Back at March in C2E2 in Chicago, Marvel announced the newest addition to their creator-owned Icon lineup — Brilliant, from the noted Ultimate Spider-Man team of Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley, with a first issue set for July. Today is July 25, and Brilliant #1 hasn’t yet showed up in comic shops. Bendis took to his message board this morning to give an update, and it turns out it all has to do with inking.
As disclosed in the interview we did with Bendis and Bagley back in March, the original plan for Brilliant was to go straight from Bagley’s pencils to Nick Filardi’s colors, a practice seen in past books like the Andy Kubert-illustrated 1602 . In Bendis’s words, he “decided people who were used to seeing us together on Ultimate Spidey and Avengers wouldn’t find this experiment entirely appealing,” so the book gained an inker. A big one, too: Joe Rubinstein, a veteran of the comic industry since the ’70s.
The first issue is now set for August, with Bendis promising that subsequent issues will ship on time. Black and white previews of the new inked pages follow after the jump, and Bendis says he’ll have full-color art previews ready to share later in the week.
July 26th, 2011 at 3:55 am
I still won’t buy it. The main character may be brilliant but I’ll bet good money he talks with a lot of open-ended questions.
July 26th, 2011 at 6:55 am
Yeah. The premise is quite iffy and weak. Also the art looks pretty weird.
July 26th, 2011 at 7:09 am
It would be interesting to see some of the pencil-color pages along with the pencil-ink-color to see the difference and what freaked Bendis out about it to the point that he wanted the art redone. However, cool to see Joe Rubinstein on the art…I remember his name all over books in past years with art that I enjoyed.
July 26th, 2011 at 7:44 am
The pencils and coloring may have come out muddy compared to what Eaglesham did. That maybe why Bendis decided to add an inker.
July 26th, 2011 at 11:09 am
Bendis and Bagley? Two good reasons for me not to buy this book. I’ll pass.
July 26th, 2011 at 11:15 am
At least Joe Rubinstein finally found a paying gig. I wish I kept a total of emails I got from him from my Comic Art Fans gallery saying ” I’ll ink that for a dollar!” Time are tough, but come on.
July 26th, 2011 at 11:51 am
Is this art supposed to entice us? It just looks so boring. That’s too bad seeing that it’s a first issue. But I can’t handle reading Bendis’ meandering dialogue anymore. But, maybe it’s better than it’s looking. Hopefully.
July 26th, 2011 at 1:50 pm
I was interested in this book after the initial announcement, but REALLY didn’t like the way the preview art looked sans inks, so consider me happy.
July 26th, 2011 at 2:10 pm
does the straight to color thing work for anyone? It looked terrible when Larocca tried it, Joe Mad’s stuff looked weird as hell with it, I just don’t think it’s flattering.
July 26th, 2011 at 5:27 pm
Yeah generally if the artist isn’t tailoring his pencils to work with colour it doesn’t look quite right. It almost looks too washed out…and lacks real depth. Some guys do it really well though – frank quitely does a great job as does Rocafort.
July 27th, 2011 at 5:18 am
These comments are more proof that the internet is a super-selective magnet that attracts whatever tiny number of negative comments there are on a subject. Bendis and Bagley have sold more comics than any active team of collaborators and could do anything they want. The fact they’re doing this creator-owned project with the risks and rewards of such a deal show they beleive in it enough to do it on their own valuable time and dime. At the very least, they’ve earned the benefit of the doubt when it comes to giving a new project a chance.
July 27th, 2011 at 11:59 am
Lotta hate here. I’ll buy it. I like Bendis solo stuff better anyway. Scarlet was great.
July 27th, 2011 at 2:34 pm
This is a good day for all inkers! Congrats, Joe!
July 27th, 2011 at 3:21 pm
I’m beginning to see why so many people Hate Bendis. It clearly says that BAGLEY wanted the inks, NOT Bendis…I guess if you read like a 4th grader you’ll probably hate someone who uses a lot of Words in their stories.
the pencil to color technique is used by myriads of artists in gaming and design with dazzling results. Comics have never gotten the hang of it.
But there are books out there that go from pencil to color that you don’t even realize so its all up to the production team and artists involved.
I imagine that part of what speeds Bagley up is that the inker finishes his work which maybe made the book look unfinished to him?
May 10th, 2012 at 4:54 pm
Hi,
Thanks Drew. I’m a fan.
Bagley is doing a great,dynamic( and also a subtle) job .I’ve become a bigger fan then ever of Bags spending so much time looking at the work.I just make the line darker.
Brian was very gracious when inviting me on to the projects and I was thrilled to be asked.
That’s the facts .I hope you give”BRILLIANT ” a look.
Joe