FJMa party

Fil The Heat: Francis J Manapul/Iron and the Maiden/Witchblade
continuing our series on Filipino comic book artists who have kicked down the door to the big time.

over the other side of Great Lakes (Lake Ontario to be exact), lives (and works) one Francis Manapul, formerly of the Witchblade family and now the regular artist for Iron and the Maiden (stop snickering now), the first creator-owned work for Aspen Comics. the title is the brainchild of videogame impresario Jason Rubin (Crash Bandicoot, Jak and Dexter).

Iron and the Maiden is described as "a cross between a '30's gangster film, Escape from New York, and Beauty and the Beast." the lead character is Michael James Iron, a conflicted enforcer for the Syndicate, who gets betrayed by his mob associates and left for dead, kicking off this cartoonish yet violent series.

you could almost taste the Joe Madureira influence, and for good reason - Joe Mad made the initial character designs. but with proper finishing, Manapul's art looks and feels like a more polished and spanking version of Madureira's.

despite the excessive anatomical renditions (hey, there's an explanation for that - 'roids), the characters can be fun, like the boss villain Big Daddy, a douchebag midget with a mechanical foot, a yen for hair products and an overcompensating ego.

the huge Iron, a product of a steroid-centric supersoldier program, leads a charmed existence but has been growing a conscience - which blooms into maturity when a greedy associate turns on him and betrays him to Big Daddy. did i say he was huge? even Shaq would fit in one of his shoes.

Mr. Manapul's art is quite better in dynamic action sequences, because you get the odd sense of stiffness when characters are just posing or standing around.

case in point: i always had trouble rendering this particular position; apparently, so does Mr. Manapul.

some Witchblade covers which both sway between awesome and stiff.



dynamic? here's a couple that jumped out at me:

some character designs are fun, despite the obvious influences; here's Deadpan Louie, an self-absorbed alcoholic Irish thug (hey, stereotype!)

and Drop Dead Mike, a knife-wielding psycho, who's interesting enough to last more than one issue.

and of course, no artist worth his salt can't claim to be one if he can't draw a beautiful babe (Angel Chase).

Mr. Manapul also runs into trouble with cityscapes and the like; i don't know if its the scale or the perspective, but there's something off about it. and again with the stiffness. people seem to be just standing there, and there's no sense of motion.

even when there's supposed to be (motion), it still doesn't feel right. there's a flying-car chase happening, and people are just walking by, minding their own business. do we point the finger at Mr. Manapul for this, or Mr. Joel Gomez (who's always credited with "backgrounds")?

click on the couple of scenes below to form your own critique.

i think Witchblade was more a challenge for Mr. Manapul, what with all the intricacies you need to render for that body armor.

did i mention Mr. Manapul can draw babes? Sara and the Magdalena ... mm-mmm!



here's a question: what's with the chessboard floor that keeps appearing everywhere (mostly in his new work)








note the broken floorwork on the left - and the absence of it on the right.


did i mention again that he can draw babes?


last question: why is this cop Manetti smoking while in a firefight? correction, a losing firefight. oh that's right, he's losing that's why he needs a ciggie.

Mr. Manapul is a rising star no doubt, with his dynamic artwork and sense of grandeur, he just needs a bit more consistency and perhaps we shall see him soon in either of the Big Two's stables.

select images from francismanapul.com; the rest are from uh, public files.