Babs Tarr/Francis Manapul/Annie Wu

Review 1

Babs Tarr’s ‘Batgirl’

By Lindsay Casimir

February 20, 2016

Babs Tarr’s newly redesigned Batgirl has an excellent sense of design and detail.  She is also an excellent fashion illustrator, so when designing the new Batgirl, Tarr made sure that she also had a great sense of style.  Although, Tarr’s background is in traditional illustration, all of her work is digital. 

Batgirl’s new costume is something anyone could go to the store, and put together on your own.  It makes Batgirl appear to be more down to earth, and relatable to everyday people.  In the past, woman were often represented in comics wearing the same thing with the same hair style.  Tarr gives each girl their own style and color palette, and each character styles her hair differently.  Leaving the former dark Batgirl behind, she becomes more independent by moving to a new city and making her own suit.

Being a Fashion Design major, I was drawn to Babs Tarr’s work because of her sense of fashion and style.  Her fashion illustrations blend well with the characters she creates in her comics.  I love that she takes the time to give each of her characters a specific style and originality.

Spending more time on a character’s fashion can be rather intimidating for the male comic illustrator.  Having more female illustrators like Babs Tarr, can give some of the female characters a lot more credibility in the superhero world. 

1. Beedle, Tim, “Building a New Batgirl: An Interview with Babs Tarr,” dccomics.com, last modified October 10, 2014, http://www.dccomics.com/blog/2014/10/10/building-a-new-batgirl-an-interview-with-babs-tarr.
2. Babs Tarr, “babsbabsbabs’ (blog), February 21, 2016, http://babsbabsbabs.com/.
3. Beedle, Tim, “Are You Ready for Batgirl’s Brenden Fletcher and Babs Tarr?” dccomics.com, last modified June 20, 2015, http://www.dccomics.com/blog/2015/06/25/are-you-ready-for-batgirls-brenden-fletcher-and-babs-tarr.

Review 2

Francis Manapul’s work in ‘The Flash’

By Lindsay Casimir

February 20, 2016

Francis Manapul is the artist and cowriter of The New 52 Flash.  Manapul is a Filipino-born comic book artist, who was awarded the 2011 Joe Shuster Award for Outstanding Comic Book Artist.  He currently resided in Toronto, Canada.

Manapul’s 52 title series introduced a new villainous group, with new character designs.  Manapul is known as an outstanding painter, sketch artist, graphic designer, and computer graphics expert. 

I noticed that Manapul’s line work style has more of a retro feel to it, rather than the more ‘modern’ styles of Wu and Tarr.  His characters seem to keep that nostalgic appeal to them.  Giving his illustrations a more classic comic book aesthetic.  His characters are much more masculine, and lack the femininity that Wu and Tarr bring to their characters. 

“His work on DC Comics’ Flash has consistently been the best mainstream comic art in the past few years.” (Gaffin).  Manapul’s dynamic line work brings a new look to some of the most popular characters and villains from The Flash.

A hardcover edition of Manapul’s New 52 version of the Flash is set to be released in March of 2016, and will feature the extraordinary era of the Flash collected into one deluxe edition. 

1. Hyde, David, “Francis Manapul on THE FLASH,” dccomics.com, last modified July 16, 2011, http://www.dccomics.com/blog/2011/07/06/francis-manapul-on-the-flash.
2. Gaffin, Bryan, “20 Awesome Comic Book Artists to Follow on Instagram’ konbini.com, July, 2015, http://www.konbini.com/us/entertainment/20-great-comic-book-artists-follow-instagram/.
3. DCE Editorial, “A Look at Francis Manapul’s Artwork from THE FLASH” dccomics.com, last modified March 2, 2010, http://www.dccomics.com/blog/2010/03/02/a-look-at-francis-manapuls-artwork-from-the-flash.

Review 3

Annie Wu’s ‘Black Canary’

By Lindsay Casimir

February 20, 2016

Growing up in central Florida, and graduating from Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore; Annie Wu is a newcomer to the DC Universe, and she has become the artist behind DC Comics’ new Black Canary.  Her characters actually feel like real people, and they have a little bit of an imperfection in the way that she draws them. 

Coming from someone who has a lot of difficulty drawing what I see (or in my head, for that matter); I find myself drawn to artists who embraces their imperfections, and turns it into part of their drawing aesthetic. 

Wu not only draws the characters in Black Canary, but she also has a lot in common with the main character of the comic.  Annie Wu is stylish and bold, has her own sense of style, and loves music and fashion.  It is apparent that Wu has fallen in love with creating the main character of Black Canary.

Music also plays a big role in Black Canary.  Mixing a goth-tinged rock band with superhero powers, the music must parallel the tone of each story.  With the main character in a band, Wu illustrates her holding a microphone, fishnet stockings, and an all-leather suit.

“It’s a rock n roll kung-fu road trip” (Wu)

1. Beedle, Tim, “Are You Ready for Black Canary’s Annie Wu?” dccomics.com, last modified June 17, 2015, http://www.dccomics.com/blog/2015/06/17/are-you-ready-for-black-canarys-annie-wu.
2. Foxe, Steve, “Guest List: Annie Wu Kicks out the Jams with Black Canary” pastemagazine.com, last modified June 15, 2015, http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2015/06/guest-list-annie-wu-kicks-out-the-jams-with-black.html.