Muppets Sherlock Holmes

[Amy]

I'm thinking more on model rather than exactly on model. There are a lot of really good artists out there who could draw the characters even more authentically than we've seen so far. This recent issue kind of looks to me like fatigue and watered down compared to some truly great earlier works especially with Gonzo. Comic illustration isn't easy. While I could - draw a fairly accurate Gonzo in my sleep (it's actually one of the sobriety tests I do after a night out with my friends , I couldn't do what any of these illustrators do day in and day out.

Shelli Paroline isn't particularly on or off model, but her work is my favorite so far. She walks the line the best and I'd actually like to see more from her than any other artist. When I look at her stylized Pepe, it looks like Pepe to me and I'm not caught up in how he was drawn as much as I am with this current Holmes. I'm just concerned that the Muppet comics are getting pigeonholed into one particular artist's style and becoming bigger than the brand.

I guess a particlar full Muppet graphic novel where the Muppets pop through more than a particluar artistic style is what I'd like to see. Or maybe find a perfect fit instead. An Alex Ross grade artist for the Muppets.

Hahahah... believe me, there is no WAY any artist is becoming 'bigger than the brand'. Disney are fussy in how the Muppets are depicted and there is just a small pool of us with only so much work to go around.

And yes, you try drawing entire 4 issue arcs in not a lot of time and see what you have to sacrifice to make deadlines.
It's not easy and compromises have to be made sometimes.

Believe me, I would LOVE more time to be able to work the character model more, but the deadlines are short and I have to work with what time I have.

 

[minor muppetz]

Uhhhh... Is Sherlock Holmes gonna be the next thing? I just heard there's gonna be a Tom and Jerry meet Sherlock Holmes movie on DVD...

Could it be because of the recent Sherlock Holmes movie....?

 

[frogboy4]

I hope the artist pool will be widened a lot more and soon. I think everyone involved (except maybe Robin Hood with the vomiting Robin the Frog) has done a fantastic job so far. There are plenty of comic artists to go around and many artists who'd love to lend a hand to the Muppets, but are there only a few artists that Boom is willing to use?

I've kind of stopped collecting the single comics for a while - waiting for bound collections instead. I'm not much of a general comic book collector so keeping up with the Wednesday releases isn't second nature to me as it is for many other friends of mine. I suppose my initial excitement has been diffused a bit by seeing the same styles each time. I'm ready for someone to inject new life into the comics.

I love what's been done with Snow White. It's clear she gives an equal amount of reverence to every character and even though her style is distinct, it’s never distracting and the quality is consistent throughout. Still, I would like to see what a less cartoon-based graphic novelist would do with making a little more on-model take. It might not be everyone’s taste, but it’s time to mix things up a bit and that hasn’t been attempted yet by Boom’s Muppet comics.

 

[Drtooth]

Could it be because of the recent Sherlock Holmes movie....?

Quite possibly. but it really wasn't all that big of a hit to make a rebirth of interest in the character to non-mystery/literature buffs.

I still wonder. Maybe some Sherlock expert can answer me this. Was Sherlock ever a copyrighted character, and did his copyright just run out? or was he always considered Public Domain. I heard LeBlanc took a LOT of heat from swiping Sherlock for an Arsene Lupin novel, then whined about Monkey Punch using his character (talk about hypocracy). And most of the time I've seen references to Sherlock, the name was changed (Rescue Rangers, Super Mario Super Show...etc.) I feel silly for asking such a question... but I just want to know.

I hope the artist pool will be widened a lot more and soon. I think everyone involved (except maybe Robin Hood with the vomiting Robin the Frog) has done a fantastic job so far. There are plenty of comic artists to go around and many artists who'd love to lend a hand to the Muppets, but are there only a few artists that Boom is willing to use?

I'm torn. I like seeing the same artists being used, and this is Shelli's first major 4 part arc (She only did a one shot and a cover prior). I really want to have them on a rotating basis of some sort. but on the other hand, the Fraggle Rock comic, other than the fact Katie Cook's Fraggle Activity Pages are a constant, they manage to have different artists in every issue. Not saying it should be like Muppet Robin hood, which had 2 different artists (due to a scheduling conflict... James Silvani is nothing short of a mensch for taking over on such short notice), but I'd like to see different artists as well.

That said, I'd LOVE to see Sergio Aragones at least do a cover. His stuff's been absorbed into Simpsons comics now.

 

[minor muppetz]

Quite possibly. but it really wasn't all that big of a hit to make a rebirth of interest in the character to non-mystery/literature buffs.

Regardless, in the case of the recent Tom and Jerry DVD I'm sure it would have had to take months to animate. It wouldn't surprise me if they started work when the Sherlock Holmes movie was announced, expecting that to be a hit.

 

[dwmckim]

Could it be because of the recent Sherlock Holmes movie....?

It does seem that so far each of the tales the Muppets have taken on in the comics just so happened to take place at the same time a major project based on the same classic was happening. Maybe we can use this as a barometer to predict what the next title will be at a given time.

 

[Drtooth]

Regardless, in the case of the recent Tom and Jerry DVD I'm sure it would have had to take months to animate. It wouldn't surprise me if they started work when the Sherlock Holmes movie was announced, expecting that to be a hit.

Speaking of which, Amy just leaked the fourth issue cover on deviantArt... found through looking up the favorites of someone who favorited something of mine...

I think this is indeed reference to that movie

I see what you mean about the T&J movie. Yeah, they expected the new film to be much bigger than it really was, leading to that sort of thing... (I'm kinda hoping that's not the project Earl was talking about, not that I wouldn't check it out).
Something I noticed, though... a lot of these stories the Muppets actually did before.

Robin Hood: The Muppet Show, Muppet Babies comic (surprised they didn't do it in the actual show), Muppet book
Peter Pan: Muppet Babies (twice)
King Arthur: Well, the Pearl Bailey ending musical number was supposed to be Camelot... does that count? And I'm sure it was mentioned in a Muppet Babies comic. Really the only time they didn't tackle the entire legend
Snow White: Muppet Babies again
Sherlock Holmes: Rowlf and Bakserville did it in The Muppet Show, and Bunsen and Beaker did it in Muppet Babies... and even though I'm not counting Sesame Street,

 

[The Count]

Actually... Robin Hood was performed in the MB series, in the episode By The Book, one of my personal faves. They did Robin Hood, Wizard of Oz, and Peter Pan in that episode. And King Arthur was also done in the episode where Scooter gets his Transgochobot automated action figure/toy who wreaks havoc in the entire nursery.

 

[Drtooth]

Ah yes, I completely forgot about The first book in By the Book... and I don't think I've ever seen the Transgojobot episode. I wonder if it's online. I gotta check it out.

But now that that's on the list, the stories have indeed been part of at LEAST the Muppet Babies. Only with better twists in some cases. I found Muppet Snow White a LOT more fun than the Muppet Babies episode, and I especially love why Piggy took the role of Wicked Queen out of the prospect of somehow getting an award for it, then going completely pig poop after Spamella will wind up with her frog. A very dark and believable side of Piggy, rather than just being evil out of jealousy for not being Snow White.

But I definitely have the MB comic book with Robin hood somewhere... If I can remember it off the top of my head (only read it once several years ago when I bought it) the evil prince was trying to banish fun or something.

 

[mbmfrog]

A MAJOR preview of the Muppets Sherlock Holmes #1 has been shown on CBR...

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=28255