When dabblers demand, their favorite comicsblog listens! DC Comics' artist Francis Manapul's idyllic Smallville piece from his work on Adventure Comics #1 turned out to be the best of our Saturday Picks, judging by the in box. That told us we'd better head back to the Sketch Pad and return with even more 'Manapul Magic'.
Watching an artist bring their creation to life isn't something most of us see every day. Even seeing anything other than the finished product is pretty rare. But Francis Manapul is the kind of artist who provides fans with insight into his creative process, and we've got a little of that to share with you on the blog.
Manapul, a Filipino-Canadian, made a name for himself in comic books with his four-year run on Top Cow's Witchblade. In 2007, Manapul signed exclusively with DC Comics, and recently relaunched DC's long-running Adventure Comics with writer Geoff Johns. Both Johns and Manapul will be saying good-bye to Adventure following January's Issue #6 in order to bring their same magic to another DC Comics' re-launch, 2010's much-anticipated The Flash.
As he does with his current work on Adventure, Manapul will be doing his own inks and watercolors for The Flash. And it's his use of watercolor that truly separates him from most of his contemporaries. More than that, his brushes over lines and inks convey an entirely different reader experience. Surreal, tranquil, timeless are just a few of the words that come to our mind, and they keep us coming back to Manapul's projects every time.
'Manapul Magic' (below) begins with three stages of his work depicting Krypto the Superdog for last August's Superman Secret Files. Krypto co-stars in Adventure Comics with Conner Kent (Superboy), who we get to see beside Krypto in Secret Files as well as running from a terrible Tyrannosaurus in Manapul's pencils for the cover of Adventure Comics #6. The full solicitation for Manapul's 30-page final issue of Adventure can be found at the [Link].
Our set finishes off with two of Manapul's early renderings of The Flash -- although we're not sure if it's Wally West, Barry Allen, or both! Our guess is Manapul's Flash brings in a bit of both DCU speedsters. Of course, Wally and Barry will both be seen - separately - in the new Flash title, with Wally donning a new costume for his back-up feature in that series. "The Dastardly Death of the Rogues" begins The Flash's first story arc by Geoff Johns and Francis Manapul.
If you really dig what we've got for you below, you can keep apace of Manapul anytime by visiting his website [Link] as well as his blogspot Art Journal 2.0 [Link], and always on DC Comics homepage here.
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