Welcome to my column showcasing up and coming or undiscovered talent, bringing to your attention creators that I feel will be break-out stars in the near future. Some are already well on their way to super stardom, while some are just on the outskirts breaking in.
Everyone has a favorite comic book creator. One they’ve discovered recently, or maybe followed from the very beginning of their career. Some have so many favorites it’s hard to choose just one.
Every single one of those creators started somewhere, be it by producing photocopied mini comics to sell at their neighborhood comic shop, getting a table in the artist’s alley at their local comic convention, publishing fan fiction, posting images to deviantart.com, or doing commissions through the internet or at conventions. Some come from the world of graphic design, advertizing illustration, or fine art, using those jobs to pay the bills in the meantime.
Then came their break. Something they did got noticed, an editor got in touch, and they were on their way. A fill in page here, a small press book there, maybe a miniseries or one-shot for one of the big two. Something about their style catches fan’s eyes, and their star begins to rise.
I first noticed Ming Doyle’s work through the wonders of Twitter, and I’ve been a fan ever since.
Ming Doyle earned her BFA from Cornell University with a dual concentration in painting and drawing in 2007, and hasn’t looked back.She has seen her work published by Tokyopop, Image Comics, Marvel Comics, BOOM! Studios, Las Vegas Weekly, and the list goes on and on.
You may have seen her unique style showcased in Comic Book Tattoo, Zombie Tales, Jennifer’s Body, Womanthology, Mara, Quantum & Woody, and many others, and I’m sure that wasn’t the last you’ll be seeing of her.
With a dynamic, yet loose, style Doyle’s work definitely stands out on the shelf. There is a frenetic energy to everything she draws, as if you can feel it pulsing on the page. He expressionistic faces tell you everything you need to know about what’s happening in a particular panel.
Her cover designs are flawless, whether simple or complex they make you want to see what that specific book’s got going on under the cover. Maybe that’s why she’s done so much of it in recent years, from Adventure Time to Red Sonja to 30 Days of Night, her work is all over the place. She is highly adaptable though, changing her style to suit whatever is needed, yet remaining visible as hers.
She has a brilliant sense of color, always knowing exactly the right combination to make her work pop, definitely an almost painterly approach. She uses color as a way to express emotion, tone, and mood like few others, keeping it as an integral part of the art itself instead of an afterthought.
While she hasn’t had much in the way of mainstream exposure yet, minus a few pages here and there in Young Avengers or Fantastic Four, don’t count on that holding true for long. She has many fans in the professional community, and this is a community that likes to see others succeed, despite what you might hear on forums and message boards.
Her work is getting out there, and 2014 is going to be the year of Ming. Her work on Mara was a perfect fit for that book, but she’s upped the awesome for Quantum & Woody, and I know she’s a future comic rock star, only the future’s right around the corner. Next week I’ll bring you another.
You can see more of her work here and here, and be sure to follow her on Twitter.