Marathon tells the epic tale of the original long distance runner. In 490 BC, an Athenian messenger named Eucles ran twenty-seven miles from Sparta to Athens, and in so doing preserved ancient Greek civilization from subjugation to the Persian Empire.

That’s a very broad overview of the book but it’s representative of the first step for creating any cover. Know your book! When I sat down to do the cover, I understood that our protagonist needed to be featured prominently in a direct and compelling way that also illustrated the books high intensity and relentless, grueling action. The thumbnails (images 1-6 below) reflect the various solutions I came up with to try and deliver that message.

With thumbnails, you can nail it within your first few drawings but often times innovation comes from going beyond those immediate solutions and challenging your creativity. My initial tactic was to use some of the dramatic moments leading up to the war at Marathon where Eucles both physically and spiritually leads the Athenian army into battle. Writer Boaz Yakin was correct in pointing out that this only represented a small part of the story and asked to see some cover treatments where Eucles was not in armor. The third page of thumbnails and beyond reflect this change. I then tried showing Eucles dressed in just a loin cloth either running towards the vast Persian army or racing it’s fleet back to Athens (image 4). The pitfall with the latter idea was it could be misconstrued that the lone runner was running away from the Persian army. That wouldn’t be heroic and it wouldn’t be appropriate to the story. The last act of Marathon is spent following Eucles and a band of soldiers as they struggle to outrace a secondary invading fleet heading directly to Athens’ shores. My solution to this was to eliminate the Persian force and return to just Eucles and the Greek army. After a few variations with this, the team at First Second and Boaz all agreed that the best solution was the first thumbnail in image 6.

The next step is to pencil a full size version of the cover (image 7). Once I had approval on this, I was cleared to go ahead with the inks (image 8). Inking Marathon was done using a high contrast print of the pencils as my starting point. I then added ink washes and line work to finish the image (image 9). When I colored the cover, I tinted the inks with the same pantone as was used in the interior pages to ensure a consistent look between the full color cover and the monochromatic interior pages. After a few failed attempts (not shown), I settled on two color treatments; one with a full color background (image 9) and the other with an intense red background (image 10). At this stage there was no consensus on which. Colleen AF Venable, First Second’s designer, created two versions (images 11 and 12). I had an idea for what I would like to see for the logo for the red cover and Colleen intuited that perfectly! That is why I think the red cover with white logo was met with such unanimous praise and agreement.

The final cover (top) shows Colleen’s brilliant final type treatment for the logo. The whole thing comes together wonderfully and delivers the key epic story elements and emotional intensity that is the heart of Marathon.

Marathon by Boaz Yakin and Joe Infurnari hits bookstores and comic shops early June 2012.

This post was originally presented at Trip City.

]]> http://joeinfurnari.com/blog/2012/01/06/marathon-the-making-of-a-cover/feed/ 0 http://joeinfurnari.com/blog/2011/11/01/launching-today-trip-city/ http://joeinfurnari.com/blog/2011/11/01/launching-today-trip-city/#comments Tue, 01 Nov 2011 14:47:33 +0000 Joe Infurnari http://joeinfurnari.com/?p=1602 Today marks the launch of a new web initiative I am part of called Trip City. A Brooklyn-Filtered Literary Arts Salon, Trip City‘s membership draws from a broad spectrum of concerns and disciplines. Comics, photography, music, prose, art and illustration all have a home there thanks to the site’s diverse membership. I have the good fortune of working alongside talented friends and colleagues like Dean Haspiel, Seth Kushner, Nick Abadzis, Kevin Colden, Nick Bertozzi, Jen Ferguson, Amy Finkel, Jennifer Hayden, Chris Miskiewicz, Jeff UK, and Ron Scalzo.

Already at the site, you will find Seth Kushner’s Culture Pop profile of author and creator of the hit television show, Jonathan Ames. Already at the site are new comics by Kevin Colden and Chris Miskiewicz, art from the two Nicks (Abadzis and Bertozzi) and the two Jennifers (Ferguson and Hayden) and a full length podcast with founding members of Trip City as well as an interview with Michael Moore!

So please head on over to Trip City and share your thoughts through our comments section, like it on Facebook and if so inclined, tweet about it. Your thoughts and support are a big part of why we do this. Thank you.

On Drawbridge today, the theme is Bionic Bigfoot! I loved the Six Million Dollar Man television show as a kid and the bigfoot storyline was a huge deal. As some of you may know, Andre the Giant played the bigfoot! How cool is that!? So here’s my take on the whole thing…

There’s a new Slush Pile installment available at SlushPileFunnies.com. This one’s called, “The Happiness of Wonder Toe”. Enjoy!

I’ll admit things have been quiet here for a while. Besides the very long graphic novel I’ve been illustrating, I’ve been squeezing in some time for another side project, Slush Pile Funnies. Slush Pile Funnies is a gallery of some of my worst ideas become a reality. I’m really stretching the alchemical model here, folks. Here’s the blurb from the About page:

Every artist has ideas that we reject. We call them ‘bad ideas’ for any number of reasons and choose to focus our efforts on the ‘good ideas’. What if we did the opposite? What if we forced ourselves to entertain these denizens of our cerebral Salon des Refusés? How would you develop them and what form would they take? Would you still think they were ‘bad’ when you were finished? Can this mental base matter be transmuted into some kind of gold? If so, would you still believe in the existence of ‘bad’ ideas? Maybe the ultimate question is, “are there any bad ideas for art?” I don’t know but these questions are certainly a good place to start and they are the genesis of Slush Pile Funnies!

This site will be an online anthology of story ideas for graphic novels and comics that have been developed into various stages. Some will be transformed into covers while others will  have one-page synopses, excerpts etc. Most will be the product of my own warped imagination but as the site builds steam, I hope to have more contributions coming from guest creators and readers.

So there you have it. Take a look and if you’re moved to do so, please leave a comment. In the coming weeks, I expect I’ll send out official press releases and try to drum up some exposure. In the meantime, enjoy!

In his NY Times holiday guide to graphic novel gift giving, George Gene Gustines has included The Act-i-vate Primer! Here’s what he had to say,

Adam McGovern has written yet another astute and discerning review over at ComicCritique.com! This time he doles out the praise in his usual eloquent reportage. Here’s a quote:

Peering into the faux-yellowed, off-register murk of Infurnari’s ULTRA-lad! we find a forgotten pulp potboiler concealing a serious graphic novel – concerning an amoral Captain Marvel-esque eternal child-hero inside a series of unworthy adult personalities – that flies toward the scary tension of superlatives without ideals.

That’s all he devotes to my story, but what a grand prose it is! Adam is truly a reviewer without peer and he is by far one of the most intelligent readers of comics I know. He closes his piece with this:

The range of interests, level of storytelling and sheer wealth of style are staggering. I haven’t been this anxious to curl up with a colorful collection of the medium’s possibilities since The Great Comic Book Heroes in nineteen-seventy-never-mind. The golden age of comics gets its restart here.

Comic Critique scores the Primer a 4.5 out of 5! To read the rest of this review, click here.

In his four star review of the Primer, Chad Nevett had this to say about “Memoirs of the ‘Kid Immortal’”:

…classic comic-looking work of Joe Infurnari on “Memoirs of the ‘Kid Immortal,’” a fantastic story where he does two regular-looking comic pages on each page, telling the story of a wrestler who shares his time with a superhero counterpart.

Click here to read the rest of the review. Thanks, Chad!

I’ll be visiting Brooklyn’s Comic Convention, King Con, this Saturday November 7th! I’ll be participating in the Act-i-vate panel on Saturday and working the table selling Primer’s all day. Please stop by and say hello. If you haven’t already got your copy of the Primer, this is a great opportunity to have it adorned with signatures and sketches!

Here are some of the highlights and panels members from ACT-I-VATE are participating in:

FRIDAY – NOVEMBER 6TH 2009 – 8PM sharp

THE ACT-I-VATE EXPERIENCE – NYC DEBUT + PRE-PARTY SCREENING
The story of the preeminent webcomix collective. A documentary film directed by
Seth Kushner + Carlos Molina. Featuring interviews with Nick Bertozzi, Kevin Colden, Molly Crabapple, Simon Fraser, Mike Cavallaro, Dan Goldman, Tim Hamilton, Dean Haspiel, Josh Neufeld, and others as they discuss the genesis of ACT-I-VATE, its impact on the art and business of comics, and its future both online and on the printed page.

SATURDAY – NOVEMBER 7TH 2009

THE ACT-I-VATE PRIMER: SATURDAY 12PM-12:50PM
Dean Haspiel (Billy Dogma), Mike Cavallaro (Loviathan), Leland Purvis (Vulcan & Vishnu), Tim Hamilton (Adventures of the Floating Elephant), Simon Fraser (Lilly MacKenzie), Molly Crabapple (Backstage), Joe Infurnari [ULTRA-Lad!), Tim Hall (Uplift the Postivicals), and moderator, Jeff Newelt (SMITH Magazine comics editor), discuss the genesis of THE ACT-I-VATE PRIMER, the premiere webcomix collective’s first print anthology, and ACT-I-VATE’S impact on both the art, business, and future of comics.

SPOTLIGHT ON JONATHAN AMES & DEAN HASPIEL: SATURDAY 4PM-4:50PM
Jonathan Ames and Dean Haspiel elaborate on their multi-media collaborations, which include their graphic novel, “The Alcoholic,” Ames’ latest essay collection, “The Double Life Is Twice As Good,” and the HBO show, “Bored To Death.”

SUNDAY – NOVEMBER 8TH 2009

ZUDA: SUNDAY 3PM-3:50PM
Join Ron Perazza (ZUDA COMICS), Kwanza Johnson (ZUDA COMICS), Bobby Timony & Peter Timony (Minion Maze, THE NIGHT OWLS), David Gallaher (HIGH MOON, Box 13), Steve Ellis (HIGH MOON, Box 13), Kevin Colden (Fishtown, I RULE THE NIGHT), Dean Haspiel (Billy Dogma, STREET CODE) and others for an inclusive, roundtable discussion about the advantages, challenges, questions, solutions, costs and benefits of making webcomics for fun and profit. Topics include working with a publisher, self-publishing, promoting yourself, best practices, style and moving from web to print (or vice-versa)!

DIGITAL COMICS ROUNDTABLE: SUNDAY 4PM-4:50PM
MODERATOR: Mike Zagari
ZUDA, Ron Perazza & Kwanza Johnson
ACT-I-VATE, Mike Cavallaro
COMIXOLOGY, John Roberts & David Steinberger
SMITH MAGAZINE, Jeff Newelt
& more to come!

For more panel information, including spotlights on GRAPHIC NYC, Harvey Pekar and The Pekar Project, and Bob Fingerman, go to:

http://www.kingconbrooklyn.com/panels/

http://www.kingconbrooklyn.com/

Zane Austin Grant has written a thoughtful and considered review of the Act-i-vate Primer over at PopMatters.com. He has lots of great things to say about a lot of the stories in the book but here’s what he had to say about “Memoirs of the ‘Kid Immortal” by yours truly:

Another standout story is Joe Infurnari’s Memoirs of the ‘Kid Immortal’, for example, which follows a defeated wrestler on an occult conquest to become a champion.  The art for the story is made to look like a golden age comic you might have found in a junk bin.  The page is faded and the edges are worn, but the story itself transforms the dramatic language of early adventure comics into a sad poetics that matches the main characters disappointment perfectly.

There’s lots more to this review and he gives the book an 8 out of 10! I encourage you all to read the whole thing here.

Thanks, Zane!