2016 is over, but before we shut the book on it completely, we need to honor the best of the best. No, I don't mean Eric Roberts, but the brightest stars of DC Comics. We will start it all out by giving our awards for the unsung heroes of the art team...the Letterer, the Inker and the Colorist. There is more to comic book art than just the penciler, right guys?!? So, here are the Weird Science DC Comics picks...
Best Letterer
Jim's Pick: Pat Brosseau
Ever since Mr. Brosseau called us out and stood up for every other Letterer who was too afraid to let their voice be heard, he made me a lifelong fan! Seriously though, Pat is on so many books and always kicks ass. So, for giving us hell (We deserved it!) and forcing us to include letterers in our art team credits as well as being one of the top in his field, I salute you!
Reggie's Pick: Dave Sharpe
Dave Sharpe is one of the more prolific letterers, working for DC Comics and Marvel along with other publishers, but his talent really shines in New Super-Man and Harley Quinn, where odd balloon designs and on-the-fly untranslated words are the order of the day. He's especially good at lending characters unique voices, and best of all his work is highly readable.
Eric's Pick: Carlos M. Mangual
I'm telling ya, I'm a big dummy that doesn't know a lot about what goes into lettering or even what makes a good letterer. The thing is, every time I open a book and see Carlos' name on it, I know that it won't let me down and that I'll know what's going on in the dialog balloons and caption boxes. It doesn't hurt either that he's also doing two the books that have become some of my favorites in Rebirth.
Best Inker
Jim's Pick: Sean Parsons
The best way for me to pick an Inker is to look at some of the best art and see who is consistently involved in it and to me, that is Sean Parsons. Wonder Woman Rebirth #1 and the Bloodlines mini series were great looking and just two reasons why I picked Sean.
Reggie's Pick: Moritat
Though he is one of my favorite artists, I think Moritat's real talent manifests in his inking, which consists primarily of a lively, sure line that seems at once sensible on All-Star Western and the Hellblazer. I really clued into his skill in a recent issue of Vigilante: Southland, wherein he inked about half the book (presumably due to scheduling issues.) Suddenly, a sense of fun appeared in an otherwise dreary and frustrating book. Incidentally, this is in no way an endorsement for Vigilante: Southland.
Eric's Pick: Norm Rapmund
Again, like Carlos M. Mangual on Letters, I don't know what goes into making a great Inker. It's one of those, "I knows what I likes when I sees it" kind of things and whenever I see Norm Rapmund on a book not only do I know that his inks will look great, but I also know that everything else will too. It seems that old Norm-y Boy doesn't work with any slouches and I'll take what I can get from him anytime.
Best Colorist
Jim's pick: Juan E. Ferreyra
I'm sure that the "E" stands for excitement...or maybe excellence...or maybe even Evan. Whatever it stands for, Juan is known as a lot of things, but one of the biggest should be his color work. The colors on his issues of New Suicide Squad and Green Arrow are second to none in my humble opinion. I hope he doesn't take offense to being named my Colorist of the Year because this is not the last you'll hear of Juan in this year's awards. Spoiler man, damn!
Reggie's pick: Juan E. Ferreyra
I grew to love his work on Gotham By Midnight and now I am a total convert. From the New Suicide Squad to Green Arrow, he lends his work such a unique, painterly style that is at once detailed and full of cool action. I notice it takes him an issue or so to ramp up on any new book, but once he's there it's always such a pleasure to look at. I would love to see Juan Ferreyra on any book, but I think his style could work especially well on Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps. Just saying.
Eric's Pick: Andrew Dalhouse
Hell, it seems like I've got a Titans fest going on with all my picks for this portion of the Best of 2016 Awards and that's not by mistake. If it's one thing that I try to stress during every review I do of Titans, it's that that book is the best looking title that DC Comics is putting out today and it's because of the incredible team that works on the book and the cornerstone of that team in my mind is Andrew Dalhouse, who not only delivers some of the best color work that I've ever seen there, but in every book that I have the pleasure of reading that happens to have his name on it.
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