Tyler Crook Looks Like a Beyond Capable BPRD Talent

[CBM]

http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/0...ler-crook-art/

[daveageallen]

i disagree from what i have seen he seems very bland and his abe sapien is just all wrong in the face. maybe later on he will change. early guy davis bprd is weird and off aswell

[jimm]

Can't wait to see his monsters!

[CBM]

i disagree from what i have seen he seems very bland and his abe sapien is just all wrong in the face. maybe later on he will change. early guy davis bprd is weird and off aswell

give him a break and let him get into it...Travis had to draw a promo piece before having a chance to ease into this...disagree is a little harsh...

[Middenway]

I think the examples they chose in that article weren't his best work, but most of the stuff on his blog really floored me, and his sequential pages were really tight. All of his Petrograd stuff looks really stunning. Besides, that promo piece was his first time drawing the characters. I'm sure he's streamlined the designs since he started drawing the comic. Some of his pages have already come in, and Scott Allie sounds very happy.

[Kees_L]

All of Tyler's panelled page work I've seen shows much sense of direction or 'flow' as I've heard the kids call it.
Something which seems apparent in horror stuff together with the moodiness. I'd really guess Tyler has that down, as he seems to read as compelling or telling as loaded as even Davis or Corben or Jill Thompson I'd think (like they or their stuff would really seem *full of it* - so to speak ).

The sense of ease as also available in Ben Stenbeck's pages, although he or Baltimore pages seem to have a different approach than typical BPRD pages I would assume.
As BPRD-pages seem to convey more of an "uh-oh isn't that weird?!" sense together with the strong character development from a team dynamic - having the pages seeming to fit vividness almost organically, full of emotion and layeredness, for all the accentuation or alternation of the perspectives or moods being to constantly shift or grow.
Where artistic conveying or tellingness as shown by Guy Davis or Jill Thompson, or the Bah/Moon brothers (Jacques Tardi or Bernie Krigstein) would really seem to come in handy.
And from what I'm seeing Tyler will have that down as well, I'm sure.

So I feel confident . I feel so confident I'd be ready for Disco!! But then I'll be a positive guy I guess.

[Neil Hill]

i disagree from what i have seen he seems very bland and his abe sapien is just all wrong in the face. maybe later on he will change. early guy davis bprd is weird and off aswell

Tyler is a decent choice, but I think we're all so attached to Guy's style at this point that we aren't being properly objective. Moreover, I don't think the examples of work we've seen thus far from Tyler really give us a solid indication of what his work will look like on these characters. As Christine mentioned, one pin-up a depth and breadth of work does not represent.

To be fair, I really like the soft, organic quality in Tyler's work, which I think will look great when it comes to creating eery monsters and sticky-gooey creatures of the night. Guy put such an incredibly indellible stamp on this cast that it's difficult to think of the book without him, but, again being fair to Tyler, I'm willing to give him a chance to see what he'll do.

[Jelio]

i also disagree,

im still not impressed with Tyler even after seeing the work from the link above.



-Jeremy

[Kelly Tindall]

Back off, guys. Nobody's following you around and judging your first day of work, and Tyler clearly doesn't deserve it.

[Storey74]

I dig his stuff personally... has a nice gestural quality that I have often admired about Guy's work as well. Looking at Tyler's art, I see (and this is just my opinion of course) a mix between Paul Pope, Frank Quitely and Josh Middleton...

[cantide]

I love his lines and, from what I've seen on his blog, his work is very expressive and--not loose, but.. comfortable. In a way. It's hard to describe. I see some slight awkwardness in the promo piece he did, but that's just one drawing! Davis took quite a while to settle into his own style - if we'd judged him too harshly by his first few works we would never have gotten to see the awesome run we did. I have confidence that Crook will prove himself an excellent choice to take up the helm, and I'm excited to watch his art evolve over (hopefully!) the course of many awesome years, as we did with Guy.

[Middenway]

Well, no matter how good he is, Tyler Crook will never please everyone. There's so many factors that make a good comic artist, and drawing nice pictures is just one of them. Sequential storytelling is an artform, and I've seen many people (who are amazing artists when doing stand-alone pictures) fail at it again and again, even after years of work. They seem incapable of stringing images together or instilling in the reader a sense of movement between panels.

And even then there's the quality of the acting, something I find people rarely talk about, but it's really important. Comic artists are actors and the quality and style of acting is a huge part of what draws a reader in. Then there's their panel layout and their page layout (again, it's surprisingly hard to find an artist capable of both of these. It seems most can only do one or the other really well). Pacing is another factor, especially important in the horror genre and the more human moments, something Mike Mignola and Guy Davis are incredible at, and it's what I find severely lacking in many (but not all) DC and Marvel titles.

All of this is without even talking about whether or not you just like the way the artist draws the world and characters of the comic, of which we've only seen a glimpse so far.

If you can, try not to look at Mr Crook's pin-ups. Pin-ups are the worst way to measure the quality of a comic book artist, almost to the point of being completely useless, which is surprising given the emphasis reporters of comic news seem to put on them (that and the marketing machine).

If you haven't seen it already, I recommend you check out this, the announcement of the Petrograd project on Mr Crook's blog. or read the short comics on his website.

I can't judge yet, but all I can see at this point is potential.

[Kees_L]

I can't judge yet, but all I can see at this point is potential.

Maybe that will be the way to be about it really.

Maybe judging a new guy will not be the same as "judging whether this new artist (with looking at a few snippets) will be living up to one of your all-time-favorite comic artists ever, for being to *take over* one of your all-time-favorite titles" or anything like that.

Well, no matter how good he is, Tyler Crook will never please everyone. There's so many factors that make a good comic artist,

I can agree there will be a lot to like about any decent art. Even if stuff wouldn't immediately or constantly be seeming your perfect cup of tea completely.
And maybe most comic artists making a career out of working on comic titles will be good or capable artists pretty much. Even when they wouldn't immediately stand out as feeling total favorites - before one piece of work would even have been published yet (!).

Maybe Marvel and DC would go about dictating how art should get done on some or more of their titles, with going: "don't draw how you like, but only draw exactly how we want you to!"
Although it seems to me that in contrast to any such, Hellboy and BPRD-related titles will have really only been about having all the multiple both as ongoing creative teams, being to work together for having books turn out looking and reading as good as they could get.
Based on having people be focusing on their own creative strengths.
Rather outstandingly I feel, on the whole, for each new title or book really.

And for all that, for all the multiple teams, both as the long-staying teams, with a consistent driving force for a creator like Mignola, as for a dedicated editor like Scott Allie, I would feel it fair to say that if those people feel to have found a good new artist to be working with, then who would any outsider or reader be to disagree on such right off the bat - before anything having even been published yet?

That doesn't sound like fans checking out the new artist, but more like fans not getting over the fact that Guy Davis would even need replacing.

And as sad as such would be: Guy Davis has said to need replacing. Or at least a firm stepping down for the coming future.

Still I'm confident the makers of BPRD will keep on doing their job just right. 'Cause they been doing it a while. Plus it's their job.
I look forward to seeing Tyler Crook becoming a part of such.

[imrandy85]

I didn't particularly like the pinup that was revealed during ECCC, something about the faces didn't look quite right but it sounds like it was kinda rushed to go along with the Guy Davis announcement. The art from that comics alliance link does look pretty good to me though. I'm going to wait and make a judgement until Monsters is finished to make a judgement. It's not like I'm going to quit buying BPRD though.

[Middenway]

It's not like I'm going to quit buying BPRD though.

With an ending like that, the next issue could be drawn by my grandmother, in crayon, and I'd be there to pick it up first day. Clever move, editorial!

Exactly. John Arcudi doesn't get enough praise for the work he does.