Geoff Darrow

Another fantastic comic book artist, these are some pictures from the Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot series. 
His attention to detail is stunning, he cares so much for every panel and treats each one as it's own seperate piece of art.
I remember poring over these A3 comics when i was younger for hours.
I don't even want to think how long he spends on a double page spread...

Looking at Comic Books

I have since decided to follow the sequential narrative theme, so I found it fitting to look into some the layout of comic book pages, and also look more at 'splash' pages, where the whole page is dedicated to one giant image. This page is often used to establish an important character or plot point, or for maximum effect at the climax of a story. It is rare to see more than 2 splash pages per comic book, but Superman Vol 2 #75 is famous for having every page as a splash page.

Superman Vol 2 #75

"The Death of Superman" was a huge turning point in comic book history. Thought to be immortal, it is fitting that the issue showing the first superheroes death only used the entire page or both to tell each panel of the story.

I found it useful to look at this as I was unsure about fitting the text around my work. But I see now that the caption bubbles or boxes and text do not have to be that large in order to be clearly seen. In fact, in the double page spread, I find having the text small is much more effective in getting the point across. Also, as the image is so detailed and bold it is not really necessary for us to have to read the text in order to follow the plot.

 This is another fantastic double page spread for the character Spawn. I noticed in this the unconventional layout of the panels, and the white frame. My layout will be much more simple. Also due to the intensity of my drawings and the amount of detail, i think it is best if I stick to using plain black borders as to not upset the balance of light and dark in the images.

 This comic book page by Alex Pascenko on Deviantart uses the simple black borders. I do not think mine will be as perfect as these. I will hand draw the borders to keep in with the style of the illustrations.

Looking at this image really made me think about how much time, skill and effort is needed to create a comic book. Each panel is fantastically detailed and full of life, and I realise a lot of thought has to go into where each image will go and what it will show so the story if easy to follow and clear.

More artist research

Eleanor Davis

Eleanor Davis is the illustrator behind this beautiful wordless comic "The Beast Mother".
Like the previous artists she only uses a monochrome colour palette, but uses much more solid blacks rather than the line work. I can use areas of pitch black to extenuate the darkest of areas, whilst still focusing on the  line work.
Davis perfectly communicates this lovely story without words, however if I do use the graphic novel outcome i will be using words in my story as i think it requires it slightly more. It will also allow me communicate humour more easily.


Mark Wigan

These great illustrations of crowds by Wigan have made me want to create illustrations that completely take up every inch of the page.
Although I love the Marco Polo image by Gorey with it's vast amount of white space, I want there to be the minimum white space possible on the page.

Artist Research

I'll be using this blog to show the artists that have influenced me throughout the second stage of this module.


I wanted to create black and white images with a high level of detail in this project, concentrating on creating a good sense of light and dark with intricate line work.
One of the first artists of thought of who used this also was


Tom Gauld

Tom Gauld is a cartoonist and Illustrator. I first came across his work when a classmate was looking at his work.
He creates a great sense of depth and definition by just using one colour and a variety of marks.
His characters and creature are sometimes quite simple, but the intricate technique gives the work a nice complexity.
As well as his style I looked at Tom Gauld for his comic book work. One of the options on the brief  was a double page sequential narrative, and although I decided on the 5 illustration option it was good to have a back up to look up if my idea for my final piece changes.


Donn Kenn

I stumbled across this artist and was blown away by his light effects using line work much like Tom Gauld. He also uses the same blank staring eyes as featured on some of Gauls creatures. These pieces are drawn on post it notes and I think this gives the images a certain aged feel due to the colour.
Kenn uses a great range of textures, and creates great narratives, with the monsters looking as if they are scared of the children rather than vice versa.
With the large amount of marks being used, it gives the white spaces much more intensity, something I would like to experiment with.


Edward Gorey

The artists all have a similar theme with their monsters and using humour in their work. 
He is most often referred to as an illustrator but his work has also been celebrated as works of surrealist art. 
Kenn has been accused of stealing the style of Gorey, although I feel it is more a homage than outright stealing. Having said this I need to be careful to show that I have been influenced rather than copying their works.


Tim Burton

Tim Burtons drawings also just use black ink, but feel a little less refined than the above artists work due to the more scratchy pen work. these help convey the threadbare feel of his macabre creations. I would like to experiment with both the refine and scratchy methods, and see which is best for my story.


I feel my story has quite dark humour in it much like the other artists, and so feel their styles and and style would work with it.