Greetings, airmen. As I write this, artist Rich Woodall and I are wrapping up our second 8 week Comic School. Recently the topic one night centered around the diverse styles that exists in the world of graphic storytelling. I made the comment that even after 30 years in this business, I am still surprised by the appearance of new and original approaches to comic art. After having seen lots (…and lots) of comic art over the years, one begins to identify the particular approaches new artists are using and for the most part be able to trace their particular influences. Example; the first time I saw Paul Pelletier’s artwork, it was obvious he was a fan of John Byrne. Paul’s work was very derivative of Byrne’s techniques. My own good friend, Gary Kato, is a student of the great Steve Ditko. Nothing is wrong with any of this, as all young artists learn from studying those whose work they admired. The trick is not to stay locked in that particular mode overly long in one’s career because it really is living under another’s shadow. The task, and true evidence of real artistic talent, is to grow beyond your influences and develop your own unique, fresh style.

Now every once in a while, and all too rarely at that, an artist will burst on the scene with completely new stuff right from the get go. Again, this doesn’t happen very often and when it does, I take note. It’s hard not to. That’s what happen the first time I saw John Polacek’s art. It simply blew me away because it was like nothing else I’d ever seen before. And he continues to wow me like that to this day.

A few months back I posted some of John’s pages in the Gallery section and announced he’d just signed on to do a 48 pg. Brother Grim comic with me and writer Chris Mills. (note..go check those out and the new pieces I’ve added this past week) When I first suggested John to Chris for this job, he was unaware of John’s skills. Now, with 22 pages of that project under his belt, John is having the same affect on Chris he’s had on me all along.
Both of us are just stunned by what he is producing on a weekly basis. John’s art is dark, moody and just plain different..and I mean that in a good way. The concept of the story is a tale of murder and intrigue all set against the background of a 40ish city known as Port Nocturne. Chris says John is making it look like a classic black and white classic Warner Brothers gangster movie from the 40s and I couldn’t agree more.

In about two weeks or so, Chris is going to start posting the story at his site (www.SupernaturalCrime.com) and will continue to do so until is is finished. At which time we’ll have it printed up. Neither of us has any doubts it will be picked up by a publisher, not after they see John’s work. So stay tuned, airmen, and I’ll announce when the postings start so you can enjoy this tale from page #1. Meanwhile check out these sample panels and see why I’m so bloody thrilled to be working with this young man. It’s just great comics!

Take care and have a great week, Ron and over and out.