rockpants finds from the chicago comicon, part III
tucked away in the tiniest back corner of artists' alley - i'll be honest, we found it on our way to smoke behind the convention center - was a lady named Carla Speed McNeil. She's WICKED prolific; she had at least eight graphic novels on the table for sale. LONG graphic novels. All self-published, too. I couldn't afford to pick up more than one, so I picked this one:
It's essentially the story of a little girl and her quest for a book that was read to her when she was very young. The guy who "read" it to her made up most of it as he went along, leading her to believe that it was magic, like 1000 books in one. And leaving her pretty frustrated whenever anyone else tries to read it to her:
Talisman's beautiful. All of Ms. McNeil's work is filled with gorgeous linework, obsessive hatching and texturing, beautifully evocative expressions and poses. I could probably draw this well if I went to about a million more figure drawing sessions.
Near as I can tell, McNeil's created her own elaborate universe. The books border on science fiction and fantasy, in the sense that everything takes place in an alternate existence, people can jack into movies and television for enhanced experiences, there are clans and tribes and creatures and things. I'll be honest, I don't like sci fi/fantasty stuff that much, and what saves McNeil's work is that the stories aren't really ABOUT the different/future/robot/magic world. They're about very relatable HUMAN stories, and they just happen to be SET in the different/future/robot/magic world. I probably wouldn't have picked up Talisman if it were told with overt references to the alternate universe McNeil's created. Instead, it's about a love affair with a book, a topic pretty familiar to my own heart.
Looking at how much work McNeil's produced, I feel pretty bad that I hadn't heard of her before. If you've seen the Carla Speed McNeil and the Finder before, you're better informed than I am. If not, you should definitely check out this rare and exceedingly productive talent.
It's essentially the story of a little girl and her quest for a book that was read to her when she was very young. The guy who "read" it to her made up most of it as he went along, leading her to believe that it was magic, like 1000 books in one. And leaving her pretty frustrated whenever anyone else tries to read it to her:
Talisman's beautiful. All of Ms. McNeil's work is filled with gorgeous linework, obsessive hatching and texturing, beautifully evocative expressions and poses. I could probably draw this well if I went to about a million more figure drawing sessions.
Near as I can tell, McNeil's created her own elaborate universe. The books border on science fiction and fantasy, in the sense that everything takes place in an alternate existence, people can jack into movies and television for enhanced experiences, there are clans and tribes and creatures and things. I'll be honest, I don't like sci fi/fantasty stuff that much, and what saves McNeil's work is that the stories aren't really ABOUT the different/future/robot/magic world. They're about very relatable HUMAN stories, and they just happen to be SET in the different/future/robot/magic world. I probably wouldn't have picked up Talisman if it were told with overt references to the alternate universe McNeil's created. Instead, it's about a love affair with a book, a topic pretty familiar to my own heart.
Looking at how much work McNeil's produced, I feel pretty bad that I hadn't heard of her before. If you've seen the Carla Speed McNeil and the Finder before, you're better informed than I am. If not, you should definitely check out this rare and exceedingly productive talent.
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