Derek tagged my previous article as "the funny one" -- note, though, he didn't tag it as "false!" However, despite my sworn affidavit regarding the chronicle of the covers' creation, he has asked me to write a more believable tale. OK, I can do that. So this, folks, is the, um, REAL truth. Yeah. This is really how Tony Harris and Brian Frey created the covers for the "Starman" Trade Paperbacks. Honest!
The TPB covers have been a result of three people's heads: Tony designs, I get a little bit of input, and Bob Kahan offers his editorial directions from DC Comics. Tony sets it in motion with the concepts and approvals process, but this collaborative effort BEGAN a few years ago with Tony and I blending our artistic styles into an idea for a "Starman" ad.
Comics like "The Ray" were featuring photo-artwork on covers and in advertisements. The characters' hands, for instance, would have digitally-added glowing energy things around them. I had been doing similar stuff -- sillier stuff -- and calling it Artoons, and submitting to magazines (Tony and I met in high school, in art class, where he was doing the serious Art, and I was Cartooning.). So he's doing well with "Starman," I'm doing some interesting things with the computer, and we're chatting about his art, and my art, and these photo-covers, and we think we can do a cool one...
Using an Amiga 4000 and Video Toaster (a television studio no bigger'n a bread box, basically), we light our Jack Knight model (Tony, basically), and he poses (basically), and we digitally capture the image through a camcorder hooked into the Toaster. That image was imported into ToasterPaint, along with pics of buildings, sky and skull, and then moused-and-keyboarded into something we liked. Tony sent my final draft to his editor Archie Goodwin and asked, "Say, would you consider something like this for the next wave of 'Starman' ads?" Archie said, "Hmm. We're planning to collect some of your issues into a trade paperback. Maybe you could do something like that for that book's cover." Even better!
Tony reworked the idea to feature the main characters, and began that concepts and approvals process. DC approved a concept fairly quickly. The models were photographed in black and white, the photos scanned, and then we got together in front of the computer to go over their paint job. Later, in Lightwave, a 3-D modeling/rendering program, I sculpted the "props:" the Opal City background buildings, Ted Knight's lab, the cosmic rod, and the zodiac wheel. After a few more trial prints and reworks, I had something Tony liked, and something DC liked. All the elements were brought into Lightwave's "Layout" mode, given textures and attributes, lit by virtual lights for the virtual camera, and finally, rendered. It took almost two whole days for my machine to complete the image (at a very high print resolution), and we still weren't done. A tiny bit of touch-up with Photoshop's digital paint was left. And so, voila!
Conversely, the cover for "Starman: Night and Day" was almost entirely a Photoshop piece. Only the spider-like background was built in Lightwave. One of Tony’s original designs for the "Night and Day" cover can be seen in the TPB’s Intro pages, next to the Black Pirate character sketches. And at the front of the book is the pencil rough for the final cover idea. With that approved, Tony and I convened and detailed what he would like to accomplish. I participated on the photo shoot this second time around. 8x10 black and white prints were made and teleported into the Mac. There were three separate photos: Nash, her hands, and Jack. Each got a healthy dollop of digital paint.
Our Nash model had longish hair and a slight gap between her front teeth. So first, I had to give her a digital buzz-cut, and then offered some digital orthodontia. Hardest was the sunglasses -- these don’t exactly exist. Actually, I only had to add some pieces to the bridge, but painting the new shadows to correlate with the REAL shadows was the tough part. For fun, if anyone reading can find where my wife Holly’s name is hidden on their “Night and Day” cover, e-mail me: HalfMoth42@aol.com. The first five correct e-mails get something nifty.
Yes, the cover in Previews’ advertisement is different from that on the book. In Previews is the final FIRST draft. Bob Kahan, trade editor at DC Comics, suggested the colors become more sinister, more malevolent. Also that her metaphorical marionette strings manipulating Jack emanate from each finger. I coaxed the spider into altering its colors, and for Nash I applied a new blood-red lipstick and nail polish. To emphasize the pain that Jack’s obviously in, I “burned” his skin colors in select areas to give him a sweaty sheen. I also deepened shadows and played a little more with the Mist, too. The Mist was the most fun element to paint (It was also the easiest to do.). All told, the cover-creation process can take from a few days to weeks, from a couple months to more than a year.
Roughly two months total, each, were spent on both covers. The second trade’s cover development stretched over almost nine months, but that was because DC decided to change its release to coincide with “Starman Month.” Its first draft was turned in around March; in October, we discussed it again, and Bob suggested the changes. Then, finally, of course all of you bought your copy this past February.
Comics book art allows, for me, the most rewarding expression. I’m still an Artoonist, and the broad range of what’s acceptable, coupled with the appreciative fans, makes for a gratifying career option. I haven’t made a career of it yet -- it’s pretty damn tough. I see my friends who HAVE made comics a career, and they’re rarely twiddling their thumbs. To break into comics is difficult. To succeed is even more difficult. And to CONTINUE to succeed is, well, you get the idea. But people are doing it. I want to thank Tony Harris for introducing me to the editors and allowing me onto a huge book like “Starman,” and the editors for bouncing back, wash after wash. And ultimately, I’d like to thank that famous Welsh poet, whose name escapes me, who said:
“All characters, their distinctive likenesses
and related indicia featured in this publication
are trademarks
of DC Comics.”
