Phonies! Lazies!
So I had no idea the extent to which “big name” artists have underlings doing the hard work for them.
I’d seen that Keith Giffen was credited with breakdowns on “52,” but they’re hardly having big-name illustrators finishing the pages. I’d chalked that up to the schedule and an effort at consistency in otherwise overwhelming storytelling duties.
So, without such editorial and chronological demands, it was with much surprise that I learned Billy Tan has an art assistant who draws his regular-title backgrounds. In the recent “Marvel Spotlight” of Ed Brubaker and Billy Tan, a sidebar headlined “He’s my Sensei!” spent a few paragraphs profiling Tan’s assistant Joel Gomez.
It’s sickening, almost, with Gomez just gushing over how great Billy Tan is, what a visionary he is, how much fun it is to work with him, what an honor it is, blah blah blah. And then there’s this stupid picture of Mr Gomez leaning in while Billy gives the thumbs-up.
Gomez draws the backgrounds and “helps with the layouts.” He draws the backgrounds. He raves about Tan’s sense of perspective, but Gomez has to draw the buildings, landscapes, and oh yeah, I guess that includes all the perspective. Gomez talks about how one of his favorite moments was working on Marvel Knights Spider-Man, where Gomez was lucky enough to get to draw all the New Avengers and a bunch of complicated New York City skyscrapers and other city backdrop.
Who does the work? Joel Gomez. Whose name is on the book? Tan has an assistant doing the hard stuff, and he still can’t keep a monthly schedule.
For a jaw-dropping look at the “assistant” work provided to another big-name penciler, check out the lead story in this week’s Lying in the Gutters.
Wow. If it was possible, I think even less of Pat Lee than I did before I read that Lying in the Gutters item. WTF is Pat Lee doing if those are considered breakdowns?
If Billy Tan gets that much “help” from his breakdown artist I’m definitely disappointed. The main reason I like “Billy Tan’s” art is his people, which were only vaguely people-like in his work a year ago. Backgrounds don’t really resonate with me much, but if someone else is drawing the backgrounds they should definitely be credited as such.
There’s a really great thrashing of how assistants are abused by the big companies in Box Office Poison. It sounds like these are just really bad cases of what goes on all the time.