Bloodshot FCBD 2019 Special: Penciling & Inking

 

Bloodshot FCBD 2019 Special: Cover by Dan Brereton

 

While story ultimately matters most, the first thing we notice when we pick up a comic is the penciling and inking. Do we find the shapes appealing? Do scenes look realistic or fanciful? Are characters portrayed consistently from panel to panel? And of course, does the inking bring out the penciler's intent, or muddy all those lines and cross-hatchings?  

Penciler and inker Tomas Giorello was the first artist to bring writer Tim Seeley's story onto the page. Let's dig into the Bloodshot Free Comic Book Day 2019 Special and see how he did.

 

Tomas Giorello's characters look muscular and powerful. They seem to embrace the No Pain No Gain motto, not only through their physical training, but also in how many piercings they sport. Also, the cultist on the right reminds me of the alien bounty hunters from the Predator movies. 

Giorello composes scenes well. His buildings have a solidity to them. The vehicles in this shot look big and sturdy, a reflection of the men driving them. There's great sense of movement here. 

Am I staring at a drawing, or a photograph?

Here we've got two panels that look like photographs tossed onto a dark surface. Both communicate that these are very bad dudes. The threat they pose to the woman is clear. 

I love the woman's expression in the second panel, as well as how she mutely holds out her hand. Before the man whose muscles are pumped up and ready to dole out serious hurt, she can't even muster a fist. Is she imploring the reader for help?

It'd be easy to leave it at those two snapshots. Yet at the bottom of the same page, we see boots running in the snow. Aided by a shift in coloring from Diego Rodriguez, the bottom panel lightens the tone of the page. We get the feeling that the situation that dominates the page is about to change.

 

Big, powerful villains demand an equally big hero. Here we see a big, muscular Bloodshot leaping into harm's way. The hero leaping down from a great height is an iconic hero move, going back to Hollywood swashbucklers such as Douglas Fairbanks and Errol Flynn. It says "I don't care if I land wrong and hurt myself. It's more important to surprise my enemy and save those in danger."

 

There's so much going on in the top panel, with the two guys on motorcycles speeding through the snow, shouting orders and shooting. Yet Giorello makes the second panel bigger, with Bloodshot just standing there, and taking all the punishment they can dole out with a few grunts.

The characters in this issue may look big and brutal, but Bloodshot is clearly the most indomitable of all.

Congratulations on making the Bloodshot FCBD 2019 Special* look powerful and realistic, Tomas Giorello. Well done.

Dragon Dave

* The Bloodshot FCBD 2019 Special is available in Bloodshot Book One.