Of interest: 'Jack Kirby and the Auteur Theory of Comics'

http://www.tcj.com/sdcc12-cac-session-7-jack-kirby-and-the-auteur-theory-of-comics/

An interesting discussion in the development of some of comic book, animation and cinema's best superhero characters. A comparison to Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's storytelling method in the 1960's, to the Auteur- Directors theory of French Cinema. Very interesting in regards to the writer/artist collaboration/co-creation, by friend and author of 'The Silver Age of Comic Book Art', Arlen Schumer.

A storytelling artist you NEED to know #2: Steve Ditko

An excellent documentary on one of my favourite artists, and a gentlemen whose name is often said in the same breath as 'Jack Kirby' in regards to the best storytellers in the comic field, Steve Ditko.

I had the pleasure of running into British late night talk show king Jonathan Ross while walking the isles of San Diego Comic-Con this year, ironically, he was talking Stan Lee and Jack Kirby to Neal Adams, another  fantastic illustrator. He said he still regrets the line of questioning regarding Stan Lee's opinion in regards to giving Steve co-credit status for Spider-man after all these years. I don't think it was that harsh, really. Anyways, I'm trailing off topic.

The point is, on the subject of storytelling, character design, and the creative process, Steve Ditko is a wonderful and interesting study. Only a handful of photographs of him are in existence in the public arena, and to this very day, he is a very private individual (I have a close friend who spoke to him recently, and he was reportedly a gentlemen).

Anyways, enjoy :)

p.s: I wrote a rather light-hearted, article about where the development of Spider-man came from, if interested. It is an eye-opener in a sense of how ideas aren't necessarily "spare of the moment", "or out of the blue". Often , elements of ideas are batted around for a long time, and need revision before the first incarnations in some sort of storytelling medium. http://girlygeekspeak.com.au/blog/spider-mans-origins/

Character Design: Marvel Now!

With all my commitments, I find myself at least 6 months behind story line -wise with the latest comic book releases by the Big two (Marvel and DC), so I'm not 100% up to speed with Marvel's new launch "Marvel Now!", suffice to say it's sounding a little bit like the whole 'DC New 52' launch from last year, without the blanket wiping of character/story continuity, a somewhat "necessary evil" in the comic book world....

(...now that I've lost half of you, let's get you all back with my point ;P)

So, in this instance, and much like the DC characters, the launch seems to show re-imagining/new concept designs for costumes. Now I have a few images postings I'm saving until we get closer to the referencing classes in a few weeks, but in regards to this, I thought I'd at least share the article talking about the relaunched Captain America outfit, as it shows some great pencilled design work, which has obviously referenced modern US army combat gear.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=40080

http://www.superherohype.com/news/articles/171979-comics-see-captain-americas-all-new-look-for-marvel-now

What if? Pixar meets DC Comics...!

Character Design/Concept art. Beautiful 'Incredibles'-looking DC Comic Characters and Concept art by artist Daniel Araya.
http://geektyrant.com/news/2012/6/13/pixar-style-justice-league-characters.html

And the DeiantArt page for those inclined: http://danielaraya.deviantart.com/