Carbon Based: The Art of Lewis LaRosa
by Lewis LaRosa
Many thanks to Oni Press and NetGalley for allowing me to
preview and advanced copy of this excellent collection of comic artist Lewis
LaRosa’s work for comics including Marvel and Valiant titled Carbon Based: The Art of Lewis LaRosa. I wasn’t familiar with
LaRosa’s work prior to this collection, but the striking image of a woman
warrior riding a raptor-like creature and shooting arrows at a pursuing,
ferocious t-rex immediately grabbed my attention since it resembled both the
bold work of some of Oni’s recent EC revivals like Cruel Kingdon. Plus, it reminded
me of some of the iconic work of Frank Frazetta, so I was glad to explore the
works and worlds that LaRosa’s art has helped to create. Beyond the amazing art
contained in this collection, readers also learn a little about LaRosa’s
interesting career, where he got his start working on the Punisher MAX series. In
this first section, we see LaRosa’s work, but the collection also contains
sketches and notes. I loved seeing these drafts and sketches since it helped me
better understand LaRosa’s process of developing not just characters, but also
conveying the themes and tones of the narrative story. I enjoyed this kind of
visual development of the process involved in the story telling that moves
beyond words. Furthermore, readers can see how as LaRosa’s skills and knowledge
of working in comics develop, his art and work continue to convey more of the
narrative elements of the story. In some of the later work from Bloodshot and Harbinger Wars, readers can get a sense of how LaRosa’s
art, use of colors, and even close-up and zoom out of the images convey the
action and possible motivations of characters. Other notes and sketches provide
fascinating details about the fine details of certain characters. For example,
in the section on Ka-Zer MAX we see some notes about one of the
characters and various sketches that portray the character in different
perspectives. In another section, he has this interesting character who has a
kind of infection that has created a kind of skin-shield over him that not only
protects him, but also has infected his mind. It’s a brilliant way to create
and portray this character whose strength is also his downfall. In another Bloodshot storyline, LaRosa has this great description about how the
establishing shot has to be “awful” and he wants the readers to “smell the dank
odor” as they encounter the white supremacists’ compound. All of the images
from this section are creepy and evocative, while also doing much to convey the
story’s narrative. If anything, this book has made me want to check out more of
the comics that LaRosa has worked on. However, what stood out most was LaRosa’s
work on dinosaurs. As he notes in the brief texts that accompany much of the
art, he is a fanatic about dinosaurs, and like a lot of kids, developed this
interest in them from an early age. However, LaRosa has moved beyond an
interest in dinosaurs and has used research and findings in paleontology to
hone his craft in creating increasingly realistic images of dinosaurs. There’s
one sketch of several anatomical perspectives of the dinosaurs that allows
readers to better learn more detailed and specific his work on these creates
are.
What I found most
interesting, though, was that LaRosa had this period where he was teaching and
not working in comics. It wasn’t until someone from Valiant reached out after
2010 that he came back to working in comics, which enabled him to move into not
just the artistry, but also doing cover work for Valiant comics. The cover
work is great as well, and I’m glad that this edition was able to present much
of his more recent cover work in color. This was a great collection, especially
if you are a fan of Lewis LaRosa’s work. However, even if you are not, it’s a
great entryway into some of this striking and original art, and it enables
readers to gain a better sense of LaRosa’s artistic process and what is can be
like to work in comics. Highly recommended!
No comments:
Post a Comment