Nick Pitarra helps to kickoff the new comic John Flood this week with another one of his stellar variant covers. His intricate line work channels the work of comics legends Geoff Darrow and Seth Fisher, but at the same time Pitarra brings his own brand of mirth and mayhem to the stage!
Proving that artists should take art contests seriously, Pitarra was famously discovered from his submission to the 2007 Comic Book Idol competition. Apparently, superstar writer/artist Jonathan Hickman was so impressed by Pitarra’s work that he later offered him the job as artist on The Manhattan Projects, which would go on to be a multi-Eisner nominated fan favorite hit!
The Manhattan Projects, a satirical, mind-bending re-imagining of what happened after Albert Einstein and his team built the Atom Bomb, is still going strong today. The series just kicked off Volume 2 and Nick Pitarra’s work continues to get better and better. He’s also become one of the top cover illustrators for a slew of special variant covers for a wide range of titles including Red Skull, Weirdworld, And Then Emily Was Gone, Transformers vs. G.I. Joe, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
You can get the latest Nick Pitarra news & art on his twitter page here.
For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com – Andy Yates
By: Alexander Jones
Jonathan Hickman is going through a pretty massive career change. First up, he’s relaunching The Manhattan Projects with a new number one and title change, with The Manhattan Projects: The Sun Beyond The Stars #1. Expect the new #1 on March 11, 2015, along with Nick Pitarra on art with Jordie Bellaire on colors.
Next up, is some Marvel news. After spearheading a giant event in the Avengers side of Marvel with infinity, along with two additional Avengers books, it seems the author is seeking a “nap.” Hickman references the furious shipping schedule at Marvel for reasons behind this career move:
I do think that going to Marvel is a very good move for some creators to make. It’s certainly been good for me. And because they’re double-shipping, you really can’t simulate the volume and velocity of the work – it’s like getting live reps in sports. Going to press isn’t something you can practice.
The story came from a Newsarama interview, and it’s also worth noting that Hickman is only a taking a breather at Marvel AFTER the upcoming Secret Wars event that he is writing.
Saying that, I’m on my last couple of issues of Avengers and I’m into the eight issues of Secret Wars, and after that I’m taking a bit of a break. I need it. The Image work will, however, endure nap time.
Of course, Jonathan Hickman isn’t leaving comics entirely either. We have his upcoming title The Dying and the Dead to look forward too, as well as The Manhattan Projects and East of West. Really Hickman is not taking a nap, he might just be working more than ever now!
Oh, and Hickman also says this to Newsarama when asked about what’s next for him:
Feel Better Now – written and drawn by me – will come out from Image in the back half of 2016, but other than that, sleeping. Oh, and catching up on comics I’ve missed.
Does he actually sleep?
Going to miss his take on the Marvel universe, but love his indepenent work, too. Either way, whatever’s best for him is good for me as a reader, too!
His Manhattan Projects and East of West books actually do really well. They probably bring him enough money to live on even without the Marvel work. I also wouldn’t be surprised if he got more TV work like Ed Brubaker did after he left Marvel.