Anatomy of a fight...scene.

I have always had a tough time with fight scenes. I am not talking about a shot of two opponents squaring off against each other; I am talking about a panel-to-panel sequence that lasts longer than a few frames.

Partially this is due to the fact that I do not practice any martial arts and that I have not been in a fight since 5th grade...maybe 4th. This really became a problem recently when I got my main character, Niko, involved in a fight that was going to last most of the issue (interwoven with other events in the storyline), I wanted something that made sense and not just a collection of shots of two toughs. I was not even sure how to begin.

I was kind of stuck until I remembered that at the fitness center, where I work out at lunch, there is a jujitsu class that is being taught every Tuesday and Thursday. I came up and introduced my self to the instructor, John Nguyen, and asked for help.

John graciously agreed and after we talked for a bit about the set-up, he started introducing some very cool ideas. Thanks to him, the fight is starting to take shape and is much more involved than just two guys duking it out. There are now different phases to the action, each involving a different element (fire, water) and it has it's own rhythm that is echoing the beats in the rest of the story.

Below is the opening sequence:

Review

Since the trade collection came-out a while back, there is not much in the way of reviews anymore, but someone sent me this link of a recent (and very nice) review:

RPG.NET

Storytelling

When Robotika was being published I did a few internet interviews about the series. It seemed like every interview ended (or begun) with a question about influences. The truth is that I am influenced by just about everything that I came into contact with: all the comics, books, movies, paintings, animation...

Sure, I get excited about some particular techniques that I see in comics and illustration, but it does not motivate me to sit down and draw for 8-10 hours. I file stuff like that away in my mind and look for an opportunity to use it some day...most of the time with mixed results :(

What really inspires me to continue doing pages is talking to people like Jim Williams III, Ryan Sook, Norman Felchle, Brian Apthorp, and Frank Cirocco who are always thinking about experimenting with storytelling and are always pushing themselves to continue studying all aspects of drawing. These guys are amazing and it is my privilage to know them, but there are also other very talented storytellers whom I never got to met who challenge me to think about my work. Folks like Rodolfo Damaggio, Frank Miller, Mike Mignola, Marshall Rogers, Alex Toth, Sergio Toppi, Claire Wendling, Will Eisner, Damion Scott...the list is never ending :)

Talking about storytelling here is a cool bit from a recent Ryan Sook story in Worldstorm #2:


Believe it or not, I did the layouts for the bit below before I saw Ryan's page, but I must admit that by the time I executed the actual drawng I was well aware of the Worldstorm story and I am sure it influenced my approach:

Friday the 13th

Ever since I got to buy a Swamp Thing reprint back in the late 80's I have been a huge Wrightson fan. Wrightson was somehow able to take the ugly and the scary and draw it in a way that made it look fun and playful...with an edge to it. I still spend hours looking through the "Look Back", "Swamp Thing", and "Frankenstein". It's beautiful stuff.

Recently Ryan did a cover for Friday the 13th series from Wildstorm that had the same effect on me. The subject matter is crazy, but the picture is executed with perfect lines and beautiful anatomy, mixing the innocent with the horrific and flowless technique with the unthinkable subject... everything in perfect balance. I am simply fascinated by this...work like that doesn't just inspire me to try to do better, it makes me understand things about drawing that always seem to elude me.

David Petersen

A cool interview with David about his work on Mouse Guard, movies, and artists who have influenced his art. David is so enthusiastic about his work and the medium that it is hard not to be excited about making comics after reading his answers:

David Petersen

And it is now official:

Nominations