Art Quality

[jz_chu237]

Hi everyone,

Let me begin by saying how reluctant i am about posting this, but i need to get this off my chest.

I can't but help feel that the quality of the art has slightly decreased somewhat over the past couple of issues. I remember reading the #0 edition and being blown away by... everything, the art, the colouring, the camera angles... combined together it seemed very cinematic capturing the atmosphere perfectly.

Maybe i'm being a jerk (or a wanker, if you're in the UK - as i am) but it just seems to me that the artists have got a bit sloppy. In issue 5, i thought this was particularly evident. The whole fight on the cliff seemed very bland in terms of style. Chun Li's face was a bit inconsistent and Bison was ok, not amazing.

I am by nature a perfectionist so i hope you'll excuse me but why can't the entire comic be at the same level as the art on the last page (the 'to be continued page' - those are always so beautiful) why?

I really love the comic, please don't hate me... Having said that, issue 6 looks really good. Can't wait!

[Sweet]

i would have to agree with you. i didn't want to be the person to do the post but its hard for me to not notice. i really liked issue 5 but man some of the drawing are way to bad not to notice. it almost seems as though theres 5 other pencillers. udoneko do you have interns that ink or pencil? it looks to me that alvin only drew 8 pages and 11 of the pages were drawn by someone else.

[udoneko]

Issue 5 is done by 2 different person. No, not intern, but artists.

The Bison VS Chun Li & Guile & Charlie fight is done by Long Vo who is a very capable artist in my opinion. His style is slightly different from Alvin's & Arnold's of coz, but his fight sequences are always full of energy. Please do not say that the artist is bad just because he has a different style....

We have to pull Long in to help out that one scene because we want to keep the shipping schedule. Alvin is a perfectionist and he takes time to do the pages. If you do a panel per page count, all pages averages 6 plus panels, which is a rare case in American comics (which normally averges 4 to maximum of 5 panels per page). And we make sure that most of the panels would have some nice backgrounds so that you can enjoy the cinematic feeling that we want to establish. You can see the amount of time and effort we are putting in the book that I dare to say we are much more dedicated to making a good product than anyone else that are producing comics out there.

Issue 6, I am very happy with the outcome of the Akuma VS Ken & Ryu fight. Hope you guys will feel the same!

[AL the great]

Originally posted by udoneko

Issue 6, I am very happy with the outcome of the Akuma VS Ken & Ryu fight. Hope you guys will feel the same!

i cant wait the previews looks sick.

so when are you coming to arizona to sign my comics?;)

.....i'll even house you guys:eek:

[wakasashe]

I'd have to agree that the overall look in #5 was different. Not necessarily worse, but not as engaging as when the first issues' pages were presented. Keep drawing and drawing Long! You're great and the next to go absolutely GREAT.

[hitshiro]

hmmm....now that i look at it yeah you're right, I think it was still great, i don't think the quality went down at all, i liked issue 5 a lot!!! If you look at the other comics you can see the character designs are different in some of the pages. I've seen some of Long's work online, they're great. my first time posting on this board......think i'll stay :D

[LoneWolfZ]

hmm some of the art in issue 05 was kind of weak. most noticable when Chun-Li was crying. i thought that could have been done better. it's not that bad though. judging by the preview pages from issue06, it looks to be a LOT better.

[Vanilla]

I just hope Akuma doesnt keep his Gorilla like long arms pictured on the last page! :eek:

[Jahnli]

i hate jumping on the bandwagon, but i agree to a degree - in #5 there is a panel of chun li's face where her eyes were drawn quite funky (some time after she got thrown down by bison). i could tell it wasn't alvin because his chun li in issue 1 captured chun li perfectly imho and i didn't think even in a rush job he would draw her face like that. but then maybe it's just my personal preference - and btw my 2 most fave chun li covers so far are the shinkiro #5 and the holo/virgin power #1 of course!

[The V]

For me, at first issue 5 looked a bit different and my first gut response was it didn't look as "good" as before.

It seems that whenever there are two or more distinct styles in the same book, each style sort of "competes" for the readers attention. I think this sets up a bit of abruptness for the transition between pages when Alvin's style ends and Long's begins. Also i think I may have been so use to Alvin's art for the past 5 issues that perhaps my brain didn't "welcome" another style at first. I think these are the things I was responding to rather than to how the characters were drawn.

The more I look at Long's style, the more I like it - Lots of energy and great facial expressions. The panel where Nash blocked Vega/M. Bison's Knee Press looked really cool to me. Alvin's rendition of Sagat preparing for a Tiger Uppercut while Ryu was jump kicking was awesome to!

Just my two cents,

peace

[Gojira]

Yes, there are some definite inconsistencies. Most noticably, Chun Li is drawn in a very different style in #5. In previous issues, her forehead was sloped and bare with bangs kept to a minimum. In #5 she has a large patch of hair covering her forehead and her face is more "kawaii ojou"-like... more compact, with bigger eyes and a smaller, more pointed nose.

I wouldn't say it's horrible, but it did kind of come without warning. The weird feeling from it somewhat deadened the impact of the events taking place, even if I couldn't immediately tell what the problem was.

[Frankie]

Agreed... I thought I was the ONLY one here that noticed it... I'm also a perfectionist...

Yeah, the art is anything but consistant... Dan in #4 actually looks "bad" in my opinion... As in, I think I can draw him better. #1 blew me away, but for some reason I haven't felt that same feeling in any of the newer issues...

But hey, it's Street Fighter... It's still good.

[Liger]

agreed frankie, A.Lee had let me down in a couple of panels in #4, like page 2 panel 2 w/ Charlie attempting to punch chun li, that could have been done alot better. Dan is still a dissapointment. Only use i have for Dan is when some one challenges me to SF and sucks kill him off with dan in his pink and neon color suit! i was actually hoping they didnt involve him in the comic, knowing they were gonna do something silly w/ him. In 5 it actually slightly improved from what 5 had given off.

[jz_chu237]

The Bison VS Chun Li & Guile & Charlie fight is done by Long Vo who is a very capable artist in my opinion. His style is slightly different from Alvin's & Arnold's of coz, but his fight sequences are always full of energy. Please do not say that the artist is bad just because he has a different style....

I didn't mean to imply Long was a bad artist, the style he used was just different as you said. I didn't mean to offend anyone. Sorry, Udon you are still doing a fine job!

[SiLLiEMutAfuKA]

Wow I thought I was the only one who noticed this...but gues not. Issue #5 certainly looked different, looks more like old style comics drawings. Issue #4 was pretty good, but all of a sudden #5 didn't realy match up the previous issues. I really liked the drawings in the first few issues, if you can get them to draw more...that'll be great.

[SFMC]

Even though the art for the charlie, chun, Bison fight wasn't as great as the rest, but it's still pretty good.

I think it is just the fact that Alvin lee is so good at drawing street fighter characters that it kinda makes everyone elses art look "worse" because they don't know them as well as Alvin or Tsang.

All in all hope to see a slammin issue six!

[yikhai]

i'm gonna hav to disagree with what alot of you have said. #4 for me was a dramtic decline in art quality, compared to issues 1-3. although still better then alot of comics on the market, there was a loss of detail on some characters such as dan and chun li. with #5, i guess alv had more time to concentrate on detail and made ryu, sagat, ken and his parts with charlie visual eyecandy. l

long vo has been a favourite americanime artist since seein his tekken work in an ad in "games republic" mag all those years back. he's no amateur, i believe he did x-men evolution pretty well, so its not his first comics outing. long uses a more angular style and the inks for his work are thicker then with alvins IMO and it definately gives an upgraded anime feel to the book. his gulie and nash look great although i do agree that chun li wasn't as well brought out as her scene in issue #1

i hope to see more of alvin's great work and long's appearances. ryu & ken vs akuma's gonna b great. is it true the fights 18 pages long??

thanx,from ur newest n00bAz,

Yik

[chimitaru]

i noticed the decline in alivins art quality starting with issue and i thought it really went down hill with that last picture of akuma where he looked like a gorilla. but i have faith he'll get back on steam.

[nortlee]

I don't like to be that picky but I got my #5 today & I also feel the artwork is starting to slack some of the quality seems to be going, I particuarly feel that sections with Guile & Chun-Li were dropping standards this issue.

[Maj]

My honest opinion is that the best frames in #5 are easily as good as the best stuff in earlier issues. The only problems is with the sort of filler stuff where there isn't really any action happening and they are just there to advance the story. The filler frames were generally better and more consistent in earlier issues. But like, you can't really expect anyone to put a lot of time into a 2"x2" frame where three characters are standing around talking right? What would be the point?

The other thing i wanted to comment on was someone saying that Chun punching Charlie looked whack in an earlier issue. She was doing a low Jab. You can't really make that look super crazy lol. She was doing an SFA1 chain combo. Something like low Jab, low Short, low Forward, low Roundhouse xx upkick super. That's like an actual combo that you can actually do in the game. Isn't that dope?? I think the Jab not being cover-worthy is forgivable.

[CptMunta]

Originally posted by SFMC
Even though the art for the charlie, chun, Bison fight wasn't as great as the rest, but it's still pretty good.

I think it is just the fact that Alvin lee is so good at drawing street fighter characters that it kinda makes everyone elses art look "worse" because they don't know them as well as Alvin or Tsang.

All in all hope to see a slammin issue six!

I with SFMC on this one. Alvin has been drawing these characters ALOT longer than this Long fella. So Alvin does have much more of a Capcom Shine to his work.

So Long vo. Not to kiss your ass or anything. But Hats off to you! You did an AMAZING job of rendering a complex and povital scene. Sure I was like "Wheres Alvin?" But I was still hooked into the story. You did a great job!

And as For this Gorrilla bussiness. I think by drawing akuma in this way Gave weight and depth to the scene. Like he's eating the panel. I think some people get to hung up on making the art so perfect that it looses it's dynamic qualities. And it's why some american comics seem so stale and routine compared to There European and Asian counterparts. Well Thats only my opinion. Not a judgement.

Good work. I can't wait for the Shoto Shodown! I'm getting My brother to send me a copy to Germany!

[SFMC]

Oh yeah and about the "gorilla arms", it's about exaggeration. Everyone in the comic industry as well as pro artist are familiar with this technique. I think it looks good because it leaves room for dynamics. If his arms were any longer than that would be too exaggerated.

[Tien Long]

I rather liked the artwork for this issue. I too was thrown off by the change in artists, but I likede Long Vo's art. By all serious accounts, i was never a Charlie fan, but after that SWEET match between him and Bison, I'm certainly jumping on the bandwagon.

My problem with the artwork isn't confined to simply one issue, it's with the series in general. Don't get me wrong, I really like it, but there are certain panels were the action doesn't seem that clear. Certain moves, like a kick or punch, don't seem to be fully extended. Still, the artwork is dynamic and exciting, and I wouldn't want to have any other artists on this title other than UDON ones. :)

[Maj]

http://psialpha2.tripod.com/wallp.html

Second row, third pic (Sakura, Dan, Ryu, Akuma). I think that's what they were going for ... it's an official SFA2 artwork.

[udoneko]

Originally posted by Majestros
http://psialpha2.tripod.com/wallp.html

Second row, third pic (Sakura, Dan, Ryu, Akuma). I think that's what they were going for ... it's an official SFA2 artwork.

YUP! That's exactly what we are going for!!!!!!!!!

[EVIL5150]

I'm not sure it's an issue of art quality, buy choreography. The fights seem to be getting harder to "read". Even comics need to apply principles of animation to create a contiguous action "feel". While the art is astounding the fight flow can be awkward at times.

For instance, Sagat lunges with right knee forward, grabs Ryu, "FWUP!", next panel Sagat knees Ryu with right knee, "KRACK!", Ryu falling, silhouette of Ryu kicking Sagat on the way down, "FWACK!", Ryu lands on his left foot with his right foot back.

Maybe I'm being overly critical, but it's weak to draw the right knee forward in that first panel and have him knee Ryu with the same knee in the second. If this is done as two motions, that knee is hella weak, if it is done as a sort of simultaneous grab and knee it is displayed in a confusing manner. It lacks the antici...pation of a mighty "KRACK!"-worthy knee. You'd need to draw the right knee cocked back first in anticipation of that awesome "KRACK!" panel.
I can't even tell what Ryu is supposed to be doing in that funky mid air kick. Is he kicking with his right foot or his left? Which direction is his foot traveling? He lands as if he just performed a hook kick with his right leg, but the silhouette panel certainly doesn't read that way. Just to be extra nitpicky, what kind of crap is that anyway? Is he like, teching out of the air after a tiger knee?
Why does Sagat attack Ryu if he's just going to punk out anyway? It goes by so quickly it leaves me going, "I wait a month and a half and pay $10 to see the Ryu vs. Sagat fight, this can't be it can it?" I felt robbed of a good fight scene.

So yeah, Udonenko, I love the book and everything, but when I read a fight comic I like to kind of play out the fight in my head, and it can be difficult with confusing choreography. Then again, maybe I’m the only one that reads comics that way. What say you, oh great and mighty connection with the divine spirit of comicdom?

[Sagatryu]

maybe he Decided to pull back because he thought about what bison might do to ryu?

[Maj]

Maybe Sagat was mindgamesing Ryu! Ryu would expect a right knee then a left knee, but a right knee then a right knee is crazy! Sure it does less damage, but it's better than getting the other one uppercutted.

[Jets]

By far the worst issue for me was number 4. The pages with dan and sakura in it were really not that great to me. I was so dissapointed . I think the art in issue 5 was pretty damn good although I could tell that they added Long Vo to the lineup just by lookin at the artwork. The story was alot easier to follow for me then the last issue. Next issue ,once again, looks Nice.

[Jashugan]

I have to say, that for the few panels that really bugged me quality-wise, the quality of the work during the Bison fight makes up for it to me. The shots were really nice and full of the kind of stuff Majestros was talking about- Charlie getting gunned down SFA2-style -Chun Li's Sen'en Shuu -The nice little mid-fight, 3-panel Sonic Break sequence. Besides content, the drawings themselves were great. Charlie blocking the Double Knee-Press, and the downward Psycho-Crusher had and really nice sense of energy to them. It's nice work and i look forward to not only the art, but the little nuances you guys are trying to put in.