The Art of Angel: After the Fall

[Emmie]

We have had numerous different teams work on the art and coloring for Angel: AtF and now Spike:AtF.

The two main artists being Franco Urru and Nick Runge. I personally prefer Franco's style, but I know many fans who are jumping for joy at Runge taking over the last stint of issues for Angel: AtF. I'm just curious as to people's thoughts specifically on the art. Does anyone have a favorite artist for the After the Fall series?

Interestingly, my main dissatisfaction with a certain aspect of the art has nothing to do with the artists themselves. I prefer Franco, but I like Runge's art as well. Nick has done some brilliant work on his covers and some of his panels in issues 7, 9 and 10 have blown me away. So I'm good with the art for the most part.

What's bothering me is the new direction of the coloring scheme post-Issue 5 barring the First Night run of guest artists and colorists. Here's my problem and I'll point the finger in a friendly-fan questioning way - why are the most recent issues of After the Fall so in love with the entire spectrum of the oh so non-splendiferous color BROWN?

Issue 9 - the sky is brown, the buildings are brown, the anonymous crowd is brown (they don't get color here), the blank background is brown, and frankly the further away from the spotlight you get the BROWNER you or whatever inanimate object you're standing next to become. Even the reds (the beautiful color red) are tinged with brown bases that make them more orange-ish and mute their vibrancy.

But I've come to understand that Issue 9 was a bit rushed to print, so in moving on to examine Issue 10 (barring the dream sequence with different art) there is a slight improvement with the rare spattering of vibrant orange, red and green. Yet the majority of the issue remains brown to me.

I decided to play Magic Eye with one of the worst-offender pages in sepia-tinging abuse of Issue 10, holding the comic book as far away as my arms would extend and letting my vision unfocus. And it was very brown. Sigh. Sadly, Spike: After the Fall continues the boring and muted reign of brown.

Conducting this whacky Magic Eye visual experiment with any of issues 1-5, I found myself awash in greens and blues and reds contrasted by black backgrounds. Especially the red and black contrasts. Yes, there was some brown but it wasn't the base color scheme. The balance of color was vastly more pleasing to my eye and I miss the vibrant colors. I really do.

Why do I care? Besides the simple enjoyment of looking at something pretty (a spectrum of colors that contrast each other), when I think of LA going to hell and all that becoming hellish implies I think of fire and brimstone and darkness. The fiercest fiery reds and the darkest of blacks. The color sets the mood. And a brownish hell just isn't my cup of tea. Or rather it's very like tea, making for a bland landscape of hell.

Final thoughts: Brown Hell-A = Weak Sauce.

[Brian Lynch]

All the questions will be answered in a one shot called ANGEL: MOMMY, WHY IS HELL BROWN?

[Joe]

Jul 17, 2008 11:53:58 GMT -5 Brian Lynch said:

All the questions will be answered in a one shot called ANGEL: MOMMY, WHY IS HELL BROWN?

lol I'm so gullible, I believed you for a second

[Emmie]

Ooooooo another spin-off? I can't wait. ;D


Here's my shot at spinning up a reason for the changing color landscape as the story has progressed. After each issue of Angel: AtF, Hell-A is getting increasingly less Hell-ish as represented by the muted colors of the art. So brown is good! It means less evil and we like less evil, don't we?








<------Please note my mood would more accurately be portrayed if it said SMARTASS right now. This mood occasionally overtakes my very nice and considerate personality when posting on Slayalive.

[patxshand]

I'm pretty much the same about all the brown. In the tenth issue of Angel, Wesley suddenly turned brown when he told Spike he's grateful for what he said. Then, Angel turns brown when Illyria reveals that he's a human. Then, as Connor jumps from the building, he also turns brown... but no one else in the panel does so it pretty much looks like someone flung a Connor statue off the building.

Though I gotta say, Lyon did a *much* better job in Spike #1 than he did in Angel #10. There is way less brown--I mean, still way too much--and some more vibrancy. I like the somewhat pastel (right word?) color schemes he uses, but I really wish he'd quit with making everything brown. Because when he makes things colorful, he makes badass panels like Spike staring up at a beautifully, realistically colored Dragon. If Art Lyon can do *that*, he's simply a great colorist. The brown can probably be chalked up to style, but it's a style I kinda wish he'd leave behind in a fast way so we can get some better panels.

[El Diablo Robotico]

I completely agree with you, Emmie.

I honestly can't decide who's pencils I like better. Runge got off to a rough start in #9, but there were reasons for that, so I gave him a pass, and as promised, his stuff got much better in #10. With Franco, the likenesses weren't always spot-on, but they were consistent, you could always tell who was who, and he drew the action in a way that you could easily follow.

The frustrating thing about the art the past two issues has been not only how washed-out everything looks, but also how monochromatic the backgrounds have been. Seriously, how much time and effort would it take to go thru and give some individual color to the various background details?

For example, in #10 there's a great panel of Wes and Spike in the Hyperion lobby, where Runge did an awesome job of really capturing the look of the old set... and then the entire thing was colored tan. :broody:

Maybe it wouldn't have been as big a deal if it had started this way in issue #1. But when you're coming into a series that already has an established look (and that look is bright, vibrant, and colorful), it seems like you'd want to try to maintain that, and keep some consistency in its appearance despite the change in pencilers. It's a shame, too, because Runge's covers, and his work on the Wesley FN story, show how good his stuff looks when it's been well-colored.

I don't have my copy of "Spike" #1 yet--so Lyon is doing the coloring for it? Hopefully that means there'll be a new colorist for "Angel" for the final few issues...

[patxshand]

Runge's work in "Wesley" was simply the best art I've seen. However, Urru is an overall better penciller. Runge has some majorly weak moments in #9 and #10, though he did improve between the two issues. Overall, Franco just has a high panel to panel consistent quality. He captures the emotion, the action, and the detail of the background and characters perfectly.

[hitnrun017]

I agree with everything people are saying about the brown. I just want to vomit rainbows all over it, I get that it is hell, but that didn't stop the first eight issues from having color.

When we first got issue 9, I just thought Nick Runge wasn't a great penciller, but of course, seeing his Wesley story and issue 10, I know that's not true. The problem is the colors, I know this because the same thing happened with Franco in Spike: After the Fall. Franco's pencils were great, of course, but it lost its flare. The brown is drowning everything out, it's boring, it doesn't make the art jump off the page.

Just look at the first page in issue 3, it's a room, but everything has a color, it looks amazing. And then look at the Hyperion in issue 10, everything is the exact same color, looks disgusting.

[Whedon Fan]

I don't have a big problem with the colour, I am weird when it comes to art in comics but like the still striking pain of FOX cancelling Firefly I learn to deal with the art and except it. I wasn't to keen on it in the first few Issues but now I love it. It gives Angel: After The Fall a unique look, which I have grown to love. I have no problem with the later issue of After The Fall, I have really been enjoying the series now and I really like the first issue of Spike: After The Fall minus the weird random red sky on the first few pages bit the writing for that issue was to good for me to even complain aboth something so small. Also in my head I have made up that because they are sort of in hell that is why the sky is sometimes like that.

[El Diablo Robotico]

My best guess about the brown was that Lyon was aiming for the dark, gritty feel of S1--and missed. Blues and grays might've been a much better palette to go with, because "Angel" never looked brown. Not this brown, anyway.

I am looking forward to that one-shot that explains it all, tho...

[Emmie]

Jul 17, 2008 15:58:49 GMT -5 hitnrun017 said:

I agree with everything people are saying about the brown. I just want to vomit rainbows all over it -

Do you think that would help? It'd at least make it more colorful.

This is my new favorite phrase! I want to use it all the time. Only what other situations are there where I can use the phrase "vomit rainbows all over it"?

Times when it might be helpful to vomit rainbows all over "it":

Situation 1: Receives blank coloring book as present.
Situation 2: Looking for pot of gold.
Situation 3: Wants to make a tie dye shirt.
Situation 4: Bored with old black and white films.
Situation 5: Needs to paint an Impressionist piece in under 30 seconds.

Anything else?

[Skytteflickan88]

I really liked the coloring in the first issues. I like that when Angel & Spike were topless, their torsoes were shining ; )

I prefer Franco. Although Runge's Spike is brilliant, and he does catch the likness of the other characters as well, I prefer the life in Franco's pages. His characters got more expressions.

Other than Franco and Runge, I don't have an opinion, mostly because I have to have the issues in front of me to remember the other artists.

[buffysmglover]

Jul 17, 2008 11:53:58 GMT -5 Brian Lynch said:

All the questions will be answered in a one shot called ANGEL: MOMMY, WHY IS HELL BROWN?

I'd buy it.

I noticed the brown too... kinda hard not to notice. I didn't give much thought to it though.

[Malsad]

brown was good in my opinion
but Franco Urru and the guy who did the Beta George art in First Night arc (his stuff was very cool and out there and sharp) were my fav artists

[BenTaylor3907]

I wish Mooney or Runge did all the art for Angel: After The Fall.
Don't get me wrong, I love Urru when it comes to Spike: After The Fall, Spike Asylum and Shadow Puppets.
But...I rather have someone else for Angel. You know?

[Emmie]

What is it about Runge or Mooney's style that makes you prefer it to Urru's, Ben? Just wondering about your viewpoint and why you liked one style of art over the other.

I think the art of Angel reached an all-time high with Issue 15 when Fabio Mantovani teamed up to color Urru's work. Absolutely gorgeous.

[Wyndam]

Dec 22, 2008 9:22:54 GMT -5 Emmie said:

I think the art of Angel reached an all-time high with Issue 15 when Fabio Mantovani teamed up to color Urru's work. Absolutely gorgeous.

Agreed. I find myself just flipping through the issue whenever I am bored, just because it is so pretty to look at. I am still *relatively* new to comics, as I only really got into them when Season 8 started, and have since read quite a few series (Buffy Omnibuses, Fray, Spike: Asylum/Shadow Puppets, Y: The Last Man, The Walking Dead, Everybody's Dead, and a few Star Wars series), and the art in issue #15 was easily the best comic book art I've ever seen.

[Brian Lynch]

I wonder if Franco and I did a series that wasn't ANGEL/BUFFY/Whedon related, if people might check it out. hmmm...

[Wyndam]

Dec 22, 2008 16:40:11 GMT -5 Brian Lynch said:

I wonder if Franco and I did a series that wasn't ANGEL/BUFFY/Whedon related, if people might check it out. hmmm...

Definitely! Count me in! I loved Everybody's Dead, and I know that Franco wasn't involved with that, but it was still a non-Whedon related series by Brian, so that was enough for me.

Non-Whedon Brian AND Franco though would be very exciting!

[hitnrun017]

Dec 22, 2008 16:40:11 GMT -5 Brian Lynch said:

I wonder if Franco and I did a series that wasn't ANGEL/BUFFY/Whedon related, if people might check it out. hmmm...

I'm hoping that's a hint for something to come because I definitely would! I still haven't read Everybody's Dead because I suck, but it's on my list of things to do ASAP.