Wednesday, December 07, 2011

Conan 11 preview

Hey!

There's a new preview for Conan 11 online, which you can see here.

And, as always, here are some of the pencils for you process junkies that like to compare the pencils to the finished product.







Enjoy!

Best,
Mike


4 comments:

Patrick said...

Again, nice stuff. Looking forward to the issue coming out when I get to the store!

Mike Hawthorne said...

Thanks, Pat!

Mike

Charles R. Rutledge said...

Tell you what I like about these pages, Mike, aside from the obvious great drawing. It's your skill for visual storytelling. First page is very cinematic. I could see that in a movie. Guy is getting roughed up and Conan appears to have bypassed the situation. Close up to goon making threats. Shadow appears behind him. Huge hands grab goon's head and... snap.

Second page. Quick cuts to trash talking bad guys, Conan's reaction, and Conan's hand on sword. Conan explodes into action.

I could go on about each page. The bits of business with the waitress and the guy trying to pinch her. Conan checking out the curvy backside of the short-haired bar wench. (And who can blame him?) but what impresses me so much, I think, is the clarity of the storytelling and the expressive nature of the faces. A reader could just about follow this without captions of dialog. I don't throw comparisons with Will Eisner around lightly, but I think he would have approved of these pages.
Oh, kudos also for the individual nature of each character in the tavern. No cookie cutter faces and figures here. Each character has a distinctive face and personality. Great stuff.

Mike Hawthorne said...

Wow, you honor me man! Thank you! I try like hell to work each page, tell the story, and make everyone feel like their own person. Usually, it's lost on people. I don't do flashy artwork at the expense of the story, which seems par for the course in comics. So I'm always flattered when someone picks up on it. Thank you!

mike