Friday, August 15, 2008

Swipes and Simulacra

I’m no fan of Greg Land’s. I used to be, but after his illustration of Spider-Man on an Ultimate cover was revealed to be a blatant swipe of Travis Charest’s drawing, I wasn’t anymore. I liked his stuff when he did Birds of Prey, but his more recent reference-heavy, semi-realistic look isn’t a style I’m particularly fond of. The use of photo references as a shortcut is forgivable, but that still depends on what type of pictures those are. I just don’t get why he has to trace someone else’s artwork.

It reminds me of Roger Cruz, who used to ape Joe Madureira back in the ‘90s. But he also swiped from another artist. This panel from X-Men: Omega, above left, for example, shows an image that mirrors Alan Davis’ art in Excalibur # 61, the drawing at the right. (Ironically, that’s where Phoenix says: “I have no need to steal--I am the embodiment of life.”)

Now, I think David Mack’s Kabuki is really good. But his art in New Avengers # 39 is just full of copied images. You can spot a number of Alan Davis and Adam Hughes art, just changed to look like the character Echo. The image of the heroine by Mack, above left, is an obvious copy of Hughes’ Fairchild in Ordinary Heroes # 1, opposite image.

Tsk, tsk. Ugh.

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