i spend my time trying to be the best, beyond the best that i can be and just the best that can be, when i really think about it, if it was the best i could be i would know where to aim, somewhere along the lines of a robert sikoryak that has classically styled heroines saying mildly witty dialogue among inappropriate humour filled with references to modern canadian culture.

i search for the best in those not considered the best, the early work of jack kirby (with joe simon), the less popular versions of super hero comic strips, things with cult followings over those that remain in pop culture. it’s a strange place to look for the best, but i have my own sets of beliefs, ones of how things should look and could look and how those could be carried into great from the mediocre.

i know that people love the work of classically trained painters that do comic books, they adore the colours and lighting, the details, but i believe there is a way that comics should look and it’s not always the obvious best, when people imagine superman in their heads they don’t imagine the original from 1939 or the fancy alex ross version, they imagine him by someone in between and probably forgotten, someone in a 20+ year period between the 60s and the 80s who they probably can’t name, they saw him on a comic they bought for 25 cents or got from their parents or uncles. that is how superman really looks.

the same goes for batman, iron man, spider-man, you probably know them from a simple cartoon version you saw as a child, maybe a teenager, not fancily shaded or maybe even shaded at all, we live in a world where archie is in every store yet batman continues to adopt new styles all the time…no one seems to take the hint…

…i will though, between fancy modern day marvel art and comfortable classic dc art i will find home, and it will be…the best.