There are few new comics on shelves today as many shops, distributors, and publishers remain closed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. While the absence of new issues may be disappointing, it doesn’t leave comics fans without recourse. Artists from across the energy have continued to work on future projects and many have begun posting sketches and commissions from home.
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While quarantine measures remain in effect, ComicBook.Com will be assembling a weekly round up of favorite new pieces posted to social media by comics artist. Each shared sketch will also include a recommendation and links for readers to further explore each artist’s work. We hope this will help fans discover new artists and find some books to order from their local comic book store.
So without any further ado, here are some of our favorite sketches from the past week along with information and links on where to find more work (available today!) from these incredible comic book artists.
Matías Bergara
Bergara’s evocation of fantastical worlds, like the one found in Coda, sets his comics apart from every other artist working in the medium today. This commission of a good, old-fashioned superhero throwdown between Spider-Man and Venom reveals that how his watercolors can also bring new life to a more familiar genre and characters, as well. A Bergara one-shot at Marvel would certainly be something to behold.
Daniel Warren Johnson
This commission returns Johnson, a consummate storyteller, to one of his most celebrated works in Extremity. The depth and detail present in this bird’s eye view of an urban landscape below is present in all of his recent work. It’s what makes family war stories in a sci-fi world like this and work at larger publishers, like in Wonder Woman: Dead Earth, leap out as must-read titles.
Jason Latour
If you’re not watching The Last Dance on ESPN, you’re missing out. Latour’s depictions of many of the central personalities in the Chicago Bulls’ dual threepeats in the 90s shows his keen eye for clearly presenting a human with only a few lines and an even keener eye for acknowleding who the essential players are (with Krause’s inclusion right at the heart of this sketch).
Jim Lee
Jim Lee’s many drawings donated to benefit local comic book stores continue to produce some of the best artwork from this quarantine. His take on the original Silk Spectre honors one of superhero comics’ essential works and Dave Gibbons’ outstanding design, without needing to “add” any more to the story.
Matt Lesniewski
It’s much easier to say that the Green Goblin is deranged than it is to show that adjective in a drawing, but this depiction of Spider-Man’s greatest foe leaves no doubt about his mental state (and plenty of fear). It’s a wonderful use of exaggeration, as the elongated form fills up the entirety of the page and appears ready to reach out and cause all sorts of havoc.
Jim Mahfood
If you want to explain the value of a great inker, it’s much easier to show someone the results than just tell them about it. Jim Mahfood’s inking of Batman as drawn by Walt Simonson is a perfect example of this. Simonson’s energy and forms are still present, but this is unmistakably the work of Mahfood as well with kinetic inks and generous additions creating something radical and new.
Ed McGuinness
I think one of the best terms available to describe McGuinness’ style is timeless. When he combines two icons dating back to the Golden Age—Captain America and Wonder Woman—they both appear in a fashion that would be as compelling now as they might have in the 1970s or in far future issues. His sense of design and composition are some of the most inviting in all of superhero comics today.
Mike Mignola
Mignola was working on a truly strange series of figures with plant-like heads this week, then drafted and colored the best of the lot for a Mother’s Day commemoration. While Mignola is most associated with his work surrounding the character Hellboy, quick designs like this serve as a reminder as to how expansive his imagination is.
Drew Moss
Drew Moss continues to compose some stunning portraits of comic book characters on an almost daily basis; I highly recommend following his Instagram. This deep cut is from the Valiant Entertainment series Divinity, in which a soviet astronaut obtains god-like powers. Just glancing at this composition, I’m ready to dive back into one of Valiant’s best series since its revival.
Michael Avon Oeming
Oeming is focused on a diverse array of comics offering, producing some of the strangest and most delightful stories available in the past several years. However, it’s always nice to see a great artist play the classics, so this combination of Walker from Powers (and Thor) is a great callback to work that Oeming first empowered with his bold linework decades ago.
Humberto Ramos
Sometimes artists most popular work fix their style in the public’s eye. Ramos’ Spider-Man is iconic—a perfectly lanky hero in constant motion—yet the artist is far more flexible. This quick look at a big bad wolf and fairytale-inspired heroine are clearly his, and stand apart from the best-selling Marvel comics that made Ramos a big name. It just goes to show there’s a lot of great work still to be discovered in Ramos’ career.
John K. Snyder III
John K. Snyder III isn’t a name you often see on the interiors of big two comics now, but he drafted some of my favorite issues from the 1980s and 90s, including some stellar work on Suicide Squad. This commission of a classic Detective Comics cover featuring the first appearance of the Mad Monk shows how multi-talented an artist Snyder III is as he continues to adapt new approaches in commissions and comics work, alike.
Artyom Trakhanov
This drawing featuring the deadly prostitutes of Frank Miller’s Sin City reminded me how excited I am to finally receive more of Protector from Image Comics. Trakhanov summons the dirt and corruption of noir here, every bit as well as in a dystopian, far future in his current project. Wherever he takes his style next, you can be sure it’s worth following.
Gabriel Hernández Walta
Most comics readers are already very familiar with Walta’s rendition of The Vision (and his co-creation of the family dog Sparky), but this particular take inspired by Herge’s Tintin is bound to bring out a new smile. Not only is the allusion clear, but the conflicting tones of the two series creates a dark sense of humor beneath the joyous surface.
Skottie Young
The announcement that Sweet Tooth will be produced as a Netflix series excited plenty of comics creators and fans alike this week. Skottie Young showcased his affection for the series in a low-key tribute that captures the mood of the original work so well. While Young may be best known for his sense of humor, this reminds readers he’s capable of telling all sorts of stories, sometimes in a single panel.
