| Like a lot of American fans, they started with superhero comics from
DC and Marvel, thinking that was the only way to go when it was time to
try to become comics artists. Then they discovered manga, and their lives
changed. Now, Panther Comics of Colorado springs combines the best of both
comics worlds in their art. Tony Little, Rodney Little and Russ Perry (left
to right) from Panther took a few minutes from their artists' alley table
to meet with fans and talk about their work. |
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| Rodney Little was captivated by manga. "To me, the art was more important
in manga," he said. " In the U.S. the art is color-dependant, but there's
no story. We didn't know how to read Japanese, but we could still understand
the story. You shouldn't have to have words in your story - the manga art
told the story itself." |
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| Tony Little said art always was a part of his family, since his father
was an artists. Tony and brother Rodney picked up on drawing, and they'd
show their work to their father, who was a tough critic. "He acted like
our stuff wasn't drawn by his sons," Tony recalled, saying that sort of
tough love helped him learn how to draw. |
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| There's art as still life and art that tells stories. Perry said that
aspiring comics artists need to learn how to make a story flow across a
page. Using the panels of a page of art isn't easy at first, but it can
be learned with a lot of repetitive practice, the Panther guys said. Only
then can the lessons of perspective and anatomy be put to effective use,
they said. |
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