FRIDAY NEWSPOST - Comic Book Idols

Yesterday, August 28th, was the anniversary of Jack Kirby's birthday. This has prompted some people to talk about how his work affected them, and made me think a bit about comic book influences and artists we look up to. Although I wasn't actively a huge fan of Kirby's work (my personal favourite comic book artist was always Steve Ditko; sorry Jack!), I did read an awful lot of the superhero comics he illustrated when I was a young teenager. For a long time, the men I drew had the kind of square chins that Kirby seemed to favour.

Since I got involved in webcomics, though, my influences became almost exclusively much smaller creators, because their work was so much more immediately relevant to my own. I remember learning about tablets that allowed you to draw on your computer the first time I went to a comic convention. That's also where I learned about webcomics, from a local artist who wrote and illustrated a (long ended) comic online. I've found limitless inspiration among the creators here at DrunkDuck, and I often find myself trying to mimic the stylistic choices of certain artists here. In this regard I especially love watercolour-style illustrations and anything that is black and white and cross-hatched.

Who are your comic book idols? How have they influenced your work? Do you think you've managed to create your own style, or does your art continue to carry bits and pieces from others?

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Have a comic milestone, a community project or some comic-related news that you'd like to see in a newspost? Send it to me via PQ or at hippievannews(at)gmail.com!