Tuesday, May 23, 2017

New Supergirl Artist Robson Rocha



The full DC Comics August Solicitations are going to be revealed soon. But some super-titles, including Supergirl #12, were previewed over on Newsarama here:
http://www.newsarama.com/34562-supergirl-august-2017-solicitation-preview.html

But the biggest news in that article is that Robson Rocha is taking over on monthly are duties on the book. Here is the solicit.

SUPERGIRL #12
Written by STEVE ORLANDO—Art and cover by ROBSON ROCHA and DANIEL HENRIQUES—Variant cover by STANLEY “ARTGERM” LAU
“EMERALD ERADICATION” part one! Emerald Empress’ attack on Supergirl begins as her new Fatal Five assembles. Empress’ plan to destroy Supergirl’s present to preserve her future goes into full swing as Supergirl tries to hold her own—but soon even her abilities are out of her control.


It looks like all art might be getting shaken up because Artgerm is on the variant cover, not Bengal.

But the big news is Rocha. I have had my issues with Brian Ching's art on the book. It has at times seemed rough, rushed, and unfinished. There have been high points with Ching, no doubt. But I think that he would work better on a different style of book.

So I am glad that Robson Rocha is coming on board. Rocha has a sort of fine-lined and more polished look to things. I have covered Rocha's art on some issues here. You can look for prior reviews with his art here:http://comicboxcommentary.blogspot.com/search/label/Robson%20Rocha


I first ran into Rocha's art on Demon Knights and Worlds' Finest. I liked his art then. There was a very good sense of action in the proceedings. And while different artists gave the work a different feel, it always looked very good.


Now I consider Power Girl and Supergirl to be two very different characters so you can't simply say that since Power Girl looked good, Supergirl will look good. That said, Rocha never really dipped too deep into the cheesecake aspects of Power Girl. And the action, as mentioned above, looked sharp. I think you can look at this and see just how Supergirl will be portrayed in the book.





Those Worlds' Finest issues were on the shelves a few years ago now.

If you want to see what Rocha's art looks like more recently, he did a three-parter in the now canceled Batman/Superman book. I reviewed these issues here as well if you want a deeper dive.

Suffice it to say, the art was stunning. there was a different, more detailed, more elegant look to these issues. The action still looked kinetic and powerful. But there was a still more refined look to the art here than even in those Worlds' Finest issues.

I am looking forward to this art change. Welcome aboard Robson Rocha!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Robson Rocha is a fine artist and from what I recall of the comics I have read where he has done interior art, Rocha doesn't tend to fall prey of drawing cheesecake with female characters.

When Rebirth started, he was one of the main interior artists on Green Lanterns, but he hasn't been on the last few issues, so I guess now we know why.

Looking forward to this.

Anonymous said...

Great news. I also look forward to Rocha handling art duties. I didn't like Brian Ching's art. It was not bad per se, but sometimes it looked too rough, angular and even unfinished.

Maybe the new artist will pull new readers in? I'm afraid a lot of fans keep stuck in 2013, think Kara is a whining, angry teen and refuse to change their minds and give their stories a chance.

(In that Newsrama link a commenter recalls Jamal Igle and Lupaccino's runs. I'm amazed)

And a new Supergirl Annual? Yay! The last Supergirl Annual was during Gates' run back in... 2011?

"Fear Itself" intrigues me. Superman... a Yellow Lantern? It sounds just as far-fetched as... well, as a Red Lantern Supergirl, I guess. It's true that criminals fear Superman, but...

Anyway, a Kryptonian with a Power Ring redefines "overpowered".

Anonymous said...

Glad brian ching is gone! But I am very sad to see Bengal not on the cover front. Bengal one of my current fave

KET said...

Well, the Supergirl regular series needed something new to help prop up its sales trajectory, so this is it...just in time for the summer con circuit, it seems. I didn't have a problem with Brian Ching's quirky style, but some obviously did; and changing artists after a year seems to be the usual go-to solution to what should be a higher profile series. Let's hope this works.

KET

Martin Gray said...

I really enjoy Robson's work, I mean, how great does Kara look? All the best to Brian Ching, whatever he does next.

Anonymous said...

Rocha did the art on Supergirl #18 back in March of 2013.

Anonymous said...

Yeah no offense to Ching, I think if it was a more intimate setting with less Big Sci Fi Setpieces he might've lasted longer....I wish him well and a hearty welcome to the new creatives.

JF

Unknown said...

I like Chings art a lot! His dynamic sketch style was perfect for me. Now the pages are looking like every other comic out there and the dynamics are gone.