Sunday, January 23, 2011

2010 "Manhunter from Mars" by ~joseph

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I love this piece. The darkness, the desolation and the sense of sorrow here feel unique to J'Onn J'Onzz, and I like how the colorful costume of a super-hero clashes with his being and surroundings. You can't plug anyone else in and have this work, and working beautifully is what this does.

~joseph also offers an insightful look at Power Girl, so check it out.

9 comments:

Tom Hartley said...

Not many comics artists realize that a pin-up can do more than show everybody's hero looking heroic, that it can reveal something about the character. But then, few comics WRITERS can see the humanity in their characters, so why should we expect better from the artists?

mathematicscore said...

Just to be devil's advocate, I'd say we see too much of this side of J'onn. It's been the basis for most of his solo stories.

To beat a dead horse (in an attempt to bring it to life), I'd love to see more of the pulpy, barbarian aspect to go with the sensitive, existential side.

Diabolu Frank said...

M.C., I'm going to side with Tom on this. It isn't that this isn't overdone in comic stories, but it's rarely done so well. There were plenty of maudlin Superman stories before "Whatever Happened To The Man Of Steel," but hot dang, that was a good'un!

LissBirds said...

Maybe it's just my computer, but his cape is showing up periwinkle.

I'll trade sensitivity for vulnerability. A true noir protagonist needs a good dose of something which can be preyed upon. And not the rebuild Mars "temptation" doesn't count.

mathematicscore said...

Granted. This really is a beaut.

Tom Hartley said...

I also think J'Onn's writers should give Mars a rest. That's not the point. It's the sense of humanity in this picture I like. Here's an artist who can give his characters an inner life. That the drawing takes place on Mars is irrelevant. I'm not looking at the background; I'm looking at the guy in the foreground. You know, the SUBJECT of the picture.

Diabolu Frank said...

His collar has a goiter, and I can't stop looking at it.

LissBirds said...

Oh, I have no problem with him flying around Mars from time to time if he needs to. I didn't make that clear enough in my comment. It's my monitor's color balance that's driving me more nuts. Actually, I'm starting to like the periwinkle cape...

will_in_chicago said...

There is a sense of a haunted hero, which is something that separates J'Onn from Superman and is one thing that several others in the DC universe understand. The image conveys the sense of someone desperately looking for something and not finding it. Very good art work.