Illustrators # 52 (magazine review)

Editor Diego Cordoba gives an introduction to this ‘All Heroes And Superheroes Issue’ of ‘Illustrators’. These aren’t the usual suspects but they do show you what else is out there which is a good way to find an audience.

The first is Liam Sharp who switches between pencil and ink to digital as needed. I think his designs are a little better than his figurework but you also have to bear in mind in the commercial world, there’s a need to see the characters in a recognised way and that’s always tricky.

The second is Spanish artist Das Pastoras. Interestingly, we have a history of Spanish comics before getting into his career in Spain and the USA. He has an interesting choice of colours on his palate. Again, the colours tend to be muted but also shows how effective they can be than going for bright colours all the time and shows how comicbook art has moved on.

Then Kevin Nowlan who draws, inks, colours and letters. He’s often brought into finish other people’s work even though he admits he’s a slow worker. He prefers to work non-digitally but colours digitally. A brief interview accompanies his artwork. I suspect his work will be a key selling for this issue.

There is also the look at the artwork of Frank Robbins (1917-1994) started off as a newspaper strip artist, developing his skills into scriptwriting as well. He was heavily influenced by Milton Caniff but worked a lot faster. Back in the day, I suspect many of the artists who did this had no idea how fast Caniff worked hence the different speed. I only really came across Robbins with his work on Marvel’s ‘The Invaders’ and felt his art rubbery but it did fit in well with the time period depicted. His early work shown here is a lot more solid.

Last, we see the early posters for an obscure film called ‘Star Wars’ in 1977. Hats off to the Hildebrandt brothers who had no photo references only a previous poster to come up the with their poster. Comparing the two, the Hildebrandts added a lot more depth in their colouring. The later poster by Tom Chantrell had photo-reference although you do have to wonder at Han Solo with a lightsabre.

Have I convinced you enough yet?

GF Willmetts

October 2026

(pub: The Book Palace, 2025. 98 page illustrated squarebound magazine. Price: £22.00 (UK), $27.99 (US) via Bud Plant. ISBN: 978-1-913548-03-2. ISSN: 2052-6520)

check out website: www.bookpalace.com and www.illustratorsquarterly.com