react should be the talking point.

Oh and for any one wondering... 2nd Flight (http://forum.alphaflight.net/viewtopic.php?t=1365&start=0)

Le Messor

09-29-2006, 05:46 AM

I haven't seen much Enterprise, but you're right, that's T'Pol. The only main characters who are Vulcan are: Spock, Tuvok, and T'Pol.

The Moriarty episodes are 'Elementary, My Dear Data' and 'Ship in a Bottle'. For what it's worth.

And, wow aren't we getting off topic?

Great art, John! If you're not working in comics these days, what do you do for a crust?

- Le Messor
"As a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the best information."
- Benjamin Disraeli

John Calimee

10-02-2006, 01:14 AM

Oh, I'm supposed to answer that...

My non-paying activities include studying the painting techniques of the Old Masters. Flemish primitives in particular. And my endless struggle at writing my own comic book. Someday to see the light of day. Either self published or pirated for work for hire.

Paying activities include portrait commissions in the afore mentioned Flemish style. -And torturing art students. Teaching them, actually. But they like to pretend they're being tortured. I don't want them to end up as I did: carting around a college degree worth less than the paper it was printed on.

Perhaps as good an example of missing the human element in storytelling has to be Image Comics. When they launched, those guys had the world in their hands. They had talent, opportunity, and the full acceptance of the comics audience. They did deliver flashy art, seriously bad looking villians and take no prisoner's looking heroes. Alas, the sparkle and glitter aren't the 'thing.' Nor is spikey hair, shiny lights, computer coloring, or heroes that say !$#^%!$ a lot. Imagination. Energy. Humanity. You can't go wrong with that mix.

Are my fifteen minutes up? I think I'm pushing it...

John Calimee

10-02-2006, 01:35 AM

More pushing, but I have to get this out:

I feel every generation of hero comics is face with a problem: define what is bad, or evil in a way that is relevant to the times. By defining evil, one begins to define good. Evil has to be sufficiently plausible to the times, otherwise the whole thing risks being irrelevant.

Monster movies of the 50's effectively tapped into the angst of that generation. Aliens touched and BattleStar Galactica is touching something in our collective conscious. With all the wars, global warming, etc. etc., are we secretly pondering the question: Do we deserve to be wiped out by machines?

Comic book movies are hit and miss on the topic. Superman came in just under the wire. Spiderman 2 was spectacular. The last Batman was just short of brilliant, except they went overboard with the poisoned water bit. And the FF... what a load of @!#$#* that was.

Le Messor

10-02-2006, 03:44 AM

You've payed your dues; you're pushing nothing!

Torturing, teaching... You say tomah-to, I say tomato, you say potah-to, I say chips.

That's why I never read Image; it looked to me like it never got past its name; image. I want character, people I can care about, if not relate to.

I feel every generation of hero comics is face with a problem: define what is bad, or evil in a way that is relevant to the times.

See, what worries me (and you; see our debate on Mal in Serenity) is their definition of 'good'. The further it gets from mine, the less I want anything to do with the (comic / movie / book).

I liked Spiderman 2, but felt that it was more remake than sequel.
Agree on Batman, not sure of Superman... Just seen it once.

- Le Messor
"At an Oxford college, they were debating what to do with all their money. The consensus was to buy land, since "for the past thousand years, land has proven to be a very wise investment for the college." A crusty old patriarch piped in, "True, but the past thousand years have been atypical."
- Greg Benford

Obsidian3d

10-02-2006, 09:28 PM

I enjoyed Batman Begins a lot, and was very pleasantly surprised by Superman Returns. I had very low expectations and thought it delivered far beyond what I had imagined. I'll agree with John in that the heroes are (or should be) defined by their villains. If the hero doesn't have to work hard and sacrifice something in order to achieve victory, the reader / viewer will probably not be interested in the conflict. Tapping into fears of the time is something that's a little harder to do though... :(

sengsterooney

10-10-2006, 02:41 AM

I've just discovered this thread and am very heartened to find John Calimee and Mike Oeming attending this forum. Wooty woot! John's work, which Del very kindly shared, is awesome and I verily nearly fell out of my chair when I saw his AF/Dreamqueen image - it is classic AF/comic heroism done big and done superbly.

John - were these commissioned work, or just for fun? Either way, they are outstanding.

Anyway, I really just wanted to confirm that the artwork is wonderful (and this is from an AF fan from way back who did persevere through the Calimee-Manley issues and who saw John grow as a penciller even way back then).

And welcome Mike Oeming to this forum (belated though it must be). It is so refreshing to find someone involved in an (incarnation of) AF who isn't into hyping the series (though this may change later this year? ;-) :-) ).

John Calimee

10-12-2006, 12:39 AM

I'm buzzed about Mike being around here as well.

The images here were a delightful break from the skull crushing attempts I make at plotting/writing a comic. Guys who can do it amaze me. Anyway, these are just push and go. Drawing is easy. Thinking, not so much.

Del wanted an AF image and I had so much fun I kept doing them. By Wizard World Chicago, I hope to have about 50 of them done.

Le Messor

10-12-2006, 01:08 AM

I've just discovered this thread and am very heartened to find John Calimee and Mike Oeming attending this forum.

Yes, but ever notice how you never see them in the same thread at the same time? :-$

Sort of like Superman and Clark Kent, or Michael Jackson and his sister, Janet.

Suspicious... :twisted:

- Le Messor
You saw nothing. There is no post here.

Obsidian3d

10-12-2006, 01:22 PM

John, I was wondering how long it takes you to do a full page of artwork now. From thumbnail stage to finished artwork, how long would you guess?

John Calimee

10-14-2006, 02:31 AM

I don't know since they were done it bits and pieces. If it's not done for cash it's 'hobby art', so they get an hour here, two hours there. Although I did the spidey background in a full day. I'd say about 4 days if I had to do them one and done.

These images are 24' x 17'. A tad larger than a double page spread. And they were done in an unconventional manner in that I did not do a sketch to begin them, but let them organically resolve themselves. I started with the figure roughed in, then designed an environment that would work. The figures were easy, maybe an hour to rough them out and an hour or two to finish them off. The backgrounds took all the work. Not so much the execution, but rather the idea.

With every image, I started with a nearly developed background only to have a better solution enter my head. Out came the eraser. I rather enjoy doing things over, so I'm hoping to translate this into comic pages that need to be more pre-planned. Even better, I'd like to reach a point where I can do 2 versions of every page and let the editor pick which ones they like more. But I'm not that fast. Every intelligent artist pre-plans the art, but there's something exciting about 'solving the puzzle' of an open ended composition. I like it A LOT.

Drawing is easy. Coming up with ideas/making choices is the rough work. A single comics page represents about 200 decisions easily. How large should this thing be? How much detail? Where to place things? Where are the blacks? What will the actors look like and do? The real skill of a comics artist is the artistic intelligence they bring to the page to make the story work. Guys like JohnPaul Leon, Mike Oeming, Bill Rheinhold, Ron Garney -I could go on and on- they AMAZE me with the brilliant choices they make. By comparison, I'm a hack. But hey, I'm a passionate hack got darn it. If I live to be half as smart as these guys I'll die a happy man.

Good art doesn't have to finish 'pretty.' There was a guy some time back, Trevor Von Eden, I loooooved that guy's work. It was rough, but there was an energy about it... and his choices were quirky, but some how spot on. If I have a limitation, it's that I tend to finish 'pretty' and that can limit a story that may need some edge to it. Carmine Infantino would have a heck of a time doing something dark. I suffer from that a bit as well. Although I love inkers that come in and scratch the heck out of it, as Vince Coletta did on Thor. People put him down for taking things out... fair enough. But he gave Thor's camp just the right amount of razor stubble. Trey butch. And those rocks looked really fun and crunchy!

I was surprised to learn that Romita Sr. had the worst time drawing a page. Opposite of Byrne or Kirby, it was like pulling teeth for him. One would think it was easy for him because his line was so prettified. Back when I was doing AF, it was certainly pulling teeth, but that was because I didn't know how to do anything.... That sliding ramp scene? As Alex Toth would say..."FFFFAAAAKKKKEEEE!" They were nice enough to mail me a shot of the thing, but my brain then could hardly wrap around the fixed view, let alone run above, below and around the thing. As Jim commented back then..."you give all your figures one body type..." Hell, it took me an hour just to get the eyes right. They'd print and still be wrong.

Ok, I'd better shut up now. I'm incredibly quiet in person, but on a keyboard it's like I completely transform into another personality. You can't shut me up. The best of my mind goes down on the page, I guess.

Obsidian3d

10-15-2006, 11:08 PM

Personal opinion on creating art, and / or insight into one's method of madness isn't something that needs apologizing for. I asked a question and you more than answered. Interestingly enough, your tangent actually played directly into my reason for asking. I've been working on a six-page story written by a friendly of mine and noticed that it was quite difficult getting things as dark as I think he wanted them. The story wasn't the best, and I changed some layouts and things to make it work better in my eye, but I still think my style looks too clean for the story we're telling. *sigh*

I'll post that stuff up somewhere once it's been ok'd for public display.

Back to your post, I'd still take JR sr's art over JR jr's anytime. There's just something off about jr's work that makes it look wacky to me.

zephyr74

02-21-2016, 11:06 AM

Anyone know if John's newer art referenced in this thread is available somewhere else?

John Calimee sent some scans of work he did during the summer. He was working on one specific thing and it gave him the urge to do a few more. There's these here and John says that if anyone wants to see more then just shout.

http://www.filelodge.com/files/room16/411483/images/AQUAMAN[1].jpg

http://www.filelodge.com/files/room16/411483/images/GL[1].jpg

http://www.filelodge.com/files/room16/411483/images/IRONMAN[1].jpg

http://www.filelodge.com/files/room16/411483/images/HULK[1].jpg

http://www.filelodge.com/files/room16/411483/images/FF[1].jpg

Any of you artistic types want to ink, colour etc, please feel free, maybe post the results here.