This here is the second installment of a series Iām writing talking about comic book art. I go into more detail as to why Iām writing these in the first installment, but the short of it is I think there is a lack of understanding of what makes for good comic book art. These pieces are strictly the opinions of one mouthy comic book writer; me.
Today, Iām writing about my good friend and co-creator of our comic book RUNLOVEKILL, Eric Canete. I considered writing about the silent intro of our book, but I feel there are plenty of pieces that cover it. One of my favorites being Augie De Bleickās which you can read here. Instead, Iām going to talk about some of the sequences in RUNLOVEKILL that I really like and why.
One thing youāll hear a lot is that the work Eric is doing in our series feels veryĀ ācinematicā. Much of that has to do with his long career in the animation industry as a storyboard artist and how that informs his approach to the comic book page. Youāll notice that Eric has a tendency to draw a lot of wide panels instead of tall panels. Many of the panel tiers in RUNLOVEKILL consist of only one wide panel, as opposed to multiple square panels, and that gives the scene a particular feel. Okay, lets get into it.Ā
All the following art is drawn by Eric Canete and colored by Leonardo Olea.
These two pages are the first pages after the intro. In fact, these were the first pages I ever wrote for the series all those years ago. Why do I like these pages? You can remove all the text here and still easily understand whatās going on. Itās a simple sequence on paper. Rain is already awake and smoking a cigarette when her alarm goes off. She gets up, gets dressed, eats breakfast and leaves her loft. None of the words Iāve written on this page informs Rainās actions. On the flip side, these relatively mundane actions add a layer to the exposition. You donāt need the captions to understand the scene, but the art elevates the captions. Thatās not an easy task.
There are also certain details in these pages that Eric drew on his own. One, Rain is right handed. Youāll notice that she holds her cigarette and chopsticks in her right hand (in the next page she checks her watch, which is on her right wrist). Sheās using chopsticks. I didnāt write that, Eric decided to put that in there to inform the reader of her cultural background. Lastly, thereās like a million locks on the door because Rain is secretive about who she is. I didnāt call for that, but Eric was smart enough to add that detail to give the reader more clues about Rainās personality, plus it harmonizes perfectly with the captionĀ āThatās why I need to get out.ā
Another one of Ericās strengths is his ability to allow his characters toĀ āactā or emote. Facial expressions and body language inform the reader just as much as the words do. I would argue that the words donāt carry the same weight without the drawings conveying emotion as well. There are a lot of artists out there that donāt have this skill.
The first time I saw these pages I was blown away by the atmosphere. The first page starts off quiet. Rain is lost in her own thoughts and then opens her eyes as she feels a light source fall on her. She sits up to find Janus on the other side of the door. The third panel on that second page, the little doorway with heavy shadows on either side, gives us the feeling that Rain is stepping out of the darkness and into the light. She doesnāt know what freedom feels like or what itāll bring. Sheās afraid, but she doesnāt let that stop her. All of that in two pages, but carried by one panel.Ā
These last two pages are communicating so much information, itās crazy. So first, Eric does a cool comic book trick here. Tier 1 and 2 of the first page could be shown as single panels, but he breaks them up into multiple panels instead. What that does is create a sense of movement and pace to the entire scene. Itās as if weāre panning across a table filled with drugs and alcohol which leads us to a pan of a band playing on a stage. It wouldnāt feel the same if it were just one panel.
Eric does the same trick again in tier 2 on the second page. That could be one panel with a bunch of people dancing, instead itās three panels. Giving us that sense of movement once again. Mixed into all of that we have a guy flirting with Rain, we have Leo handing his business card to some pretty ladies (yes, Eric drew our colorist into the comic), alcohol flowing and Rain getting pretty wasted. You can see how these twelve panel grids give a very different feel than the wide panels that Eric did in the previous pages. This scene gives the reader a lot of information, but it moves at a quick pace, a rhythm that mimics the loud dance music pumping through the club.Ā
Ericās style can be polarizing, especially when he draws an iconic character like Spider-man, but beneath his style is the foundation of a master storyteller. I personally have always loved his style, but style is subjective in a way that story telling ability isnāt. Thatās not to say one cannot disagree when it comes to the story telling in a comic, but story telling really boils down to good or bad, not like or dislike. I could write a whole lot more about Ericās work, but I thereās enough here to digest and look for the next time you open an Eric Canete drawn book. I hope this was informative and maybe slightly educational. Till next time.
You can find Eric Canete on InstagramĀ and Twitter.
If youād like to read part one of Between The Gutters you can do that here.
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These are the 3D sculpts featured on the covers of RUNLOVEKILL by Manu Fernandez without any logos or cropping. You can get the first trade paperback tomorrow (Aug 26th) which collects issues 1-4.
3D by Manu Fernandez based off art by Eric Canete.
āThe Origami, a mysterious military organization, is on the hunt for one of their former assassins, Rain Oshiro. Their grasp over the city of Prygat is tightening and Rain has less than twenty-four hours to get out before sheās trapped forever. Rain must face the decisions of her past while using everything at her disposal to avoid capture or even worse, death. Collects RUNLOVEKILL #1-4.ā
Image is a comics and graphic novels publisher formed in 1992 by 7 of the comics industry's best-selling artists, and is the 3rd largest comics publisher in the United States.
Thereās a new feature on Image Comics website featuring some of Eric Caneteās black and white pages for RUNLOVEKILL. We also talk a little about our process and some thoughts on the series so far. Check it out!
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RunLoveKill, Vol. 1 keeps readers on the edge of their seats
RunLoveKill, Vol. 1 keeps readers on the edge of their seats #comics
Fan-favorite writer Jon Tsuei teams up with artist Eric Canete for an all-new thriller/suspense that will hook readers and keep them on the edge of their seats in RunLoveKill, Vol. 1. This collects issues #1-4 into trade paperback and will be available in August. In RunLoveKill, Vol. 1, a mysterious military organization known only as āThe Origami,ā is on the hunt for one of their formerā¦
"Run from the noise of the street and the loaded gun Too late for solutions to solve in the setting sun" I'm going to delete the prior post or at least fix a few things. (Bad anatomy) So here is a zoom of Rain's head and some #garbage #lyrics #Runlovekill #comicart @ericcanete @jontsuei please pick up RunLoveKill if you haven't.
