Sketchblog Week 7: Keith Giffen

Each week, I try to carve out time to spend one hour a day sketching, building up a set of skills that should, we all hope, show improvement over a one-year period. Sometimes I'll draw by copying comic book artists, sometimes I'll draw from life, sometime I'll draw from how-to books, and other times, I'll just sketch with whatever is at hand. This is WEEK SEVEN of a 52 week experiment to see how well I can learn how to draw.


I could draw like mid-to-late 1980's Keith Giffen all day, every day. I love this stuff. This week's study comes from "Dr. Fate," a four-issue miniseries published in 1987, with art and covers by Keith Giffen.

I can't help wondering how much this comic influenced Todd McFarlane. Look at the way Giffen draws capes here. Look at the teeth in the upper left (and this miniseries is all about gods of order and chaos and lots and lots of giant teeth -- Kent Nelson even has a giant-toothed mouth in his belly for most of the story). This comic debuted during the same month as McFarlane's first issue of "Detective Comics," and about a year before Venom made his first appearance. It doesn't seem like McFarlane could have seen this comic before he started drawing Batman's cape with a zillion folds, shooting out in an expressionistic way, but the similarities are obvious. Maybe Giffen drew something else cape-heavy before this (though I can't think of what), or maybe they were inspired by Michael Golden's capes. I don't know.

What I do know is that Giffen's work in this Dr. Fate comic is some of my favorite art in any comic ever, ever, ever. It was a joy to sketch some studies of this stuff.

I had the most success once I just went straight into inks after roughing out some basic shapes. That's how I sketched the most detailed image on the top left: big, blocky shapes, then all rendering with pen and brush and sharpie. I love the look of it, and though the purpose of this year-long experiment isn't to fall in love with my own drawings but to learn and improve, I can't help but see how much the attention to detail -- and the layering of blacks and whites -- adds a sense of depth to what is an incredibly odd, almost abstract, but beautiful composition.

Yeah, man, I could wallow in this Keith Giffen glory forever. And I didn't even look at any Ambush Bug comics this week.

NEXT WEEK: I'm open to suggestions! Someone scratchy, maybe. Cowan? Sienkiewicz?

Sketchblog Week 6: Nothin' Doin'

Yeah, I didn't sketch at all last week. Well, that's not exactly true. I did draw out some character sketches for a top-secret project Television's Ryan Callahan and I will be working on in 2011. But I didn't draw any Keith Giffen sketches like I wanted to.

Too much Christmasing! I'll be back next week with some studies of Giffen!

Ambush Bug: Year None #4

Recently reviewed by me at CBR: Ambush Bug: Year None #4 about which I write the following sentences: "Issue #4 isn't just a parody of '52' -- although it is that -- but it's a joke-filled attack on the DiDio reign, and/or the fan perception of it. Comic book fans are certainly not spared Giffen and Fleming's wrath, although it's certainly a blunt-edged wrath, kind of like getting punched in the face by a giant Ambush Bug-embroidered pillow. It's all in good fun, and because of Giffen's willingness to offend everyone, he gets away with it."

Read the entire review HERE.

Ambush Bug: Year None #2

Recently reviewed by me at CBR: Ambush Bug: Year None #2, about which I write the following sentences: "So I winced a bit every few pages, and I'm sure that's the point. But I think Ambush Bug, as a character and as a concept, works best when he's goofing on DC's ridiculous continuity, or lack thereof. And some of those bits are quite amusing, like when Ambush Bug proudly adopts the mantle of Rick Starr, Space Ranger. Or when he confronts the maniacal Go-Go Chex. Or when he asks Ted Kord for an autograph at an inopportune time (hmm, he seems to be having some kind of argument with Maxwell Lord, I wonder what -- oh my god, NOOOOOOO!!!). Luckily the 'Comics Code Authority' sticker jumps into the panel to protect us from the gore, yelling 'not in front of the children.' That stuff, I like. Maybe you'll find the gay jokes funnier. There's something to offend everyone, really."

Read the entire review HERE.

Keith Giffen's Blue and Gold

I haven't seen anyone else talking about this, but then again I haven't been really looking: Did you know that Keith Giffen wrote the newest issue of Justice League Unlimited (issue #43)? It came out last Wednesday, and although I occasionally pick up the comic to read to my kids (depending on how many other kids comics come out that week--usually anything Power Pack or Teen Titans Go!-related takes precedence), I totally missed this last issue because I had no idea it was something special: Keith Giffen returning to write a Blue Beetle/Booster Gold story. If you don't think that's a big deal, then you are a heartless human being.


In the story, Booster and Beetle attempt to show the Justice League how awesome they are so they can join up and, as the page here indicates, "cash in!" You really can't go wrong with Giffen on this duo, and the animated-series-style artwork fits the tone of a Giffen Justice League story perfectly. There's even a nice moment or two as Batman tries to keep Booster and Beetle's heads from swelling too much.

It's a fun comic, and you probably missed it when it first came out. I know I did.