Kris Black Digital Studio

As the Baltimore Comic Con gets closer I ask myself what would be my comic book lettering dream job. Of all the talented creators in the comic book industry I decided on my top four creators. But before I list these talented individuals I can easily answer which character I want to letter — Spider-man. He’s without a doubt my favorite all-time character. Now, let’s get started … I’ll start off with the writer, Brian K. Vaughn. With successful co-creations such as Ex Machina (pictured) and Y: The Last Man it’s easy to see why I would like him so much. But to be honest, I have read neither of those titles. What turned me on to BKV was a short 6 part story he wrote for Dark Horse Comics called The Escapists. Clever, brilliant and simple. Brian’s ability to capture the personality of a character in a few short panels draws you in immediately. His characters are warm, engaging and have you empathizing with them within just a few pages. This story is a must read for any comic book enthusiast. Whether you are into super heroes or non-super hero books, this is an exceptional story. As any regular listener of the Dollar Bin podcast should know, my favorite penciler of all time is John Romita Jr. A veteran of Marvel Comics and the son of legendary comic book artist of the same name, John Romita Sr., you may think that’s the only reason why, but it’s not. John Romita Jr. has a unique style all his own. From his ability to choreograph a panel, layout a page, and to tell a story with pictures alone, John’s work is able to capture your attention and pull you into a story like no other artist. His more recent work on Wolverine: Enemy of the State (pictured), The Sentry and his long run on The Amazing Spider-man has catapulted him to the top of the best comic book artists in the industry. Choosing an inker that compliments John Romita Jr. is easy, Klaus Janson. He’s a regular inker of John Romita Jr. and has inked two of Frank Miller’s more popular runs with the bigtwo publishers: Daredevil and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (pictured). Klaus is able to capture the energy of John’s lines. His loose and distinctive style matches the energy and flow of John’s pencils. John’s pencils are very loose and fluid and only a talented inker (not a tracer) can showcase John’s style as well as their own. This is why Klaus Janson in my opinion is one of the best inkers of all time. Up until this past summer, I never really gave much thought to comic book colorists. Not that I didn’t think they were worth thinking about but because it just never crossed my mind. Then I saw the issue #1 cover to the relaunch of the Thor and I was totally blown away by Laura Martin. What’s even better is that I was able to meet Laura at Heroes Con 2007. Laura, hands down, is one of the best colorist in the comic book industry. Her work on Astonishing X-men is awesome but her work on the new Thor series is 10 times better. Why? Because she’s growing as a creative artist. Her ability to capture the most overlooked aspects of nature (such as the fading of color due to atmospheric distance, variations in dirt and grass) pushes and enhances the inked art. Some of her other work includes Planetary, Marvel Knights Spider-man, and Superman/Batman #14 - 18. Even if you didn’t know her name but read any of the titles above, I’m sure at one point you thought to yourself, “Wow, the coloring in this book is awesome!” Well, there you have it. My list of comic book creators that I would love to work with the most. Maybe it’ll happen one day. With the Baltimore Comic Con coming up in a in less than a couple weeks I may get the chance to interview John Romita Jr. (and Senior) with the Dollar Bin and make a business connection.

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My daughter, Mya, and I go to our local comic book shop, Heroes and Dragons, every weekend to buy a new comic. These trips serve two purposes: to start her own comic book collection and to have something special we do together. To document these special times I decided to share them with you, my loyal readers.

This weekend Mya decided to not buy a comic but to get a toy instead. We were cruising around the toy section of the shop and she spotted a Spider-man fighter jet. I asked if she was sure if she wanted to get that instead of a comic and she said, “Yes, Daddy.”When we got home that evening she saw me taking photos of her new toy and asked if she could take photos too. This is nothing new as she has gotten hold of our small “point-n-shoot” Sony digital camera so I let her take her own photo of her new Spider-man fighter jet seen above.

It was inevitable. Sooner or later I was going to cave in and do it. That’s right. I finally have my very own MySpace page. Yup! You heard correct. MySpace and Kris Black Digital Studio are together at last.

“What took so long?” you ask. I was waiting for MySpace to have a better design style. Since I do not think that will ever happen I decided to do some research and take matters into my own designer hands. I found an article written by a great designer on the west coast, Mike Davidson of MikeIndustries.com. With a little bit of hacked CSS magic you can achieve a better designed MySpace page just like Mike and myself.

Head on over to my MySpace page and befriend me.