Writer: Durwin Talon
Editors: Karen Hankala/Mark Kneece
Publisher: TwoMorrows Press
Plot:
Author Durwin Talon, popular cover artist on such titles as DC’s “Birds of Prey”, is also a professor of sequential art at the Savannah College of Art and Design. In “Panel Discussions” Talon has compiled interviews with fifteen top comic illustrators. Each interview delves into specific facets of comic book creation, providing detailed analysis of storytelling techniques, supported by panels and pages from each artist’s best works.
Comments:
John Morrow, publisher at TwoMorrows Press, produces a number of comprehensive, comic industry magazines, which include: “Comic Book Artist” (before it moved to Top Shelf), “Jack Kirby Collector”, and “Draw!”. When “Panel Discussions” was initially advertised I remember hoping that it would parallel the excellence of these publications. The ads suggested a somewhat narrow scope of focus emphasizing “how-to” examples of comic book page layout and panel arrangement. I was thrilled to discover that “Panel Discussions” contains much, much more.
Each chapter in Panel Discussions is actually a stand-alone interview with a specific artist who describes a particular aspect of his own creative process. The chapters are arranged in such a way as to build upon concepts introduced in previous chapters. However the book can be read in any order without confusion. Each chapter ends with a two-page summary called “Focus Panels” that reiterates the major topic points while demonstrating a key concept in a real world situation. For example, at the close of the Mike Mignola segment Mr. Talon takes a page from “Hellboy: Seed of Destruction“ and breaks down the page from three different perspectives: with text, without text and as a schematic to show how word balloons are used to move a reader’s eye through the page. Talon does a stunning job of editing these interviews into such confined space. Sadly, some concepts are so deep that really needed more than twice the pages allotted.
Many of the topics explored in Panel Discussions are unique to this book. A great example is “spotting blacks”, a term commonly thrown around by reviewers and artists, but one that is seldom explained in any detail. Dick Giordano thoroughly explains the concept through a Batman page; re-printed from his run with Neal Adams. Panel-by-panel he explains how reader focus is achieved through use of heavy areas of ink. Talon grays out the unimportant aspects of each panel, isolating the key blacks. It is a small touch, but provides so much more clarity.
There are dozens of images throughout each chapter. All are specific to each artist’s comics and graphic novels as published by DC, Marvel and others. All images are black & white final ink work; there are no thumbnails, preliminary sketches or finished pencils – probably due to space restrictions. Each art element is reduced from its original printed version, but most are crisply rendered.
My only real complaint with “Panel Discussions” is with the use color. The first six pages contain dozens of reduced color plates, which are repeated as black & white images in later chapters; captions point to the appropriate color version at the front of the book. It’s a little annoying, but I’m sure that this was done to reduce the cost of production and to ensure a modest retail price, which is totally understandable. Otherwise, the coloring process itself is a bit suspect. A few of the images are a murky or poorly reproduced, especially in the case of George Pratt’s and Chris Moeller’s painted art.
Final Word:
“Panel Discussions” is a unique and comprehensive examination of the comic book creative process. Depending on your interests it is either an exceptional series of comic industry interviews or a technical manual of visual storytelling guidelines. It works for me on both levels. “Panel Discussions” suffers only slightly from brevity of page count and some minor color issues. It is indispensable reading for anyone interested in the subject of sequential art. I sincerely hope that “Panel Discussions” is successful enough to warrant future editions; preferably in tabloid size on full-color, glossy paper. “Panel Discussions” is only available from the TwoMorrows Web site (http://www.twomorrows.com).
Here is a complete list of contributors: Mike Carlin; Randy Stradley; Mike Wieringo; Mark Shultz; Dick Giordano; Mike Mignola; Brian Stelfreeze; Scott Hampton; David Mazzucchelli; Chris Moeller; Walter Simonson; George Pratt; John Van Fleet; Mark Chiarello; Will Eisner
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