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Underground > Comic Books >

Frank Quitely

18:57 / 05.06.08

I've been meaning to start a thread on Frank Quitely for some time--I think it's criminal that he doesn't even have a website, given his outstanding work in comics like WE3 and All Star Superman, and I thought this would be a good place to discuss his art in general.

Frank Quitely is probably one of the most divisive comic book artists in the US 'mainstream' comic book industry--eliciting reactions from fans that are as extreme as "Genius!" to "He can't draw!" Love him or hate him, one thing I feel no one can deny about Frank is his excellent storytelling abilities.

He's able to execute interesting panel effects by playing with layouts and camera angles, all in service of story. He can convey insane amounts of spectacle, mundane objects/environments, and intimate character moments. The amount of aggregated detail in his work is a joy to behold, in stark contrast to his brilliant use of negative space. And his figures, while drawn with exaggerated anatomy, retain a consistency that is a mark of his unique artistic voice.

Some good interviews to start off with: Profile and Meet Frank Quitely.

Plus more recent ones at IGN, Newsarama and Horcast (podcast).

And a gallery of his some of his work can be viewed HERE.

What do you think of Frank Quitely? What makes his art work or not work for you? How is it different or similar to other artists'?

19:04 / 05.06.08

I don't know what more there is to say other than that he's a freakin' genius and his work has become more and more expressive and astounding with each passing year. I feel that even those who don't like his faces or his general style can't possibly fault his storytelling and innovation. I know he was inspired by some old British comics that are sort of like (or the title sounds like) the old American strip "Alley Oop"; I've read it in a bunch of articles and can't recall. But he's a modern master and history will recognize him as such. Period.

The Natural Way

20:52 / 05.06.08

To be honest, I find that most of the people in the 'NAY!' camp hail from the 'he can't draw faces' school of art criticism. Seriously. I've sat in on loads of online *debates* about Quitely and I've never heard his detractors come up with a better argument than 'he makes Superman look like a retard'. I really don't feel the need to even countenance these people's opinion - I could pretty much guarantee that they still think good art equates with photo-realism. Leave those pricks to their Alex Ross, that's what I say.

Our own Zibarro said something recently about Frank's ability to convey movement even between the panels, and I think that just about nails his genius.

The Natural Way

20:57 / 05.06.08

But please can we not forget the gorgeous colouring of Mr Jamie Grant.

ONLY NICE THINGS

21:57 / 05.06.08

I feel that his FQ's work on the Morrison stuff has already been covered in depth in the discussions of those comics - it's awfy good, essentially - and that it would behoove us to look at some of his other work. Which then makes me wonder - what other work has he done? I associate him very heavily with Morrison projects, to the point where it seems odd to think of him fitting with anyone else's vision in quite the same way.

But! Onward! Of course, Quitely illustrated Mark Millar's anal penetration-filled stories in the Authority, and that seemed to be a very good fit for him - not because of the anal penetration, readers! If there's one thing I've learned from my time as one of Scotlands most successful, if not Scotland's most successful export since anal penetration it's that Frank Quitely, just like all other Scottish people involved in the comics industry and in general, loves the ladies sorry I don't quite know what happened there. The sense of fleshy solidity that he communicates fitted very well with the dense, overmuscled Auhority - the sense that they were the biggest bullies in the playground, and everything around them a sort of set, and the puckered, sensual lips worked well with the Authority being permanently horny. It was all very big and very hyper.

Of course, his legendarily slow drawing speed and clear affinity to Morrison means that there is not a lot of other work to look at- he seems to work elsewhere mainly as a covers artist, which at least suggests that the Quitely look on a cover is expected to boost sales, at least to the Vertigo set.

I would wonder, also, if the different artistic experience of the British reader makes it easier to appreciate his virtues - he was immediately embraced by British readers in his early mainstream work. I'd like to talk about Shimura and Missionary Man - in particular the drawing of Abaddon, which seems to form an early template for all Quitely monsters - but if it's just me and DavidXBrunt wanking over a cliff, it might be best to spare the viewing public.

23:08 / 05.06.08

And the skies in Missionary Man.. those were beautiful. I think the two you just named sum up the man that they call Frank's style, and as early as I've ever seen. His rendering of Shimura and the world he inhabits made that comic for me, and his covers from that period (those that I remember) would all make great wall hangings.

In fact, we have a few of his posters up at my studio (one of the pieces up is a page from Missionary Man), and I have to say the are fantastic wall hangings. Even the least blinding of the few up is still streets ahead of anything I could imagine doing some day. It's iconic stuff, mostly, and it all seems to have a reality to it that feels almost interactive.

His work on The Greens, though, That's where it's really at. Nothing has done since has come close to it, and I doubt anything ever will.

23:22 / 05.06.08

But please can we not forget the gorgeous colouring of Mr Jamie Grant.

And iamus, on occasion.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

04:39 / 06.06.08

I'd like to talk about Shimura and Missionary Man - in particular the drawing of Abaddon, which seems to form an early template for all Quitely monsters - but if it's just me and DavidXBrunt wanking over a cliff, it might be best to spare the viewing public.

I'd say go ahead and talk about them -- particularly if anyone knows of any scans or images floating around that one who has not had access to the printed versions might look at for reference?

Outside of the Morrison collaborations, I've noticed Quitely participated in several of those Vertigo "twisted romance / horror" anthologies like Flinch, back in the day. His contributions (both of which, now that I think about it, center on bizarre love triangles) evoke precisely why I like Quitely; he's capable of absolutely pristine beauty or unsettling body horror. He manages to make body horror look sexy in an uncomfortable way that doesn't undercut the horror aspects.

There was also his chapter of the 2020 Visions Delano project -- the only chapter, I'm afraid to say, I really had the patience to sit through. Again, his use of bodies in space intrigues me, it's all very unsettling and crawlsome.

Looking at the 2020, actually, I'm struck by his futurist architectures in things like it or A*S; he does like his organic shapes made of steel, doesn't he? He reminds me a little of Michael Lark in his Terminal City days, when I focus on the architecture...

11:22 / 06.06.08

Wikipedia has this list.

We can add Quitely's story in Vertigo's Gangland and the Mark Millar story he did for Marvel's 411.

George Clinton once ascribed the appeal of Parliament Funkadelic to the fact that the bass was always at the front of the beat, or at the back of the beat; either it came as soon as possible, or as late as possible, while still capturing the beat.

That description reminds me of Frank's art: the panels are either drawn at the front of the action, or the back. In 411, for instance, there's a panel with the protagonist throwing a stone through a window. Comic Artist A would have likely drawn the stone midway through the air, probably with some motion lines. Frank drew a panel, from the perspective of inside the window, there was a shattered hole in the window, and through the hole you can see the protagonist with his arm still in motion. We didn't see the stone thrown, and we didn't see the window break; we saw the panel at the back of the action.

There's a panel in ASS #1, I think, when Lois and Clark are walking, and Clark notices the loose muffler on the elevated train. In order to convey the danger, Comic Artist A may have drawn the muffler in mid-fall, maybe inches above the pedestrian's head. But Frank drew the panel at the front of the action.

By drawing at the front or the back, Frank's art becomes more interactive with the reader. We the reader, in much the same way that we subconsciously piece together what happens in the gutters between the panels, have to piece together what is happening in the panels. Frank's art is clear and detailed, but it still requires us to think and engage with the art to get the full appreciation of it. In addition to beautiful art, we get a little more bang for our comic buck.

11:25 / 06.06.08

Oh yeah, and he also did some stories in, at least, The Big Book of Conspiracies and The Big Book of Urban Legends.

13:20 / 06.06.08

Frank Quitely? Hey, he's just this guy, y'know.

ONLY NICE THINGS

13:23 / 06.06.08

Sometimes I am profoundly glad that I am no longer a comic book mod. This is one of those times.

Actually, it's the prelude to one of those times. One of those times is when Finderwolf responds "lol".

13:26 / 06.06.08

After detailed research in my secret laboratory, I know that the quantum stratosphere and structural integrity of Barbelith can only handle one 'lol' every 8 years, so it's my duty to provide that, with that exact frequency, so that Barbelith keeps its strength up. It's like a vaccine has a small dose of the disease, you know? Plus, it was to a joke that you made, so cheer up, Haus, it can't be all that bad.

[we shall now return to a thread about Frank Quitely]

ONLY NICE THINGS

13:36 / 06.06.08

AND YOU DIDN"T! I could just kiss you.

So, yes. I'll look for images from "Missionary Man". One thing I was thinking of specifically with Abaddon was not only that he was the basis of a lot of subsequent Quitely designs - hunched build, huge shoulders, domed, wide head, pointed ears - but also that when cut, if I recall, he had no organs or blood (compare the monofilament cutting in Shimura, which actually, again IIRC, didn't work brilliantly - looked a little too visible human). This is the impression that Quitely's figures tend to convey to me - they aren't supposed to look human because they _aren't_ human- they are a very plastic sort of drawn object.

It's hard to explain.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

14:31 / 06.06.08

No, I get it. It's one of the reasons his Offspring chapter in The Kingdom -- really the only reason I even keep the stupid book around -- works so well. His people look a little sculpted.

It also might be the reason I can get behind his Emma Frost design, even if she is problematic; that rescue worker announcing, when she emerges from a hole, that she looks like a robot -- seems apt. I wonder why I can get behind that odd anatomy and not a Liefield design? His characters are plastic and lithe rather than overly cross-hatched. Maybe they're only there to define all that space and depth people talk about.

15:35 / 06.06.08

Agreed. And the interesting thing is that they don't look like they're meant to be that realistic--they're more expressive, more like cartoons. And that's utilized to amp up gestures, body language, emotions and motion.

The other things that I like are these neat panel tricks that he does every so often--when action commences, the panels kind of misalign from the grid, dipping left or right to accentuate the impact and movement being illustrated. And at times, there's a kind of camera movement being implied, like in ASS#11, where Superman flies out of the fortress in his new suit, attended by his robots. It's the feeling of a camera panning diagonally upward that comes from the confluence of panel positioning, the size of it and the line of motion that the figures trace.

15:39 / 06.06.08

Which makes DC Direct's All Star Superman and Super Lois figures something of a wasted opportunity.

That solid quality has always struck me as something to do with the perfect continuity he maintains when showing the action from multiple angles [first thing that springs to mind are the opening panels of the first Authority/Americans encounter from #14] - it's like a digital object that you're swooping around. Grant Morrison's commented on FQ's ability to construct an almost 3D model of a scene in his head and then portray it from any point - possibly in some old video interview?

16:13 / 06.06.08

I don't recall that particular interview, but it makes sense. I'm actually interested in the All Star Superman action figures--I wanna see how they look in profile; though I imagine that the sculpting was a challenge, given that Quitely's figures aren't the traditional superhero "exchange faces" types.

But please can we not forget the gorgeous colouring of Mr Jamie Grant.

Definitely not--especially in All Star Superman, where the colors play a big role since Quitely uses little to no solid blacks or hatching, leaving so much room for the colors to describe object surfaces. There are times where it seems like the color does a lot of the story leg-work--like in the purple-red light environment of the Bizarro Underverse, the starry dimensions of the Qwewq Cube and the majestic Sun-closeup spread in the first issue.

Also nice: multiple points where Jamie Grant uses colorholds (coloring over the lines) to great effect--the subtle grey outlines of the Fortress mountain in issue2, or the blue-edged steam clouds in issue 3, where objects are lent an airy feel, receding them into the background and reinforcing the dimensionality of the scene. The colors make a really awesome partner to Quitely's linework--I think someone (Haus?) described the art as being almost 'lit' with the color, and I couldn't agree more.

17:10 / 06.06.08

He apparently learned to draw (and I don't have a link for this, so please not to ask - I've spent a lot of my adult life trying to escape from them) by copying 'Oor Wullie' and 'The Broons'. If you're unfamiliar with that stuff then you haven't missed much, but I think it gives Frank's work its odd, morbid flavour. If you met the characters he draws, one senses, you wouldn't necessarily like them.

17:30 / 06.06.08

I am totally a non-comics expert but his stuff reminds me of Moebius. The small featured faces, oval shaped heads and large expanses of plain coloured backgrounds.

17:57 / 06.06.08

As a bit of background 'Oor Wullie' was a sort of Calvinist version of 'Dennis The Menace', and 'The Broons' was a hard, Presbyterian take on The Simpsons, maybe, before the fact. There was something especially wrong with 'The Broons'. I still have nightmares about them sometimes, actually. There is no cultural equivalent these days - the worst excesses of Pete Bagge, say, seem like a walk in the park, relatively, because you can always put down 'Hate' or whatever, and do something else. 'The Broons' wasn't like that. There was this sense of the inevitability of moth-infested black suits, bible studies, spousal abuse, inchoate rage in the cemetary and so on, and no escape being possible.

It's, er, hard to explain the climate of fear the material fed off; basically Scotland, in the 1970's, was not a good place to be. This feeling of dread, I think, informs Frank Quitely's best stuff. As it does the work of your friend and mine, George Morrissey.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

22:51 / 06.06.08

Managed to track down a very cheap copy of Missionary Man online, so if you give me a few weeks I'll know what you're talking about, Haus.

00:37 / 07.06.08

He apparently learned to draw (and I don't have a link for this, so please not to ask - I've spent a lot of my adult life trying to escape from them) by copying 'Oor Wullie' and 'The Broons'.

Have you ever seen The Greens? It's well worth checking out, if you get the chance. Not his best work, sure, but it's still great.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

05:21 / 11.06.08

Having found myself a copy of Missionary Man for super-cheap (well, the first few stories up to "Season of the Witch"), I'm blown away by how much better Quitely's work looks when printed larger. Really pushes how much depth he manages to imbue each panel with. The wide open range scenes really make that clear. All that "big sky" stuff.

"Abaddon" -- Haus, does that refer to the Satanic monster Cain faces early on, or is from a story after "Season of the Witch?" Because the fallen monster from Luna-City has a certain sinewy quality I find in a lot of Quitely's monsters (I'm thinking of Krull and the Dino-Czars) -- Quitely's very good at imbuing unnatural body language (which is not stilted, but I mean inhuman) to certain characters and body types.

13:43 / 11.06.08

Damn, I don't think we ever got Missionary Man in the Philippines. At least, I've never encountered it. The online pics with the watercolors are stunning, though.

Has anyone read Quitely's work in 20/20 Visions? Speakeasy recently released a TPB (although I think it was originally published by Vertigo.) The art's in black and white format, sans any grayscale shading, and the linework's pretty beautiful to look at.

03:32 / 01.07.08

Sony has commisioned fake comic covers from artists like Neal Adams, Jock, Bill Sinkievicks and FQ to promote the movie HANCOCK. Quitely's is possibly my favourite.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

05:47 / 01.07.08

I think the cat is what does it.

Shimura is sexy. Did Quitely letter his own sound effects in those stories? Because he makes heavy use of the onomatopoeic explosion, a feature which is devoid in the soundless American comics he's gone on to do. They're quite beautiful.

02:23 / 12.08.08

Just found this Dangerous Ink interview online: Getting Frank with Quitely. Check it out!