Several years before taking notice of Greg Capullo's artwork in the pages of Spawn and Wizard Magazine's monthly "Krash Course" instructional features, I received this framed X-Men poster as an unexpected gift. It was hung proudly in my room where I admired it day and night, and I still have it all these years later. Behold:
It's pretty standard early 1990s X-Men fare, really. Wolverine is front and center, a grimacing Cable is rocking out guns akimbo, and Magneto looms menacingly in the background. The art style even stays within the confines of the then-definitive look established by Jim Lee and Andy Kubert. Even so, one day I looked over and it was as if the clouds parted. I thought I saw traces of Capullo's style, and it turns out I was right. What d'ya know?
Oddly, the version I own is altered from the original seen above. The colors have less depth, the characters in the upper third are moved downward, and the signature was removed. I'd assume I own an unofficial copy if not for the line-work appearing the same. There are strange things afoot here, but at least the alterations helped fuel a much-needed post idea!
Capullo penciled issues 15-25 of the first volume of X-Force, and he contributed to Marvel's limited X-Men Poster Magazine series around the same time. I'm assuming this pin-up may have originated there. This was pretty early in his career, but the potential is in full display.
Our lovable mutant friends here have a nice sense of weight, there are hints of a penchant for ridiculous levels of detail (Sniktbub's arm hair is a sight to behold), and the characters are very carefully laid out. Composition has turned out to be one of Capullo's biggest strengths. It's probably not an accident that the core cast is laid out in a big ol' "X" configuration.
My first comic book cover highlight of 2014 wasn't pulled at random; Greg Capullo has been one of my favorite artists for some time. He was the sole reason I kept up with Spawn as long as I did, and he inspired my own scribblings in a lot of ways. I was pretty stoked when he was announced as the penciler for DC's main Batman book when "the New 52" kicked off, and he's gone on to do some of his best work in the now 30+ issue series. It's kind of neat that I've been enjoying his artwork for even longer than I initially realized, and I'm thrilled that he's still going strong.
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