Design, Comics and The Big Two

There are two things, two talents I have, that I love to use and will hopefully be able to make a career out of. One is writing, obviously. The other is graphic design (well, I’ve already got a career as a designer, but what I do to pay the bills isn’t exactly creatively fulfilling). I’ve always been an artist in some form or fashion, drawing, painting, doodling, writing, what have you. But apart from the writing, my true passion lies in design. It’s what I went to school for. It’s what I use as a means to express myself visually. Well, lately something has been bothering me that is design-related. And comic book related. So it fits in here pretty perfectly.

Design is meant to attract the eye, to entice a person to want something. Whether they realize it or not, it is the design that gives the thing its appeal. This applies universally to all products from toasters to cars, the packaging of food and even comic books. You can’t just slap a pretty piece of art onto a comic book and hope that alone will make someone buy it. Oh, I suppose there are exceptions, especially if it’s an artist people can’t get enough of. But most of the time the art alone is not enough, because you’ve got to have a title and lots of other bits of information on the cover. Sure, if you could do without all that stuff, then perhaps the cover art would be enough to do the job. But you can’t. You have to tell the audience what they’re buying, who they’re buying it from, and sometimes you have to put a blurb on there to make sure they know why they have to have that particular issue. And the thing a good designer understands is that all these things, the art, the title, the company name, even the UPC, has to work together in unison to form a cohesive design. Otherwise you end up with a big ugly mess.

You see, lately I've been looking at the books the Marvel puts out versus the books DC puts out and one of the biggest things that sticks out to me is how ugly and messy (not to mention boring) Marvel's covers look compared to that of their Distinguished Competition. Look at the cover to almost any Marvel comic when compared to a DC cover and you should notice a few things. (click on image to enlarge in a new window)

Almost all Marvel comics appear slap-dash, lazy, thrown together at the last second. Oft-times the logo is boring and more importantly ill fitting to the cover art. Their company brand is noticeable, but not in a good way. It’s an ugly little red box tossed in the corner almost as an afterthought.

Much of the “design” work coming out of Marvel these days looks like the kind of stuff I would have turned out in the first year of school. Rehashed to the point where things are beginning to look too much alike. Over Photoshopped designs that rely much too heavily on simple filters that can dazzle a first year student of computer aided design, but serious users would scoff at. Not only are these logos amateurish, all too often they have little or no regard for what the rest of the cover may look like. Take a look at the cover for the new Marvel event book, House of M. While the type design in the logo is actually quite a bit better than most Marvel books, it is the overall look that is just . . . careless. It takes up almost half the cover. It’s way too imposing and doesn’t fit with, but rather crowds and almost overpowers the artwork. I’ve included several other examples of Marvel covers that scream carelessness in regards to design. Take a good look at these covers. Not only is the design work haphazard and ill considered but also the artwork is downright . . . dull. And I’m just noticing this but quite often there appears to be no thought put into color scheme either. (Two of the most atrocious covers in the lot are Tales of The Thing and Toxin . . . ugh and double ugh)

Now take a look at a DC cover (for which I’ve also provided some examples). (click on image to enlarge in a new window)

There is a cohesive design going on there (particularly between connected books such as the Countdown mini’s and Seven Soldiers books), the designer took the time to make sure that all the elements fit together and complemented one another. The DC bullet does its job pretty effectively and most importantly; it’s hardly jarring or distracting (I’m interested to see how the new DC “Spin” logo will be incorporated.) There is an undeniable presence of time and care put into the title designs and you can tell they were designed with a specific book in mind. In other words, they fit. Some of the best DC covers come out of Vertigo where the design elements are often created to work together from the outset. Titles, cover blurbs, even price boxes are incorporated into the actual artwork, joining the entire design together in one unique and attractive piece. My favorite Vertigo covers are the work of James Jean on Fables. Not only is he an amazing painter but he has an eye for design that makes me, frankly, pretty jealous.

I’m not ignoring, of course, the amazing design and production work that comes out of some of the smaller companies in comics. In fact some of the best looking packages are coming out of small press companies. But I just picked the big two to make a point. If you put some effort into the look of your product, some actual time and tender loving care, then it will show and it will register, however consciously or unconsciously, with your target audience. They will be attracted to the prettier, better-looking packages. I think DC, and several smaller companies, get this and it can be seen in the work that sits on the shelves. Marvel, however, seems to treat their covers with the same careless, gimme gimme gimme attitude that appears to be at the root of many of the companies current problems (or problems as I see them.) It’s just a symptom of a larger disease.

Inevitably I am sure that someone will think that I am being unnecessarily harsh on Marvel or am biased against them. This is simply not true. I have nothing against Marvel or their characters. In fact, up until about a year or two ago I lauded them with high praise for their risk taking and the great work that came out of that. However that time has passed. Marvel has become what every one of their detractors said they were when Bill Jemas was in charge: A hyperactive, retarded, hype machine. They throw shit against the wall and whatever sticks is the next big thing for them and they latch onto it for a few months. Don't get me wrong; I don't hate Marvel at all. It's not all bad. I love several of their books, but generally I think that DC is doing a better job in every possible way when it comes to preparing and packaging great comics. Simple as that.

In short, why make a bad looking comic, design-wise, when it’s so very easy, with just a little bit of effort and skill, to make a great looking comic? The only conclusion I come to is this:

Marvel just isn’t trying; they are going with the minimum amount of effort to achieve a maximum reward . . . which I think typifies the company as a whole at the moment.

Quick Bits

• The big Green Lantern Rebirth mini just wrapped up and amazingly it’s converted me into a Hal Jordan fan. I was never big on Jordan before and was one of those glad to see him go all those years ago. And for a while I was pretty big advocate of Kyle Rayner as Green Lantern. Of course once I realized they weren’t doing much to move him beyond the golly-gee-rookie-in-over-his-head routine I quickly jumped ship. But with Geoff Johns and Carlos Pacheco at the helm? I’ll give Jordan a go.

• I was half-tempted to pick up the debut issue of new creative team Gail Simone and John Byrne on Action Comics, just to see what they’d do. But I didn’t. Why? Not only do I think Byrne is an overrated hack way past his prime (hey, the guy used to be great, don’t get me wrong) but I also read Brandon Thomas’ latest Ambidextrous column and it really made me think. Hope it makes you think too:

http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/ambi/111562065575762.htm

• Peter David and Mike Wieringo on a new Spidey book? I may have to check that one out.

• Another great series just wrapped up in Adam Strange! I’m gonna miss that book just a little. Thank God for The Rann/Thanagar War.

• Warren Ellis is starting to become a favorite of mine again. He fell off for a little while, but with Ultimate Fantastic Four, the Ultimate Galactus minis and Desolation Jones, well, he’s back on my list of great creators.

• DC Solicitations for August are here:

http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=5258

and thank the Lord that Tan Eng Huat is still doing work!!

• Read Breach by Bob Harras and Marcos Martin! Please!! I don’t want it to get cancelled like all my other favorite books . . .

NEXT WEEK: Hmmm, next week . . . next week?  Good question.

Send me hate mail at thesuperleezard@yahoo.com

Read more stupid crap I write at www.livejournal.com/users/superleezard

End of Line