Our staff voted Gleb Melnikov (“Robin,” “Batman and the Outsiders”) as the Breakout Artist of 2021. It’s not hard to see why; Melnikov’s art is full of energy and passion, with great character work and action sitting side by side. Gleb was kind enough to answer a few of our questions about his work, his 2021, and what to look for in his art next year.
Our staff voted you ‘breakout artist’ of 2021, but we all recognize that this is far from your first year in comics. Did this year feel different than years past, in terms of your own work? If so, how?
Gleb Melnikov: Not really, to be honest. I’m just happy to work on an ongoing again. It’s pretty hard to jump from title to title because usually it takes a couple of issues to get used to the characters and overall vibe of a comic. I can draw Damian and his friends in my sleep these days, it’s a great feeling.
One of the things that has made “Robin” so fun is the manga influence that is clear on every page, and the pitch-perfect manga ‘impression’ that you do in the book within a book. What are some of the manga/mangakas that have influenced your work?
GM: The main one is Rumiko Takahashi. She was a huge influence for me from the very start, because “Ranma 1/2” was the first manga I ever read, and I’m still trying to learn from her. The influence is very clear on those “manga pages” in “Robin,” but also you can see it in the action scenes.
The other notable mangakas are Naoki Urasawa, Shimamoto Kazuhiko, Hiromu Arakawa, Hiroyuki Takei and Yasuhiro Nightow.
Your work at DC over the past year or so has ranged from Western (“Jinny Hex Special”) to futuristic space sci-fi (Midnighter backups “Future State”) to Battle Royale with superheroes (“Robin”). How did your approach differ on each of those projects?
GM: I guess my style on “Jinny Hex” was pretty much the same as on “Robin.” “Midnighter” was a bit different, since I wanted it to look more like a 90s Wildstorm comic. I don’t know if I succeeded but it was very fun nevertheless.
Like every other artist I do try to change my approach a bit depending on the project, but I’m still trying to figure out my style and I think I finally started to feel it on “Robin.” My goal is to find the perfect blend of clean, slick inks with the energy of rough quick sketches. I want my art to feel fast but deliberate.
Folks don’t just get to know about you from your work, you’re also prolific (and quite funny) on Twitter. In addition to some funny takes, you also share little nuggets of artistic wisdom and commentary. Would you ever want to teach cartooning or do some sort of online ‘masterclass?’
GM: Haha, I hope no-one takes my Twitter too seriously, it’s all jokes for the most part. But yeah, I do have some strong opinions about art and comics, That doesn’t mean I’m never gonna change my mind though, I’m still learning too!
Don’t know about a masterclass, but I did think about starting a YouTube channel or something like this to help young people learn how to draw comics. But I don’t think it’s possible at the moment; I have too much work.
If you wanna learn something specific – just make a statement on Twitter so I could argue immediately!
What are your hopes for your art in 2022?
GM: I wanna get better at inking! People are always compliment my inks but for me they don’t look good enough yet. I should pay more attention to overall drawing and be less preoccupied with unnecessary details and hatching.
Also I need to experiment more with a page layout.
But overall I’m not to pressed about it. I think I should let it evolve naturally.
