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AMAZING
SPIDER-MAN
#565 cover by
Jimenez, Lanning
& Chuckry |
By Ben Morse
It's still a "Brand New Day" for
Spider-Man, but for artists Phil Jimenez and Andy Lanning, working together has become old hat.
"I think this year marks a decade of Phil and [me] working together," recalls Lanning, who estimates he has inked Jimenez's pencils on upwards of 50 comics, including numerous extra-sized specials. "I inked him on a test piece to see if we gelled, he liked it and we've been working together ever since."
"Andy's inks were as flawless then as they are now," reminisces Jimenez fondly.
Jimenez and Lanning welcome colorist Chris Chuckry to their tightly knit group starting July 9 with AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #565 as they join writer Marc Guggenheim for a three-issue story arc guest-starring
Daredevil and introducing a new female version of classic Spidey foe Kraven the Hunter. This marks the duo's second run on ASM since "Brand New Day" began and Jimenez looks forward to topping himself.
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AMAZING
SPIDER-MAN
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"For me, the Spider-Man learning curve has been [steeper] than I thought," confesses the artist. "It sounds strange, but I take the job so seriously [that] I think sometimes I over-think. I think the fact that this new arc has a new villain I [helped create], and therefore have a strong investment in establishing, has kept me really engaged. I feel like I'm building on real Spider-Man history, and that's an honor for anyone in our business."
Another factor smoothing that learning curve significantly has to be the presence of the superstar draftsman's longtime creative collaborator.
"While I'm trying to 'make art,' Andy succeeds in just doing it," compliments Jimenez. "He enhances everything I do and makes it better. He knows thick and thin lines. He knows what to embellish and what to trace exactly. He understands and maintains the spirit of the work. His inking has a 'voice' that compliments my own instead of overshadowing or outdoing it."
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AMAZING
SPIDER-MAN
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Lanning both returns Jimenez' trust in him and reflects some of those positive sentiments back in the direction of his pal:
"Some inkers are intimidated by Phil's incredibly detailed approach, but I tend to lose myself in the pages. Phil and I have reached a level of confidence where he can loosen up on the pencils and I can fill in based on years of experience inking his work. It has enabled us to get out of some deadline crunches where Phil has produced breakdowns [that] I have finished and, hopefully, the readers haven't noticed a drop in quality."
But Lanning doesn't just bring experience and confidence to Jimenez's work, he also carries with him great affection for the characters he works on, in particular a certain Webhead.
"Spider-Man is one of my all-time favorite characters," enthuses the native Englishman. "I've read Spidey books since I was a kid and we got black and white weekly books reprinting the monthly U.S. format over here. I would ride a five-mile roundtrip to pick them up on a Saturday. So I'm dead chuffed—U.K. speak for 'very happy indeed'—to be working on [AMAZING SPIDER-MAN]."
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AMAZING
SPIDER-MAN
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Given his roots in the motherland, Lanning does admit that having proud New Yorker Jimenez at the artistic helm has tremendous benefits: "[Phil is] getting to draw his own backyard and you can see the love he has for the architecture and life of New York coming through on every page. This is one comic book where the background city is one of the main characters."
But into this familiar creative stew, a new ingredient has been added in the form of colorist Chris Chuckry—and his artistic comrades couldn't be more pleased.
"Chuckry blows my mind, he's so talented," raves Jimenez. "There are very few colorists who actually make my art better because what I produced with Andy so often looks better in black and white, but Chuckry, man, some of the stuff he has pulled on this arc is just superlative. He enhances the already amazing color design [that frequent colorist] Jeromy [Cox] and I created for the new Kraven, using hues and a palette that compliments the work instead of competing with it and creates a fantastic texture and mood throughout the book."
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AMAZING
SPIDER-MAN
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"Chris is not only a superb colorist but a great illustrator in his own right," concurs Lanning.
Despite the warm welcome from Jimenez—whom he colored years ago on NEW X-MEN—and Lanning, Chuckry admits the assignment has proven a challenge, albeit one he's more than up for.
"I haven't colored a lot of Spider-Man in the past, so re-familiarizing myself with the character and his supporting cast has taken a bit of doing," remarks the colorist. "Getting those eye colors right is a little frustrating. [But] Spidey was one of my favorite characters when I was a kid, so it's always a blast to get to color one of his books. Tweaking the look of the new [Kraven] has been fun too."
While Jimenez, Lanning and Chuckry have been having a blast working together, at the end of the day, they recognize who the ultimate arbiters of success remain, and hope readers will enjoy checking out upcoming issues of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN as much as they dug creating them.
"I think we've done some nice work on this arc and it has a lot to with taking Spider-Man fans really seriously," concludes Jimenez. "[I want] to do their favorite character justice in the way I love seeing my favorites portrayed well artistically."
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #565 debuts July 9, with issue #566 following a week later. Also, stay tuned to Marvel.com's coverage of Wizard World Chicago this weekend for big news involving Andy Lanning and check out Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited for more AMAZING SPIDER-MAN.
