The Endless BODY TYPE Discourse

[@driedmango1914]

I like the emphasis on building something distinctive. This is an area where creative and commercial interests can align. People naturally “screen out” a lot of information unless there is a cue for memory retrieval. Consider how overlapping conversations at a party are just chatter until you hear your name. Or after buying a new car, suddenly you notice the make and model much more often. This gives a clue into how the mind works. The same behavior applies in shopping environments, whether it's comic book stores or grocery stores. Immediately recognizing elements of a character or a product is a large part of why Spider-Man outsells most other comics, or why Coca-Cola sells more than most other sodas. Focusing on the politics of not offending people distracts from this important aspect of human behavior and results in things that largely blend into the background. When brands and characters prioritize not offending anyone over distinctiveness, they risk becoming invisible. Even negative attention requires recognition and awareness, which only comes from standing out in a crowded market.

[@KarlHHoppner]

saw your show in montreal wednesday night. it was my first time hearing you and it blew my mind. amazing performer. been enjoying learning more about your work

[@camping_with_tywan]

Same here. Keep it up Patrick. I'm here for it

[@TheGutterComics]

I think the homogenization of comic art is a big reason we're at this point. The Jim Lee and Bryan Hitch clones are still largely the standard at the Big 2 and it makes everything feel stiff and overly true to form. Let's use one of the GOATs George Pérez as an example. Yes, his faces often looked the exact same. But look at all of the two-page spreads he amassed in crossover events and how he could have had over a hundred characters all be distinct and stand out in the same shared surface area. The "devolution" of Raven's appearance across NTT before she succumbs to Trigon is a perfect example of how long-term storytelling can pay off just in the art department. Conversely, I was not a fan of him skinnying down Lt Candy in his Wonder Woman book because she went from being immediately recognizable on the page to being hard to decipher from Julia Kapatelis if they were in the same scene (this was also true of when others started to draw the book as he continued writing). Artists like Mike Allred, Jill Thompson, Frank Quitely, or most recently Daniel Warren Johnson, have found success with their stylized art over the years but largely via limited series or creator-owned books. How DC was never frothing for someone like Allred to draw a book like Doom Patrol, Captain Marvel, even Legion of Super-Heroes shows that the "house style" mentality has never truly been extinguished.