Mark Chiarello is the DC VP of Art Direction and Design
December 7th, 2010 by Esther Inglis-Arkell | Tags: DC comics, mark chiarelloIt is customary for people to say nice things about the people they’re promoting. Dan Didio had this to say:
“Mark is the kind of artist, editor and collaborator who is invaluable in not only his knowledge of the craft but his ability to inspire and pull out the very best work from the creators with whom he works. He’s a true artist’s artist. Mark Chiarello is one of the most respected figures in the comic book industry. From NEW FRONTIER to SOLO to WEDNESDAY COMICS, he’s spearheaded projects that helped elevate our expectations for what the art form can accomplish.”
It’s rare to see a glowing review and completely agree with it. So many words of praise are basically strained out through gritted teeth because something is good enough and it’s not right to hang anyone out to dry. This isn’t one of those times. I can’t tell you about the success of projects like Solo and Batman: Black and White, although the fact that Solo isn’t around anymore is probably an indication, but artistically they’re stand-out books.
Mark Chiarello has a good history of finding artists who can do thoughtful, interesting takes on characters. He has a history of giving these projects formats that make them little sensations within the comics community, so that everyone has an eye out for them on Wednesday. I often notice when people are really good writers, and occasionally I notice good artists. It’s rare that I notice excellent editors. I think that Mark Chiarello is one of them. He picks good people to do work. He gives them good projects. And he makes sure that those projects have a fighting chance in a really tough market. This guy is great at his job.
According to the DC Source post, “This newly-created position will oversee the operations of DC’s Editorial Art Department and lead in establishing the style, visual look and graphic design across all of DC’s imprints.” Being a story girl, I’d prefer him to go nuts on storyboarding, but any influence is a good influence. I’ve rarely been so happy about a press release.
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Wow, that’s incredibly cool. At a glance DC appear to be doing a better job with Marvel on their collected editions, but surely Chiarello’s new role will spare us anything like the hideous logo cover month.