BPRD artist question

[DannyBoy7783]

Hey all, I was just reading Hollow Earth again and I realized that Mike didn't do the art! Ryan Sook was so close that I never actually noticed.

Does anyone know why Sook didn't continue on with the BPRD or why he didn't do Darkness Calls?

I have grown to love Guy Davis and he is THE bprd artist as far as I am concerned but Sook would have done a great job.

Anyone have any info on the subject?

Furthermore, I like Fegredo on Darkness Calls but his art isn't as tight as Mignola or Sook. But that may be the intended goal as things are really getting chaotic in that series.

[PamGrierOverdrive]

Sook's art seems to have evolved into more of an Adam Hughes style, and my guess is that he's collecting bigger paychecks from the Big 2 for doing various cover work and the occasional prestige project.

[Nick W]

After Ryan finished BPRD he moved onto Arkham Asylum, then Hawkman & finally Zatanna. I don't know that Ryan was offered any more BPRD books, but he was pretty much locked down by DC work when A Plague of Frogs came out. Also, as his style has evolved it has become more difficult for him to stay with a monthly book which is why he took himself off of X-Factor.

N

[The Left Hand of Doom]

I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Sook at WonderCon two years ago and can corroborate (not that it's needed) Nick's post. I was 5th in line for a sketch and it took me 3 hours to get some face time with him. Granted, because of the traffic between his table and our line, he was unaware of us, but Ryan will be the first to point out that he is not the fastest pistol at the drawing table. At that point, he had just finished his final issue of X-Factor, and he alluded to this reason as to why he was leaving the title. I was crushed. However I was able to walk away with a stunning X-Factor page (IMO) as well as a Spectre sketch. He is one of the nicest guys I've met in the business and he really put a lot into the sketch.

As an aside, I want to say I had read that he changes up his art every now and again just to keep things fresh, but I could wrong about that. He seems to be settled on his current style seen in Zatanna, Hawkman, and X-Factor. This is fine with me. While I really enjoyed his work on The Hollow Earth, I find his more recent work equally delightful. There is something about his eyes (in his art, not Ryan's actual eyeballs) that I find haunting.

[dogboy443]

I have 6 pages of Ryans Spectre work and they evolved after BPRD and then his most recent art has evolved past the Spectre. I hate to say it but he'll need to either pick up his pace or he'll be doing covers and mini-series for the rest of his career.

Mk

[FrBoukas]

He also did a great short in the first issue of Goon Noir. Were his Adam Huges progression is really seen, even in the sfx.

http://i28.tinypic.com/ofzp0l.jpg

[Kelly Tindall]

To be honest, if Ryan were still drawing B.P.R.D., I wouldn't be reading it.

[Nick W]

He also did a great short in the first issue of Goon Noir. Were his Adam Huges progression is really seen, even in the sfx.



The Goon story is particullarly AHish, but I think it's the exception, not the rule. He went very cartoony which I think really worked for the story. If you look at the current Countdown covers he's doing for DC, I think you'll see more of the old Nowlan influence than Hughes. When his next sequential story comes out, I think everybody will be pleasantly surprised. He's really starting to move into his own as a storyteller and I think eventually we'll start to see newer artists aping the Sook style of drawing pretty ladies. :)

N

[FrBoukas]

Nick W, I've seen his recent covers and couldn't agree more. I'm very interested to see were his work will be the next time he does interiors.

[Nick W]

Call me Nick... I don't mind. :)

His next sequential will be out in a few months. It's a Magdelena story written by Ron Marz for Top Cow.

N

[DannyBoy7783]

Hmmm, interesting! Thanks for the info everyone!

[Ken O]

I love some Sook art. For me, Hollow Earth has one of those "holy grail" pages.