Ravens & Rainbows, No. 1

Written, Pencilled, Inked and Cover Art by - Jeffrey Jones

There are all sorts of reasons I might pick up a comic and even more why I might actually decide to buy it. For this particular comic I was first attracted to it because it was published by Pacific Comics; I've previously mentioned that PC comics are always worth checking out due to the quality of the printing. Secondly, the art is stunning (although I'm not a huge fan of the cover), Jeffrey Jones (more recently Jeffrey 'Catherine' Jones) could probably be considered as the least commercially successful of her peers.

(L-R) Bernie Wrightson, Jeff Jones, Michael Kaluta and Barry Windsor-Smith

Published in December 1983, Ravens & Rainbows is a collection of Jeff Jones' work, including a portfolio containing images that had never previously been published in colour. The actual stories in this comic are a little hit and miss, I prefer the one page strips over the longer stories; but for me this comic is all about the art.

Halloween Special!

Today I thought I'd celebrate Halloween by sharing a strip written and drawn by the legend that is 'Bernie Wrightson'. It is entitled 'The Muck Monster' and is from "Bernie Wrightson Master of the Macabre" (issue 1, Pacific Comics, June 1983). Enjoy!

First things first.

New discoveries are afoot, readers. 

This is the first post of my new blog 'The Visual Exegesis', a blog designed to stimulate and provoke. It is within this digital landscape I aim to present my findings from the world around me. I present in this first post a somewhat appropriate image, I feel, that helps set the precedence for future posts. 

The image in question appears on the back cover of "The Twisted Tales of Bruce Jones" (part 2 of 4, Eclipse Comics, Feb 1986). I believe the drawing is by Bruce Jones himself (not of Coronation Street fame).

Another favourite comic book artist of mine is Bernie Wrightson; Jones and Wrightson were given their own comic to work on called 'Web of Horror'. Neither Wrightson nor Jones enquired to the amount of money they would be paid, their general feeling was "Wow! We got our own magazine! We're gonna take this in an all-new direction!". Unfortunately Bruce and Bernie, after a long journey across town, discovered the publisher's office empty and so lost any chance of being paid (or getting back any of the original art they had already turned in).

Here is a link to a Bernie Wrightson interview: http://twomorrows.com/comicbookartist/articles/04wrightson.html

When I first started to collect comics I knew that I liked them but didn't know where to start. I read many modern comics but it was only when I was introduced to comics from the 70's that I started to find 'the good stuff'. I personally prefare my comics to be drawn in pencil, then ink and perhaps with some colour (but not essential). I find that modern technques to be too polished and predictable.

After devouring many 70's comics I started to look into some 80's era comics, the first thing I noticed was the improvement in the quality of the printing. Eclipse comics provide superb examples of this; sharper images, more vibrant colours and better quality paper. I wouldn't say that I prefer these 80's comics over older comics, they're just different and of the time. But open up any comic from the last 20 years plus and they all have the same thing in common. The smell. And what a fantastic smell it is.