Posted in: Comics | Tagged: eccc

ECCC: Jason Coplad And Melissa Pagluica

Published Mon, 04 Mar 2013 14:00:09 -0600

Matt Harding writes;

My time in the artist alley of the Emerald City Comic Con this year, technically my first year ever, yielded one of the most rewarding convention experiences of my lifetime. I've sorely missed the Wondercon since it's exodus from the Bay Area to southern California, and this Seattle-based show ended my almost two-year dry spell of good, old-fashioned comic book conventions like a man just released from prison. My group and I, known as P5 Creative, were smack dab in the heart of Artist Alley, so I figured I'd introduce the Bleeding Cool audience to some of the creators I had the pleasure of meeting this last weekend.

One of the most interesting booths I ran across belonged to the artist of the comic "Kill All Monsters!," an epic tale written and lettered by Ed Brisson and drawn by Jason Copland. KAM is a story whose events play out just like the title implies: All monsters must die by any means necessary. I personally couldn't pass this booth by without an extended look as the epic scale of color and explosions that caught my eye as they decorated the full wrap-around cover of this landscape-printed volume. In the flavor of the upcoming movie "Pacific Rim" this story follows a group of three giant-robot pilots intent on keeping the world safe from rampaging monsters. The artwork is fun and clean, yet conveys a sense of drama, therefore capturing the storyline perfectly. Jason's artwork outside of the comic is thoughtful and sweeping in its line work and motion with a little bit of Paul Pope influence stirred in, and drew upon aspects of characters that I hadn't personally experienced before. For example, his take on Batman had the hero wielding an weaponized gauntlet plugged in with a power cord from a nearby streetlight, and really nailed Batman's used of landscape and technology when on the prowl. Check out Jason's website at WWW.JASONCOPLAND.COM.

Next-door to Jason Copland was a young Sacramento-based artist by the name of Melissa Pagluica who's first major comic convention is this year's ECCC. I was immediately impressed with Melissa's artwork, which was a literal mosh pot of styles combined to make a burning hot stew of awesomeness. Her comic "Above the Clouds" is a work in progress, and appears to be a "Brave"- type story in which I can't wait to see completed. Her light, joyful attitude is easily conveyed through her artwork, which covers a vast array of personal creations of her own to recognizable characters such as Avatar, The Last Airbender. You can see more work from Melissa Paglucia, as well as kept in the loop on her comic at WWW.DARKSUNROSE.DEVIANTART.COM

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