The arrival
of Bill Sienkiewicz’s “Revolution” has been cause for much personal celebration
and many declarations. I am a committed and constant follower and admirer of
his art. I remember him from his early “Neal Adams Clone Days” and still seeing
something of a potential and particular originality in what he was doing. Many
comic book artists of the period were doing Adams; he was the standard of the
times, so Sienkiewicz was hardly alone in following the Adams example. At the outset Bill Sienkiewicz had the
distinction of being the best of the Adams’ influenced. Even in that he stood
out. He captured the broad strokes and the nuances along with the imagination and
innovation that made Neal Adams famous. Bill Sienkiewicz would ultimately come
into his on with a vengeance when; as he describes in “Revolution” stops
attempting to emulate someone else and becomes himself. He always wanted to
experiment, explore and in his own way influence the world. He has done that in
many ways and in the process influenced many others as he entertains and
inspires while daring to express himself in what many considered a limited
medium.
I more or less initially looked at this treasure of a book in two extended sessions. The opening ten pages spoke more than many enclypedic collections of other art and artists. Then I followed with the reading of the heart felt, precisely intriguing, witty and decisively cunning introduction by Neil Gaiman. The two; Gaiman and Sienkiewicz have collaborated successfully together in the past. They are equally noted for their experimental risks, daring natures and contributions as talents. That in turn was enough for me to absorb on one late evening after my copy arrived.
Returning to
and then reading the informative and insightful Ben Davis essay and the compelling
interview by Churl R. Kim I felt even more enamored of what could be described
as the modest and uniquely American Mystique of Sienkiewicz’s persona. Both essay and interview were further illuminated with yet more beautifully executed fine art influenced illustrations. I was in something of an
intellectual and artistic bliss.
Finally I
decided to take in the nearly one hundred fifty color and black & white
plates of the expressive works; water-colors, acrylic, collage, mixed-medium
and pen & ink works of pure genius. Here; I took a cue from Neil Gaiman. He
detailed in the introduction that when working with Sienkiewicz he had taken
the drawings sent to him for a Sandman story and played with them. Gaiman
deviated from the sequence of his original narrative and essentially reversed
and mixed the story sequence images and events. This established the need for
an almost complete re-write for the material Gaiman had previously plotted. This option took him into uncharted and magnificent new places in his own uniquely personal imaginative spaces.
I decided on following
Gaiman’s lead in viewing the remainder of the book starting from the last plate and reviewing them in reverse. The material consisted of Jimi Hendrix, The New Mutants, Stray Toasters,
Dare Devil and Elektra; along with pages from his sketch book and fine art renderings
all generously offered. This came
together into something thrilling, challenging, provocative and entertaining. I
found myself touched and as well moved. Ultimately there was a sense of certainty
and complexity; in the best way, a personal restoration of significant satisfaction.
Bill Sienkiewicz Quotes
“I made a decision to love and
respect comics as a medium. I believed it was a medium that could do anything.”
“I pursue the emotional truth of
something as opposed to simply the visual truth.”
“We are all an evolving combination of all the things we experience. We are an end result of our influences, subconscious or otherwise.”
“If my work influences or touches
other people scares them, makes them uncomfortable or brings them joy, it’s a
method of communication.”
“At one point everything is brand
new, but with time the new wave becomes the old guard.”
“Art is an ongoing and never ending
process…you’re not done. You’re never done.”
