Erica Henderson is a great artist.
Aug 4, 2017 18:47:10 GMT -5
Jesse, The Cheat, and 2 more like this
Post by Reptisaurus! on Aug 4, 2017 18:47:10 GMT -5
Now, granted, I get why modern fans find it alienating, and if you're not a student of the history of cartooning I can see why you'd think she "CANNOT" draw. Henderson's work isn't over rendered, un-connected pin-ups designed to be sold at conventions for $$$$$. I can see why this is alienating to readers who were raised on... that... style... (I'm really trying to be nice here, but Oh Lord It Is Hard.)
So I figure some readers simply don't know what they're looking for when they're reading Squirrel Girl.
So, for the edification of the masses, let's take a look at Henderson's strengths as an artist, which - as out of step with these current over-rendered anti-storytelling times as they may be - are quite simply undeniable.
And I did some scans from Erica Henderson's Squirrel Girl comics. Hooray! Sadly, I am not very good at scanning. Boo!
Here are four things to look for.
1) Her panel-to-panel storytelling is extremely creative, and every panel she draws both advances and changes the narrative, independent of the text. There are never any panels where the characters are drawn just for so the word balloons have something to attach to.
2) Her depictions of emotion (via body language and facial expressions) are spot on, and she can depict her character's fluid emotional state as well as any comic artist, ever.
3) She's an extaordinarily creative storyteller, adept at switching "camera angles" to keep her storytelling interesting and to built suspense. She's also great at negative space and perspective to indicate distance, scale, and scope. She's particularly good at showing characters of different sizes interacting - which is useful when you're drawing Squirrel Girl & her pet Squirrel vs. Galactus.
4) She can draw funny. Or draw "funny." She has great comedic timing and capable of using judicious exaggeration to enhance comedic effect. (And lord knows there are only a small handful of mainstream comic artists who are capable of THAT in these grim 'm gritty times.)
Let's start with # 4.
Hee hee hee. This is the classic stand-up comedy in comic book form.
Panel 1: Set-up. We're establishing how small Squirrel girl is compared to Galactus.
Panel 2: Set-up: WITHOUT EVEN SHOWING GALACTUS (!!!!) we are reinforcing the size difference, and showing a very small, very nervoius Squirrel Girl having to look way, way, up to even talk to her foe.
Panel 3: Punch-line! Note that this panel is less rendered and more cartoony (fewer lines) than the proceeding panels. The joke would work well based only on Henderson's amazing use of body language and facial expressions, but the punch line is driven home by her art-style switch up. This is a new (funny) reality, and it's drawn differently. (Also, really, really good use of negative space in that last panel. AHHHHHH! indeed.)
Note that this whole sequence takes 1/3rd of a page! She makes a joke based on the size differential between two characters and requiring copious negative space in the punch-line, and she only takes one third of a page! (This is important. We'll come back to it.)
More Galactus scans you say?
Great storytelling here. This page tells a little story, even taken on it's own and without the text. (MOST of Henderson's single pages do this, which is why she is so damn amazing.) Note that Henderson is using negative space a lot, but using it to a different effect each time.
* Upper left - negative space shows that Squirrel Girl is jumping a long distance, with much heroic gusto and enthusiasm!
* Bottom Left - Negative space shows that Galactus is freaking big! Also check out how Henderson is spotting blacks around Galactus' face to make him look mysterious and unfathomable.
* Bottom right - Now we're using negative space to enhance the mood. The lack of backgrounds (and the lack of cute little squirrel side-kick Tippy Toe in her cute little space-suit) illustrate S. G.'s frustration and alone-ness. Obviously she could achieve the same effect with just body language - (LOOK AT HOW GOOD SHE IS AT BODY LANGUAGE YOU GUYS!!!!) but by tightening up the perspective so that the panel is just Squirrel Girl and nothing else, she moves the emotional narrative from "sad" to "gut punch." Note that she is using the exact same tools as in panel one to indicate 180 degree opposite mood.
It's not just that Erica's adept at negative space, she's adept at using it to do different things, both to illustrate size and scope of the world she's building but also (more subtly) to indicate mood and change the tone of the narrative.
Yeah, also some spectacular physical cartooning in the S. G. vs. Galactus "fight." Two more things about the quadratych on the right there:
(A) Notice how she's telling TWO stories? Squirrel Girl fights Galactus and Tippy Toe lands on her head, then recovers.
(B) She's using those 5-year-old-drawing-a-star shaped impact marks of different sizes to indicate how characters are hitting - both Galactus and the ground. Clever!
Here's the take-a-way. She's putting a lot of thought into each page, and making A LOT of creative artistic decisions on how the story is told.
So I figure some readers simply don't know what they're looking for when they're reading Squirrel Girl.
So, for the edification of the masses, let's take a look at Henderson's strengths as an artist, which - as out of step with these current over-rendered anti-storytelling times as they may be - are quite simply undeniable.
And I did some scans from Erica Henderson's Squirrel Girl comics. Hooray! Sadly, I am not very good at scanning. Boo!
Here are four things to look for.
1) Her panel-to-panel storytelling is extremely creative, and every panel she draws both advances and changes the narrative, independent of the text. There are never any panels where the characters are drawn just for so the word balloons have something to attach to.
2) Her depictions of emotion (via body language and facial expressions) are spot on, and she can depict her character's fluid emotional state as well as any comic artist, ever.
3) She's an extaordinarily creative storyteller, adept at switching "camera angles" to keep her storytelling interesting and to built suspense. She's also great at negative space and perspective to indicate distance, scale, and scope. She's particularly good at showing characters of different sizes interacting - which is useful when you're drawing Squirrel Girl & her pet Squirrel vs. Galactus.
4) She can draw funny. Or draw "funny." She has great comedic timing and capable of using judicious exaggeration to enhance comedic effect. (And lord knows there are only a small handful of mainstream comic artists who are capable of THAT in these grim 'm gritty times.)
Let's start with # 4.
Hee hee hee. This is the classic stand-up comedy in comic book form.
Panel 1: Set-up. We're establishing how small Squirrel girl is compared to Galactus.
Panel 2: Set-up: WITHOUT EVEN SHOWING GALACTUS (!!!!) we are reinforcing the size difference, and showing a very small, very nervoius Squirrel Girl having to look way, way, up to even talk to her foe.
Panel 3: Punch-line! Note that this panel is less rendered and more cartoony (fewer lines) than the proceeding panels. The joke would work well based only on Henderson's amazing use of body language and facial expressions, but the punch line is driven home by her art-style switch up. This is a new (funny) reality, and it's drawn differently. (Also, really, really good use of negative space in that last panel. AHHHHHH! indeed.)
Note that this whole sequence takes 1/3rd of a page! She makes a joke based on the size differential between two characters and requiring copious negative space in the punch-line, and she only takes one third of a page! (This is important. We'll come back to it.)
More Galactus scans you say?
Great storytelling here. This page tells a little story, even taken on it's own and without the text. (MOST of Henderson's single pages do this, which is why she is so damn amazing.) Note that Henderson is using negative space a lot, but using it to a different effect each time.
* Upper left - negative space shows that Squirrel Girl is jumping a long distance, with much heroic gusto and enthusiasm!
* Bottom Left - Negative space shows that Galactus is freaking big! Also check out how Henderson is spotting blacks around Galactus' face to make him look mysterious and unfathomable.
* Bottom right - Now we're using negative space to enhance the mood. The lack of backgrounds (and the lack of cute little squirrel side-kick Tippy Toe in her cute little space-suit) illustrate S. G.'s frustration and alone-ness. Obviously she could achieve the same effect with just body language - (LOOK AT HOW GOOD SHE IS AT BODY LANGUAGE YOU GUYS!!!!) but by tightening up the perspective so that the panel is just Squirrel Girl and nothing else, she moves the emotional narrative from "sad" to "gut punch." Note that she is using the exact same tools as in panel one to indicate 180 degree opposite mood.
It's not just that Erica's adept at negative space, she's adept at using it to do different things, both to illustrate size and scope of the world she's building but also (more subtly) to indicate mood and change the tone of the narrative.
Yeah, also some spectacular physical cartooning in the S. G. vs. Galactus "fight." Two more things about the quadratych on the right there:
(A) Notice how she's telling TWO stories? Squirrel Girl fights Galactus and Tippy Toe lands on her head, then recovers.
(B) She's using those 5-year-old-drawing-a-star shaped impact marks of different sizes to indicate how characters are hitting - both Galactus and the ground. Clever!
Here's the take-a-way. She's putting a lot of thought into each page, and making A LOT of creative artistic decisions on how the story is told.
