Pipeline #1017: Horizon #1-4 by Brandon Thomas, Juan Gedeon

This week, over on ComicBook.com, I reviewed the first four issue of the Image series, “Horizon.” Produced by Skybound, it’s written and created by Brandon Thomas, drawn by Juan Gedeon, colored by Frank Martin, and lettered by Rus Wooton (of course).

This review features the phrase “unseen ulnas,” which was NOT a band in the “Scott Pilgrim” movie, but will be the name of mine after I learn to play an instrument or sing or something. It’s in reference to the way Frank Martin completes Gedeon’s artwork. Gedeon often just draws outlines of things. Martin goes in very subtly and adds the shadows to define their form and shape. Here’s a good example panel of it in action:

Just look at the human’s hat. It’s a black outline with a couple of horizontal strokes across the front, but those aren’t defining much. Martin steps in with the colors to add a very light shadows to the front of the hat to indicate that it’s standing straight up off his head. Also look at the hand he’s holding up and how the light bounces off the base of his thumb to create a bright spot. It adds dimensions, and Martin can do that because he has a good eye for three dimensional shapes, and anatomy.

The alien’s cheekbones are defined by Martin, too. That’s not just a straight line cutting down his face.

Meanwhile, Jason Howard is doing the somewhat abstract covers, and they’re worth a mention, too, since I didn’t have room for that in the column. Here they are: