SwanShadow Thinks Out Loud

We’ve been bingeing our way through Season One of The Crown on Netflix (capsule review: beautifully staged, solidly acted, flows slightly more rapidly than molasses in January). In light of this, it’s an opportune time to check out this royalty-themed Common Elements commission by Scott McDaniel.

Clockwise from top center, we have Green Arrow (a.k.a. Oliver QUEEN), Wonder Woman (a.k.a. Diana PRINCE), and Infinity Inc.’s Brainwave Jr. (a.k.a. Henry KING, Jr.). If you look closely, you’ll notice that the background morphs from character to character — they’re all in the same scene, but also each in his or her own unique world. I’ll let the talented Mr. McDaniel explain in his own words what he had in mind:

“My thought was simply to feature the heroes doing what they do best, as a team springing into action. The concept: the background would be an amalgamation of each character’s natural environment. For Green Arrow, an urban setting. For Wonder Woman, an Amazon forest. For Brainwave Jr., a high-tech, science fiction laboratory. And since I felt the urban skyline would best visually capture Ollie’s world, I positioned him at the top. Given the POV with its slight angle counter-clockwise, I felt that Henry’s slick tech walls would transform into Ollie’s brick buildings best if he was positioned on the left, leaving Diana to occupy the right. I think it works pretty well!”

And I wouldn’t disagree with that even a tiny bit.

Scott McDaniel has enjoyed a long and distinguished career in comics. Although he first made his mark as penciler on Marvel’s Daredevil in the early 1990s, Scott’s probably best known for his work on several series in DC’s Bat-family of titles, including Nightwing, Robin, and the Batman book itself. I was especially fond of his 2006-07 run on Green Arrow — my favorite male DC hero — which prompted me to invite him to create this GA-starring Common Elements scenario. Scott’s strong linework and propulsive, energetic design sense display themselves powerfully here.

And that’s your Comic Art Friday.

This entry was posted on November 18, 2016 at 1:40 pm and is filed under Comic Art Friday, Hero of the Day, SwanStuff, That's Cool!. 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.