Every week How to Love Comics spotlights a comic book artist that should be on your radar. We present you a gallery of their work and then leave you some reading recommendations if you are starving for more of their work. We have cleverly titled this Artist of the Week.
This week we are featuring Chris Samnee, an artist who has made a name for himself over the past two years working on Marvel’s Daredevil. Samnee has a style that is very reminiscent of the Silver Age, which doesn’t use overt amounts of detail but instead uses his inks and line to give a great sense of movement and action. As you will see below, he is not afraid to use interesting panel layouts that reflect the tone or action of the narrative – which often contribute to the overall storytelling. While he is mostly working on Daredevil at present time, look out for him doing covers for a variety of covers over at Marvel throughout 2014.
Below is a gallery of his work from various points in his career. Enjoy!
You can find more of Chis Samnee’s art all this week on our Tumblr.
Chris Samnee Recommendations
Hopefully the above artwork has you excited about Chris Samnee’s art, so much so that you want to go out and read some of his work. Below are four comics of his that I would recommend you should read.
Daredevil
Written by Mark Waid. Art by Chris Samnee. Published by Marvel Comics. Mark Waid, along with artists Paolo Rivera and Marcos Martin, relaunched Daredevil in 2012 to critical acclaim. When both artists left to pursue passion projects, Chris Samnee stood up and took on art duties of the acclaimed series and has knocked it out of the park. Samnee’s art is well matched to the title, with it suiting the silver-aged tinge of Mark Waid’s writing. Samnee has contributed to the title though interesting panel layouts, a great visual representation of Daredevil’s powers and sequential storytelling that can equally portray action and character moments. His art style on the series has also been great – visually representing both the lighter, fun elements as well as the darker moments.
Chris Samnee started commenced art duties on issue #12 and has done most issues up until the final issue (#36). In terms of collected editions, Samnee’s art contributes to trade paperback volumes 3 onwards. In hardcover editions (titled “Daredevil by Mark Waid”) you will want to track down the second volume onwards. It is also available digitally.
Last week Marvel relaunched Daredevil with a new jumping on point, with Mark Waid and Chris Samnee as the ongoing creative team. This is a good place to jump on, although I would highly recommend reading the previous volume as it is a great read. It is also available digitally.
Thor: The Mighty Avenger
Written by Roger Langridge. Art by Chris Samnee. Published by Marvel Comics. Thor: The Mighty Avenger is one of Chris Samnee’s earliest works and where many people first discovered him. While the all ages series didn’t sell well it was loved by critics and fans. It was smart and fun and was something that could be appreciated by both children and adults. The series even made it on to our Thor Comics You Should Read list. Samnee’s art suits the tone of the title well, creating a comic that is fun to read.
Thor: The Mighty Avenger was released in two trade paperback editions or can be found as one complete edition. It is also available digitally.
Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom
Written by Mark Waid. Art by Chris Samnee. Published by IDW Publishing. Mark Waid and Chris Samnee are a great combo on Daredevil and they were equally as great when they worked on Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom together in 2012. The four issue series mixes pulp and adventure to great success and is a fine tribute to the Rocketeer’s creator, Dave Stevens. Rocketeer is jetpack and dinosaur filled, with romantic beats that are true to the original series. Overall it is a fun series that has been well received by critics and fans.
Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom is available in trade paper back as well as digitally.
Adventures of Superman – Chapter One
Written by Jeff Parker. Art by Chris Samnee. Published by DC Comics. Adventures of Superman is a digital-first series, featuring stand alone stories by a variety of quality creators. Jeff Parker and Chris Samnee kicked off the series with a story about Superman going head to head with an enemy with telekinetic powers. Samnee’s art is wonderful at showing off Superman’s strength and abilities, through his use of line and sounds effects that are drawn into the art. He has also been able to portray the chaos of the enemy, showing the reader the destruction that has been created and even minor details such as floating objects.
Adventures of Superman – Chapter One is available digitally on Comixology for 99c. It is also collected in print as part of Adventures of Superman #1 and will be available in trade paperback in late April.
Check out previous Artists of the Weeks.
Have Your Say
Are you digging Chris Samnee’s art? If so will you be checking out any of the comics he has worked on? You can let me know in the comments below or via Facebook or Twitter.
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