What are your thoughts & opinions on the realism movement going on with comic covers?books today? 1 1

[the blob]

6 minutes ago, Andahaion said:

Yes, it looks hand finished but I assure you the colors are digital. 

A cursory Google search seems to pull up several videos on YouTube concerning Artgerm’s process. Look there. 

Artgerm isn't the guy I was thinking of. Some middleton covers are what I was thinking of. Although he has others that look more hand done.

 

 

[VintageComics]

16 hours ago, FSF said:

No it doesn't seem strange.  The notion that it is "ludicrous" is way overstating things. It's a comic book, not the Manhattan Project. 

As for conveying the work to the artist, do you really think Marvel or DC are going to spend time reaching out to all of the potential shops and cover artists even as stories might change as they're writing them.  I'm not sure if you ever worked for a "real" company but businesses do not operate that way. Never have and never will.

Of all the things to complain about the comic world, which jumped the shark over a decade ago, that would be way down on my list of things to worry about.  Candidly, I don't really read any new comics.  Lots of people don't but want to book for cover art.  It is the only thing one sees when it is bagged and boarded and immensely important.

I'm not sure why you are extending this to society in general.  You sound like a tired old guy talking about the "good old days."  Nothing is more tiresome on the internet.

 

And you sound like your opinion is the only one that matters.

I have no idea how the publication process goes. I just know that covers don't match interiors.

And if covers of books don't need to match interiors of books that is very much an extension of how society functions today.

You have about 6-7 seconds to catch someone's attention when writing a song. And if you don't catch their attention in those 1st 6 or 7 seconds, the song is a dud. Even if it isn't.

It's a product of the digital age speeding up everyone, reducing their attention and levelling the playing field so evenly nothing really stands out any more. Not even something great.

And if the cover of the book doesn't need to match the interior story, then I'd say there's a problem. Wouldn't you?

Are we on a tangent? Of course. Welcome to the internet.

[DavidTheDavid]

I don't care for covers that are unrelated to the interior. In particular and by means of example, I mean something like placing Deadpool on practically every Marvel title even though he's not in that story. 

[VintageComics]

15 hours ago, FSF said:

I'm not sure why VintageComics felt the need to conflate a completely off-topic matter right out of the gate and make it the central issue when that isn't the point at all whatsoever of this thread.

Welcome to the internet.

[VintageComics]

12 hours ago, jason4 said:

Ps better than artgerm covers imo.

Does Artgerm only draw women?

It seems that the only reason to collect these covers is the same reason to buy the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition.

And that's not meant to be an insult. It's an observation I made over a decade ago as covers become more focused on poster type covers and even more importantly, having hot women on them.

[VintageComics]

11 hours ago, TwoPiece said:

Was Alex Ross the 1st to design characters in a "realistic" fashion? Serious question.

Neal Adams?

Sometimes it felt like Adams was light boxing a photograph, his illustrations looked so real (and photo-like).

[VintageComics]

8 hours ago, FSF said:

II'm in my mid 40s if that helps.

I'm in my late 40's. Now get off my lawn.

 

[VintageComics]

3 hours ago, DavidTheDavid said:

Style and trend aren't the same thing. I'm unconvinced that this is a trend. Pinups, which is essentially what Artgerm is doing and @Turtle discussed, certainly aren't new. There are GGA collectors here who go nuts for busty 40s and 50s covers; what's wrong with modern readers liking the modern equivalent?

It's interesting to note that pin-up covers were at their most popular both then and now, when Super-heroes (and comics in general) struggled to find a popular theme (ie. what sells). So they resorted to putting pin-up women on them.

 

[FSF]

53 minutes ago, VintageComics said:

And you sound like your opinion is the only one that matters.

 

You're the one making comments about how "ludicrous" it is because YOU don't like even though the market seems just fine with it and somehow I'm the one who thinks my opinion is the only one that matters.  Get a clue.

[bc]

[DavidTheDavid]

11 minutes ago, FSF said:

You're the one making comments about how "ludicrous" it is because YOU don't like even though the market seems just fine with it and somehow I'm the one who thinks my opinion is the only one that matters.  Get a clue.

I don't have a bone to pick here, but is this worth your energy?

[VintageComics]

3 minutes ago, FSF said:

You're the one making comments about how "ludicrous" it is because YOU don't like even though the market seems just fine with it and somehow I'm the one who thinks my opinion is the only one that matters.  Get a clue.

Boy, you are really aggressive towards me. Have we tangled in the past?

I said it was ludicrous that covers don't match what's going on inside the book. You don't think it's ludicrous that covers don't match interiors? All that matters is what's on the cover? That's fine.

May as well collect post cards.

Personally, I don't think it's healthy for the market. There are only so many different poses you can put a woman in to sell a cover before it gets dull.

 

[Supa-Bad-Mofo]

I'm not a fan. I like some of the art...some of it is bad , but it's getting ridiculous. 942 variants of every issue... virgin variants, minimalist variants, signed variants, exclusive variants...can't even really tell virgins are comics at all. 

[FSF]

1 minute ago, VintageComics said:

Boy, you are really aggressive towards me. Have we tangled in the past?

I said it was ludicrous that covers don't match what's going on inside the book. You don't think it's ludicrous that covers don't match interiors? All that matters is what's on the cover? That's fine.

May as well collect post cards.

Personally, I don't think it's healthy for the market. There are only so many different poses you can put a woman in to sell a cover before it gets dull.

 

I'm not at all aggressive toward anyone. If anything, you seem very aggressive toward me on various threads but that's fine.  I play along on whatever level anyone wants.  I already stated that I don't think it's that big of a deal.  That's why the age old saying "Don't judge a book by it's cover" was invented and will stand the test of time for the rest of humanity, regardless of what the topic is.

I think all of your opinions are fine and I have no problem with your comments.  In fact, your comment about how you think the art is good or whatever but that it plays more like a postcard is exactly the type of opinion I was trying to elicit.  The only issue I have with your comments is that the cover not tying to the story is an entirely different issue.  One worthy of discussion to be sure but it's not because this new style of art came along that we're seeing what frustrates you so much.  So once again, I'm not sure why you keep wanting to beat that dead horse.

[FSF]

9 minutes ago, DavidTheDavid said:

I don't have a bone to pick here, but is this worth your energy?

I'm in front of a computer typing.  It takes a lot less energy for me to post on the internet than just about anything else I have to do. 

[VintageComics]

1 minute ago, FSF said:

If anything, you seem very aggressive toward me on various threads but that's fine.

Read my first few posts on the first page. I was pretty chill. The word ludicrous wasn't directed at you. It was directed at the market, which collects covers with 32 extra pages attached to them.

2 minutes ago, FSF said:

The only issue I have with your comments is that the cover not tying to the story is an entirely different issue.  One worthy of discussion to be sure but it's not because this new style of art came along that we're seeing what frustrates you so much.  So once again, I'm not sure why you keep wanting to beat that dead horse.

I made the comment because I thought it was relevant. The rest of the discussion has been spurned by other posters. So I guess the 'market' has decided.

[valiantman]

52 minutes ago, Copman said:

4 hours ago, FSF said:

5 hours ago, bc said:

Can you define "caption" ? I think we are missing something.

Most comic books utilized several cover "text boxes" to prelude the contents.

Do you consider the text "Do strange sinister creatures walk among us.....in Human form?" on this cover a caption?

 

I was referring to the bubble captions of conversation. 

Show me an Action Comics from the 50s without a word/thought balloon or caption and I'll send you a prize.

How about Fantastic Four #1 and Amazing Fantasy #15 for big time books with conversation bubbles?  Did FSF really say it's a modern thing?

Edited April 23, 2019 by valiantman

[FSF]

2 minutes ago, valiantman said:

How about Fantastic Four #1 and Amazing Fantasy #15 for big time books with conversation bubbles?  Did FSF really say it's a modern thing?

No I did [not] say that.

Edited April 23, 2019 by FSF

[bc]

6 hours ago, FSF said:

I think you need the education. What I stated is complete fact.  It's not even debatable if you are referring to the use of captions.

If you are referring to the part about focusing on stories, I'm talking about for the purposes of this thread and not the medium itself.  Of course comic books need stories.  Otherwise, they'd just be prints for viewing. 

 

4 hours ago, FSF said:

I was referring to the bubble captions of conversation. 

The amount of bubble captions of conversation on covers is based on the era and genre of books that a specific individual collects. 

Here's Tales of Suspense 1-38. Being very conservative, 27 of the 38 covers have bubble captions of conversation, or 71%. I suspect the percentage gets larger as the superheroes take over.

If you only collect modern books and/or books with photo-realistic covers, I suspect the percentage is much lower.

[letsgrumble]

On 4/21/2019 at 6:08 PM, VintageComics said:

I think the bigger problem is that covers don't tie into the stories. They're poster pieces to themselves.

I think I'd like captions back on comic book covers.

It's the nature of the beast today. The disconnect between the story and the cover art derives from the need to have the cover art completed for the Previews catalog 3-4 months prior to the release of the comic book. The cover art (and brand-name writers and artists) is all retailers have to go by when pre-ordering so far in advance.