|
IRON MAN AND MARVEL'S YOUNG GUN ADI GRANOV
by Jennifer Contino (The Pulse)
Although most people may just know of Adi Granov through his stunning painted digital cover artwork, the man's about to flex his sequential art muscle as one of Marvel's Young Guns. He's working with Warren Ellis on the new Iron Man series beginning in November. Their first story is a six-parter called The Extremis. Granov couldn't reveal too many details about what's coming up in the story, but we do have - among other things - his take on the characters, information on how he came to be a Young Gun, and his thoughts on working with Ellis.
Granov was gaining quite the reputation for a cover artist when he first came to work with Marvel. He had done work for several places including Devil's Due on GI Joe: Reloaded and for Dreamwave on their Necrowar series. He believes it was his work with that company that made Marvel Editor C. B. Cebulski aware of his style. Although he first did just cover work with The House of Ideas, it was always Granov's intention to return to interiors "when the right project came along," Granov explained. "That project came along when Tom Brevoort asked if I wanted to do an IRON MAN series with Warren [Ellis] writing it. For me it was a no-brainer being a big Ellis fan and really enjoying working on Iron Man [covers]."
Granov is excited to be working on this project for many reasons. He understands it's a high profile assignment and admitted, "It’s a bit scary to be in such a spotlight, but it’s something I’ve been working towards, so I tend to see it all in a very positive way. It’s great to be able to make a mark on the character in such a way and to set certain standards that will hopefully be followed for years to come. It makes me feel that we’re doing something quite special and it pushes me to consider my choices a bit harder and do it justice. I think my art offers something a bit different from the norm, and combined with Warren’s incredible ideas I think we have the tools to make our run quite distinctive. It’s quite an honor really."
"I really like the character," continued Granov. "The combination of superhero dynamics and technology based concepts really appeals to me. Warren’s story is incredibly smart and very forward thinking, which appeals to me as an artist on all levels. It is a multi-layered story which ranges from very real human emotions to the most insane, pummeling sci-fi action. It is a challenge to illustrate, which is very exciting, and I like to believe that my art can take this story to a level not otherwise possible."
Which is why the artist isn't really looking to the past to create this version of Iron Man. He told us he's taking his cue from the editors. "I rely on my editors to keep me in check as far as consistency goes and not let me stray from the core of the character, but I am really trying to bring something to this story that hasn’t been seen in Iron Man before," began Granov. "And I think that is the only way to visually match what Warren is doing in the script. I am very much inspired by industrial and conceptual designers who view things in a much more functional manner than is usually seen in comics. Having spent years as a concept designer and illustrator myself I tend to try to bring a level of believability and perceived functionality even to the most outrageous designs within my work. Since my rendering style is very much inspired by poster illustrators with a more realistic look to it I think it is important to maintain that level of believability throughout all aspects to match the style."
"I believe that we are doing something quite special," continued Granov. "The script just has that feeling of weight that makes me think that this will be a story to remember. And from the technical standpoint it is a really interesting story to illustrate, it really appeals to my sensibilities and personal tastes. It is a great mix of pop culture and wild science fiction, it is very smart. The way I view it: Tony is driven by ideas, by a desire to invent and create. By the inertia of his genius he has created things that have brought him immense fortune and put him at the top of a corporation. He has the weight of the world on his shoulders because he has to direct a company which depends on profits, but all he really wants is to be left alone and invent. Iron Man allows him to be impulsive, driven by morals and convictions rather than business and the stock market. I don’t know if I am making sense … Iron Man allows Tony to be more himself than he can be otherwise."
The artist told us how he views the Iron Man armor and how that influences him when creating the art. "[the] Iron Man armor is, essentially, a very advanced weapon, a one man arsenal. At least that is how I see it. It is a power suit with enough technology built into it to level city blocks. That much power shouldn’t be in one person’s hands. Stark has to deal with that and, as any human being, he sometimes makes mistakes. It is a very complex problem, it is a very dangerous factor in this power hungry world. I tend to keep that in mind while maintaining his iconic, superhero feel. I am quite experienced in dealing with most subjects thrown at me it just takes making the appropriate choices for given ideas. For instance, choosing the right angle to show off a particular emotion Warren wants to get across, so that it has the most impact on the reader. My editors help a lot with that as they review the layouts and nudge me in the right direction. There is a number of ways to depict any given scene and I work hard to try to end up with the best one."
"[Warren] comes up with scarily good stuff that I get a bit shell-shocked when I first read them," continued Granov. "He’s quite brilliant which can be intimidating for someone like me who’s been a fan for much longer than I’ve been in comics. But Warren is just really good at what he does, he is very clear in what he wants without smothering my creativity. It really is an art to write his stories the way he wants but do it in such a way where I can create art in the way I want. I have my signature style that I showcased on the covers over the last few years and I wanted to bring the same level of execution into the interior pages. If anything I have pushed myself to really expand on my strengths and to overcome the elements that weren’t my strongest. I decided to pull no punches on anything. It is a very detailed style, labor intensive, but I pay the same amount of attention to all elements, from figures to backgrounds. In fact I am really proud of the work on the backgrounds as that is usually the hardest part. A lot of detailed technical designs as well, which I really enjoy."
Those curious if the art on the interiors were going to be any different from the cover art need not worry. "It’s the same exact style, same approach and same level of detail," assured Granov. "The big difference in the interiors is that they are much more cinematic in composition (as opposed to the iconic, poster approach I use on the covers) and the environments and backgrounds are as important to the look of it as are the characters. The interiors are in general much more complex."
Granov is hoping by the time the first issue comes out he'll be far enough ahead on the art to have a completely uninterrupted run. If you're still on the fence about checking out his run on the series he offered the pitch: "Warren’s techno-nightmarish scenario, complex characterizations, crushing action … all brought to you in great detail, with great care via my hi-tech style."
You can learn more about Granov here.
|
