The Four Color Media Monitor

Hawaii News Now spoke with artist David Nakayama, the kind of artist who's doing work mainly on covers, while talk of the interiors is marginalized, as could surely be expected:

When it comes to comic books, it’s clear the cover sells the story.

If you want to know what makes for great cover art, ask an artist.

”Action always helps, and I think it’s important to have one big central, focused character for you to grab onto,” said Hawaii’s David Nakayama.

He is one of the trade’s most sought-after cover artists. Marvel just published a book featuring his work, and he is very busy.

”Well, at the moment I’m lucky to be working on Wonder Woman and Harley Quinn covers for DC,” he said. “Over at Marvel, I’ve got two X-Men books coming up.”

He’s also drawing the covers for Transformers comics, and Hasbro hired him to design the boxes for their superhero toys.

His art may be great, but to say the cover alone sells the story? That's awfully naive, and if the interior art pales horribly, doesn't that make it a ripoff? I also find the citation of Harley Quinn quite a turnoff, because he's perpetuating the marketing of an emphasis on baddies.

He has this advice for artists who’d love to see their work splashed across the front of a superhero’s story.

”The reality we face as artists now is that your work just has to be that good. You have to be in the upper 10 percent and just stand out. But once you do, people will find you,” he said.

Well doesn't that apply to interior artwork as much as exterior? In the past decade alone, Marvel/DC began hiring artists whose "talents" were mediocre or just plain dreadful, all for drawing the interiors. And there are, no doubt, more companies that did the same. Whether that's improved of recent is debatable, but the writing most certainly hasn't, and certainly isn't organic or plausible. All this lavishing spotlights upon artists has done nothing to improve fortunes or focus on the interior. It even reminds me of how, when the 1st Captain Marvel movie came out 6 years ago, some press sources were careful not to make use of the illustrations of Carol Danvers that made her look horrifically masculine. If a cover artist today were drawing something that poor, chances are they wouldn't have a word to say about such an artist.

And again, these sugary spotlights on cover artists have served as little more than an excuse not to comment on the overall quality in any part of the modern medium and industry. It's a shame, and only demonstrates the continued unreliability of the mainstream press.

Labels: dc comics, indie publishers, licensed products, marvel comics, msm propaganda