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2014 in Review: Breakout Artist

By | December 6th, 2014
Posted in Columns | 9 Comments

What does breaking out in comics really mean? After all, someone could start their career with an explosive first work or they could go from doing good work to something mind blowing, and they’d still be a breakout, just in a different way. They both count in our book.

To kick off Multiversity’s 2014 in Review lists, we’re going to break down who in our minds were the biggest breakout artists of the year, and share who really took their game to the next level.

So who were they? Multiversity’s staff voted on the subject, and our top five (plus one) is below. Share your picks in the comments, and look for the next category to drop tomorrow.

Note: All of Multiversity’s 2014 in Review awards are based off of all of the contributing writing team voting to decide each rank. Every list is combined with equal points for every voter, and the results are what you find below.

Pinup from Madman 3D

5 (tie). Aaron Conley

Why he made the list (Brian Salvatore): I must admit that my choice is a little on the nose here, as Conley won the Russ Manning Promising Newcomer award at the Eisners this year. But the Eisners got the selection right – Conley was an absolute star this year. “Sabertooth Swordsman” really picked up steam, both as the hardcover got more and more attention, and as a feature in the revamped “Dark Horse Presents.” Conley’s work is incredibly detailed, and he has been popping up everywhere, from doing pinups in books like “Madman In Your Face 3D Special” to being part of the art team for a Ghostface Killah record. From Allred to Wu Tang – that’s a hell of a year.

Double Page Spread from Rocket Girl #6

5 (tie). Amy Reeder

Why she made the list (Mike Romeo): When “Rocket Girl” launched last year it became clear to anyone with functioning eyeballs that Amy Reeder had, artistically speaking, entered into a new phase of her career. The pages she’s producing for this series are head and shoulders above anything she’d done previously, and that’s saying a lot. But all of that started last year, we’re supposed to be talking about this year, aren’t we?

2014 was a different type of break-out year for Reeder. She’s begun to transform her success as a comics artist into a wider form of recognition. She was asked by Brooklyn Brewery to create a character for their Comic-Con themed beer. She designed signage for NYCC. And maybe you’ve seen one of her two news appearances? There are plenty of comics artists that are superstars to us, but few ever get this type of attention from the world outside of comics.

Double Page Spread from Deadly Class #1

4. Wes Craig

Why he made the list (David Harper): I’m sad to say that although Craig’s worked in comics for several years before now, I’d never experienced his work before he co-created “Deadly Class” with Rick Remender. At least to my knowledge – and I’m scary good at remembering which creators worked on which books – I had never read any of his work before, so when I first opened the pages of “Deadly Class” #1, I came in with no expectations and a completely blank slate.

Thankfully, that’s something Craig is incredibly good at working with, as he took that blank slate and made it filled with some of the most remarkable comic art I’ve ever seen, not just in 2014.

He’s an artist with a bevy of gifts, but the two biggest for me are these:

Wes Craig is a chameleon: Whatever a scene or situation or issue or panel requires, Craig not only can figure out how to best deliver it, but he can execute it with whatever style is necessary. Whether it’s creating a comic cover from the mindset of a juvenile delinquent or capturing the mind bending hysteria sometimes tied to drug usage, Craig finds the right stylistic choices to match the situation every time, and it’s not for show. It’s always in service of the story. So when he told me in an interview earlier this year he wants to tell Saya’s backstory in a manga-ish style, that doesn’t scare me, it just excites me.

Continued below

Wes Craig is an incredible storyteller: To me, Craig’s amongst the very best storytellers in comics. Whether its the way he can design a page to change the pace and power of story beats or the way he can choreograph an action sequence to feel all the more intensive or, best of all, the way he can always put us in a character’s mindset without removing us too far from the story, Craig’s abilities as a visual storyteller is what turns a good comic into an incredible one.

It’s not just Craig, as colorist Lee Loughridge is a huge part of this equation, but when I think back to 2014, my introduction to Wes Craig’s art will be the biggest creator change I’ve experienced in the year. For that, he’s my pick for the breakout artist of the year.

Panel from Supreme Blue Rose #3

3. Tula Lotay

Why she made the list (Vince Ostrowski): Tula Lotay didn’t just “break out” in the year 2014 – her work was practically everywhere you looked. During short anthology stints on “Legends of Red Sonja” or “Adventures of Superman” she showed that her particular brand of cartooning can do incredible things with established characters. On Si Spencer’s “Bodies”, she was given the task of crafting the futuristic view of a time-hopping murder mystery. Her style couldn’t have been a better fit. More than that, she stood out as a singular and special talent on a complex book full of great art. But her most important and stunning work was in the Liefeld-verse, of all places, as she and Warren Ellis teamed up to revisit Supreme with “Supreme: Blue Rose.”

Lotay blends clean, attractive linework reminiscent of Mike Allred with swaths of color and swooping accent lines to establish mood and mystique. Her characters seem to exist on another plane, continuously swirling in and out of tangibility. Lotay’s body of work was among my very favorite in 2014, because it felt like she was one of the few mainstream artists in this day and age whose work actually engaged me in the medium itself as I read it. Her surreal approach to the 2-dimensional plane of comics made for an ethereal and potent experience. In “Supreme: Blue Rose”, it had as much to do with the success of the book’s beguiling nature as Ellis’ writing, and he’s been at this much longer. Lotay wasn’t just my breakout artist of 2014 – she was one of the very best, and her arrow is still pointing up.

Cover to Shutter Vol. 1

2. Leila del Duca

Why she made the list (Alice W. Castle): Leila del Duca is an artist who I, for all intents and purposes, stumbled upon entirely by accident. I hadn’t seen much about “Shutter” prior to its release, but when I saw the opportunity to write a little about it in my advance review of the first issue after reading a synopsis, I jumped at the chance. A modern Indiana Jones with a female lead in a weird mix of a science fiction and fantasy world? Sign me the hell up. But what I didn’t expect was how beautiful the book would look. Each issue, del Duca has found a way to take my breath away in new ways. Her work is angular and moody and her inks deep, sharp and controlled, but each of her pages still breath with vibrancy and life thanks to her painted colours. It brings an otherworldly quality to the page that completely works with the tone “Shutter” is trying to achieve and allows her to ground the really weird stuff that she and Keatinge have going on in that book with some fantastic character- and world-building. I really hope to see more from Leila del Duca in the future as just seeing the evolution of her art in her six issues of “Shutter” (we’re so close to #7, I can taste it) is a real inspiration in seeing an artist flourish and love what she’s doing. She is most definitely one to watch.

Double Page Spread from Batgirl #35

1. Babs Tarr

Why she made the list (Matthew Meylikhov): It’s hard to think of an artist that had a bigger breakout in comics in 2014 than Babs Tarr. Tarr emerged on the comics scene in a big way, bringing her art to a massive audience on one of the largest stages in comics — and she absolutely nailed it. “Batgirl” can be seen as perhaps DC’s most important title in 2014 in terms of attitude and direction, and while its success can be accredited to many parties, Tarr is a tremendous part of that. Her energetic and quite kinetic art is exciting and entertaining, and she brings with her work a sense of brightly colored optimism that injects a healthy dose of spirit into the otherwise gloomy Gotham; Tarr has helped make DC fun again.

Tarr has become a trendsetter, though, and it’s quite obvious why. Under her pen and collaboration with Cameron Stewart, Babs Tarr has breathed new life and energy into the Bat-franchise, helping to acknowledge a younger audience and bring that world to life on the page. Her Batgirl is fun and frantic, and the reverberations we’ve seen at DC spinning out of her work on that book have truly helped revitalize the company for some fans, let alone seeing the basic premise of the book copied elsewhere. Even the DCynical like myself can find a lot to enjoy from the book and her art.

So kudos to Babs Tarr and the door she kicked down when “Batgirl” debuted. Tarr is an artist who has made a discernible and positive stamp on the face of comics in 2014, and as “Batgirl” evolves I expect her to go absolutely HAM in 2015.


//TAGS | 2014 in Review

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