Simon Bisley will be providing internal as well as his regular cover art gig on Hellblazer 259 & 260
Too wild to be contained on the cover, fan-favorite artist Simon Bisley has worked his way to the insides of two issues of HELLBLAZER! First up, John Constantine is on the run, lying low and short on friends. Luckily the wife of his oldest mate Chas inherited a quiet summer cottage where Constantine can hide out until things blow over. At least he thought it was luck...
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The last Biz comic books I read were, oooooh, ages ago. That "Shhhh the Dog" schtick and Heavy Metal Dredd kinda confirmed what his godawful Lobo stuff had suggested to me.
But "Black Hole" and "Horned God" still hold massive places in my heart. And of course, Constantine is THE MAN.
I'm in two minds, but then I've not read Hellblazer since Warren Ellis' excellent run was cut short to be replaced by some guff in America....
I've really not been impressed with Bisley's covers for this, but I got the new issue today and the interior art is really nice. There's a tendency to give Constantine bulging pecs, but it's alright as long as he keeps his coat on but the drawing and shading is ace.
There's also an unexpected Vertigo/Milligan crossover reference which appears pointless now, but who knows what it might herald in the future.
Quote from: The Cosh on 27 September, 2009, 08:56:40 PM
There's a tendency to give Constantine bulging pecs, but it's alright as long as he keeps his coat on but the drawing and shading is ace.
Ha! I wish more non-superhero characters in comics were drawn looking more normal with a less idealized body type, but I realize it's never going to happen so long as artists find anatomy so interesting and reality so boring, and fans generally want to see the sort of artwork that depicts Men Like Gods.
Sean Phillips' run on Hellblazer was AMAZING.
I loved it particularly when you saw him in his pants (easy guys) and, lo and BEHOLD, he had slight moobage and a gut - like most men of his age (particularly ones like JC who sit on their arses smoking and drinking all day). Nice to see comics not always being about perfect, beautiful people having teenagey angstyness.
Read some of Mike Carey's stuff from the library since my last post and managed to pick a few of his trades up - excellent stuff. I'll be coming back to this title - even if Bisley is on the cover and Milligan is inside. *yawn*
Current Hellblazer is surprisingly good IMHO, apart from Bisley's covers, which are... overblown, to my eyes at least. I'm not looking forward to seeing him take up more space. Still, as RAC recently said on the Big Mouth podcast, there are flashes of brilliance, so maybe I'll be amazed.
I too have been catching up on my Hellblazer, and the real surprise for me was Diggle's run. He picked up the title from where it lay in a complete hole, perfectly re-worked Delano's first issue as a new starting point and told a sequence of fun original tales that worked well individually and as a series. And he didn't have to wipe out the whole of Glasgow to do it.
I recently read two of the trades of Diggle's run and loved it, he really had ahold of the character. Really reccommended if you haven't read it!
I'm gonna be picking these up just for the Bisley art personally.
Still a huge fan, just love his stuff.
If he's managed to nail that "everyone looks like they're going to see Maiden at the Milton Keynes Bowl" problem of his, I'd love him too. So vibrant and energetic - it's impossible not to like his work, I just reckon I could like it more.
Ok.
My Hellblazer re-read has confirmed a few things. What everyone's saying about Andy Diggle's run is dead on the money - it's bloody genius. Mike Carey's run was brilliant too, in a different way (the only down point was that supposed "proper" writer who did two collections' worth between him and Diggle - not very good but some good ideas and nice moments, enough to keep me reading). Brian Azarello's run was not just "some guff in America" as I thought at the time, it's cracking. One of the highlights of the series and I should have put my annoyance at Ellis' excellent run being cut unfairly short to one side (although they REALLY shouldn't have pulled that issue). Even the down points on this title have resulted in some good writing and, less often, good art.
But more pertinently to the purpose of THIS thread, I've had my preconceptions beaten like a ginger mule. Simon Bisley's interior art has reminded me why I loved his work so much WAAAAAY back in the day. Yeah, Con-Job's a bit too ripped and everything's a little too "overblown" but for atmosphere, storytelling and sheer "prettiness" I have to say all my preconceptions about this sucking hard have been slapped down. Still not quite loving his covers, but damn he can draw and that's a good thing to be reminded of. The appearance of a Shade character might just be Milligan reminding people of past "triumphs" (never cottoned to Shade personally) or, as someone else said, a pointer to future excitement.
Anyway, I'd long ago dropped ALL monthly comics as I knew I'd pick up the trades of the titles I loved anyway. But I've now gotten into this and will find it tough to NOT pick up the next issue. Thanks Milligan, you got past my previous (dislike is a strong word, but I'd always been wary of his name on a credit) and made me buy something twice - as a monthly ongoing comic and (eventually) a trade. Git!
So you're saying the Biz, at least for these issues, is back to form, Mr. Glowdy?
I've long defended Biz - enjoyed his Lobo work - but after recently picking up "Fistful of Blood" and his TMNT book, I came to the way of thinking that all of his detractors were right - he's lost it. That work was bloody aweful.
As I said, I've not touched monthly American comics for YEARS AND YEARS (and you'd have to beat the tar out of me to get me to even LOOK at TMNT, yeah I know it was an edgy independent comic before it was a kids toy franchise/cheap and nasty cartoon but those things have severely coloured my judgement) so I can't speak as to whether or not he's improved in RECENT times. But I will say I've ALWAYS preferred his energetic line work to his, sometimes, static-looking painting (only sometimes, mind, often he managed to get movement into his painted art and THEN he's unbeatable).
Not quite up there with The Black Hole, but it's a good thing to see him using ink rather than paint (no idea if it's real or virtual). Just two issues, presumably to see if he can still cut it as a storyteller. He can.
I'd recommend a looky, Locust.
Thanks Mike. Will do next time I'm at the olde comic shoppe.
I hear you about the TMNT, but I was lucky enough to have caught on when the comics first hit the stores - so I love 'em (at least the first 20 or so issues before Eastman and Laird simply became the stewards of a shameless moneymaker).
I simply cannot understand why the Sean Phillips/Paul Jenkins run seems to be the only Hellblazer material to not be collected: Just on the art alone, Sean Phillips is clearly the best of the Hellblazer artists, bringing the darkness lacking from Dillon's art...while Jenkins' scripts are simply excellent - good supporting characters and ideas, the stories where they go on a day trip to 'Abaton', when he meets his father in Hell, and the forth wall-breaking final Phillips' story standing out in particular. What's more, I've read the first Hellblazer issues (by Jamie Delano) andf found them largely boring and pretentious - far too much rambling cod-poetic monologues, and what made them decicide to send him into cyberspace is beyond me (though his later 'Slag the Monkey' issue is genius). I can only assume Garth Ennis (who's issues I have yet to read) established some storylines and supporting characters that people missed, despite Dillon being an unsuitable artist for the strip.
I got the first couple of Diggle episodes and saw he seemed to be taking it into his trademark crime and underworld direction I'm not too keen on - does that carry on or should I catch up with those? Also am I the only one who liked Bisley's Lobo more than anything else of his? Slaine just looked muddly and unfinished after a while while it really looked like he was in his element with the knockabout violent fun of Lobo... and indeed Heavy Metal Dredd.
To be honest, the Sean Phillips episodes towards the end of Delano's run are brilliant. 'The Dead Boy's Heart' made me wish that Sean had drawn everything after Ridgway. Sometimes an artist feeds back into the loop and inspires the writer in unexpected ways, and I really feel that Phillips could have done that on Hellblazer.
I'd pay good money to see John Smith and Sean Phillips do a couple of years on Hellblazer. I'd take Charlie Adlard or Pete Doherty on art as an alternative.
Cheers
Jim
Do you think it's a coinincidence that Glenn Fabry used to do the Hellblazer covers?
I saw a bloke who looked a bit like Simon Bisley today on the District Line. But I don't think it was actually him. Sorry for mentioning it.
:-[
Just finished reading issue #260 "The Long Crap Friday".
Brilliant stuff. Art and writing top notch.
My opinions on Bisley and his art are well know, but I have to say that his work on this book is some of the best I've ever seen from him.
It proves he can do it when he wants to!
Which makes all the overblown muscly Iron Maiden roadies that populate his work otherwise all the more annoying. Proof, finally, that the man can draw as well as he could on The Black Hole. Someone should take his paints off him, he's SO much better with a pen.
After two issues of lovely interior art, the new issue (261) has an absolutely spiffing Bisley cover. Possibly because it's of a fucking great monster rather than an angular person walking down the street. To be honest, I hadn't been too impressed with Milligan's take so far but, again, this issue is a bit of a blinder. Everything's brighter, more interesting, more vibrant and more vaguely reminiscent of Rogan Josh.
Nice one.
Yeah, I'm liking the art, too. Sadly, I'm finding the story a bit dull but Hellblazer's one of those comics you have to read a few of in one go. I'll get to it.
- Trout
I read the first of his trades, "Scab" the other day. I was surprised at how good it was. It's not Delano/Ennis/Campbell/Jenkins/Ellis/Azarello/Carey/Diggle standard in my book, but at least it's not as bad as the scottish woman's stuff (which, to be fair, wasn't completely dreadful - just not that great, which was a surprise as Constantine's only ever had a few bad writers - and most of them didn't do much).
As you say, Trout, Constantine works best in a run of issues. Which is the reason I usually wait for the trades.
Hmm, I'm generally not a great fan of Bisley, but I thought he did a really great job on 260 - seems like he can still genuinely deliver.
The story in 261, however... I know it's only the first part, but Miligan's "look, it's India!" stuff was horribly heavy handed. The Mumbai cops' expository dialogue reminded me of nothing more than Spiderman in Belfast. Bit of a let down after the skin-eating goodness of recent months.
Quote from: TordelBack on 26 November, 2009, 10:50:29 PMSpiderman in Belfast.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQJrovKgrTw (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQJrovKgrTw)
;D
In this new 2-part storyline, Constantine
reluctantly becomes embroiled in a group of
anarcho punks who worship a powerful effigy of
Sid Vicious. Complicating matters further is an
alchemist and a violent group of extreme
political fixers. Featuring guest Art by Simon Bisley!
(http://i601.photobucket.com/albums/tt99/flipray09/14410_400x600.jpg)
Although not on sale until March.
filip