The Art of Narrative

J.G Jones’ Black Widow

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Today’s The Art of Narrative preview features J.G Jones’ elegant rendering of the Black Widow – well, two Black Widows, actually. *puts nerd hat on* This page features both the first Black Widow(Natasha Romanoff), as well the second Black Widow in Marvel comics continuity, Yelena Belova, who is sent to claim the “Black Widow” title.

The Art of Narrative opens on Friday, January 4th at Stranger Factory. Curator Jimmy Palmiotti and featured artist Amanda Conner will be in attendance at the reception from 6 to 9pm.

Bamf! Snikt! Thwip!: Collecting Comic Book Art

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In tandem with our Art of Narrative Exhibit opening at Stranger Factory on 1/4/12, I have been given the opportunity to share one of my major loves in life. I have been collecting original comic book art for the last five years. With the January exhibit being made of comic book art, I felt it would help to offer in some personal insight on how I choose and collect my pages.

First, let me point out that collecting comic art hasn’t always been easy. It really helps that a lot of artists are represented on the internet and bring their original pages with them to conventions. So, in this day and age, the real question is: “Why do some people choose to collect comic book art and what helps them choose the pages they have hanging in their homes?”

It seems the most obvious reason is of course, the art and artists themselves. When you read a comic book regularly, or many books for that matter, you find yourself becoming attached to certain artists and their styles. I have always been a fan of Geof Darrow. I find that his work pops on many levels, and his clean line work and extreme detail make it stand out from traditional comic book art styles. His work on Big Guy and Rusty or Hard Boiled is some of my favorite work in comics. So, having that connection to Geof Darrow’s art, I find it very easy to put him on my list of artists I would like to own art by. This isn’t the only factor that can come into play though.

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In recent years, I have become a big fan of Wolverine. The interesting thing about this is that Wolverine tends to find himself in a lot of books. Being both an Avenger and X-man leads to lots of exposure and with that, lots of different people putting their stamp on your character. So in a situation like this, I can find myself first deciding first on the book I would like a piece of him from. Or, I can decide the artist is more important and look through my options. With Wolverine, a stand out would be someone like Eduardo Risso. Risso’s work on “100 Bullets” and “Batman: Black and White” are great indicators of his style. His use of heavy blacks in his compositions are a great match for the character, so I would seek out one of his pages from the Wolverine book “Logan.”

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Let’s say I have a perfect mixture right in front of me. A solid artist I know I enjoy, like Cliff Chiang, on a book I love, like Wonder Woman. At that point its a matter of taking the page itself into account and what I look for in a page. Now right off the bat most people will always go for a splash page. Personally, I prefer panel work in a page of comic book art. The medium itself is all about story telling, and while a splash is usually gorgeous and can express a moment perfectly, I want to see a level of story telling in a page. I do own a splash page in my collection, but typically I prefer sequential panels.

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When looking at the panel work in a page, I tend to look for one thing: a page that can tell a story with just the visuals. Someone like Mike Mignola is a great example. Starting as an artist, he perfected his visual storytelling and later spent years on Hellboy developing his writing style. Mike is going to rely on the imagery to tell the story more then the words; he will use facial expressions, scenery, or body language to tell the tale and the words will be used later to fine tune the details.

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With all these different reasons and motivations, buying comic book art can become a very complicated thing. You might find yourself wondering if the page is overall a good depiction of the character. Or while this may be one of your favorite artists, do you really want to own a page by them from a book you may have never even read? The simple reality is that like all art, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. In my case, the beholder can be more often than not swayed by his childhood love of Green Lantern.

All these questions and artists lay ahead for you in our Art of Narrative exhibit in January at Stranger Factory, curated by Jimmy Palmiotti. Best of luck with your choices, True Believers.

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It’s Superman!

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During their stint on Legends of the DCU, the all star team of Dave Taylor and Kevin Nowlan rendered some of the most iconic superheroes of all time. Our little geeky hearts are pounding with joy to be featuring two of their pages at Stranger Factory for The Art of Narrative show. One features Batgirl, kicking major ass, as she tends to do. The other features both Superman and Robin(Yes, I said Superman, not Batman) having a moment together. No, not that kind of moment, get your head out of the gutter.

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For the buyer of the Dave Taylor/Kevin Nowlan Batgirl piece, another treat is at hand – the back of the comic page features development work and sketches for the comic! The full comic pages are even more stunning than our little previews can show, so come by the gallery and sign up for our mailing list for more news on this opportunity to acquire your own original superhero comic book pages!

The Art of Narrative
Opening Reception : 6-9pm
Stranger Factory
Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti will be attending.

Bill Sienkiewicz in The Art of Narrative

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Bill Sienkiewicz produces some of the most gorgeous and delicate work I’ve ever seen in comic books, and he’s done a whole lot of them, so we are extremely lucky to feature some of his original work in The Art of Narrative, opening at Stranger Factory on Friday, January 4th.

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Sienkiewicz’s use of oils, collage, and other materials rarely used in comics, result in an extensive body of work that is incredibly unique, haunting and beautiful. He is also responsible for one of my favourite stories in comics ever, which is the Delirium chapter in The Sandman: Endless Nights.. He won an Eisner award for it, so clearly I have great taste in comics. As someone who has great taste in comics, I strongly suggest that you appear at Stranger Factory next Friday to take in the bounty of original art by some of our comic masters of today, two of whom will even be present to say hi to you(Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner)!

Limited Edition Amanda Conner Print!

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In conjunction with The Art of Narrative, curated by Jimmy Palmiotti, Stranger Factory is releasing a limited edition giclee print by Amanda Conner. Featuring a perky blonde riding a bomb, like a much sexier Dr. Strangelove, this six panel comic print will be a treat for anyone who likes girls, bombs, nuclear holocausts or Amanda Conner.

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For a first shot at the print and to meet Amanda Conner, come to the reception on January 4th, between 6-9pm! For those who can’t make it out to beautiful Albuquerque- well, that’s just an awful shame, but you can sign up for the show preview by joining the Stranger Factory mailing list.

Secret Six Art by Brad Walker and Jimmy Palmiotti

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Today, we’re bringing you a preview of some amazing art from the comic book Secret Six, which was a surprise hit when relaunched by DC in 2008. This art by Brad Walker(pencils) and show curator Jimmy Palmiotti(inks) features Cheshire getting the stab on the Mad Hatter as the members of the Secret Six look on(sorry, spoilers).

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See it in person at the The Art of Narrative reception on Friday, January 4th, 6-9pm at Stranger Factory, or join our mailing list for the online preview. Jimmy Palmiotti will also be present at the reception and will be teaching a writing workshop the following Sunday as well!

Amanda Conner and Wonder Woman

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Amanda Conner’s Wonder Woman is one of my absolute favourite Wonder Womans – she is strong, athletic, graceful, angry and passionate and pretty much exactly what Wonder Woman is. In The Art of Narrative, opening Friday, Jan 4th at Stranger Factory, we’ll be treated to four of her original Wonder Woman pages featuring fierce Amazons and glorious battles, and of course, Diana herself.

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Amanda Conner will also be in attendance at the show’s reception, and if you’ve ever seen one of her convention lines(if you haven’t – they’re really, really long), you’ll know that this is a rare chance to meet her in a really chill and friendly setting! Hope to see you there!

The Art of Narrative
Opening Reception : 6-9pm
Stranger Factory
Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti will be attending.

Gilbert Hernandez in The Art of Narrative!

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Love and Rockets was one of my first baby steps into the brave new world of indie comics, so I was excited to find out that Gilbert Hernandez will be part of The Art of Narrative show at Stranger Factory, which is curated by the amazing writer and inker Jimmy Palmiotti.

gilberthernandezHernandez, with his brother Jaime, started self publishing Love and Rockets in 1981, which was soon picked up by Fantagraphics(also a new publisher at the time!) and quickly gained an audience enamored with the nuanced portrayals of their characters – especially their women, who were complex and fascinating people, still a relative rarity in comics at the time.

The Los Bros Hernandez have been consistently producing some of the smartest, most gorgeous, comics work in the past few decades, and we are happy to have his work within the walls of Stranger Factory!

The Art of Narrative opens on Friday, January 4th, with a reception from 6 PM – 9 PM. The curator, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Amanda Conner will be in attendance.

Stranger Factory Presents: Jimmy Palmiotti’s “The Art of Narrative” Comic Arts Exhibition + Workshop, 1.4

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WITH STEVE BROWN

Calling all comic book nerds, Stranger Factory is kicking off 2013 with a bif! whap! pow! and BANG with The Art of Narrative, a comic arts exhibition curated by industry giant Jimmy Palmiotti (Deadpool, Ghost Rider, Jonah Hex, Punisher, Painkiller Jane). Showcasing narrative-based art and illustration from an amazing group of critically-acclaimed comic book and fine artists, The Art of Narrative celebrates a cross-section of artists and illustrators in the industry who are not only masters of storytelling, but elevate comic art beyond its commercial graphics roots and into a higher form of artistry.

The exhibition will present original works by Gilbert Hernandez (Love and Rockets), Amanda Conner (Power Girl), Geoff Darrow (Shaolin Cowboy), Dave Taylor (Judge Dredd), Bill Ward (Torchy), Mike Mignola (Hellboy), Cliff Chiang (Wonder Woman), Brad Walker (Guardians of the Galaxy), John Buscema (Conan The Barbarian), Klaus Janson (Batman), Sanjulian (Devlin’s Luck), Raffa Garres (Wolverine), J.G. Jones (Wanted), Chris Sprouse (Tom Strong) and Eduardo Risso (100 Bullets), among others.
The Art of Narrative opens Friday, Jan. 4th with a reception from 6pm to 9pm.  Jimmy Palmiotti and his partner in crime, Amanda Conner, will be in attendance.And it doesn’t stop there: in conjunction with this exhibit, Stranger Factory will host a special 2-hour writing workshop with Jimmy Palmiotti on Sunday, Jan. 6th. The workshop will discuss creating your own characters and intellectual property and how to sell it beyond the printed page. With Palmiotti’s wide range of experience in writing and creating for comics, video games, television and films, attendees will have a chance to gain first-hand industry knowledge to help with their own careers. Palmiotti has worked with a number of the top publishers and intellectual property holders in the world, and during this workshop will offer artists valuable information and coaching on creating, protecting, and monetizing their work.

Tickets are $50 per person, and space is very limited. To reserve your tickets, please contact the gallery at strangerfactorysales@gmail.com  or (505) 508-3049 as soon as possible!