Comic Artist Spotlight: Olivier Coipel

When French artist Coipel first took the lead on the Legion of Superheroes, fans ruffled their feathers at his style. Coipel used too much linework in the shading on his characters for DC fans’ taste, earning him the moniker of “Ol’ Scratchy.” By the time he signed on with Marvel in 2005, there was nothing scratchy about Coipel’s penciling.

Olivier is most known for his work on House of M, Thor (the Straczinsky run), Siege, and now the latter issues of Avengers vs. X-men. He still uses lots of line in his shading, though the lines are all much finer, and the form tighter, giving his drawings a sense of cleanliness. One of the things that most people will notice right away about Coipel’s work are the bold outer lines that contrast the fine detail in facial features and hands. The effect creates an impression of size in his work and a clarity of emotion. The boldness of the outer lines distinguish the outer extent of each form in a way that separates the characters from their environments — which could cause them to feel cartoonish. However, the intricacy of his fine line detail work brings emotion and often humor back into the work. an additional benefit of all the fine line is a clear understanding of Coipel’s sense of balance and symmetry. Characters in his work are consistent and unique in their features, and the symmetry of his lines makes for work that is unarguably pleasing to the eye.

The problem that most people will have with Coipel’s art is that it is too detailed. Often the page looks busy because of the bonus things to look at on each page. Captain America’s boots aren’t comic book boots. They are fully rendered boots. You can make out the stitching and the lacing and often detect signs of wear and tear. It’s this level of detailing that can make for an unhappy reader because it slows down their reading. For many though, taking some time away from actually read the book so that you can take in all of the minutia of Coipel’s work is time well spent.

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