Comments on: Whoa Nellie

By: Joe Willy

Joe Willy — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 00:00:54 +0000

I noticed the ballons on black thing a long time ago as well. I think part of it may just be depth of field. I’ve always loved the pure abstract rhythm Jaime creates on a page. You can just blur your eyes and everything still looks harmonious and pleasing.

Also, in regard to the doing things right so young, I think part of it was studying the right mix of influences. From Byrne they got food figure drawing and storytelling, from Wood lighting for emotional effect & use of black, from Ketchum (especially Jaime) they got that beautiful abstract simplicity and from Archie Comics & Dan DeCarlo the use of cartoon “sterotyping” and character interaction (and also some of the special visual effects Jaime uses are straight from Ketchum and DeCarlo)- at least that’s what I see.

By: DerikB

DerikB — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 12:40:18 +0000

Now that (balloons against black) is something I’m going to have to look for!

By: Leigh Walton

Leigh Walton — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 11:05:32 +0000

I should also note that Jaime (possibly Beto too, but I haven’t studied him as closely) doesn’t like to put word balloons against white, so a large part of the shadowing is probably just giving his balloons something to contrast with!

By: Leigh Walton

Leigh Walton — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 11:03:27 +0000

Jaime’s been doing this (i.e. geometric placement of blacks) since the very beginning — perhaps not with the same degree of facility, but I’ve seen him drape odd abstract blacks across the tops of panels as early as “100 Rooms.” They’re fantastic for directing the reader’s eye and adding little emotional subtleties to scenes, as well as helping shape the macro-level look of a page.

I swear, I look at early Love & Rockets and I just can’t wrap my head around how many brilliant things those guys were doing simultaneously. It’s gotta be instinct — a human couldn’t consciously hold all that stuff in his head at once!