Via Rags Morales's message board is a page of the new Nightwing with him on pencils & Mike Bair on inks. I think it's pretty sweet.
But it does bring up to me the old question: can this sort of bravura classic art style still attract hoards of fans the way more abstract "flavor-of-the-month" works do?
There is some comic art that is currently hot that seem to lack all facial expression and subtlety. They belong to that classification of comics art I call "cold" -- very stylish and maybe even beautiful, but no personality.
Whereas art like Morales/Bair's seems to be built around the emotional imperative of the character or scene in question. They almost seem to be asking: "where is the character's motivation?" and take it from that point.
I call that sort of art, for lack of a better term and in the interest of contrast, "warm."
I honestly don't know what readers get from "cold" art -- other than perhaps that "wicked cool!" factor. Okay, say the overly-stylized drawing in question is "wicked cool" -- just like a car or video game character. If there is no emotional impact -- how does it serve the story? What do you get out of it?
And if you're a comic writer and a "cold" artist illustrates your book -- do you get frustrated that something is lost?
It's like you can either get Cate Blanchett or Jessica Simpson to star in your movie.
What do you think?
