SwanShadow Thinks Out Loud

We’ve had six stupendous days tripping backward through the cleanest and meanest commissioned illustrations that entered my comic art collection during 2009. It’s time for the final pair of drawings… and yes, they’re doozies.

(You whippersnappers will have to Google “doozy.” You’ll probably have to Google “whippersnapper,” too.)

Favorite Multi-Character Commission, Non-Theme Division:
Arak, Son of Thunder and Valda the Iron Maiden
Pencils and inks by Tony DeZuniga

The second of two masterpieces created at WonderCon 2009 by comics legend Tony DeZuniga, this dramatic illustration spotlights the stars of DC’s mostly forgotten 1980s mashup of Native American historical drama and sword-and-sandal fantasy, Arak, Son of Thunder. Tony drew about half of the original adventures of Arak and his lady companion, Valda the Iron Maiden. He hasn’t lost the master’s touch.

Favorite Supergirl Commission:
Pencils by Michael Dooney

I’ve saved one of my absolute treasures until the very end. I can’t really explain why it took so long for me to commission one of my favorite artists to draw one of my favorite heroines in my all-time favorite of her numerous costumes. Fortunately for us all, that drought ended in 2009. Mike Dooney’s take on the Maid of Steel is flat-out awesome. Spunky, too. (Spunky rocks.)

So that’s it in a seven-fragment nutshell: Comic Art Friday’s top artworks from the final year of the Aughts. With any luck, there will be more to come as we forge ahead into the Teen Decade.

May you and your loved ones enjoy a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year in 2010.

This entry was posted on December 31, 2009 at 1:04 am and is filed under Comic Art Friday. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.