CSBG Archive
Month of Art Stars: Artist’s Choice – Goran Parlov
Every day this month I’m going to feature the work of a great artist, only instead of me picking the artist to feature, they will be picked by their peers, fellow professional comic book artists who are picking out artists (from the past and present) who they think deserve special attention. Do note that most artists I asked about this gave me multiple answers and I picked out one choice out of a number of suggestions, so these are not definitive answers, like “Artist X likes Artist Y and he thinks all other Artists are terrible!” Here is an archive of the artists featured so far!
Today, we have the pick of Cliff Chiang, the awesome artist who was most recently the regular artist for Green Arrow/Black Canary. Recently, besides commission work and convention appearances, he did some work in Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology. You can check his website out here.
Cliff’s pick is Goran Parlov.
Goran Parlov is from Croatia, and he has been drawing comics in Europe since the early 1990s.
Earlier this decade, Parlov began doing American comics, first at Vertigo (where he finished Jamie Delano’s Outlaw Nation series for Goran Sudzuka and did some fill-in work at Y the Last Man) and then at Marvel MAX.
It was at Marvel MAX that Parlov found a book that he worked perfectly on, Garth Ennis’ Punisher, where Parlov’s expressive but almost, in a weird way, FUN artwork really shined.
He’s such an awesome storyteller that he can tell the story on these pages without even really needing the dialogue (more on that later)…
But, of course, dialogue works for him, too…
Recently, he’s returned to Punisher sans Ennis, with the current Punisher storyline written by Victor Gischler.
And Parlov is right back in his element, drawing bizarre scenes of violence while keeping everything just expressive enough that you can really feel for the characters stuck in these sick pieces of violence (which is an Ennis trademark – make you care enough about the characters for the sick stuff to have real impact – Gischler got off to a good start with his take on that style here)…
Again, look at that storytelling!!!
Thanks to Cliff for the pick!
13 Comments
Tom Fitzpatrick
June 21, 2009 at 11:20 am
I really enjoyed Goran’s run on the Punisher MAX with Ennis.
Now, if somebody would pick that other artist who started the Punisher MAX series, Lewis Larosa and Steve Dillon who did Punisher Marvel Knights.
Ian A.
June 21, 2009 at 11:47 am
There’s a wonderful flow to Parlov’s lines. His work’s fluid without being too lose. His use of solid blacks helps keep everything grounded.
Good stuff.
Edo Bosnar
June 21, 2009 at 11:57 am
Out of all those artists from Croatia who made their way into the American comics scene since the early 1990s, I think Sudzuka is still my favorite, but Parlov comes in as a close second. Really close second now that I’ve seen the work you’ve posted here (I haven’t seen it before because I’m not much of a Punisher fan, but this may actually force me to go out and pick it up…)
Dean
June 21, 2009 at 12:39 pm
What is great about is that his art doesn’t scream at you, so the violence has an impact
Bill Reed
June 21, 2009 at 12:42 pm
When he first came onto Punisher MAX, I thought he was a considerable departure from the art style they’d set up– but now I don’t want anyone else drawing the book.
kalorama
June 21, 2009 at 8:44 pm
I bought a couple of Punisher MAX tpbs after seeing Parlov’s work in the online previews (I can’t stand the Punisher nor am I a big Ennis fan). Glad I did. Didn’t much care for or about the story, but his art is fantastic.
DanCJ
June 22, 2009 at 8:42 am
I like this guy. His work has a bit of a European comics meets Alex Toth style about it that appeals to me.
That Cliff Chiang guy is excellent too
goran sudzuka
June 22, 2009 at 3:01 pm
cliff knows how to pick them! : )
edo, thanks for the compliments, but parlov is about five times better then i’ll ever be.
Edo Bosnar
June 23, 2009 at 2:03 am
oh, come on, Goran, to each his/her own, and don’t sell yourself so short!
By the way, thanks for that nice tribute to another great, Edvin Biukovic (tragically no longer with us) on your own blog…
Declan Shalvey
June 26, 2009 at 5:00 am
Parlov is incredible. Everything is grounded in reality but he knows when to exaggerate characters when needed. Seeing how huge he made Barracuda by the end of that storyline is a great example of that. Everything has a wonderful hand-drawn quality to it and isn’t bogged down by un-necessary detail.
My favourite artist currently working in comics, without a doubt.
gavin c
August 24, 2010 at 2:25 am
Goran Parlov is amazing, his drawings are perfect, perfect lines, perfect shading but yet making it look simple. I have been a huge fan of Duke Mighten and Dale Kweon for the last ten years but the more i see of this guy’s work, fuck I’m loving it!
r.i.p Barrcuda!
Marco
July 24, 2011 at 5:30 am
Here in Italy we have had the luck to read beautiful Parlov’s drawed comics for many years before Goran go work in the States. He already showed most of the genius that you see in the images above in popular series like Nick Raider, Magico Vento (it. for Magic Wind), then a special story of Italian comics legend Tex Willer in 1997 – and he was the drawer of the pilot episode of “Volto Nascosto” (Hidden Face) miniseries, his last major work in Europe before the Punisher.
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[...] that dominates the book, but beyond that superficial similarity, I see more of Eduardo Risso or Goran Parlov in the page construction and storytelling than Frank Miller. While scenes in the present are in [...]