Well, whaddya know - a non KB-oriented entry. Woot! \o/
But seriously - I've been meaning to post on this for several days, just haven't gotten around to it (lazy and/or otherwise occupied).
Mainly, I just wanted a place to toot Jo Chen's horn (no, not that way - minds out of the gutter, people), regarding her outstanding work on the ongoing issues of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8. I believe I posted a bit on this late last year, but for those who may have been under a pop-culture rock the last 6 months or so, this is the comic book continuation of the TV show canon established by the end of season seven, the storylines of which are being overseen and "executive produced" by creator Joss Whedon. He's even writing many of the issues himself, including the already established five-issue first arc "The Long Way Home".
Georges Jeanty has been the penciller/illustrator of all the issues, while Jo Chen is the artist who has been tapped by Joss to illustrate covers for every monthly issue (so far, and continuing indefinitely). Jeanty does fine work, and has drawn the variant covers for each issue, but his interpretations are more typical of comic-style caricatures, with only a passing real resemblance to the TV characters at certain times. To me, Jo Chen's work is where the awe comes in. She's been able to capture a real likeness in the characters to the actors who portrayed them, while still giving them her own artistic personality. And since she doesn't have to illustrate the script of each issue, her covers give a nice one-shot image that is at once intriguing and epic in scope and feel.
The second arc of season eight, "No Future for You" is beginning this month, with an emphasis on Faith and her own drama. It's being written by Brian K. Vaughan, with pencilling and covers still done by Jeanty and Chen, respectively. That said, covers for the next few issues have also been pre-released, so I'm going to try and link images here for issues 1-9, as well as the collected trade paperbacks for each mini-arc, because they are all stellar. The links are direct to images, but I'll still put it all under a cut to shorten f-lists just a bit:
To top that off, I've been emailing Jo back and forth the last few weeks, after I saw a message on her MySpace page that she had some limited edition art for sale - mainly, giclees of some of these covers. Needless to say I jumped on asking her what was available, and that I would be interested for sure. I just got what I ordered from her in the mail on Saturday, and may post a separate entry for actual snapshots of the items. But included in the group were numbered and autographed giclees of covers for issues 2, 3, and 6 (I already have two lithographs of the #1 cover - one signed by Jo, and another signed by her and Joss). In addition, she sent me two never-for-sale promo posters - a mini 11" x 17" promo from the New York Comic Con of the TPB #1 cover, and a 22" x 34" promo from ComiCon in San Diego of the issue #2 cover (Buffy and Xander - my 'ship!).
I already have frames for the giclees, and will try to get the other two framed ASAP. Again, perhaps more pictures of those to follow later.
And issue #6 comes out today - to be at my comic shop tomorrow, due to Labor Day delay. I'll be there.
Kristen Bell is awesome.
But seriously - I've been meaning to post on this for several days, just haven't gotten around to it (lazy and/or otherwise occupied).
Mainly, I just wanted a place to toot Jo Chen's horn (no, not that way - minds out of the gutter, people), regarding her outstanding work on the ongoing issues of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8. I believe I posted a bit on this late last year, but for those who may have been under a pop-culture rock the last 6 months or so, this is the comic book continuation of the TV show canon established by the end of season seven, the storylines of which are being overseen and "executive produced" by creator Joss Whedon. He's even writing many of the issues himself, including the already established five-issue first arc "The Long Way Home".
Georges Jeanty has been the penciller/illustrator of all the issues, while Jo Chen is the artist who has been tapped by Joss to illustrate covers for every monthly issue (so far, and continuing indefinitely). Jeanty does fine work, and has drawn the variant covers for each issue, but his interpretations are more typical of comic-style caricatures, with only a passing real resemblance to the TV characters at certain times. To me, Jo Chen's work is where the awe comes in. She's been able to capture a real likeness in the characters to the actors who portrayed them, while still giving them her own artistic personality. And since she doesn't have to illustrate the script of each issue, her covers give a nice one-shot image that is at once intriguing and epic in scope and feel.
The second arc of season eight, "No Future for You" is beginning this month, with an emphasis on Faith and her own drama. It's being written by Brian K. Vaughan, with pencilling and covers still done by Jeanty and Chen, respectively. That said, covers for the next few issues have also been pre-released, so I'm going to try and link images here for issues 1-9, as well as the collected trade paperbacks for each mini-arc, because they are all stellar. The links are direct to images, but I'll still put it all under a cut to shorten f-lists just a bit:
To top that off, I've been emailing Jo back and forth the last few weeks, after I saw a message on her MySpace page that she had some limited edition art for sale - mainly, giclees of some of these covers. Needless to say I jumped on asking her what was available, and that I would be interested for sure. I just got what I ordered from her in the mail on Saturday, and may post a separate entry for actual snapshots of the items. But included in the group were numbered and autographed giclees of covers for issues 2, 3, and 6 (I already have two lithographs of the #1 cover - one signed by Jo, and another signed by her and Joss). In addition, she sent me two never-for-sale promo posters - a mini 11" x 17" promo from the New York Comic Con of the TPB #1 cover, and a 22" x 34" promo from ComiCon in San Diego of the issue #2 cover (Buffy and Xander - my 'ship!).
I already have frames for the giclees, and will try to get the other two framed ASAP. Again, perhaps more pictures of those to follow later.
And issue #6 comes out today - to be at my comic shop tomorrow, due to Labor Day delay. I'll be there.
Kristen Bell is awesome.
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