Gene Day - Master of Kung Fu 13

Page 20 - A kind of Lady from Shanghai ending - beautiful sad story - kind of Isaac Dinesen - Gene Day, though his career was brief, I think, by synthesizing much of Steranko's cinematic innovations, managed to develop a remarkably sophisticated storytelling approach (something similar to what Frank Miller was doing with Daredevil at around the same time, Miller having considerably more popular success) created here a masterpiece of gothic/expressionist/film noir esthetics.

Gene Day - Master of Kung Fu 12

Page 18-19 - The action merges into the vertical panels, no longer used for cross-cutting - the mirrored page structure of previous double pages is reversed on page 19, the vertical panel marking the climax - great use of target, dragon and moon motifs throughout

Page 19, panel 2 - nice use of the August Moon fireworks to punctuate the climax
Panel 3 - nice mood as the threnodic ending slowly unfolds...

Gene Day - Master of Kung Fu 11

Page 16-17
2nd part of the sequence - Panels 2-3 of page 16 - the vertical scene merges with the horizontal scene - the vertical panels are cuts to different scene - due to the page design - it's almost a split screen effect with two scenes playing simultaneously.

Page 17 - same 4 panel structure(3 vertical, 1 horizontal) repeated. Moon, target, leaf motifs still present...

Gene Day - Master of Kung Fu 10

Page 14 - The page design of these two pages are mirror-like so the vertical panels (which are used for the cross-cut to the target) serve to visually frame the horizontal panel sequence.

Panel 2 - Nice montage sequence as flashback sequence ends.

Panel 4 - Day makes evocative use of silhouettes.

Page 15 - Note use of moon, leaves, dragon, and target images throughout.

Panel 4 - Stairway descent has underworld/death connotations...

Gene Day - Master of Kung Fu 9

Page 12-13
Two-page design with great use of perspective and shadows to create ominous atmosphere - visual motifs of moon, leaves, and target are used to good effect - legend retelling segues to personal flashback sequence - insert panels have B&W film strip design, very film noir, with effective montage shots with Fu Manchu...

Gene Day - Master of Kung Fu 8

Page 10

Panel 1 - Film use of angular perspectives and shadows

Panel 2 - Nice use of tea cup and Chinese architecture

Panel 3 - Film noir double lighting

Panel 4- Nice composition with silhouettes

Panel 5-6 - Nice use of decorated incense holder - images help segue to the ancient legend

Page 11

Nice ancient decorative storybook look, similar to the splash page. The dragon is a recurring motif - The ancient atmosphere goes even deeper as the story evokes a mythic, timeless past....

Gene Day - Master of Kung Fu 7

Pages 9-10

Double-page sequence - has a medieval story-panel look - although the 14-panel sequence is dynamic, using various film noir techniques - the target in the last panel is used as a recurring motif.

The first panel illustrates a specific point of the action, but also serve to frame the overal design and has a semi-montage function of summarizing the entire sequence... the birds are associated with the female character...

Check out the whole deal, here:
http://www.skylark-.blogspot.ca/search/label/Gene%20Day

Gene Day - Master of Kung Fu 6

Pages 8-9/

The first explicit 2-page layout - which will continue from here on in - it has ornamental qualities like a medieval story panel design - or from decorative Chinese art - although never losing a strong cinematic storytelling prerogative - the black background in panels 1 & 3 serve to frame the entire 2-page design

/

Panels 4-11 - is one big subdivided panel - climbing the wall and crossing a bridge - to indicate a passage into a special dimension, so to speak,.. all the main players have converged in the ancient domain where the blind archer and his wife are hiding,...

/

Panel 12 - there's a progression of expressions on the masks,... a kind of Greek chorus effect... so it's been an exceptionally well-paced introduction sequence as the first clash begins,...

Gene Day - Master of Kung Fu 5

Page 6
Panel 1 - Modern forms of transportation are highlighted to emphasize journey from present to past

Panel 2 - Festival of the Autumn Moon used as a fitting way to link past a present - the festival being a traditional way of remembering timeless mythic origins

Panels 4, 5, 6, 7 - a 4 panel sequence that introduces the next 12-panel page...

Page 7

dynamic 12- panel sequence (with 2 subdivided panels, place in the centre, as if framed by the surrounding panels) - the large outer wall and the climbing thereof indicates the entering into a different dimension, as it were...

Gene Day - Master of Kung Fu 4

Page 4
Panels 1- 2-3-4-5 - Cross-cutting between two scenes - thick panel borders to emphasize the other-wordly nature of the Blind Archer's world. Notice the target - it's used as a repeated motif.

Panel 6-7-8 - Forboding atmosphere to indicate that this is a special journey...
The moon and birds are linked to the female characters in this story

Page 5

Panels 1-8 - More cross-cutting - Montage map graphic, a film noir effect - the leaf is another motif that will be repeated - overall, these two pages are establishing the contrast between the present mordern world and an ancient 'other' world. 'My place in time has changed'

Gene Day - Master of Kung Fu 3

A gothic/film noir page by Steranko rom Nick Fury#4 - Is Gene Day a Steranko clone? Yes! and no. He evidently did virtually cannibalize Steranko's stuff - his entire approach is essentially based on Steranko's cinematic storytelling innovations . However I do think that he adapted, synthesized and unified the experimental, mercurial Steranko material - and thus presents a relevant evolution in the cinematic approach to graphic storytelling - moreover to Steranko's Jack Kirby cartoony dynamics, Day replaces with a Russ Heath realism and further pushes the Steranko film noir elements to a more expressionistic/gothic esthetic.

Page 2 - panel 1 - a dramatic perspective of an old castle under a full moon - the gothic mood established in classic romantic fashion.

panels 2-3-4-5 - Subdivided panel - classic cinematic effect - effective used of perspective to focus on panel 4 - 666 station on the radio - adds a touch foreboding - effective use of 'soundtrack' a Rolling Stones song punctuates storyline...

Panel 6 - Effectively merged with panel 1 - to create a full page design and accentuate the dramatic use of perspective

Page 3 - panel 1 - zoom from panle 6, page 2

panel 2 - Gothic window shot - window panes added with shadows of window panes create foreboding, labyrithinc atmosphere

panel 3 - Silhouette montage shot of Fu Manchu

panel 4 - effective dramatic montage of Fu Manchu over fire - notice phoenix symbol - text and whole panel is contrasted to text in panel 6, page 2 - prefigures double-page structure throughout most of story...

Gene Day - Master of Kung Fu 2

Above is another Steranko story - 'At the stroke of midnight' from Tower of Shadows #1, which was a big influence on Gene Day. Below is the splash page for MOKF #114. Elements to take notice of are the dragons, birds, phoenix, vase of liquid, leaves, moon, and flowers. Also note the traditonal chinese foreground appearance juxtaposed with a background of a modern city - The contrast of past and present is a prevalent theme in this story.

The link below is another text that gives some elements for discussion-

Orson Welles's The Trial: Film noir and the Kafkaesquehttp://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3709/is_200207/ai_n9089867

'The expressionist look now commonly associated with noir visual aesthetics was quickly codified and became a discernable style in the 1940s. Its influence was deepened and accelerated by a sizable group of Austro-- German expatriates who fled from Europe to Hollywood in the 1930s to escape Nazi persecution. Trained in the techniques of Weimar cinema, these political exiles brought with them a working knowledge of expressionist style well suited to the noir sensibility. Defining noir not as a genre but rather as a cinematic "mood," Schrader was one of the first to acknowledge the impact that political exiles like Fritz Lang, Robert Siodmak, Billy Wilder, and Rudolph Mate had on the development of the noir style. Following and reinforcing Schrader's view in their foundational essay, "Some Visual Motifs of Film Noir," Janey Place and Lowell Peterson (1998) argue that the noir look is achieved by cultivating an anti-traditional photographic style. Using "low-key" visual tones instead of the conventional "high-key" lighting scheme of Hollywood realism, noir directors and their cinematographers cultivated a visual aura of mystery and danger consistent with the dark stories narrated in the film noir. '

Doug Moench & Gene Day A Fantasy of the Autumn Moon Master of Kung Fu 114

Master of Kung Fu 114 A Fantasy of the Autumn Moon Doug Moench & Gene Day

the master of Kung Fu series - It was a freaky hodge-podge martial arts/spy thriller take-off on Bruce Lee movies, the Kung Fu tv series, James Bond, old Fu Manchu pulp stories, John Lecarre, Jim Steranko, Marvel superheroes, created by Steve Englehart and Jim Starlin but quickly taken over by main writer Doug Moench with Paul Gulacy, Mike Zeck, and Gene Day as main artists.

  Gene Day - he was heavily influenced by Jim Steranko and Russ Heath - and produced some amazing work on MOKF 100-120. I even got to meet him at a convention as a wee one and he was a very friendly and knowledgeable person.

The first link below is an article that I found useful for Gothic and expressionistic esthetic principles, for example:

'Expressionism, the artistic style that portrays internal states by means of external visual distortions, avoids sentimentality by means of hyperstylized mise en scene in which perspectival distortion, including chiaroscuro lighting and often grotesquely canted elements within the frame, transports the viewer into a symbolic psychological setting in which the central figure both signifies subjectivity and is signified within a setting of externalized subjectivity.'
The presence of Orson Welles in Robert Stevenson's Jane Eyre (1944), The Literature Film Quarterly, 2003 by Campbell, Gardner

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3768/is_200301/ai_n9228494

Below is a link to Jim Steranko's
Outland - film adaptation, which was very influential on Gene Day's work:

http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Nebula/8650/out1.html

stuff:
Shakespeare - Coriolanus - This is a tragedy set in Rome, the word on the street on this one is divided, people have different interpretations - but I feel that it is a masterpiece, it's a study on the relationship of the Patricians and the Plebeans and I feels really presents contradictions and ambiguities on both sides masterfully... so i think it's a masterpiece, so sue me ;-)

Mort Drucker - Our Army at War 4

- more of previous story.... In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved, and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.

Mort Drucker - Our Army at War 3

...moving right along... we have another DC War story - I don't know if this is another Kurtzman story swipe, but it does feel Kurtzmanish - Kurtzman-lite - again, a decent story IMO - y'know not the 'I laugh as the krauts break their fist on my solid jaw' or 'I'm so amazing as I fire a machine gun with one hand and throw a bayonet with the other' type of foolishness...  

Mort Drucker - Our Army at War 2

war stories... this story another Kurtzman EC Comics re-hash - I know the name this time- it's a story called 'Jeep', superbly illustrated by Jack Davis - good re-hash, though - It's a credit to Drucker's dynamic storytelling that such a potentially visually boring story featuring a tire isn't boring...

Book report stuff:

Shakespeare - Timon of Athens - This one starts off pretty good - the first two acts are quite good and witty but Shakespeare apperently didn't write all of this - it was a collaboration and so the second half loses steam and sort of peters out - so what are you gonna do, know what I mean?

Mort Drucker - Our Army at War 1

Here's another story - not a bad story - 

The story above is from DC Comics - it's a Harvey Kurtzman EC rip-off, story-wise -  which is good - they're very literate and humane, it's a good rip-off...

The Bushy Tail Family: Kathleen Nixon

  Charming book - The Bushy Tail Family: Kathleen Nixon 1953

Fritz Lang's Nibelunglied and Orson Welles' Macbeth

Fritz Lang's Nibelunglied and Orson Welles' Macbeth - the 1st and 3rd are from Lang whilst the 2nd and 4th are from Welles - not closely similar, but I'm thinking Welles was partly inspired by the Lang film for the set design...

stuff:

xhibition - real human corpses stripped of their skin and covered in latex - a little freaky, but good for studying anatomy -

http://www.centredessciencesdemontreal.com/fr/activites/activites_bw2.htm

Jorge Zaffino - Savage Sword of Conan

Jorge Zaffino - stands as my most recent apocalyptic, mind-altering, artistic discovery -

http://www.jorgezaffino.com/

Ken Riley - Illustrator Western Painter 4

This wraps it up with that Ken Riley Reader's Digest job  There are a few more spot illos that I left out... Speaking of Queen Elizabeth, I read Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida - Freaky - We get into the dark, tragic phase of Shakespeare's plays - His father died, Queen Elizabeth died, maybe his wife had an affair - did this affect his plays? It's all conjecture but this one's ending is pretty weird and dark - it's about the Trojan War and is sort of a take on Homer's Odyssey, yet he didn't base it on Homer, but on the medieval Trojan War compilations and additions - 

Revue Lire, France - Hugo Pratt special

http://www.lire.fr/enquete.asp/idC=51245/idR=200 Hugo Pratt gets a cover feature in a French literary magazine currently on the stands. He's basically my role model for what a cartoonist can achieve. I've read a lot of his stuff, they have them all at the library, but it was all in a bit of two-month burst, so the stories are now all one big blur. I do remember feeling that this was more of a literary experience, the stories had a more literate, erudite, mature bent. I got into Robert Louis Stevenson because of Pratt... All I remember is that he lifted Harvey Kurtzman's 'Jivaro Death' in Two-Fisted Tales directly into one of his Ann of the Jungle stories... Corto Maltese in Siberia, which takes place during the China-Russian war, and features Rasputin (not the historical Rasputin) stands out as a favorite. Fort Wheeling is another favorite, story-wise.

Ken Riley - Illustrator Western Painter 3

This was quite a big Ken Riley job - lots of illustrations in this story - dig the pastel colors...

Ken Riley - Illustrator Western Painter 2

Some more Ken Riley and more flamboyant colors - normally he has a fairly earthy and rugged color palette -

Ken Riley - Illustrator Western Painter 1

  

 Ken Riley - he studied with Harvey Dunn - 

p.s. -better known tas a cowboy artist -

http://www.caamuseum.com/members/emeritus/Kenneth-Riley

http://www.greenwichworkshop.com/studio/studio_artist.asp?artistid=55

Frank Cho - Inking samples Liberty Meadows

Frank Cho - that's some cool inking - great line - he knows when to go thick and when to go thin - the lines really flow with all kinds of subtle changes of thickness and tapering - he knows when to go tight and slick and when to keep it loose and sketchy - he knows when to throw in some black, he can go realistic or cartoony - he keeps it clean and clear but his line still has warmth and character; and he keeps it dynamic lively - so yeah that's some cool inking -done with Micron Pigma pens (size 02, 05, and 08) .