Author Topic: J. Scott Campbell: Time Capsule 1994-2004 (2015)  (Read 765 times)

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J. Scott Campbell: Time Capsule 1994-2004 (2015)
« on: March 11, 2016, 03:14:20 pm »
J. Scott Campbell: Time Capsule 1994-2004 (2015)
Believe in Yourself
Because the rest of us think you're an idiot.

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Chiprocks1

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Re: J. Scott Campbell: Time Capsule 1994-2004 (2015)
« Reply #1 on: March 11, 2016, 04:02:38 pm »
J. Scott Campbell: Time Capsule 1994-2004




So, at the suggestion from another JSC fan at Penny Can, I managed to get me a Brand New copy of J. Scott Campbell: Time Capsule 1994-2004 and it was absolutely worth it. Even if most of the artwork within was stuff I had already seen, I still planned on picking this up because I wanted to read about what makes JSC tick. The bonus turned out to be that maybe 70% of the artwork was in fact new to me. So, I got the best of both worlds. As the books title suggest, we get a chronological rundown of his first 10 years in the biz and pretty much everything is covered, especially his Gen 13 and Danger Girl years. But what I was really looking forward to reading was about his Wildsiderz "run". Not so much because of what he produced, but I wanted an answer to explain his reason for abandoning the title after just one issue. It was kind odd to be able to read his thought process for when he was building it up as he does and going as far as hyping the eventual Trade Paperback for the series. Ouch. Talk about biting off more than one can chew. Looks pretty ridiculous in hindsight. Hopefully Volume II will answer the question on everyone's mind.

As for the rest of the book, I was kind of surprise that JSC more or less disses Jim Lee a few times about work ethic a couple of times throughout. No, he doesn't come right out and say it, but it's hinted at through veiled subtext. He's not the only one that seems to get a poor showing here. Marc Silverstri and Rob Liefeld come out looking pretty bad as well. It is what it is and not everyone is going to get along for whatever reason but I wasn't expecting that at all. I was also very surprise at how much religion played in both his life as well as how much he talks about it in the book, which I found to be fascinating. If you are a fan of JSC or cool art, this is definitely worth picking up for sure. I originally planned on getting the Back to the Future Cover from his website, but I balked at the idea they were charging $20 extra for shipping. F*ck that sh*t! Ended up getting the regular cover edition (signed and numbered) off of eBay for dirt cheap, Brand New. I will most likely pick up the BTTF Edition at Comic Con for sure. Any new forum lurkers that stumbles across Penny Can or this review in particular, be sure to check out Neumatic's review here.
Chip's Rockin' Art
Michael Scott To Meredith: "You've slept with so many men, your starting to look like one. BOOM! Roasted! Go here.

Neumatic

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Re: J. Scott Campbell: Time Capsule 1994-2004 (2015)
« Reply #2 on: March 11, 2016, 05:21:18 pm »
The religion thing was surprising to me too, but I think that's part of the unique identity of his artwork, especially his ladies.  There's a sort of innocence and sweetness that's hard-wired into him, so even when he does sexy ladies and so forth, and even when he's done nudity, it's not crass or gross.  He has a natural instinct to avoid it, and I think that's what the copycats lack.

JSC told me the last time I saw him (ages ago) to seek out Wildsiderz b/c I love his likenesses so much, I found them online (they look amazing on the iPad) but there are three "issues."  Zero is the pitch book, 1 is the high school stuff and 2 is the stuff in the lab, where the other kids get their powerz.  I would LOVE for their to be more, but at the same time I can tell what an insane amount of work it must have been to make a book like this in 2005 (maybe now with iPad Pros and draw-on-the-screen computers it would be easier, but those holograms take TIME).

I could go on about Wildsiderz, I'm in awe of how well he can draw Portman (something I'm still struggling with), but I find it really funny that now Portman's character of Kat looks more like Ariana Grande.

But I was also thinking of Wildsiderz recently because I just got the first issue of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and thought how much I would love to see J Scott do those characters.  Weird that he hasn't, given the insane amount of variant covers produced for the 0 and 1 issues).  But Jack Black's Wildsider character is what made me think of that, there's a fat guy in Power Rangers, Bulk, and in the book he's drawn like a slab (there's a real solid slightly-anime quality to the whole thing, which mostly works) but the way J Scott draws "Bam" is exactly how Bulk should be drawn: rough curves, energy, bursting off the page.  Plus, you really can't escape the "Power Rangers" feel that Wildsiderz has, five high school students with animal powerz, the leader is a jock with the power of a T-Rex?  Ain't nothin' wrong with it, I'm just sayin' it's there.

I really like seeing how artists evolve, and it's reassuring to know that even great artists were terrible (much like how the scripts for great movies were terrible at one point, like Back To The Future), but at the same time, I keep thinking about how quickly "professional" artists evolved while my art style stayed almost in stasis until the turn of the century, at which point I started my five-year cycle of "re-learning."

Chiprocks1

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Re: J. Scott Campbell: Time Capsule 1994-2004 (2015)
« Reply #3 on: March 11, 2016, 06:03:34 pm »
FYI, the girl on Page 258 is Michelle Trachtenberg who played Dawn on Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
Chip's Rockin' Art
Michael Scott To Meredith: "You've slept with so many men, your starting to look like one. BOOM! Roasted! Go here.

Neumatic

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Re: J. Scott Campbell: Time Capsule 1994-2004 (2015)
« Reply #4 on: March 11, 2016, 06:21:41 pm »
Wow, I can't believe I didn't catch that, thanks dude!

Mich-Tract is also the basis for "Jess" in Wildsiderz, despite looking nothing like her.

Chiprocks1

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Re: J. Scott Campbell: Time Capsule 1994-2004 (2015)
« Reply #5 on: March 11, 2016, 06:39:56 pm »
I've always known all the actors the characters from Wildsiderz are based on from the very beginning. Well, I thought I did until I read the book. I was blown away that the evil guy (can't remember his name at the moment) is/was based on Gene Simmons, who looks nothing like him in the comic. Still an eye opener. The other thing that blew me away when reading the book was the revelation that Jim Lee had done the page breakdowns for Issues #1 and #2 of the Gen 13 Mini-series. To drive home the WTF moment I have to backup a bit and tell a story first. Whenever I get together with friends that are into Comic Book art, occasionally talk turns to JSC and we discuss and pick apart things he has worked on and one of the things I always bring up is "discovering" him as he broke in and I always point out that for me it was thrilling to see this kid really come into his own and grow artistically with the release of Issue #3 of Gen 13. Back to the WTF...it all finally made sense why there was a HUGE jump from #2 to #3. It's because he was finally allowed to sink or swim on his own. Jim Lee doing the breakdowns, as good as those issues were, were in fact holding JSC back in a way. With the reigns taken off JSC, he had a massive jump. I couldn't understand how he could be that good that fast in 30 days. MIND. BLOWN.
Chip's Rockin' Art
Michael Scott To Meredith: "You've slept with so many men, your starting to look like one. BOOM! Roasted! Go here.

Neumatic

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Re: J. Scott Campbell: Time Capsule 1994-2004 (2015)
« Reply #6 on: March 11, 2016, 07:05:15 pm »
Well, I think in the case of Wildsiderz, it was less basing off likenesses (for the main cast, the science teacher is  straight-up recognizable character actor) and more of merging together.  So Jess might be Michelle Trachtengerg, but she had aspects of other people fused in as well.  Which makes sense.  James Marsden, however, dead look-alike.

The issue with doing likenesses, at least from MY experience, isn't just the obvious rights issues (which, not being published, i haven't had to deal with) but the fact that you start having TOO many faces you want to do.  Everybody becomes a character.  So mixing, matching, and mashing-up just makes sense.

Chiprocks1

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ECCC 2014: SECRET ORIGINS PRESENTS J. SCOTT CAMPBELL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge8-QSXuyk0&list=WL&index=3

If ya can't read the book, next best thing is a 45 minute conversation about his career.
Chip's Rockin' Art
Michael Scott To Meredith: "You've slept with so many men, your starting to look like one. BOOM! Roasted! Go here.

boyinblack80

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Highly sexualized action artist

:)


Chiprocks1

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Yeah, I thought that was funny as well.
Chip's Rockin' Art
Michael Scott To Meredith: "You've slept with so many men, your starting to look like one. BOOM! Roasted! Go here.

boyinblack80

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great interview for sure...


lots of great insights and he's very candid about stuff which is nice to hear.

 

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