Saturday, November 15, 2014

Joe Kubert Enemy Ace Artist's Edition

 Cover

 Title Page

 Credits Spread

About This Edition/Table of Contents Spread

When Scott Dunbier, my editor at IDW, told me we were going to be doing Joe Kubert's Enemy Ace as an artist's edition, I was extremely pleased. There were so many levels to this story and art, and I enjoyed all of them. First, this being a series that had a somewhat plausible place in history was great. This gave me context for the direction for the design. The idea of men flying around in wooden and canvas airplanes engaged in air battles also really intrigued me. Somehow war seemed more honorable, with rules that everyone adhered to. Almost like a sporting event. I'm certainly not making light of war or the horrors and deaths involved, but it seemed more gentlemanly. Like medieval jousting. Kubert knew how to draw those flying machines, and bring along the reader into the cockpit with the pilots. It was a bit of an adrenaline rush!

This particular period was also one of my favorites when it came to the history of design. I got to use the influence of my library of european designers. The graphics were strong, bold and a little avant garde. The dynamics of the graphic icons fit with the imagery of the air battles. This book was an absolute treat to work on, and as always the source material was very inspirational!  

5 comments:

  1. ...Powerful and lovely work (again) Randy...!!

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  2. Thank you Mark, you are more than kind! I appreciate it.

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  3. Great work Randy. Excellent understanding of the comic media. This is rare today. I salute you. I just stumbeled on your blog. Boy am I glad that i found so much exelence in design craft by mere chance.

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  4. Tihomir Tikulin - Tico, Thank you for your comments! I'm glad you found my site, hopefully you'll be stopping back in the near future!

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  5. I can't help thinking I would have been more inclined to go with a serif font. But still a beautiful design.

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