So I just got into the pile from last Wednesday and guess what I find...
A comic book with a naked man in it.
A naked man, established to be very good looking by the dialogue.
Sadly, though, it was difficult to tell from the art, because this naked man was not drawn by Ivan Reis or Ed Benes.
No, this naked man was drawn by John Byrne.
Damn you, Simone, you did that on purpose.
It's more horrible once you learn that Byrne, in favor of authenticity, drew the naked man by looking at himself in a mirror.
ReplyDeleteA lasting frustration for me with Benes, though, is that there's usually less detail on the rare occasions when the script calls for beefcake I see less attention, less detail than the way he draws women (or, in the case that got me to drop Gen-13 until Adam Warren appealed to my love of Dance Dance Revolution, left all the male nudity off panel.)
ReplyDeletePlus, from what I can tell, Benes adds cheesecake to his art without prompting, but it feels like the guys get attention only when the script specifies for beefcake.
I don't know, that JLA preview in Wizard was just about the only time I think I've sen more attention drawn to the muscles on Batman and Superman than the symbols on the costume.
ReplyDeleteOf course, that's the irony of Byrne- his fourteen year olds look like fortysomething midgets.
ReplyDeleteI have the Verheiden/Benes trade, The Journey, and... you can feel Benes trying to cram in girly cheescake. I mean, his Superman is quite a specimen, but wow, those Lois panels are lovingly drawn. And the women's prison sequence!
It's a surprisingly good collection, though. I liked it.
Yes, he is WAY too young looking, but as Dan noted, John Byrne. With the exception of Pipe-Smoking Dude and the Dean all of that Ivy-Town Brain Trust looked like a High School AV Club.
ReplyDeleteI really hope they get a better artist on this book, because it looks kinda neat so far.
Haven't read the comic in question (not even sure which title it is), but Byrne? You have my sympathy.
ReplyDeleteMight be fun to have a thread on which comic artist you'd *like* to see drawing beefcake.
First one that comes to mind for me is Adam Hughes, who I used to read back in Maze Agency and JLI...
Might be fun to have a thread on which comic artist you'd *like* to see drawing beefcake.
ReplyDeleteFirst person who comes to mind is Rick Mays. That panel of Roy Harper peeling off a t-shirt as he stretches his abs from Arsenal #1 is permanently etched in my brain. And plenty of gay male artists draw both sexes equally well.
Lis, Odd that you should mention
ReplyDeleteAdam Huges. I was just going through some old JLA's, and he
was the artist. He actually made
Guy Gardner look hot. Whew!
All you hu-mons look the same to me naked.
ReplyDelete