Regeneration One - Geoff Senior cover!

Wow, Geoff has some nice stuff up there.

Anybody doubting his bots might want to check this out:

http://www.geoffsenior.com/artwork/gallery/g38.jpg

Equally silly to have to say it, but just because an artist chooses to use a stylized approach on purpose, doesn't mean that the work cannot be BAD. Just to point to the other side of the equation. Artistic choices are not necessarily exempt from evaluative judgment, of course. Sometimes people make poor stylistic choices. I've always maintained that "taste" is not purely "a matter of opinion", but rather the product of one's ability to reflect on the aesthetic object and support their opinions through credible discourse.

But yeah, I do agree with your main point, which is that stylization is also not an indicator necessarily of an artist's incompetency.

zmog

Have to agree 100% with you. Senior was always a personal favourite, he does have a distinctly cartoony feel but that is part of the charm. His artwork always had such an energy and a bold gritty look to it. His work on prey & target 2006 still look amazing. Although can fully understand those that don't 'get' his work.

Loving the Dragons claws reference, fantastic comic. Will have to go and dig out my old issues! All with the added bonus of Death's Head - yes?

Yup, I remember that Death's Head issue fondly... it was when Death's Head got unstuck chrono-dimensionally and was hopping around to other titles before kicking off his solo book. Besides Dragon's Claws, I think he appeared in the UK version of Fantastic Four, and a Doctor Who book as well... but I think he was a good fit for the Dragon's Claws world. It helps that Senior was the original artist for both.

Dragon's Claws was a weird title, in retrospect. Somewhere between Blade Runner, The Running Man and The Warriors... good times.

zmog

Yes that sounds right, I remember the Deaths Head appearance in Doctor Who, Furman & Senior created a really memorable & funny character, it's a shame that it hasn't appeared more since the Deaths Head series.

Yes it was, good times indeed! I'd add Mad Max into the mix or was that released as Warrior in Canada/US?

Nah man, the warriors was a film about gang violence. Sort of like escape from LA without Snake.

Edit: Target 2006 is certainly his best tf work in my opinion, though he shines whenever deaths head is involved. That frame where Galvatron is kneeling on Magnus is immense, in fact all his depictions of Galvatron rule.

Needs moar speed lines!

I know we like to crow abt his UK marvel run, but his fill in work for the g2 comics is right there or even better. The inks were more robust n never seemed handicap like his original run at US marvel where yomtov colors made his stuff looked flat.

I also gotta disagree with urizen dude point on artist having liberty to draw how they want. That applies, yes, IN A VACCUUM. TF is not a creator owned property n publisher/editor has right in imposing a certain look of the art in line with readers taste. Dont kid yourself: artist take gig on TF title for money, not love. Weve only had fans draw for the title since the 00s with gus like figueora, khanna , guido et al who work almost exclusively for TF related stuff.

So as someone who draws myself, artist should have freedom of style/expression, fans are not wrong when they dislike something. And they can show their power thru their wallet. Id rather have continued sales with art i like less rather than preferred art style but declining sales.

I could debate these posts for hours, but I'll try and keep my response brief! As someone who has worked in the graphic design industry, I am very aware of the need for careful application of style. Depending on the client/situation, it is often necessary to rein in one's personal artistic style in order to better fit the task. This is a compromise every artist employed by a business has to make. That said, in regard to a medium like comic books - versus working for an advertising company or similar business enterprise, etc - I feel this rule relaxes a great deal. I like to see artistic diversity in my comics, and I personally feel a more homogenised output, or "house style" type of approach destroys one of the key things that makes comics such a rewarding experience. At the end of the day, of course, a publishing house is a business like any other; it comes down to sales, and naturally they'll want to capitalize on what sells. Personally, I feel this has led IDW to play it a little too safe, and I'd like to see new talent on a more regular basis.

It was also a slightly cartoonish dystopian near-future, where different gangs are formed around costumed themes, and wage group-to-group warfare across an urban landscape. Which has some direct parallels with Dragon's Claws. Remember the Claws' rival teams were mostly based around a single gimmick and wore thematically-matching hokey costumes, and their matches were often in urban-industrial wastelands. I'd be surprised if The Warriors wasn't at least a small inspiration for Furman and Senior.

I agree... comic artists do have a lot more freedom to express a personal style through their work. It tends to build one's reputation in fact. For an illustrator, it's always a push and pull between being versatile enough to do whatever comes your way, and establishing a "style" that serves as your signature, that gets you jobs (ideally).

However, my point was not to comment on whether style should be expressed, or to what degree. It was more about HOW it is expressed. I think a lot of us here are artists and while it's nice for us to "express ourselves", I think we can all agree that sometimes artistic experiments just don't work. There is a such thing as making bad artistic choices, and in that sense, I'm not just speaking in the commercial sense.

I'm not even applying that to this discussion. It think Senior's style is a great match for Transformers. I was just adding a caveat to your earlier comments about artistic freedom, to say that art is not necessarily above aesthetic critique just because it's a "style" (though of course, context does play a role).

zmog

Thanks, I'd never heard of it. Will check it out.

Yep, his work on Target 2006 is stunning. His Galvatron images are the still the best in my opinion.