Round 5: Public Comment Thread (Everyone else please post here!)

[Brandon Hanvey]

Please post your comments about the contestant's art here.

[Shawn333]

Charle's pages look awesome as expected. Can't wait to see what Jon has done this round.

[Hieu Le Bui]

N the winner of Idol 3 is "Charles Paul Wilson III". Love that cover dude.

[Kalyan Pokala]

No offense to Reed this week, his entry is strong...but Wilson blew him away this week.

What a disparity.

[Maresk]

Really? I'm not impressed at all by CPW. I actually think it's his weakest entry in the whole contest. Guess I simply never was into his art. I like Jon's pages better.

The best submission of all, though, was done by Caio at the Play at Home.

[Phil Clark]

I think I will skip the voting this round... neither submission overly impressed me.

[Hieu Le Bui]

I think I will skip the voting this round... neither submission overly impressed me.

That is ice cold man :cool:

Anyway, I did a cover and page one of this round just for fun in the "Play at home" thread

http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showpost.php?p=5798225&postcount=456

[Mmmmmpig]

I think I will skip the voting this round... neither submission overly impressed me.

Then vote for whomever of the 2 you feel did the best over the course of the competition.

[cg_maniac]

The best submission of all, though, was done by Caio at the Play at Home.

I think so to.

Is there any way we can vote for Caio Oliveira!!! ;)

[cg_maniac]

While I was looking at Wilson's, I was hoping that Goblin just killed the three of them, that would have been unexpected and ballsy...

Spiderman and His Amazing Friends, The Final Chapter. :D

[MartinRedmond]

Jon Reed has the best storytelling.

He's finally stopped croping so gratuitiously. Great timing, draws the best Spider-Man I've seen in years. One crit, when Spidey tosses Gravestone? , G shoul've been more to the left as the movement is a little unclear between those 2 panels. My 2nd crit/ suggestion would be that the buildings on page 4 would've been as cool if not more without the windows drawn. Sometimes, it's good to omit detail in an illustration. My 3rd crit, and this is for pretty much all the entrants is that it's missing a bit of negative space for word balloons but that's okay.

My last crit is that those pages are beyond awesome!

I'm eager to read a comic drawn and writen by him! :]

[Odinwolf]

I too, am skipping voting this time around. I am disappointed with both entries. If I were just casually browsing random comics, I would pass right over this level of artwork. Sadly, The best two storytellers/artists went home in the last round.

[joshm]

Charles did great again. The biggest problem I see with John's is the pacing in the story. It's slow and there is much of a story. John's art is a lot better this time around and I think you both should be working for the pros, if not now, very soon.

[Nick Pitarra]

Are you guys freaking kidding me? Both of the contestants did great jobs! 5 pages in less than four days? Definitely one of Jon's strongest showings, and CPW puts out a full color cover and hand letters his pages, with a cool story (complete with punchline line at the end). And you guys are complaining! If you think they did anything less than over acheive this round, I'm going to start to wonder about you guys...

But everyone one is intitled to their opinion. Charles blew me away with this entry, his stuff really comes together when he puts down the letters. Great rendering and solid fundamentals, he's got my vote!

All the best,
nick

[kamgates]

While I was looking at Wilson's, I was hoping that Goblin just killed the three of them, that would have been unexpected and ballsy...

Hah, that'd be fun. I know people were supposed to keep the same three characters, but I'm surprised that everyone (Caio included actually..:rolleyes: ) just did their version of an episode from the old show as opposed to a pitch on how to re-imagine it as a new comic. I think updating it to be part of the current Marvel Universe is part of the fun. Oh well, to each their own.

That aside, I think both contestants showed the style and quality I expected. Wilson's lettering and coloring puts him ahead for me.

[kamgates]

Are you guys freaking kidding me? Both of the contestants did great jobs! 5 pages in less than four days?

Yeah, that's very true. It's a crazy amount of output. I'm doing this round over in Play at Home and it's not close to done yet.

[Caio Oliveira]

That aside, I think both contestants showed the style and quality I expected.
Agree.

Wilson's lettering and coloring puts him ahead for me.
Disagree.
I really enjoyed CPW's cover. But the lettering doesn't work for me for a simple reason: It helped him tell the story when he should do it with his storytelling alone, and THAT was what Jon's art did.

Anyway, both submission was great and I'm sure they will make it to the pros. Good job guys.

[Maresk]

Are you guys freaking kidding me? Both of the contestants did great jobs! 5 pages in less than four days?

Bah. Caio did a much better one in three.
Sure it's hard, it's supposed to be. When I see a book on the shelves, I'm not going to care at all if the artist was very fast or not. I will simply like it enough to buy it, or not. And I wouldn't buy any of this guys' books if they looked like this. It's as simple as that.

I'm also skipping vote.

[kamgates]

Disagree. I really enjoyed CPW's cover. But the lettering doesn't work for me for a simple reason: It helped him tell the story when he should do it with his storytelling alone, and THAT was what Jon's art did.

Hmm... that's a good point. I may give the storytelling another look. I was thinking about it more in terms of the amount of stuff done in the very limited time.

[davidbovey]

Hmm... that's a good point. I may give the storytelling another look. I was thinking about it more in terms of the amount of stuff done in the very limited time.

I think I would have taken more time to plan out a more dynamic and striking coverr in terms of layout instead of coloring the cover and lettering the pages.

I think both contestants fell miserably short of the goal when it comes to the cover. It needs to be something striking and dynamic... not only because it's a cover but also because you are trying to get an editor's attention with your pitch. If I think I'd pass on it as a comicbook buyer in a shop then I'm sure it wouldn't get read by an editor with the limited time they have to review these things.

It's still a hell of alot of work to do in 5 days. Come up with an idea for a story, lay it out and draw 4 pages and do a cover. So it's not surprising that the art would suffer in some spots.

[CPWilsonIII]

Disagree.
I really enjoyed CPW's cover. But the lettering doesn't work for me for a simple reason: It helped him tell the story when he should do it with his storytelling alone, and THAT was what Jon's art did.


Can't help it, man. Comic books just seem a little empty without word balloons and sound effects everywhere!:)

[skatay]

I love what CPW did for lettering, he has that love of lettering that is conspicuously missing from most other comic artists out there. I'm guessing/hoping he's a Wally Wood fan as well!

[AdamWalmsley]

Can't help it, man. Comic books just seem a little empty without word balloons and sound effects everywhere!:)

I couldn't disagree more. I love covers that aren't in color and wordless comic pages. Makes it more artsy and it makes your audience think. Way to take the cheap way out, Charlie.

[kamgates]

heh, wow... everyone's really mean today..

[skatay]

yeah, sour grapes city. grow up, trolls.

[Jay Figgs]

Bah. Caio did a much better one in three.
Sure it's hard, it's supposed to be. When I see a book on the shelves, I'm not going to care at all if the artist was very fast or not. I will simply like it enough to buy it, or not. And I wouldn't buy any of this guys' books if they looked like this. It's as simple as that.

I'm also skipping vote.

I agree.
I don't know if I'm skipping vote, but I'm kinda tempted.

IMHO, neither of the finalists presented their best work this round. I think we all saw better work from both of them in the previous assignments.

Wilson has some advantage, in that his people move in a much smoother way than Reed's, but the lettering bugged me a little, for the same reasons Caio stated. I also think his backgrounds are not as well-rendered as they could be, and his Aunt May doesn't resemble an old person at all.

On the other hand, while Reed's got points for storytelling, his figure work seems a bit stiff to me, his cover is not very impactful, and the panel that introduces the heroes is in much need of some punch.

I may be biased, but I stil think Caio's pages at the play-at-home thread are much more powerful, both in the figure rendering sense and in the storytelling department.

[Jay Figgs]

yeah, sour grapes city. grow up, trolls.

Wow, that's telling them, mature guy.:rolleyes:

[davidbovey]

I think it's one thing to say something you like or dislike about the pages... but at least try to be constructive about it.

I post on a site regularly where the main goal is to help people by giving them honest feedback and critiques. So I can only hope the artists take it that way if they read what I type. Because it's not intended to be mean.

[skatay]

Wow, that's telling them, mature guy.:rolleyes:

A trolling comment picks out a specific person's comments and attempts to insult them.

[MartinRedmond]

The trend in making comics that speak for themselves only helped further the industry towards it's final stage of debilitation. Comics are a story told in pictures and dialogue. If anything, the return of dialogue would give most comicbook writers an actual job to do. And on this I have to applaud CPW3's move.

[jasonbaroody]

i think Jon and Charles both did a fantastic job on the round#5 entries, as well as this entire contest. Both deserve to be in the final round.:)
Good luck to both of you!

[AdamWalmsley]

The trend in making comics that speak for themselves only helped further the industry towards it's final stage of debilitation. Comics are a story told in pictures and dialogue. If anything, the return of dialogue would give most comicbook writers an actual job to do. And on this I have to applaud CPW3's move.

Well said.

[Goyo]

I also think that both finalists did better jobs in previous rounds. Their work here - despite the short deadline - disappointed me a little bit.

I'll be voting more based in the overall pages presented througout the competition than the work done in the final only.

I thing Reed, in the overall (and also in this final assignment) was superior than CPWIII. Better storytelling and I prefer your style, less realistic than Charles' one.

Reed, just one small thing: please, DON'T use Spiderman's mask's "eyes" as if they were actual eyes, as you did in your very last panel. Sorry, man, I hate when someone does this, it's his mask, and it's not even made of the same fabric as Rorscharch's mask...

[shwa96]

I too, am skipping voting this time around. I am disappointed with both entries. If I were just casually browsing random comics, I would pass right over this level of artwork. Sadly, The best two storytellers/artists went home in the last round.

Keep in mind that these guys had to draw a cover and 4 pages without a script in a little over 3 days.

Cut them some slack. Most top pros wouldn't be able to do that and make it look good.

[Mmmmmpig]

I still think it is a case of "I'm taking my ball and going home because the person I wanted isn't still in the contest, but I wanted people to know that before I left in a huff."

I agree that these submissions may not be the strongest that these 2 put out for the entirety of the contest. If that is the case vote on their body of work overall. Simple as that. And if you do not feel ok voting on the body of work, see which of the two entrants' submissions has the most potential for quick edits to make it better.

Stating that you are not going to vote because your contestant is not in the competition is un-productivea and a bit churlish. Crit what is in the competition, not what is not. If you choose not to vote, don't do it because your favorite didn't make it and don't state that as the reason.

I know, I know, I am going to get some reactionary comments saying "But I didn't say that I wasn't voting because Ciao is no longer in the competition, I said I was voting because neither of these contestants have impressed me." Most if not all of you have also stated somewhere that "The best pages are in the play at home thread" or "Caio's pages are better." This alludes to the fact that you would have voted for his, had they been here.

There is no reason to state that you are not going to vote unless you just want people to know how unhappy you are that your guy didn't make it.

[davidbovey]

Reed, just one small thing: please, DON'T use Spiderman's mask's "eyes" as if they were actual eyes, as you did in your very last panel. Sorry, man, I hate when someone does this, it's his mask, and it's not even made of the same fabric as Rorscharch's mask...

I don't mind it so much for something based on a saturday morning cartoon.

[Maresk]

I may be biased, but I stil think Caio's pages at the play-at-home thread are much more powerful, both in the figure rendering sense and in the storytelling department.

You're not biased. I never voted or supported Caio in the past rounds, and in this one I was simply blew away by his work. Caio was not "my guy". He just did a better job this time.

[cg_maniac]

I think for future contests, four pages plus a cover is too much to accomplish (at a high quality) for the amount of time given.

No question these guys do good work, we've seen it, I just don't think this is their best round of this competition. Four plus pages is a Herculean effort if you have family obligations, a regular job, etc.

These guys had to bust tail to get the work done, and now it is going to be shown to a bunch of editors - hopefully they will take the scope of the assignment, and the time frame into consideration.

and isn't the deadline 3pm Eastern? Today is a holiday in the U.S. too. Not sure if the guys had to head out to work (or bed), but it looks like they still had 5 more hours to go when they submitted.

[polystyleneman]

And for the finale Reed shows why he should have always been in 1st place!

[polystyleneman]

I love what CPW did for lettering, he has that love of lettering that is conspicuously missing from most other comic artists out there. I'm guessing/hoping he's a Wally Wood fan as well!

It seems to strange to me that someone would say that letters are missing form most artist's pages. :confused: Um, isn't that the job of the letterer? I have to agree with Caio on this one....

[shwa96]

I couldn't disagree more. I love covers that aren't in color and wordless comic pages. Makes it more artsy and it makes your audience think. Way to take the cheap way out, Charlie.

You're imposing your own tastes here, and you really shouldn't be. These pages are not supposed to be "artsy". It's freaking Marvel. He drew mainstream pages of mainstream characters for a mainstream publisher. Believe it or not, editors like artists who take into account where those little insignificant things called words are going to go on the page.

But way to take a cheap shot, Adam.

[polystyleneman]

You're not biased. I never voted or supported Caio in the past rounds, and in this one I was simply blew away by his work. Caio was not "my guy". He just did a better job this time.

I must admit I was a bit surprised by the response to Caio's work. I was disappointed. It seemed rushed for him. I just didn't think it was up to the level that he showed in previous rounds. Then again, maybe because it wasn't inked. I know that can make a lot of difference on some artist's styles.

[davidbovey]

I think as an overall critique on Jon's pages, the action on your pages seem like they need to be flipped. You've got action reading from right to left instead of left to right on your final two pages. Natural flow should be to lead the viewer from panel to panel and then onto the next page.

[polystyleneman]

Yeah, that's very true. It's a crazy amount of output. I'm doing this round over in Play at Home and it's not close to done yet.

Hey kamgates, can I slip you a twenty to not make the rest of us look bad by comparison? LOL

[Nick Pitarra]

Bah. Caio did a much better one in three.
Sure it's hard, it's supposed to be. When I see a book on the shelves, I'm not going to care at all if the artist was very fast or not. I will simply like it enough to buy it, or not. And I wouldn't buy any of this guys' books if they looked like this. It's as simple as that.

I'm also skipping vote.

I completely disagree. Caio did a good job(great job in the amount of time), but his work suffers without his inks. It feels even less grounded and more wobbley,a little too cartoony. But he's still one of my favorites from the contest...I just didn't think his sequentials were as strong as before. Although he might have the best cover...reminds me of the JLA Earth 2 cover.

~nick

[Brandon Hanvey]

Please keep it civil.

Also please try to keep your posts about the two finalist. If you have a comment about play at home work, please post it in the play at home thread.

[skatay]

It seems to strange to me that someone would say that letters are missing form most artist's pages. :confused: Um, isn't that the job of the letterer? I have to agree with Caio on this one....

Specifically, leaving space for lettering is ultimately a layout job, and balloon position and placement should ultimately be done by the artist, since it's a compositional element of how you 'read' the page. Balloon flow is just as important as the other compositional elements, since by virtue of being white balloons with a black stroke, they are some of the more high-contrast elements of the total panel and total page.

I saw Neal Adams do a talk on balloon flow through pages one time and my jaw just dropped.

[CPWilsonIII]

You're imposing your own tastes here, and you really shouldn't be. These pages are not supposed to be "artsy". It's freaking Marvel. He drew mainstream pages of mainstream characters for a mainstream publisher. Believe it or not, editors like artists who take into account where those little insignificant things called words are going to go on the page.

But way to take a cheap shot, Adam.

No, no, he's okay. He's one of my buddies from school (but his comment should be an indication as to what I had the pleasure of listening to throughout the school year.)

[azubird]

these contestants did amazing. i think its good to have people disagree- makes the forum more interesting- name calling is generally bad, although calling someone a troll is slightly humorous. trolls are cool. both gentlemen did phenomenal and i enjoyed the submissions immensely. i wish i could do what they did in four days... unreal. round of applause guys!

[The Armando]

Jon Reed ftw!

Though I agree, this is not the best work of any of the two...

[Nick Pitarra]

Well like I said before both Jon and Charles did banging jobs. (Caio too). It must have been one hell of a weekend for you guys.

I love the letters CPW. Its like I'm in the twilight zone, people knocking someone who takes the time to hand letter his pages. I could imagine old schoolers, someone like Joe Kubert, going crazy if he read the beginning of this thread. For the most part(99% of the time), comics are the unification of Pictures and Text. Your job was to illustrate a pitch,and in my eyes, it only makes sense to have text on your pages. It added a whole different feel,and really brought your story to life. I mean, at the end of the day,it could only help...say when your passing the pages around to a bunch of Marvel editors. But then again, they might crucify you for it.

All the best guys,
nick

P.S. The troll comment was rather funny, I think it was meant with good intentions.

[polystyleneman]

Someone called someone a troll? Must have missed that one. Anyway, I think most (if not all) people here have respect for all of the artists but I'm glad when there is healthy debate on here and people of dissenting views get to be heard. Otherwise I never would. ;)

[Brandon Hanvey]

Debate and disagreement are okay. Insults and name calling are not.

[polystyleneman]

Debate and disagreement are okay. Insults and name calling are not.

Absolutely agree. I'm just saying I must have missed any that occurred (I'm assuming they were removed) and am appreciating the freedom to debate civilly here. There is no need or place for rudeness.

[Nick Pitarra]

yeah, sour grapes city. grow up, trolls.

This was it! Kind of funny, he didn't say it to anyone specific. I could imagine us all grumpy(hair all a mess,groggy) early in the morning peering at our computer screens...sneering abit. Just a funny visual.:)

~nick

[Mateus]

I liked both of them, they were good but not great, Charles and Jon have done better in previous rounds. Maybe it's the lack of time, maybe it's the absence of script. Anyway, I specially disliked their covers, I don't think they give us a good enough idea of what's inside.

I'll take another look before casting my vote... but will probably go with CPW for the consistency of his work previous rounds.

[kamgates]

Hey kamgates, can I slip you a twenty to not make the rest of us look bad by comparison? LOL

Hah, I'd give you a twenty to help me finish it. I'm not good at 'keep it simple'. I'll be throwing up a sample in 'Play at Home' as soon as I'm not at work.

[kamgates]

I think for future contests, four pages plus a cover is too much to accomplish (at a high quality) for the amount of time given.

I agree that it may be hard to accomplish, but I think that's part of the point. To push the contestants as far as they can and see how they hold up. I think it's very valuable in this type of competition to really see who can best handle the pressure. Personally, I think anyone who complains about a quality slip from prior rounds should go draw five finished pages right now and get some perspective. :)

[Gonzogoose]

I think both Jon and Charles did an excellent job given the parameters and amount of time they had to deliver. Excellent work, guys!

That said, CPW's pages just sang to me more this time around, though it was close. But CPW went the extra mile and really brought the feel of the cartoon into play for me, so he gets my vote.

Congrats to both of you though!

[rjdimariamiskovic]

Wow... cheapshots, harsh criticisms, not wanting to vote yet complaining... this is why I drink.

I'm exhausted from reading all of this. Brandon. I don't know how you do it.

... I'm going to go get a beer. Anyone want to join me? I got the first round.

[Brandon Hanvey]

I agree that it may be hard to accomplish, but I think that's part of the point. To push the contestants as far as they can and see how they hold up. I think it's very valuable in this type of competition to really see who can best handle the pressure. Personally, I think anyone who complains about a quality slip from prior rounds should go draw five finished pages right now and get some perspective. :)

We said for the start that all 5 rounds would be hard and that the final would be the hardest.

[Brandon Hanvey]

Wow... cheapshots, harsh criticisms, not wanting to vote yet complaining... this is why I drink.

I'm exhausted from reading all of this. Brandon. I don't know how you do it.



I have super mod powers to read posts.

[Andrew Scott]

Charles did a bang-up job this time. I'm not completely sold on the cover, but the pages are lively and true to the spirit of the property he is adapting for this scenario's pitch. I'm hoping the editors at Marvel see it that way, too. Not everyone is a cover artist. Marvel uses plenty of fine artists who never get to draw covers for their books.

Comparing these pages to others he has produced during this contest -- well, it sounds a lot like fanboys talking about their favorite artists' past work (e.g. "I loved Silvestri's run on Wolverine, but his new style leaves me cold.").

And if that's the case, welcome to the big leagues, CPWIII.

[Dan M]

I think both Jon and Charles did an excellent job given the parameters and amount of time they had to deliver. Excellent work, guys!

That said, CPW's pages just sang to me more this time around, though it was close. But CPW went the extra mile and really brought the feel of the cartoon into play for me, so he gets my vote.

Congrats to both of you though!

I agree with this. But...

Wow... cheapshots, harsh criticisms, not wanting to vote yet complaining... this is why I drink.

I'm exhausted from reading all of this. Brandon. I don't know how you do it.

... I'm going to go get a beer. Anyone want to join me? I got the first round.

I agree with this more. Guiness, please.

[Nick Pitarra]

I agree with this. But...



I agree with this more. Guiness, please.

Guiness! Holy crap you are a man's man. I'm a softy myself...Blue Moon, Dos X, Corona, and all kinds of whimpy pilsners. But I do love tequila(of course in the girlie margarita form).

[Leonius]

Charles Paul Wilson III
I love that I am not left guessing what is going on in your pages. The placement of lettering was a surprise to me but a nice one. It shows that you have a playful sense of humor. The Characters look beautiful and I do not see any anatomical problems.

I do have two problems with your pages. First the cover, it doesn't fit with your other pages. Page 2 panel 1 the spidey getting punched doesn't give as much of a whomp that I would be looking for. After watching all the movies, I want to see the villain really give him a good cracking so it gives him a reason to let go.


Jon Reed
The difference between a great artist and a good artist is the ability to tell the story visually. You knocked it out of the park with your pages. Having three villains show up against our three heroes is also a nice idea. It gives me the feeling that our heroes are going to have a bit of trouble here. You also added a hostage situation which adds to the potential peril.

Page four panel 1 Iceman looks strange to me with his punch.
Page four frame 3 there is an anatomical problem with Firestar.

Both of you did a fantastic job on this one! It is apparent why you two moved into the final round. This is going to be a tough vote.

[armandoB]

great job, guys, it's a hell a feat to pull off that many pages in so little time and make it look as good as you did

[polystyleneman]

I agree with this. But...



I agree with this more. Guiness, please.

here here. It's much preferred when people critique on work and express their opinions civilly rather than getting all huffy about things. I'm known for drinking a 3 second pint of Guinness, so hanging out in a pub with you and all your amazing skills could be quite fun and makes me think you could challenge me to a drink off.

[garth_b]

For me CPWIII's work drew me in from the first panel but seemed to slow down as it went along. I liked the text being included because I am so much more a words man. However the punchline was ... strangely worded. It just didn't quite flow for me. The lead in had the right level of "suspense", but the execution didn't quite come off for me. But then Charles is the artist, not the writer so I guess I can forgive him for that.

Jon, on the other hand, started off quite slowly to my mind. The suspense and the action built at quite a good pace. Enough for me to be looking for page 5. Because I am not over critical of art work I thought, for me, this was the strongest of Jon's work to date. Mostly, I think because I didn't know the outline in advance yet I got the gist of the story.

It is going to be tough to choose this round. I think I will have to wait and read the "judges" comments to help me out.

[elheffe]

I suppose I'm disappointed not in the artwork so much as I am the pitch. I guess I expected something new, or at least different about these submissions rather than Spider-Man, Iceman and Firestar fighting villains.

[Hieu Le Bui]

I suppose I'm disappointed not in the artwork so much as I am the pitch. I guess I expected something new, or at least different about these submissions rather than Spider-Man, Iceman and Firestar fighting villains.

That's what I was saying. Otherwise it is not a pitch but a continuation of an old series. Round 5 assignment is a mess. Not exciting at all.

However I did like the artworks that came out of it. :)

[Mark Cardwell]

This isn't the best work from either artist, I reckon. Call it fatigue, nerves, I dunno quite what, but I think we've seen better work by both.

Jon: Love the stylised patternation on the cover. Might have been better if the Spidey, Firestar and Iceman had been to scale with each other, though. At the minute it looks like Spider-Man, Firestar, and their teeny-tiny little friend Iceman. The sequential pages themselves seem a bit busy, so I reckon you may be the sort of artist who thrives from a full script and a decent collaborator. Throughout, Spidey's thighs are a little bit too thick for an old Ditko fan like me. The last comic I bought with The Rhino in it was drawn by Duncan Fegredo, so that was always going to be a hard job knocking that image out of my mind.

Charles: Perhaps your pages would have been better without the awful dialogue ("Take that! ... and that!!!" ...oh lordy). Truth is, I'm not a fan, and think you've done fantastically well to come so far with such a bland style. But the good news is, the great voting public always disagree with my opinion, and have gotten rid of at least three better stylists so far, so yer a shoo-in!

[Brandon Hanvey]

Here is Round 5's collage.

http://brainiac.boilingpoint.com/~cbi3/brandoncbi/r5allblog.jpg

[DanielSchenstrom]

I think it should be almost impossible to be disappointed.
I mean, doing 5 pages worth of art and plot in such short time - for those with work or school, about 2 and a half days - it's absolutely a fantastic achievment, especially considering that some superstar artists fail to turn in 22 pages on bimonthly titles.

I know that there are also some very fast artists but speed is something that comes out of a lot of practice, not the least of which is long time regular job.

I did this myself in the play at home, and I can see the sacrifices done, and most others who like to draw knows this.

[kamgates]

I suppose I'm disappointed not in the artwork so much as I am the pitch. I guess I expected something new, or at least different about these submissions rather than Spider-Man, Iceman and Firestar fighting villains.

Yeah, this is my one complaint too. Everything seems like 5 pages straight from the 1981 cartoon. What good is that to an editor? Thats not a pitch, it's just the same. (well.. I guess it's a pitch to keep it exactly the same :rolleyes: ) On the other hand, for the Play At Home I spent a lot of time thinking about how to modernize the concept and that's one of the reasons I'm not done yet. So I can understand why the contestants chose not to shake things up.

Still... if either of them had given me an interesting new take on bringing these three characters together, they'd have my vote hands down.

[kalorama]

Both Charles and Jon did nice work but I have to admit I'm not as impressed with either artist's work as I was in the some of the previous rounds. While the onus is always on the creator to turn out the best work he or she can, I do think some of the weight falls on the nature of the assignment. Not that it was too much work or too many pages, but that was too little direction (almost none) given to the artists.

It's one thing to give a brief, open description of the plot (as both Robert Kirkman and Francis Manipul did in previous rounds) but the instructions for this one provided no story direction at all. Comics are a collaborative medium between the writer and the artist and, I would think, part of the evaluation process of a contest like this is how well the artist interprets and enlivens what story direction the writer provides. In this case, the "writer" didn't really bring anything to the table.

This seems esp. problematic for something that's intended as a pitch. If a writer asks an artist to prepare art for a pitch in "the real world" it seems unlikely he'd say "I'm pitching a revival of Spider-Man and his Amazing friends. Just draw me up a cover and four pages of something" without giving the artist some idea of what kind of actual story he was pitching. This assignment was really putting the onus on the contestants to not only illustrate and interpret a narrative, but to create one from scratch, basically asking them to serve as the writer as well. I'm not sure that's really the best thing to throw into the mix for what is ostensibly a competition for artists.

[Hieu Le Bui]

I spent a lot of time thinking about how to modernize the concept and that's one of the reasons I'm not done yet.

One way of modernizing it is by taking them out of 80's clothing :D

[Mark Cardwell]

Yeah, both stuck closely to the original product. I'm a bit let down that neither tried to re-imagine the series in a wild, far-out way. "Ultimate Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends"! "Warren Ellis gets drunk and accepts the job. On waking and re-reading his e-mails, he dashes out several pages in a dark fury." You know the score.

[MartinRedmond]

I'm a bit let down that neither tried to re-imagine the series in a wild, far-out way. "Ultimate Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends"! "Warren Ellis gets drunk and accepts the job. On waking and re-reading his e-mails, he dashes out several pages in a dark fury." You know the score.

If that was sarcasm then that was funny.

[polystyleneman]

One way of modernizing it is by taking them out of 80's clothing :D

You could always do what I did, and take a stab at weaving it into the current Marvel continuity, no else seems to have tried that yet. I do agree it's kind of strange to expect artist's to write up a 4 page plot as well as drawing the pages but myself I enjoyed it because it gave me a chance to pull together a lot of little possibilities existing in Marvel right now.

In terms of what the contestants were able to do, I think they both did a stellar job in such a short time. I'm especially pleased with what Jon did.

[kamgates]

You could always do what I did, and take a stab at weaving it into the current Marvel continuity, no else seems to have tried that yet.

Yeah, I like what you did with that. I've been babbling so much here I've yet to throw up any comments over at Play at Home.

[the goddamn batman]

Guiness! Holy crap you are a man's man. I'm a softy myself...Blue Moon, Dos X, Corona, and all kinds of whimpy pilsners. But I do love tequila(of course in the girlie margarita form).

If you like it a littel girly try, Tequila, grapefruit juice and a splash of tonic. Seriously.:D

I don't know what everyone is bitching about, I think both guys did great work. And factoring in the amount of work for the amout of time? Pretty good.

[Mark Cardwell]

If that was sarcasm then that was funny.
I do my best. Plus - love your stuff, Martin! Got any work on the go, yourself?

[J. Torres]

Comics are a collaborative medium between the writer and the artist...

Not all the time as many fine cartoonists, including former CBI contestants have demonstrated.



...and I would think, part of the evaluation process of a contest like this is how well the artist interprets and enlivens what story direction the writer provides....

Exactly, "part of" the process, which we did for four rounds with progressively looser parameters ;)

[kalorama]

Not all the time as many fine cartoonists, including former CBI contestants have demonstrated.

It could be said that comics are always a collaboration between a writer and artist, even when the the writer and artist are the same person. The cartoonists of whom you speak demonstrate it in settings and situations where they expressed an interest to create their own narratives and an editor had the opportunity to evaluate their abilities as writers separately from their ability as artists. The format for the latest round seems to presume some acuity in elements that fall to the writing side that (A) may not be present and (more significantly) don't't necessarily need to present for the contestants to be successful artists.

To put it another way:

Going in all of the contestants were told they could present their work in whatever finished form (pencilled, inked, colored) they wanted, as long as it best represented the strength of their work. If they weren't good at inking or coloring, that didn't have to, because they could still get the job done and be pro-level artists without those other elements being strengths. It seems like the instructions for this last round didn't really give them that same option with regard to being able to build a (admittedly short) narrative from scratch and kind of put them behind the eight ball.

[MartinRedmond]

I appreciate the compliment, but could you delete that pic please.

[Brandon Hanvey]

I appreciate the compliment, but could you delete that pic please.

Taken care of.

Hotlinking without permission makes baby kittens cry.

[MartinRedmond]

Haha it's not that, I just hate the coloring on that one and I'm too lazy to delete it from my site.

[Hieu Le Bui]

You could always do what I did, and take a stab at weaving it into the current Marvel continuity, no else seems to have tried that yet.

Actually I'm doing that too with my play at home. It is set after Civil War and it has Captain America in it and a shocking ending. :eek: I'm drawing it as fast as I can too but it won't be finished until sometime next week.

[janedimariamiskovic]

CPWIII gets my vote. Outstanding work, no questions asked, hands down. The sound effects and word balloons make it feel like an actual comic book. Awesome use of detail and design. I could look at it for hours.

Oh and BTW if anyone runs into my husband (rjdimariamiskovic) at the bar would tell him to come home he hasn't finished doing the dishes yet. I think he's out drinking with Dan McDaid.:evilangry

Be nice to the contestants guys, Christmas is coming... oh and hanukkah too!:)

[Nick Pitarra]

Yeah...the reinventing thing is a tuff one.

I like to look at it as, both artist only drew the first 5 pages of issue 1. Both have brilliant ideas on how they will alter the Marvel Universe, but only after establishing the original charcters in the first 5 pages.

Surely one of them will have IceMan tricked by some D list (supposed hero), Said hero will go with iceman to the northpole to try and find Santa Claus. What we thought was a friendly adventure in curiosity, turns evil when said D lister pushes IceMan into one of those big glacier cracks. He follows this sinister act by opening his Aquafina bottle, pouring water down the crack onto IceMan's head..."...theres no such thing as Santa, bitch." he chuckles....thus sealing iceMan in his tomb...bobby drake has to stay in iceman form or he'll freeze to death, but when in iceman form he only further sticks himself to said glacier, he is forever stuck and soon to die. Our oddball D list hero mourns the death of little bobby drake at his funeral. He wants to do the right thing and take Bobby's place in the Amazing friends team. All the while he is secretly working with green goblin to destroy spiderman. The subplot is that MaryJane has been pushing the hero's to worry less about crime, and worry more about the green peace efforts in the world.She wants them to have a global view of crime. D lister fakes his interest in harmful air pollutants to get into MJ's panties. She dumps peter. Humps D lister. At the end of the arc, just when all hope has failed (MJ is 7 months preganant with D listers baby)....Goblin has beaten the snot out of an emotionally drained peter. Guess who shows up? Iceman...turns out the air pollutants that MJ was campaigning against melted the glaciar freeing Bobby to come and save the day. A huge battle insues, in which Peter narrowly misses catching MJ from a short fall. MJ losses the baby. Then we build on the subplot that "Did Peter let her fall on purpose because it wasn't his baby?" Mj and spidermans "Amazing Friends" think so. Yeah Peter is once again all alone in the world...but the title stays the same...." Amazing friends" its like super sarcasm...plus its an excuse for another Spidey solo title ($$$)....it goes from campy iceman getting stuck in a glacier with some dasini water, into Spiderman the abortionist? Thats deep.

Now maybe I made that all up...or just maybe...just maybe thats CPW's intentions with the rest of his pitch.Or... maybe its Jon's. The point is we can never know in just 5 pages.


Best,
nick

[polystyleneman]

Yeah...the reinventing thing is a tuff one.

I like to look at it as, both artist only drew the first 5 pages of issue 1. Both have brilliant ideas on how they will alter the Marvel Universe, but only after establishing the original charcters in the first 5 pages.

Surely one of them will have IceMan tricked by some D list (supposed hero), Said hero will go with iceman to the northpole to try and find Santa Claus. What we thought was a friendly adventure in curiosity, turns evil when said D lister pushes IceMan into one of those big glacier cracks. He follows this sinister act by opening his Aquafina bottle, pouring water down the crack onto IceMan's head..."...theres no such thing as Santa, bitch." he chuckles....thus sealing iceMan in his tomb...bobby drake has to stay in iceman form or he'll freeze to death, but when in iceman form he only further sticks himself to said glacier, he is forever stuck and soon to die. Our oddball D list hero mourns the death of little bobby drake at his funeral. He wants to do the right thing and take Bobby's place in the Amazing friends team. All the while he is secretly working with green goblin to destroy spiderman. The subplot is that MaryJane has been pushing the hero's to worry less about crime, and worry more about the green peace efforts in the world.She wants them to have a global view of crime. D lister fakes his interest in harmful air pollutants to get into MJ's panties. She dumps peter. Humps D lister. At the end of the arc, just when all hope has failed (MJ is 7 months preganant with D listers baby)....Goblin has beaten the snot out of an emotionally drained peter. Guess who shows up? Iceman...turns out the air pollutants that MJ was campaigning against melted the glaciar freeing Bobby to come and save the day. A huge battle insues, in which Peter narrowly misses catching MJ from a short fall. MJ losses the baby. Then we build on the subplot that "Did Peter let her fall on purpose because it wasn't his baby?" Mj and spidermans "Amazing Friends" think so. Yeah Peter is once again all alone in the world...but the title stays the same...." Amazing friends" its like super sarcasm...plus its an excuse for another Spidey solo title ($$$)....it goes from campy iceman getting stuck in a glacier with some dasini water, into Spiderman the abortionist? Thats deep.

Now maybe I made that all up...or just maybe...just maybe thats CPW's intentions with the rest of his pitch.Or... maybe its Jon's. The point is we can never know in just 5 pages.


Best,
nick

Wow dude. Now that would have made a good submission!:D

[rienji]

Awful covers...

[Tre Styles]

lol...I think Nick is at the bar a little early tonight.

But I agree with the standpoint that a few days and these pages that are produced, are amazing for the amount of time that's given, even if it's not the best that we've seen from the contestants. It's incredible that you two were able to pump out what you did in that short amount of time. So kudos to both of you.

In CPWIII's work, I like the 80's element and feel, but there is still a modern day look, especially with the Goblin's design. The colors on the cover were a good choice, but even without them, the body dynamic is cool, and I liked the eye of the Goblin. The words helped the story along, and I really like the ending with Aunt May...because it made me laugh. (Her saying "Poor, poor Peter...almost as if she knew his secret, which she does in 616, and then having it end with the thing about the classes being cancelled bit...classic...and I could see that happening on the cartoon as well).

Jon's entry was a straight forward one, and he really told a story using some pretty tough characters. I liked the Rhino shot, and Tombstone is always a winner..The element of danger was somewhat set, but I felt there could've been "more" of a feel for that danger. Spidey and friends seemed to have it pretty easy.

For me, it seems that there are weaknesses and strengths in both. I like the story in both, I like Wilson's Spidey a little more than Jon's, but I felt both entries are pretty much tied in my eyes. Therefore for me, my vote will go to the one who has had the best overall entries to me. So I'm going to go back and review those before voting.

Good wishes to both contestants.: :cool:

[viseuviper]

Nice job Charles. I really kinda like old school feel with a little modern twist that you gave to the pages.Love the lettering and the effort put into coloring the cover!
The only negative to me would be the stlye of the cover.It just reminds me of all those covers out there where they just slap on the characters posing and that's it.Can't tell what's happening in the book, what might happen? But that's just my personnal taste.
Good Luck!

[sjpress]

Congrats to both Jon and Charles for putting forth such awesome work in such a short time with such little direction. I think you both deserve more of a group round of applause, rather than the group public shaming that's going on.

On the lettering issue, this assignment seems like it might have called for something extra from the artists. Because this assignment had no script, and because the artist is the sole person responsible for pitching this comic book as a whole, it logically follows that the artist may want to include some type of dialog or text, so the people he is pitching the idea to know what they can expect in terms of that important aspect of the pitch. Personally, i think it adds a completeness/thoughtfulness to the comic book pitch which could have been lacking otherwise.

But i don't know really, do people usually pitch the art of the comic book first and then get the writer to add in words that fit the art later?

[polystyleneman]

Congrats to both Jon and Charles for putting forth such awesome work in such a short time with such little direction. I think you both deserve more of a group round of applause, rather than the group public shaming that's going on.

On the lettering issue, this assignment seems like it might have called for something extra from the artists. Because this assignment had no script, and because the artist is the sole person responsible for pitching this comic book as a whole, it logically follows that the artist may want to include some type of dialog or text, so the people he is pitching the idea to know what they can expect in terms of that important aspect of the pitch. Personally, i think it adds a completeness/thoughtfulness to the comic book pitch which could have been lacking otherwise.

But i don't know really, do people usually pitch the art of the comic book first and then get the writer to add in words that fit the art later?

Yeah, it's a bit of a unique situation isn't it? personally, I think Charles did a good job with the lettering I just think it seems like a strange level of completion to put it in, like it would get in the way of the inker and colorist. But then again, he probably only had the time to show the pencil stage.

[joelcook]

I think so to.

Is there any way we can vote for Caio Oliveira!!! ;)

quoted for truth


seriously though, I thought someone would come up with a different pitch for spider man and his amazing friends (was I wrong to think the 2 friends could have been different?)

both are strong, but I think their earlier rounds were much better.

[joelcook]

Yeah...the reinventing thing is a tuff one.

I like to look at it as, both artist only drew the first 5 pages of issue 1. Both have brilliant ideas on how they will alter the Marvel Universe, but only after establishing the original charcters in the first 5 pages.

Surely one of them will have IceMan tricked by some D list (supposed hero), Said hero will go with iceman to the northpole to try and find Santa Claus. What we thought was a friendly adventure in curiosity, turns evil when said D lister pushes IceMan into one of those big glacier cracks. He follows this sinister act by opening his Aquafina bottle, pouring water down the crack onto IceMan's head..."...theres no such thing as Santa, bitch." he chuckles....thus sealing iceMan in his tomb...bobby drake has to stay in iceman form or he'll freeze to death, but when in iceman form he only further sticks himself to said glacier, he is forever stuck and soon to die. Our oddball D list hero mourns the death of little bobby drake at his funeral. He wants to do the right thing and take Bobby's place in the Amazing friends team. All the while he is secretly working with green goblin to destroy spiderman. The subplot is that MaryJane has been pushing the hero's to worry less about crime, and worry more about the green peace efforts in the world.She wants them to have a global view of crime. D lister fakes his interest in harmful air pollutants to get into MJ's panties. She dumps peter. Humps D lister. At the end of the arc, just when all hope has failed (MJ is 7 months preganant with D listers baby)....Goblin has beaten the snot out of an emotionally drained peter. Guess who shows up? Iceman...turns out the air pollutants that MJ was campaigning against melted the glaciar freeing Bobby to come and save the day. A huge battle insues, in which Peter narrowly misses catching MJ from a short fall. MJ losses the baby. Then we build on the subplot that "Did Peter let her fall on purpose because it wasn't his baby?" Mj and spidermans "Amazing Friends" think so. Yeah Peter is once again all alone in the world...but the title stays the same...." Amazing friends" its like super sarcasm...plus its an excuse for another Spidey solo title ($$$)....it goes from campy iceman getting stuck in a glacier with some dasini water, into Spiderman the abortionist? Thats deep.

Now maybe I made that all up...or just maybe...just maybe thats CPW's intentions with the rest of his pitch.Or... maybe its Jon's. The point is we can never know in just 5 pages.


Best,
nick

I seriously think you should drop the penciler title and run with your writing... that was awesome on so many levels.

good job nick... grant morrison should watch out! ;)

well...back to my lessons, I have to teach the final lecture on Byzantine Art to my AP class....

hmmmm... Nick, do ya think you can come up with "Spider-Man and his Byzantine friends (Constantine and Justinian)?

[joelcook]

I would have voted (seriously) for anyone that did something different....

perhaps.....

Spider-man and his Fabuloussss Friends?


Spider-Man, Northstar and Hulkling...

Now that would be a story that NEEDS to be told! :D

[Brandon Hanvey]

I would have voted (seriously) for anyone that did something different....

perhaps.....

Spider-man and his Fabuoloussss Friends?


Spider-Man, Northstar and Hulkling...

Now that would be a story that NEEDS to be told! :D

But that is not what the official assignment was about.



Your final assignment is to provide the artwork for a pitch for a hypothetical new comic book series adapting the "Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends" cartoon from the 80s.

I was going to write "adapting and updating" but then I thought that someone might choose to keep it set in the 80s, which I'd love to see ;)

Anyway...

[joelcook]

But that is not what the official assignment was about.

Sorry.... I thought the smiley face at the end was proof that I was joking... just playing off the opinions that the trio should have been an updated for the times:rolleyes:

[rjdimariamiskovic]

O.K. guys... I'm home(hic-up) if anyone was worried. (Hic) I was swasint ouwt wit' Dan I schwere... oh crud tooo many Guinesses... or iz dat too many guinesiiez... err umm beers. Is anyone schztill complaining about the word balloons??? or the fact that the artists tried to follow wut duh TV show wuz like??? (hic-up) oh man.. I gotta go pray to the "Porcaline- Gawd"... goo'nite Dan... BLAAAAHHHHH!!!:eek:

...'gotta go do the dishes...

[Hieu Le Bui]

But that is not what the official assignment was about.

Almost everyone thinks Round 5 is the most confusing, the most lousy and the worst choice of an assignment. I think it brought out the worst and didn't bring out the strength of the contestants considering they are judge by an all Marvel panel. Maybe a do over Round 5 is the best way to go because a lot of people are not liking the resulting pages and they are bowing out of voting.

Let me repeat that "they are bowing out of voting."

[polystyleneman]

Almost everyone thinks Round 5 is the most confusing, the most lousy and the worst choice of an assignment. I think it brought out the worst and didn't bring out the strength of the contestants considering they are judge by an all Marvel panel. Maybe a do over Round 5 is the best way to go because a lot of people are not liking the resulting pages and they are bowing out of voting.

Let me repeat that "they are bowing out of voting."

Everybody keeps saying how everyone is so upset and how badly this round went but I've been following this pretty close and I can only think of one or two people who have been actively taking part in the CBI boards who have come out and said they aren't going to vote anymore. I don't think there's as big a backlash as some people think there is.

[sjpress]

Almost everyone thinks Round 5 is the most confusing, the most lousy and the worst choice of an assignment. I think it brought out the worst and didn't bring out the strength of the contestants considering they are judge by an all Marvel panel. Maybe a do over Round 5 is the best way to go because a lot of people are not liking the resulting pages and they are bowing out of voting.

Let me repeat that "they are bowing out of voting."

Are you for serious? Charles and Jon pulled off some fantastic artwork under some serious time pressure and while battling severe sleep deprivation for five weeks in a row. If a few crab-apple party-poopers aren't going to vote, so be it.

[polystyleneman]

Are you for serious? Charles and Jon pulled off some fantastic artwork under some serious time pressure and while battling severe sleep deprivation for five weeks in a row. If a few crab-apple party-poopers aren't going to vote, so be it.

That's a good point I missed. I'm exhausted just from playing at home and not even dealing with the grueling pro critiquing, I can't even imagine how exhausted these guys must be and to still put out quality work, to boot!

[AdamWalmsley]

I just noticed that Jon Reed's Iceman has that power control belt that he wore in X-Factor. That is awesomely obscure.

[Brandon Hanvey]

Almost everyone thinks Round 5 is the most confusing, the most lousy and the worst choice of an assignment. I think it brought out the worst and didn't bring out the strength of the contestants considering they are judge by an all Marvel panel. Maybe a do over Round 5 is the best way to go because a lot of people are not liking the resulting pages and they are bowing out of voting.

Let me repeat that "they are bowing out of voting."

And there is no one forcing people to vote. If people want to abstain for whatever reason, it is within their right to do so.

[frbarba]

Almost everyone thinks Round 5 is the most confusing, the most lousy and the worst choice of an assignment. I think it brought out the worst and didn't bring out the strength of the contestants considering they are judge by an all Marvel panel. Maybe a do over Round 5 is the best way to go because a lot of people are not liking the resulting pages and they are bowing out of voting.

Let me repeat that "they are bowing out of voting."


im still voting regardless
like the saying goes, "choose the lesser evil"

on this case, id go for the lesser crappy, jk! :D

[Brandon Hanvey]

im still voting regardless
like the saying goes, "choose the lesser evil"

on this case, id go for the lesser crappy, jk! :D

Just like political elections. Your candidate didn't get the nomination. Do you vote anyway to have a say in the outcome or just don't vote at all?

[Vig]

Almost everyone thinks Round 5 is the most confusing, the most lousy and the worst choice of an assignment. I think it brought out the worst and didn't bring out the strength of the contestants considering they are judge by an all Marvel panel. Maybe a do over Round 5 is the best way to go because a lot of people are not liking the resulting pages and they are bowing out of voting.

Let me repeat that "they are bowing out of voting."

I totally disagree that this round has the most confusing and lousiest assignment. This round is the hardest because there is no script and you are pitching a comic series to the Marvel Bullpen themselves!

And it's a 5 page assignment in 4 days!

I don't know about the other guys out there who are not voting, but i'm voting for the contestants because they are no different than any of us.
Just regular folks, chosen and given the opportunity to shine. And opportunity like this don't come knocking all the time. Once you get it, you just loose yourself.

[Hieu Le Bui]

I'm just saying that the works for Round 5 is not as strong as the other Rounds with the two remaining players did. Are we all in agreement for that?

[J. Torres]

Going in all of the contestants were told they could present their work in whatever finished form (pencilled, inked, colored) they wanted, as long as it best represented the strength of their work. If they weren't good at inking or coloring, that didn't have to, because they could still get the job done and be pro-level artists without those other elements being strengths. It seems like the instructions for this last round didn't really give them that same option with regard to being able to build a (admittedly short) narrative from scratch and kind of put them behind the eight ball.

Are you actually blaming the lack of instructions (or repetition of general instructions for the competition) for what you don't like about Jon and Charles' submissions this round?!

Maybe you didn't understand what was implied in the "you know the drill" parts, but I'm sure the contestants did ;)

By the way, the part of the instructions to which you're referring actually goes:

"As with every art assignment in this contest, and every round of competition, we leave it up to the individual artists to decide whether they want to submit only pencils, ink their work, or go all the way with colored art, once they consider the subject matter, format of the assignment, and the time constraint."

Note the "as with every assignment... every round" part.

But there's nothing there about going with what "best represented the strength of their work." It's their choice.

[J. Torres]

I'm just saying that the works for Round 5 is not as strong as the other Rounds with the two remaining players did. Are we all in agreement for that?

You need to read through this whole thread again, including your own posts. First of all, what you "just" said was that "almost everyone thinks Round 5 is the most confusing, the most lousy and the worst choice of an assignment." I only count one person, maybe two if I try real hard, possibly three if I really push the reading between the lines, but certainly not "almost everyone."

Plus, "almost everyone thinks Round 5 is the most confusing, the most lousy and the worst choice of an assignment" is not the same as saying "Round 5 is not as strong as the other Rounds."

I'm just saying ;)

[CPWilsonIII]

I'm just saying that the works for Round 5 is not as strong as the other Rounds with the two remaining players did. Are we all in agreement for that?

I dunno, man. Reed's work up to this point has been really rad. Solid, solid, solid drawing in every panel, every page in every round for that guy. I wouldn't say his latest entry was a step down - I'd say he stepped up and kicked some ass.

[J. Torres]

But i don't know really, do people usually pitch the art of the comic book first and then get the writer to add in words that fit the art later?

Somebody please tell me that they get the progression of the assignments this year - the method to our madness! Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

:D

[polystyleneman]

I'm just saying that the works for Round 5 is not as strong as the other Rounds with the two remaining players did. Are we all in agreement for that?

No. I think Charles' is as good as several others he's done and I think Jon did better than his Invincible one, and maybe one of his best.

[polystyleneman]

Somebody please tell me that they get the progression of the assignments this year - the method to our madness! Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

:D

I think we all get it (at least I hope so, heh) but some people don't seem to agree that it is the best planned round I guess. Personally I think it was a cool challenge to come up with a story but not every artist would necessary like that.

[DanielSchenstrom]

You could always do what I did, and take a stab at weaving it into the current Marvel continuity, no else seems to have tried that yet.

Does that mean I'm no one, or did I miss an update? I put in X-men #203 Ice-man, "One more day" Spiderman and what I think is the latest Avengers Firestar. I did take of the huge X:s on Ice-man's jacket and replace the knee-pad X's with SF since he's a super-friend an not and X-man in this series.

[J. Torres]

I think we all get it (at least I hope so, heh) but some people don't seem to agree that it is the best planned round I guess. Personally I think it was a cool challenge to come up with a story but not every artist would necessary like that.

Well, it was certainly the most "collaborative," or at the very least most discussed, of the assignments in the sense that there were five of us from CBR and Marvel involved in choosing the subject matter and format. All the others usually only involved me and the writer (and maybe one other person). And I thought it was a cool challenge too!

[Nick Pitarra]

These were the 2nd best entries for each artist.

CPW's only one I might have liked better would be his C.B. Assignment.

Reed's Alien stuff was probably better,but not by much. He really did a great job on those pages, so I'm biased in judging these.

Other than that, these guys are hitting on all cylinders. And then you calculate the time, the amount of work, and coming up with the narrative too. Plus, lettering and handcoloring in one case. Plus, beating the deadline by about 5 hours. That means these are their best efforts yet. Easy...no questions asked.

And the assignment ruled...I totally saw the progression from each round. At first we were on training wheels with the script...and by the end...these guys were Evil Kenevil...or Super Dave Osbourne...or whatever.

~nick

[polystyleneman]

Does that mean I'm no one, or did I miss an update? I put in X-men #203 Ice-man, "One more day" Spiderman and what I think is the latest Avengers Firestar. I did take of the huge X:s on Ice-man's jacket and replace the knee-pad X's with SF since he's a super-friend an not and X-man in this series.

I guess I missed that yours was modern. You always catch me when I miss things. ;) I guess I was thinking of Spider-man in th black suit when I was thinking of the current up-to-the-minute continuity.

[joelcook]

I guess I missed that yours was modern. You always catch me when I miss things. ;) I guess I was thinking of Spider-man in th black suit when I was thinking of the current up-to-the-minute continuity.

he is back in the red suit already...

ahh, gotta love marvel.... I waited soooo long for the black suit, and got it for all of 4 mths :(

[Hieu Le Bui]

You need to read through this whole thread again, including your own posts.

That's cool, at first I thought Round 5 was to come up with a pitch of a new series based on the old cartoon show. It is not until I post a reply in the “Play at home” thread that I found out it was otherwise.

http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showpost.php?p=5796635&postcount=444

So basically Round 5 is all about coming up with my own pitch of a story based on the old cartoon show. Not very exciting. :D

I'm just saying.

[MartinRedmond]

This is my favorite assignment as well. I enjoy that the difficulty increased with each round.

[rjdimariamiskovic]

http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showpost.php?p=5796635&postcount=444

So basically Round 5 is all about coming up with my own pitch of a story based on the old cartoon show. Not very exciting. :D

I'm just saying.

I concur!!! It must of been so tedious and tiresome for the contestants to have the chance to show there "stuff" to people in the industry who can actually give them work. The opportunity to exercise they're imagination and under a tight deadline present a fictitious pitch for a comic book to actual people in the industry that matter.

I'm sure if Alex Ross were to pitch something like... oh, I don't know; retelling the birth of the Marvel universe exactly the way it was created, someone would find a way to "crap" all over it.

... I see your point.

BTW. How did your pages turn out?;)

[rpriske]

Hmmm... for the first time, I'm not sure who I'm goign to vote for... not because there are too many solid entries, but because neither of the entries really blows me away.

I mean, I think they are both good enough to work pro, but up until now I was picking based on art that I would buy... just based on the art.

These pieces aren't that.

[Hieu Le Bui]

BTW. How did your pages turn out?;)

I had to change page 2 and 3 into a double pages spread. Looking pretty good. :evilsmile

[Jason Masters]

When i read the final assignment I cried and wet myself a little, then I realised I didn't have to draw all that and I felt much better.

The pages produced by Jon and Charles are spectacular. Regardless of time constraints.

Well done guys, I'm impressed beyond belief.

[KSBrennan]

It appears to me as if Jon spent the majority of his time on the first two pages of his submission and then dashed off the last two and cover.

Charles seems to have the most consistent entry in terms of quality and storytelling throughout the pages.

I read a comment about his use of dialogue as being a sign of his shortcomings as a storyteller. I completely disagree with this. Of the two entries, his is the only one that tells as complete a story as you can in four pages. Jon's last two pages don't do much to further the story except to show the Amazing friends beating up their foes.

[ScottDMSimmons]

I just want to say that I think in terms of assignments, this year's Comic Book Idol was leaps and bounds better than the previous two. Before, there were covers, pin-ups, character designs, and I think one sequential. This time, there was a good mix of all of that wrapped up nicely as five SEQUENTIAL assignments.

Character design came into play in the CB story and the LOSH story, and the cover showed up this time around. Contestants got to work with scripts from writers and then not with any writer whatsoever. I also liked that each round had a prize award too. I think overall this was a great competition this year and what I would expect from something called Comic Book Idol.

Very cool.

Scott

[kalorama]

Are you actually blaming the lack of instructions (or repetition of general instructions for the competition) for what you don't like about Jon and Charles' submissions this round?!

Nope. Not even. First, as I stated in my initial post, it is always up to the contestants to present the best work they can. That's clearly on them. Second, the repetition of general instructions isn't an issue that I addressed. I was addressing the instructions for this round. Specifically, how the vagueness of the instructions don't seem to parallel the conditions the contestants would be likely to face if given an actual story pitch assignment in which they're working with a writer. It's not that I thought the assignment wasn't "cool." I simply wondered how valuable it would really be in evaluating their potential as working comic book artists if it's asking them to approach an assignment in a way a working comic book artist isn't likely to be presented with. Perhaps I'm mistaken about that (but I don't think so).

By the way, the part of the instructions to which you're referring actually goes:

"As with every art assignment in this contest, and every round of competition, we leave it up to the individual artists to decide whether they want to submit only pencils, ink their work, or go all the way with colored art, once they consider the subject matter, format of the assignment, and the time constraint."

Note the "as with every assignment... every round" part.

But there's nothing there about going with what "best represented the strength of their work." It's their choice.

Of course it's their choice. And (presumably) being reasonably intelligent people they would almost certainly choose to present their work in a fashion that best represents the strength of their work (e.g., if inking isn't their strength then they would eschew inking their samples). Although it's not stated specifically as such in the instructions (and I never actually said it was) the most logical implication to be made is that it's the underlying reason behind giving them the choice in the first place.

[Greenjack]

Jon and Charles both did an amazing job this round. I like both contestants work, and I think we'll be seeing some published work from both real soon.

I like Jon's cover better, but in general I'm leaning towards Charles again. I think he did a better pitch. Jon's work is great too, but it just kind of ends. Charles had a more finished scene, and some supporting cast as well as the main characters. Smart thing to do in a pitch.

Good luck to you both!

GrJack


P.S. All of you out there who have been saying the lettering is not part of the art, I dare you to say that to a letterer's face.

[polystyleneman]

he is back in the red suit already...

ahh, gotta love marvel.... I waited soooo long for the black suit, and got it for all of 4 mths :(

I've seen previews of the red suit, but aren't issues in the stands still in the black suit? I don't know, I can't keep up. I've been too busy here! :D

[joh james]

I actually like the assignment. And I think it's important for artists to learn how to write, construct literary concepts and execute them as they would were they done by someone else. Editing imagery so that a story can be told within a limited amount of space is a test of any artist working professionally. Without understanding how to dissect script ideas and flesh them out, how can an artist hope to improve upon a story? Stories are what comics are all about. We should all know how to write and illustrate at least a basic premise, concept, and synopsis. My three cents. :)

[rjdimariamiskovic]

I had to change page 2 and 3 into a double pages spread. Looking pretty good. :evilsmile

Cool... so what's the link??? I'm sure that you blew these guys out of the water... OUT OF THE WATER!!! HA HAHA HAH HAH HAHA HA!!!:evilsmile :evilsmile :evilsmile

[MartinRedmond]

My three cents. :)
Or 1 cent in American Money ahahahah

[rjdimariamiskovic]

On a serious note... everything that the contestants submitted for our approval... or more than not, ridicule, has been entertaining. Many people have suggested that some of the submissions lack a certain "something". May I suggest that the "something" is an editor. Quite possibly, many of "us" who felt that the covers to this assignment lack a certain "something" could have been averted with a simple suggestion from an editor.

Let us not forget; that all of these fine artists are yet to be professionals and might I add, they will soon will be.

May I also suggest (maybe), in the future, for certain assignments that editors to be appointed?

...just saying. (Brandon and all of you, you do a great job.)

[Eder]

I didn´t like the pages of both artists in this round, but probably I will vote in Charles. His work is a little better than Reed´s.

[Brandon Hanvey]

May I also suggest (maybe), in the future, for certain assignments that editors to be appointed?

...just saying. (Brandon and all of you, you do a great job.)


CBI is about artists showing their raw talent. The judges are there to give advice to the contestant on what they need to improve. If they continue onto the next round, they can always take that advice and apply it to the next round's assignment.

[rjdimariamiskovic]

If anyone's interested, I took some time to color Charles' work.

Brandon please... take this down. This guy IS a talented colorist. However, I feel that it is detrimental to CPWIII in the voting process. It would only be fair if both contestants were colored by a neautral colorist.

[polystyleneman]

Brandon please... take this down. This guy IS a talented colorist. However, I feel that it is detrimental to CPWIII in the voting process. It would only be fair if both contestants were colored by a neautral colorist.

That's fair. I can see why someone might feel that way. I have said I like Reed before, but in my defense I have no underlying motive or intention of influencing the vote. Coloring Charles' work actually made me like his work more than I did before. I was just following the suggestion that J. Torres and Brandon gave me by placing a link here. Up to you Brandon.

Anyway, I'd understand if it was taken down and I'll take it down myself if the moderators prefer.

[Brandon Hanvey]

Brandon please... take this down. This guy IS a talented colorist. However, I feel that it is detrimental to CPWIII in the voting process. It would only be fair if both contestants were colored by a neautral colorist.

People who vote on how someone colors a piece really are not voting on the art anyway. How about this? I'll delete the link to the piece and let polystyleneman decide if he wants to redo/take done the coloring on the A&W. Plus polystyleneman, please just post the pieces on the A&W without announcing them here.

[polystyleneman]

And like I said, feel free to post your coloring work in the A&W forum and even share a link in the CBI threads...

J.

Fair enough. Not trying to argue or anything but I was told before by J. Torres that I could feel free to post a link in the CBI threads. But like I said I'm not arguing and won't do so again. Just pointing that out so I don't seem like as much of an A-hole. :(

[Mmmmmpig]

Fair enough. Not trying to argue or anything but I was told before by J. Torres that I could feel free to post a link in the CBI threads. But like I said I'm not arguing and won't do so again. Just pointing that out so I don't seem like as much of an A-hole. :(

You are such an a-hole:D

[Brandon Hanvey]

Fair enough. Not trying to argue or anything but I was told before by J. Torres that I could feel free to post a link in the CBI threads. But like I said I'm not arguing and won't do so again. Just pointing that out so I don't seem like as much of an A-hole. :(

Whoops didn't see that J. said that. Okay how about posting the links when you have both done?

Didn't mean to go all mod on you.

[rjdimariamiskovic]

Fair enough. Not trying to argue or anything but I was told before by J. Torres that I could feel free to post a link in the CBI threads. But like I said I'm not arguing and won't do so again. Just pointing that out so I don't seem like as much of an A-hole. :(

No offense guys. I really love POLSTYLENEMAN's colors. He's super-really-good. Seriously, I'm not even lying this time. In fact, CPWIII loved what he did on his artwork this
round. Maybe, I should just let sleeping dogs lie... sorry for any inconvenience. Best to both winners in this contest. For what it's worth I really like the colors of POLSTYLENEMAN. He's super good.

[rjdimariamiskovic]

You are such an a-hole:D

Leave him alone. I'm the hole.

Sincerely,
"Jerk-face"

[polystyleneman]

Leave him alone. I'm the hole.

Sincerely,
"Jerk-face"

From the smiley-face, he was joking I think. Nobody's a hole. You had a legitimate concern for the artists' sake. I was already a bit self-conscious that somebody might see it as unfair to one artist if one turned out better than the other anyway.

[jasonbaroody]

nice work on the colors! i can't wait to see how you tackle reeds stuff!:)

[Hieu Le Bui]

Cool... so what's the link??? I'm sure that you blew these guys out of the water... OUT OF THE WATER!!! HA HAHA HAH HAH HAHA HA!!!:evilsmile :evilsmile :evilsmile

Chill......it'll be done soon enough. I'll post it in the "Play at Home" forum. :D

[polystyleneman]

No offense guys. I really love POLSTYLENEMAN's colors. He's super-really-good. Seriously, I'm not even lying this time. In fact, CPWIII loved what he did on his artwork this
round. Maybe, I should just let sleeping dogs lie... sorry for any inconvenience. Best to both winners in this contest. For what it's worth I really like the colors of POLSTYLENEMAN. He's super good.

I didn't see that CPWIII even saw them. And by the way, it's spelled "neutral."
:p And don't worry about me taking any of this personally or whatever, people get way too serious in here.

[Brandon Hanvey]

I didn't see that CPWIII even saw them. And by the way, it's spelled "neutral."
:p And don't worry about me taking any of this personally or whatever, people get way too serious in here.

It's the stress of 5 straight weeks. I'm going take a long rest on Thursday night.

[jasonbaroody]

It's the stress of 5 straight weeks. I'm going take a long rest on Thursday night.
somebody buy this guy a drink! ( or several rounds )

[Brandon Hanvey]

somebody buy this guy a drink! ( or several rounds )

If it's Dr. Pepper, I'm there.

[Mmmmmpig]

If it's Dr. Pepper, I'm there.

But Dr Pepper won't help you sleep at all;)

[polystyleneman]

If it's Dr. Pepper, I'm there.

As long as he doesn't drive. (We're in the same city after all and I'm looking out for my personal safety)

[Brandon Hanvey]

The funny thing is I don't drink alcohol (I drink Dr. Pepper as is) or drive a car (public transit everywhere).

[J. Torres]

Nope. Not even. First, as I stated in my initial post, it is always up to the contestants to present the best work they can. That's clearly on them. Second, the repetition of general instructions isn't an issue that I addressed. I was addressing the instructions for this round. Specifically, how the vagueness of the instructions don't seem to parallel the conditions the contestants would be likely to face if given an actual story pitch assignment in which they're working with a writer. It's not that I thought the assignment wasn't "cool." I simply wondered how valuable it would really be in evaluating their potential as working comic book artists if it's asking them to approach an assignment in a way a working comic book artist isn't likely to be presented with. Perhaps I'm mistaken about that (but I don't think so).


First of all, artists aren't necessarily asked to pitch for books with writers or for projects even with a writer attached. Especially at the Big Two, the project may simply be an idea for a series that an editor has in mind and is inviting all sorts of people to pitch and/or help them develop. An artist may, just as we did in the assignment, be told by an editor that they'd like to develop Project X and be asked to submit some samples with no script or bible to guide them, or no more than a "show me what you'd do with Project X." Often, it's a horse race not only between artists being invited to pitch cold for a book, but between editors trying to find the right mix of elements for Project X to take to the big bosses for consideration, so there's a lot of throwing things against the wall to see what sticks. Yes, some editors will ask for very specific things from an artist they're auditioning, but others don't really know what they want and are looking for artists who can bring something to the table...



Of course it's their choice. And (presumably) being reasonably intelligent people they would almost certainly choose to present their work in a fashion that best represents the strength of their work (e.g., if inking isn't their strength then they would eschew inking their samples). Although it's not stated specifically as such in the instructions (and I never actually said it was) the most logical implication to be made is that it's the underlying reason behind giving them the choice in the first place.

But you wrote: "Going in all of the contestants were told they could present their work in whatever finished form (pencilled, inked, colored) they wanted, as long as it best represented the strength of their work."

The actual reasons for allowing the artists to decide for themselves what they present are right in the instructions: subject matter, format, time. Which, in the real world, is something they obviously consider every time they answer a call for submissions or prepare samples for a convention or other talent search.

Yes, you can tell people to play to their strengths, but how many times have we seen even professional pencillers ink themselves when they really shouldn't? Or contestants on American Idol tackle Aretha or Whitney songs? Ego or ambition can often overried "reasonable intelligence," especially in competition.

And sometimes, that's what makes it interesting to watch :D

[frbarba]

Just like political elections. Your candidate didn't get the nomination. Do you vote anyway to have a say in the outcome or just don't vote at all?

besides, these people did hardwork in a limited period of time, they deserve appreciation via our vote

[joelcook]

The funny thing is I don't drink alcohol (I drink Dr. Pepper as is) or drive a car (public transit everywhere).


I envy you, seriously... I live in Houston, and people drive EVERYWHERE...and big surprise...the pollution here is terrible.

I was in NY and Paris this past summer and it made me realize how much I miss public transportation...

btw... when does voting begin?

[Brandon Hanvey]

btw... when does voting begin?

3 PM EST (12 PM PST).

[rjdimariamiskovic]

And by the way, it's spelled "neutral."

Thanks. My spill chuck is brekon.;)

[Mmmmmpig]

Thanks. My spill chuck is brekon.;)

I believe that is your "spell Czech" thank you very much, Eye run all my posts threw word's spell Czech :D

[R Santos Jr]

Just like political elections. Your candidate didn't get the nomination. Do you vote anyway to have a say in the outcome or just don't vote at all?
There are write-in ballots for such occasions. :3

[Fodaum]

hum????

I vote in Reed... but my hearth is the CAIO.

[gorgonthedestroyer]

hum????

I vote in Reed... but my hearth is the CAIO.

This I suspect this is going to happen about 250 more times... but good luck to both candidates anyways... good luck indeed.

[polystyleneman]

hum????

I vote in Reed... but my hearth is the CAIO.

I vote in Reed... but my heart is in Reed. ;) If it was between Caio and CPWIII I would have been a bit torn.

[Brandon Hanvey]

There are write-in ballots for such occasions. :3

Right after I wrote that I thought the same thing and waited to see if anyone would say it.

[cg_maniac]

I said from the beginning I hoped Reed won, since he listed his occupation as an Accountant Assistant....and was hoping someone who didn't seem to have much going in the art field would win.

with apologies to Bill Murray from Caddyshack:

What an incredible Cinderella story! This unknown, comes out of nowhere, to lead the pack...at Comic Book Idol. He's at his final page. He's about three panels away, he's gonna use an HB pencil I think. [Draws, sketching a beautiful Spidey pose] Oh, he got all of that. The crowd is standing on its feet here at CBI. The normally reserved crowd is going wild... [pauses] for this young Cinderella who's come out of nowhere. He's got about 2 panels left, he's going to grab the #7 sable brush to ink, don't you think? He's got a beautiful technique... [dips brush in ink, creating beautiful cross hatching] That's- Oh, he got all of that one! He's gotta be pleased with that! The crowd is just on its feet here. He's a Cinderella boy. Tears in his eyes, I guess, as he lines up this last panel. He's just got the background left, and he's got a, looks like he's got about an H pencil. This crowd has gone deadly silent... Cinderella story, out of nowhere, former Accountant Assistant, now, about to become the Comic Book Idol Champion. [Draws, then signs his name, puts his pencil in the pencil holder] It looks like a mirac- It's in the holder! It's in the holder! The page is done!

[sjpress]

I said from the beginning I hoped Reed won, since he listed his occupation as an Accountant Assistant....and was hoping someone who didn't seem to have much going in the art field would win.

with apologies to Bill Murray from Caddyshack:

What an incredible Cinderella story! This unknown, comes out of nowhere, to lead the pack...at Comic Book Idol. He's at his final page. He's about three panels away, he's gonna use an HB pencil I think. [Draws, sketching a beautiful Spidey pose] Oh, he got all of that. The crowd is standing on its feet here at CBI. The normally reserved crowd is going wild... [pauses] for this young Cinderella who's come out of nowhere. He's got about 2 panels left, he's going to grab the #7 sable brush to ink, don't you think? He's got a beautiful technique... [dips brush in ink, creating beautiful cross hatching] That's- Oh, he got all of that one! He's gotta be pleased with that! The crowd is just on its feet here. He's a Cinderella boy. Tears in his eyes, I guess, as he lines up this last panel. He's just got the background left, and he's got a, looks like he's got about an H pencil. This crowd has gone deadly silent... Cinderella story, out of nowhere, former Accountant Assistant, now, about to become the Comic Book Idol Champion. [Draws, then signs his name, puts his pencil in the pencil holder] It looks like a mirac- It's in the holder! It's in the holder! The page is done!

Charles is currently a security guard, so i think that would be a pretty good Cinderella story too. Good luck, boys!

[polystyleneman]

I think I was told by the powers that be that I could post a link here...
http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?p=5812641#post5812641

[Brandon Hanvey]

I think I was told by the highers that be that I could post a link here...
http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?p=5812641#post5812641

Nice work, poly.

[polystyleneman]

thanks. not sure why i said highers that be instead of powers that be though. lol

[cg_maniac]

Charles is currently a security guard, so i think that would be a pretty good Cinderella story too. Good luck, boys!

yeah, but he has that 10 Ton Studios thing going on...

[jasonbaroody]

yeah, but he has that 10 Ton Studios thing going on...
huh?

Charles is a member of our online forum over at TEN TON STUDIOS and we are proud that he an Nick Pitarra ( who is also a member on our forum) were both chosen as contestants for Comic Book Idol.
But Charles isn't a founding member of the studio nor does he go to cons with us, or has he ever worked on a TEN TON project. He just posts his artwork on our forum much like people do here at CBR or Pencil Jack or Digital Webbing.
He is a talented guy who works a day job as a security guard.

Ten Ton supports him and wishes him luck, because we know him from our online forum. But we would have done the same if any of the contestants were members on our forum.:)

Good luck to Charles and Jon may the best man win!

[sjpress]

yeah, but he has that 10 Ton Studios thing going on...

Yeah, that's an art forum he belongs to. Caio is a member there too now, and they would be super excited if Jon Reed joined up, i'm sure. What's your point?

[cg_maniac]

But Charles isn't a founding member of the studio nor does he go to cons with us, or has he ever worked on a TEN TON project. He just posts his artwork on our forum much like people do here at CBR or Pencil Jack or Digital Webbing.

ooohhhhhh.........oops.

[rjdimariamiskovic]

yeah, but he has that 10 Ton Studios thing going on...

Good point indeed... however, if you take the time to do your homework (like I should talk), you'll find that CPWIII does not belong to a studio. This is bunch of independent guys doing weekly sketches for a "sketch challenge". It's sort of like what happens here without all the cool prizes and stuff. (If I'm wrong, somebody exploit this.)

Unfortunately, he does work as a security guard. at 40 hours, sometimes more, a week.

Cinderella story indeed.

[jasonbaroody]

ooohhhhhh.........oops.
no worries, easy mistake :)

[entergoku]

When are the other judges going to add their critique?

[Brandon Hanvey]

When are the other judges going to add their critique?

We hope they show up soon. But as in previous rounds, we understand they have busy schedules so we have to be patient.

[R Santos Jr]

Right after I wrote that I thought the same thing and waited to see if anyone would say it.
Well, despite all that, I managed to set aside my sour grapes and make them into a delicious tart. After that, I decided to vote anyway. As was said earlier, these guys busted their chops and rose to the challenge every round in a way very few of us can. I think the least we can do is help determine which of them put forth the effort most deserving of the win.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go enjoy my delicious tarts.

[joh james]

This round was a lot of fun to draw and if there ever was an assignment I think everyone would get a kick out of viewing, it would be this one. I'd love to see the crazy situations we artists have put Spidey in, and the droves of villians that would most likely come out of the woodwork for a shot at the trio. I just posted my pages and I'm anxious to see what other cool storylines came out of it. Ciao!

[jpolacek]

This is bunch of independent guys doing weekly sketches for a "sketch challenge". It's sort of like what happens here without all the cool prizes and stuff.

The Ten Ton Sketch Challenge prize is that you get to pick one of the other artist’s pieces and they will mail it to you. That's a pretty cool prize, I say! :)

Now, onto the commenting on this round’s art.

I was really let down by the covers for both these guys. The cover should be the most eye-catching page, but in both cases the cover layouts lacked energy and focus. Now is not the time to practice with watercolors. Nice, tight pencils will beat sloppy inks or muddy colors every time. For both artists, the interior pages were better than the covers but CPW crushed Jon when it comes to storytelling (at least in my opinion). Plus, stylistically, he's more my thing. I have to say though, if Caio's pages from the play-at-home thread were eligible, I'd be voting for him.

Thanks for all the hard work to all the participants, judges and CBR people! This contest is always inspirational and highly entertaining. Hopefully, we won't have to wait as long for the next one!

[BADunn]

This is so hard! I think Charles is my favorite visually but why should he win over Jon "The Dark Horse" Reed? Jon may have actually done a better job with his comics panels and I think I may have overlooked him during the competition, but his figures are so blocky while Charles' figures have a smooth, organic quality. On the other hand, Charles needs to do better with faces, especially his women who all look like the same girl biting her lip. Both artists didn't do so well this final round but I think they were asked to do too much work with too little time. And both of them are so deserving! What to do? What to do?!! I wish good luck to them both, whatever happens!

[Maxmen Chuen]

I went with Charles III, but I think this last round is among the weakest of all their works. I agree fully with what Marc Silvestri said in the second last paragraph of his Jon Reed comments - especially about having a breather to absorb the lessons learnt from the previous rounds before coming on to "really kick ass" in this final.

Case in point is Jon's second page fifth panel where the guys head breaks the border to intrude into the first panel. It dragged my eye from the first directly to the fifth, bypassing the second to fourth panels. I specifically remember reading one of the judges (can't remember if it's Silvestri, but maybe) critisizing just such an error in one of the earlier rounds (can't remember if it's Jon's pages as well).

The results are not even out and I'm experiencing the first withdrawal symptoms. The contest's over! waaah. When's the next one?

[polystyleneman]

I went with Charles III, but I think this last round is among the weakest of all their works. I agree fully with what Marc Silvestri said in the second last paragraph of his Jon Reed comments - especially about having a breather to absorb the lessons learnt from the previous rounds before coming on to "really kick ass" in this final.

Case in point is Jon's second page fifth panel where the guys head breaks the border to intrude into the first panel. It dragged my eye from the first directly to the fifth, bypassing the second to fourth panels. I specifically remember reading one of the judges (can't remember if it's Silvestri, but maybe) critisizing just such an error in one of the earlier rounds (can't remember if it's Jon's pages as well).

The results are not even out and I'm experiencing the first withdrawal symptoms. The contest's over! waaah. When's the next one?


I know exactly what you mean man! I'm kind of sad to see it over myself. It's nice to have the motivation to keep working.

[polystyleneman]

......................................

[cg_maniac]

So....

Is the rest of the "Marvel Bullpen" going to post any critiques or what? Anyone heard anything from them? :confused:

[J. Torres]

Hey, all. I'm really sorry about the Marvel judges. As you can see Tom Brevoort posted, but Bill Rosemann also tried yesterday and ran into some technical difficulties, kept trying, and then got too busy. Chris Allo also e-mailed saying he too had been slammed with work and had to bow out. I didn't hear from any of the others. I really don't know what else to say except... I was joking with Jonah that I felt like someone who threw a party and told all my buddies a bunch of "hot women" would be there... and only two showed up. And one was married.

:o

[Vince Hernandez]

Sorry I wanted to jump in and throw some critiques on some of the other guest judges' rounds but I couldn't give as much time as I would've wanted to. I went go panel-by-panel with my critiques which took awhile. Hopefully the hardworking folks behind CBI won't toss me to the wolves:)

[J. Torres]

Sorry I wanted to jump in and throw some critiques on some of the other guest judges' rounds but I couldn't give as much time as I would've wanted to. I went go panel-by-panel with my critiques which took awhile. Hopefully the hardworking folks behind CBI won't toss me to the wolves:)

Nah, dude, we totally owe you for pitch-hitting when you did! Thanks again!

[kamgates]

Sorry I wanted to jump in and throw some critiques on some of the other guest judges' rounds but I couldn't give as much time as I would've wanted to. I went go panel-by-panel with my critiques which took awhile. Hopefully the hardworking folks behind CBI won't toss me to the wolves:)

You participated in round 1 and went above and beyond to help out later when you weren't originally scheduled too. I wouldn't group you in with any judging silliness. Thanks a bunch!

[polystyleneman]

Sorry I wanted to jump in and throw some critiques on some of the other guest judges' rounds but I couldn't give as much time as I would've wanted to. I went go panel-by-panel with my critiques which took awhile. Hopefully the hardworking folks behind CBI won't toss me to the wolves:)

Yeah and you even took part in some "fanboy" discussions regarding Spider-Man art in the 90s as I recall. :D

[Vince Hernandez]

Yeah and you even took part in some "fanboy" discussions regarding Spider-Man art in the 90s as I recall. :D

Heh heh. I will always find time for a fanboy Spider-Man 90's discussion. Ahh those were the times.

[Vince Hernandez]

And thanks for the thanks guys! But really my job was fun and easy compared to the contestants. they deserve all the accolades. What a great job by them!

Also J Torres and Brandon and everyone else behind CBI. Tremendous job guys!

[polystyleneman]

And thanks for the thanks guys! But really my job was fun and easy compared to the contestants. they deserve all the accolades. What a great job by them!

Also J Torres and Brandon and everyone else behind CBI. Tremendous job guys!

A while back you stopped by the Play At Home thread and mentioned you'd try to stop by later and comment on the first round submissions. I've always been curious what you meant to say.