Thursday, March 4, 2010

2010 Martian Manhunter Commission Pencils by Michael Netzer

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I'm juggling a lot of Michael Netzer-related material right now, so I might as well declare this a partial-themed fortnight of his work. For example, I stumbled upon this art while putting together Tuesday's post. Here's the artist:
I’ve started working again with Joe Rubinstein producing commissioned art for collectors. Drawing on a computer for more than a decade, it’s interesting to return to conventional media. Collectors want original art and that means setting up some type of a workspace to do it in. The following roughs are a preview, drawn on computer, that I’ll transfer to finished pencil on paper for Joe to ink. More to come.

The finished pencils were offered up on Netzer's site on February 24th with these words:

J’onn J’onzz the Manhunter from Mars is a character I’m identified with from a short 3-issue miniseries in Adventure comics, 1976-77.  Two years ago, fandom rallied around a campaign to persuade DC Comics not to kill him in Final Crisis. The best place to read about my involvement with the character is at Frank Lee Delano’s Idol-Head of Diabolu blog.

Pretty spiffy, and interesting to see an old school artist tackle the blocky, brawny Martian Manhunter that developed in the 1990s, first popularized by Bart Sears. To inquire about commissions, go here.

6 comments:

LissBirds said...

I don't know why, but I think it's cool when J'onn is drawn holding his cape. Maybe because it makes him look like the only hero who's aware that he's actually wearing a cape...

It's nice to see artists returning to traditional pencils, even if it's just for comissions. I know it has its benefits, but digital art feels too impersonal to me, especially digital inks. I'll take the good old nib pens and brushes over a Wacom tablet any day.

Diabolu Frank said...

Nah, he's just fondling his zo'ok. Bad touch, J'Onn! Inappropriate!

LissBirds said...

No--that's what the invisibility is for, not the cape!!

Oh, geez, I can't believe I just typed that...

mathematicscore said...

I like this. Netzer seems to enjoy tweaking costumes, the gloves in that Aquaman, the collar here, even Despero's fins. As much a stickler for consistency as I am, I've yet to find a deviation I didn't like.

Diabolu Frank said...

I wouldn't say the collar was the twist (straight up Certa Silver Age,) but that Luke Cage chain's new. I like most of Netzer's tweaks, except the creepy sex fiend gloves on J'Onn.

mathematicscore said...

Yeah, the gloves were a little much. At least they weren't bracelets. and yeah, I was mostly referring to the chains. But even most of the Certa stuff, there was usually a suggestion of a collar, even if it wasn't that hight. Here it's more "Superman-esque." While not entirely to my tastes, all billowy and such, it is still acceptably weighty.