Comments on: Modern Masters: Chris Sprouse

By: Modern Masters: Jeff Smith » Comics Worth Reading

Modern Masters: Jeff Smith » Comics Worth Reading — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 16:53:11 +0000

[...] volumes on such well-known names as George Pérez, Alan Davis, John Byrne, and more recently, Chris Sprouse, Mike Ploog, and Mark Buckingham. While there have been fantasy artists featured in the past (see [...]

By: Friday Night Linkblogging « Half Eaten Sandwich

Friday Night Linkblogging « Half Eaten Sandwich — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 03:42:47 +0000

[...] Night Linkblogging The good-looking people at Comics Worth Reading reviewed Modern Masters: Chris Sprouse and it reminded me just how much I enjoy the Modern Masters series [...]

By: Chris G.

Chris G. — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 01:00:24 +0000

In about 1994 or so, I was delighted to discover the guy behind me in line for a Harlan Ellison book signing was Chris Sprouse. In retrospect, I should have told him how much I loved his art, and asked how he managed to build three-dimensional figures with so few vertical lines, and asked how me managed to create such variation amongst the Legionnaires despite the near-unanimity of their costumes. Instead, I told him that Brainiac 5 didn’t strike me as a ponytail sort of guy. Youth is wasted on the young.

By: KC

KC — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:43:21 +0000

From my days editing Legionnaires, I can confirm that almost all of Chris’s pages in those days had something going on the back. A few were SO detailed, I had to call and confirm with him which side of the page was the “real” side.

I was also one of the “Legion of Hammerlocke Editors” (one of 7, I think) for about 20 minutes. That book was SO long in pre-production (DC really didn’t know what to do with it), it’s a miracle that it ever got released. Fun little book!

BTW, Chris is one of the biggest fans of the band XTC around. He’s been known to slip bandleader Andy Partridge into the background in a few of his projects…

By: Johnny Bacardi

Johnny Bacardi — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:04:16 +0000

Cool, now I want that book more than ever! I don't know how many fans it has out there- it received very little promotion as I recall and is pretty much forgotten today- but I know at least one! I started an issue-by-issue look at the series at the Show a long time ago, but have yet to finish it. Maybe someday...

By: Johanna

Johanna — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:57:52 +0000

There’s a BUNCH of Hammerlocke art in this volume. I didn’t mention it because I didn’t know it still had fans and I hadn’t heard of it before.

By: Johnny Bacardi

Johnny Bacardi — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:56:35 +0000

The Bierbaum/Sprouse Legionnaires remains my favorite version of the Legion, and it was there that I discovered Sprouse’s art. He remains a favorite of mine to this day.

Another early pencilling job of his, which I found a bit later, was Hammer Locke- a great, overlooked little SF/superhero book.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 11:56:04 +0000

James and I are thinking in the same direction: Doran, Medley, and Thompson would be tops of my list as well. Conner is another great choice, given the superhero slant of the book line. Ramona Fradon if you wanted to cover another era. There are some wonderfully talented women out there I’d love to read more about while savoring their sketches.

By: James Schee

James Schee — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 07:06:39 +0000

Tim, I’d love books about Colleen Doran, Linda Medley and Jill Thompson given the variety of work they’ve done. Hmm others…

Jan Duursema or Adriana Mello(sp?) or Amanda Conner could certainly be considered in future years as their bios grow. Would it be worthwhile to go after some of the manga creators I wonder?

Oh and I loved Sprouse ever since the Legion days (often wondered if someone as great as Jeff Moy hadn’t followed him if I’d stayed on the title after he left) and was surprised at how natural fits he was on Supreme and the ABC books. I’ll have to look for this.

By: Tim O'Shea

Tim O'Shea — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 05:45:33 +0000

Who would be on your short list of women they should cover? I think someone (cannot remember who) is already working on a Marie Severin book. Just curious.

By: Diana Green

Diana Green — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 05:23:38 +0000

Delighted to see this out. I met Sprouse briefly at a local con some years back and found him quite charming. Picked up a Strong Family sketch for a more than reasonable price.
Sprouse is a logical successor to some of the clean line masters of the 60s. I see some of Manning, Swan and Anderson in his work, and that is far from a bad thing!

By: Don MacPherson

Don MacPherson — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 04:24:17 +0000

In my small collection of original comic art is a Sprouse page from Legionnaires, and it's one of the most special ones I own. That's because more than the others, it shows the process the artist goes through to create a page. Sprouse actually sketched the entire layout and rough figures in reverse on the other side of the page before pencilling the his final illustration on the front side of the art board. It's very cool.