Comments on: A Month of Art Stars – Gabrielle Bell

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 08:53:59 +0000

I disagree about the melancholy thing, but I definitely agree with the other stuff, Mark!

Bell is awesome.

By: MarkAndrew

MarkAndrew — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 01:31:06 +0000

If by “dynamism” you mean it doesn’t read like a superhero comic, then, yeah, sure. Luckily, comics ain’t all power fantasies, and not every style of narrative requires (or is even helped by) flashy, self-consciously over-rendered art.

I *really* like Gabrielle Bell, and I (mostly) get Cronin’s argument – Her strength is effective sequential narrative, pacing, and “comics time” (IE showing and excluding the right stuff) and, yeah, I do consider stuff like comic time an aspect of comic art. Her stuff is all about artist-as-storyteller, but she’s very good at what she does.

But I am gonna disagree with “melancholiest,” at least not in the way that Seth, or autobiographical Chester Brown, or any of those depressive dudes. I’d call Bell more of an off-kilter, deadpan humorist, and probably the best in comics at that role.

By: Dalarsco

Dalarsco — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 23:16:09 +0000

Ya, while she won’t cause eye bleeding I really wouldn’t call her a little known star. The little comic strip at the top is good, and the one at the bottom isn’t too terrible, but the stuff in the middle is amateurish and even the good stuff doesn’t really have any dynamism.

By: Dan Bailey

Dan Bailey — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:15:42 +0000

Not, I guess, that there’s anything wrong with that.

By: Dan Bailey

Dan Bailey — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:14:28 +0000

I definitely see where DanCJ is coming from. I think we’re sort of approaching “Anyone Who Doesn’t Draw Like Rob Liefeld is an Art Star” terroritory.

By: DanCJ

DanCJ — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 12:38:48 +0000

Hmmm… I daresay the art is functional for the story at hand, but I can’t see her as an art star.