There's been some great Jack Kirby characters (apparently Stan lee had something to do with them? This could just be a rumour though.), but I remember reading some old UK annual with marvel reprints (found it in the local tip, ah those were the days) and discovering The Inhumans, or rather Blackbolt, and being seriously impressed. His origin is brilliant, born into the royalty of a society of superpowered people Blackbolt's power was strength, flying, yadda yadda, but his real trick was that the slightest whisper from him could decimate buildings, so his first cry when he was born killed his mother and father, and a fair chunk of their home. From then on BB had to keep quiet if he didn't want to cause serious damage, giving him a real sense of sadness and dignity.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
BlackBolt
There's been some great Jack Kirby characters (apparently Stan lee had something to do with them? This could just be a rumour though.), but I remember reading some old UK annual with marvel reprints (found it in the local tip, ah those were the days) and discovering The Inhumans, or rather Blackbolt, and being seriously impressed. His origin is brilliant, born into the royalty of a society of superpowered people Blackbolt's power was strength, flying, yadda yadda, but his real trick was that the slightest whisper from him could decimate buildings, so his first cry when he was born killed his mother and father, and a fair chunk of their home. From then on BB had to keep quiet if he didn't want to cause serious damage, giving him a real sense of sadness and dignity.
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7 comments:
Not heard of this character ! Cool piccy though !!!
Black Bolt is a great character idea, and a great design. I like what you've done here with the plain black and white; it makes for a very stark and effective image. I do think you've perhaps made him a bit too lithe though; I've always imagined him being a bit bulkier than this, but I suspect that's just a personal thing.
Gasp, not heard of BB! Run, don't walk, to a comic shop and a cheap Fantastic Four collection!
Funnily enough I beefed him up a little when I inked BB. I'm not a big fan of the whole ridiculously muscular 'realistic' proportions of most superheroes so I guess I do slim them down a little - reckon my version of Spidey would look like a string bean! Couple of bulkier pics coming up though.
Oh, for some characters, it's appropriate. Spidey should be stringy and skinny, I reckon. Black Bolt specifically strikes me as being a bit bulky, but that maybe just because he's a Kirby design.
But as I say, it's just a personal thing; I think this is an ace drawing, however many pies Bolt has or hasn't eaten. :)
Sidey should definitely be skinny, he could be trimmed down in the films IMHO. Glad you like the pic BTW, bit worried it looked too stark (the less detailed the pic the more I tend to (re)draw and worry if it's right, seems silly when it's just odd stuff I post here, but then I'm doing this to build my confidence), but decided to just go for it, which is why the white areas don't even have outlines.
At the risk of inflating your ego, the stark simplicity of the picture is a bit Frank Miller, I think. You know how he'd draw a hero in the simplest possible way, all in black with just their chest logo and eyes showing? Like that. I really like that grahpic look.
Ha, don't worry I keep myself humble by mixing with regular folk:)
Cheers though, I'm not a fan of Miller (not after the 1st Sin City anyway), but I appreciate the point and comparison. Mike Mignola said something similar, something like you could draw a figure in silhouette put a star on it's chest and, hey presto, it's Captain America.
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