What do ya'll think of my comic cover?

[JamaicameCRAZY]

LemonSlice said:

I did go overboard, I agree I interpeted your posts wrong. But it wasn't necessary for you to go on a tangent about me calling your drawing a caricature. I keep feeling that if you didn't call it a comic book cover things would have looked quite different. My criticism was simple, yes, and although I'm satisfied with what I said, I'm going to give you more since you've put me in the corner (deservedly so, I must admit).

Honestly I'm a bit confused, the cover is this caricature of Gerard Butler ( :p ), yet how does the main character look like? What is the comic about? Is it about a regular joe without a single defining characteristic except a broken neck standing in the middle of the street? Is it about Gerard Butler getting his head caught in a vise? Even artsy comics need covers that say something, or if there's focus on the face, make it look interesting and engaging. An audience which reads violent comics 24/7 is not going to be engaged by mere proposition of violence. You're making the audience ask a very simple, very broad question, "where does the violence come from", but you're not giving them a single clue.

About the blandness, yes, it looks like one of those Hollywood posters. Would have been a bit better without the buildings, or at least without the buldings framing his face so exactly. Had you taken a picture of your friend like this, it wouldn't have been a very interesting photograph. The buildings are blue and reddish-orange, the sky is blue and reddish-orange. That doesn't make for much contrast. And the buildings take too much attention away from the face without being interesting.

The face itself is too realistic. It's also copied from a photograph of a famous person which isn't serious at all. There's little original about this character you're presenting. He's looking us in the eyes with those pleading eyes of his and saying "Help me.". His lips look somewhere between a smirk and failed plastic surgery. He doesn't seem tough, he doesn't seem special, he doesn't seem interesting at all. 

You've gone overboard with attention to detail, so much so that you've failed to add any interesting touches besides the title. The title is the most interesting and skillful thing about this whole picture. It doesn't stand out enough, but maybe if it was overlaid with color it would.

By the pier comment I didn't mean amateur BTW, just that I've seen many seeside artists drawing the faces of turists and other stuff and that's what this reminded me of. They aren't considered amateurs, but much of their stuff is very generic, albeit skilled.

I hope this was satisfying enough. Don't try to put me on the spot anymore, it's your drawing, you're on the spot.

Ok. The Comic is about a superhero/antihero guy trying to save his friend. Some covers indeed have a message to them. Some i think are just there for the eye candy and to get the readers attention.

http://www.coverbrowser.com/top/cool

Im just trying to introduce people to the character, show the setting (miami), and let them know something bloody will happen. This is the first comic ive done and im not going to get into messages or anything quite that ambitious yet. I feel like its my job to get the peoples attention and its the writers job to hook the reader. 

Im going for full realism. Things look the way they do because hes walking toward the person (posture will be odd). The background isnt particularly in focus and he is in full focus. The writer had a clear idea of his characters so im trying to stay true to the way he has them written. The title i just really didnt want bold letters on there i find them tacky. So i tried to blend them in and make them pop out at the same time.

Thats just some of the thought process and reasoning why i did some of the things i did. I shall take your words into consideration. As i said this is my first comic and im doing it in watercolor. Hopefully things go well.

Squeezol said:

Looks pretty spoopy to me!

i dont know what that is but ill take it.