When I look at Kaluta's artwork for comic book covers the thing that always strikes me is that the work doesn't look like that of a comic book artist. It looks like art created by someone living out of the continuum of time and history. I don't really know how to describe it. But it doesn't look like traditional comic book cover artwork. Kaluta's work changes over time and crystalizes into its own distinct identity. That's a natural phenomenon. The work starts off with an ethereal quality and becomes even more ethereal. The lines get more delicate and brittle, the color washes come to the fore and give the artwork almost a stained glass look. While someone with a similar touch like Alphonse Mucha's work looks sturdy, Kaluta's work looks like it would shatter under a hard gaze.
Benjamin Marra is the creator, writer, and artist of the comics NIGHT BUSINESS, AMERICAN BLOOD, and TERROR ASSAULTER: O.M.W.O.T. (One Man War On Terror), all published by Fantagraphics. Acclaimed writer Grant Morrison chose Marra as a collaborator on the first issue of the relaunched HEAVY METAL Magazine. Marra had two serialized webcomic series appear on adultswim.com. His most recent book is JESUSFREAK, written by Joe Casey and published by Image Comics. In 2016, he was named one of the Art Directors Club's Young Guns. He illustrated the cover of American Illustration 35. In 2017, he was nominated for a Grammy Award for his album art of Wayfaring Strangers: Acid Nightmare, a collection of obscure 1970s post-Age-of-Aquarius Heavy Metal.
On this winter day in Montreal, cartooning isn’t the first thing on Benjamin Marra’s mind. Instead, with his wife and infant son, he’s attempting his ...
