DC's 1982 Character Style Guide by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez

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Ares
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DC's 1982 Character Style Guide by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez

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Back in 1982, DC hired artist Jose Luis Garcia Lopez to create an in-house art book designed to help the DC artists keep a consistent look for the heroes of the decade. Anytime a DC artist wanted to use one of their established characters, they'd use that art book as a reference for the costume and the general style of the characters appearance. It was also used for things like animated series and toys, creating an incredibly consistent tone for the DCU of the time. Unfortunately, with the rise of Superstar Artists, the idea of telling them how to draw certain characters became a big no-no, and the idea of a consistent look was dropped.

You've no doubt seen this art online, but to my knowledge, the book has never been released to the public. It's frankly well past time, but until that happens, a Facebook page has the entire book available for viewing online.

https://www.facebook.com/pg/JoseLuisGar ... 4002578217

And its frickin awesome.
"My heart is as light as a child's, a feeling I'd nearly forgotten. And by helping those in need, I will be able to keep that feeling alive."
- Captain Marvel SHAZAM! : Power of Hope (2000)

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RUSCHE
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Re: DC's 1982 Character Style Guide by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez

Post by RUSCHE »

Ares wrote: Wed Oct 31, 2018 3:17 am Back in 1982, DC hired artist Jose Luis Garcia Lopez to create an in-house art book designed to help the DC artists keep a consistent look for the heroes of the decade. Anytime a DC artist wanted to use one of their established characters, they'd use that art book as a reference for the costume and the general style of the characters appearance. It was also used for things like animated series and toys, creating an incredibly consistent tone for the DCU of the time. Unfortunately, with the rise of Superstar Artists, the idea of telling them how to draw certain characters became a big no-no, and the idea of a consistent look was dropped.

You've no doubt seen this art online, but to my knowledge, the book has never been released to the public. It's frankly well past time, but until that happens, a Facebook page has the entire book available for viewing online.

https://www.facebook.com/pg/JoseLuisGar ... 4002578217

And its frickin awesome.
I must have this, I mean OG Captain Marvel is smiling...haha.must have this. They used a ton of his art in the original Dc Heroes RPG.
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Ares
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Re: DC's 1982 Character Style Guide by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez

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RUSCHE wrote: Wed Oct 31, 2018 12:00 pm
Ares wrote: Wed Oct 31, 2018 3:17 am Back in 1982, DC hired artist Jose Luis Garcia Lopez to create an in-house art book designed to help the DC artists keep a consistent look for the heroes of the decade. Anytime a DC artist wanted to use one of their established characters, they'd use that art book as a reference for the costume and the general style of the characters appearance. It was also used for things like animated series and toys, creating an incredibly consistent tone for the DCU of the time. Unfortunately, with the rise of Superstar Artists, the idea of telling them how to draw certain characters became a big no-no, and the idea of a consistent look was dropped.

You've no doubt seen this art online, but to my knowledge, the book has never been released to the public. It's frankly well past time, but until that happens, a Facebook page has the entire book available for viewing online.

https://www.facebook.com/pg/JoseLuisGar ... 4002578217

And its frickin awesome.
I must have this, I mean OG Captain Marvel is smiling...haha.must have this. They used a ton of his art in the original Dc Heroes RPG.

Unfortunately, those books were never available for the public, just created to be used in-house at DC and passed around to their artists. Some of them inevitably made it to the open market, but finding a complete one can fetch prices of between three and four figures. Like I said, now would be a great time to finally just put out a book of the things.
"My heart is as light as a child's, a feeling I'd nearly forgotten. And by helping those in need, I will be able to keep that feeling alive."
- Captain Marvel SHAZAM! : Power of Hope (2000)

Want to support me and Echoes of the Multiverse? Follow this link to subscribe or donate.
RUSCHE
Posts: 373
Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2016 3:50 pm

Re: DC's 1982 Character Style Guide by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez

Post by RUSCHE »

Ares wrote: Wed Oct 31, 2018 1:35 pm
RUSCHE wrote: Wed Oct 31, 2018 12:00 pm
Ares wrote: Wed Oct 31, 2018 3:17 am Back in 1982, DC hired artist Jose Luis Garcia Lopez to create an in-house art book designed to help the DC artists keep a consistent look for the heroes of the decade. Anytime a DC artist wanted to use one of their established characters, they'd use that art book as a reference for the costume and the general style of the characters appearance. It was also used for things like animated series and toys, creating an incredibly consistent tone for the DCU of the time. Unfortunately, with the rise of Superstar Artists, the idea of telling them how to draw certain characters became a big no-no, and the idea of a consistent look was dropped.

You've no doubt seen this art online, but to my knowledge, the book has never been released to the public. It's frankly well past time, but until that happens, a Facebook page has the entire book available for viewing online.

https://www.facebook.com/pg/JoseLuisGar ... 4002578217

And its frickin awesome.
I must have this, I mean OG Captain Marvel is smiling...haha.must have this. They used a ton of his art in the original Dc Heroes RPG.

Unfortunately, those books were never available for the public, just created to be used in-house at DC and passed around to their artists. Some of them inevitably made it to the open market, but finding a complete one can fetch prices of between three and four figures. Like I said, now would be a great time to finally just put out a book of the things.
Hopefully someone will be wise enough to place this in the market. It is a nice piece of history and work. I would pay a decent price for it.
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Arkrite
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Re: DC's 1982 Character Style Guide by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez

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Oh my, will you look at all those smiling superheroes!
Where did that go?
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Ken
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Re: DC's 1982 Character Style Guide by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez

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I wonder when the coloring of some of the images was done. We can see the character sheets for Flash, Green Lantern, and Aquaman in the book are line art, but below the same images are coloured.

Also in some places, the Hawks' wings are coloured correctly, and in other pictures, they've turned brown.

At least in most places, Freddy's cape is still coloured correctly.

Also, in a few places, the blue in Bruce's costume is darker than the blue in Clark's tights, but in most places, they are the same shade of blue. That always bugged me.
My Amazing Woman: a super-hero romantic comedy podcast.

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Re: DC's 1982 Character Style Guide by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez

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RUSCHE wrote: Wed Oct 31, 2018 1:44 pm Hopefully someone will be wise enough to place this in the market. It is a nice piece of history and work. I would pay a decent price for it.
Hopefully, someone will be wise enough to issue copies of this to the current crop of DC staffers... for actual, regular use.
My Amazing Woman: a super-hero romantic comedy podcast.

When the most powerful super hero on Earth marries an ordinary man, hilarity ensues.
RUSCHE
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Re: DC's 1982 Character Style Guide by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez

Post by RUSCHE »

Ken wrote: Thu Nov 01, 2018 4:01 am
RUSCHE wrote: Wed Oct 31, 2018 1:44 pm Hopefully someone will be wise enough to place this in the market. It is a nice piece of history and work. I would pay a decent price for it.
Hopefully, someone will be wise enough to issue copies of this to the current crop of DC staffers... for actual, regular use.
Agreed!!
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