My thesis statement and work follows:
There is a painting in the Portland Art Museum by N.C. Wyeth. I believe the title is “The Great Train Robbery.” A bandit crouches on the back of a train car, mask over face. He holds his gun out in front of him. Things look like they’re moving very fast. Though, it’s painted very well I have a very hard time seeing it as anything other than an extension of Wyeth’s hand.
But, when I look at Superman, I see Superman.
Comic book heroes have passed through so many hands. They exist for decades at a time. They have been printed in so many places, and in such great numbers that they have been distilled to a set of components; a set of pieces that can be reconfigured as needed.
I am fascinated by the fervor created by a muscled silhouette or the buxom heroine. But, I want to go one step further. It is the history of a character that warrants fascination. I want to create the holistic comic book hero. I don’t want to see Superman on top of a building. I want to see him as the page is turning, and as he’s depicted on the next page, in the next issue, in a different copy. I want to see him as he is being drawn, and inked, and colored. I want to see the window in each building he has jumped over.
Right now these characters exist for storytelling, split apart for the page and the panel. Rarely do we perceive these characters as whole. We make do with a hand or a head. A pinhole would do you just as much good. I want to see everything at once.
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