Regeneration One - Geoff Senior cover!

Discussion in 'Transformers News and Rumors' started by Josh, May 3, 2012.

  1. Sweeny

    Sweeny Electric Monk

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    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?
     
  2. SMOG

    SMOG Vocabchampion ArgueTitan

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    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
     
  3. Sweeny

    Sweeny Electric Monk

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    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?
     
  4. Jaicen

    Jaicen Well-Known Member

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    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.
     
  5. KA

    KA Well-Known Member

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    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.
     
  6. Urizen123

    Urizen123 I toast, therefore I am.

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    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.
     
  7. SMOG

    SMOG Vocabchampion ArgueTitan

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    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
     
  8. Sweeny

    Sweeny Electric Monk

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    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.
     
  9. Gingerchris

    Gingerchris Telly-headed Tyrant

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    Dunno if any of this was directed at me but if it was I think you got the intent of my posts wrong.
    Although, in terms of:
    I would prefer he stuck entirely to his old TF style in this instance since that's kinda the nostalgic point of the project for this cover.
     
  10. The Madness

    The Madness News Credits: -13

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    While I agree the foreshortening in the picture is exaggerated enough to be worthy of a Dreamwave comparison, I really don't get the complaints.
    Squash, Stretch, etc, Its all part of conveying movement and drama in static imagery.

    I for one, am grateful to see more work from Senior. Even though I love some of the glorious detail of many of the recent TF comic artists, I really miss the dynamic composition and action from artists such as Senior, Wildman, and Sullivan.

    These artists are all about action rather than intricacy, though personally I love their stylistic interpretations.
    I'm happy to have expressive characters, because it means I can engage in the story better.
    I'm also imaginative enough not to get distracted by incidental details, such as hard surfaces mimicking human characteristics without seams, hinges or any kind of familiar mechanical justification.

    Personally, I have nothing but respect for anyone that can churn out pages and pages of Transforming robots a month, regardless of their era, or style.
     
  11. OptimusTimelord

    OptimusTimelord Masterpiece Reanimator

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    Me too, but I know how difficult it would be to try and replicate the style of art I had 20+ years ago, even if I wanted to. Let's just hope Geoff gets a chance to do some actual page art in the Regeneration issues. I don't mind Wildman, but there's simply no imitations...

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     

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  12. PrimeOQZ

    PrimeOQZ Well-Known Member

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    I love Geoff's work but this cover does't do it for me. I would have loved to buy this. His work seems a little different on this particular cover.

    Prime looks kinda like G2 style and no offense to the G2 becasue it had a style of its own with Galen and someone else that I cannot think off the top of my head.
     
  13. SMOG

    SMOG Vocabchampion ArgueTitan

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    The Warriors isn't nearly as wild as some of the other dystopian/post-apoc B-movies like The New Barbarians or The Bronx Warriors (though I would say it had a big influence on Bronx Warriors)... but it is a great cult movie of it's time. Basically a street-gang flick, but with really colourful street gangs. Like, the kind of gang that you'd see working for a Batman villain in the 60's. :D 

    I agree... Senior's stuff on Target:2006 was exceptional.

    So far I'm really unimpressed with Wildman's artwork in Regeneration 80.5 (though I was never a fan). The 2 panels you just posted are a really striking example of just how much more dynamic Senior is. Also, back to an earlier point, it also illustrates just how much better the colours were in the UK TF comics of the 80's. Beats the hell out of the US stuff.

    Agreed... there is something about it that feels very G2 to me as well.

    zmog
     
  14. Jaicen

    Jaicen Well-Known Member

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    I think that's a massive point actually, the UK strips were coloured by professionals, not by Yomtov's crayon!
     
  15. Omnius

    Omnius Guest

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    It was going to be an Auto Assembly exclusive, but Hasbro nixed it. :( 
     
  16. SMOG

    SMOG Vocabchampion ArgueTitan

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    I suspect some of it has to do with the printing methods used in the two different industries. I think the UK books were printed in ways that allowed better colouring than the newsprint 4-colour process Marvel was still using. I might be wrong though... I'd be interested to hear from anyone who knows more about such things.

    zmog
     
  17. Sweeny

    Sweeny Electric Monk

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    I agree and would add that some of the difference may also be in the paper quality. My observation would be that the UK TF comic was printed on better quality paper which had more of a sheen to it and allowed better reproduction of images and colours. Whereas the US was newsprint and 'rougher' in texture but felt more durable than the UK paper.
     
  18. Omnius

    Omnius Guest

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    Page size might be a factor too - over here, comics were (at that time) typically printed on A4 paper so block-colouring would stick out like a sore thumb.
     
  19. Jaicen

    Jaicen Well-Known Member

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    Yeah, the early issues suffer quite badly from being scaled up to A4 size. The little dots of colour become more obvious, and really show up how poor Yomtov was as a colourist. That said though, the UK issues were mostly black and white, which actually makes the art seem a little less rubbish in the first few issues.
     
  20. OptimusTimelord

    OptimusTimelord Masterpiece Reanimator

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    Yeah that second one is from the cover of the upcoming UK Classics Vol 3. I was quite dumbfounded by it when I first saw it, it just invites a very unfavourable comparison IMO. Not even bothering with Ultra Magnus's trailer?! Maybe those cover arts are rush jobs or something, but even so...