Comic Con Guests: Emma Viecelli

With a little bit of cut and paste magic, it appears as if I have done my research. Here's a list of books that Emma Viecelli has worked on over the past decade or so.

• Hamlet (Manga Shakespeare Collection, Self Made Hero, ISBN 0-955285-61-5)
• Much Ado About Nothing (Manga Shakespeare Collection, Self Made Hero, ISBN 978-0955816-96-3)
• Pink is for Girls (Sweatdrop, multiple artists, ISBN 978-1-905038-07-7)
• Sugardrops (Sweatdrop, multiple artists, ISBN 1-905038-00-3)
• Cold Sweat & Tears (Sweatdrop, multiple artists, ISBN 978-1-905038-02-2)
• Draw Manga (New Holland, multiple artists, ISBN 1-84537-416-9)
• Digital Manga Techniques (A&C Black, Hayden Scott-Baron, ISBN 0-7136-7475-X)
• eV (Tokyopop, Cover Artwork, ISBN 978-1-427807-14-4)
• Princess Ai: Rumors From the Other Side (Tokyopop, multiple artists, ISBN 978-1-427808-22-6)
• Comic Book Tattoo (Image Comics, multiple artists, ISBN 978-1-582409-64-1)
• My little Pony, Tome 1 : Joyeux anniversaire (Jungle, ISBN 978-2874426-51-3)
• My little Pony, Tome 2 : L'histoire qui fait peur (Jungle, ISBN 978-2874426-52-0)
• Tara Duncan: La Sirena Muette (Jungle, ISBN 978-2874428173)
• Telling Tales (sweatdrop, multiple artists ISBN 978-1905038282)
• Dragon Heir: Reborn (Sweatdrop ISBN 978-1905038299)
• Vampire Academy #1 (Penguin/razorbill ISBN 978-1595144294)
• Vampire Academy 2: Frostbite (Penguin/razorbill ISBN 978-1595144300)
• ImagineFX Workshop: Manga Art (Collins & Brown ISBN 978-1843405788)
• Avalon Chronicles: Once in a Blue Moon (Oni Press ISBN 978-1934964750)
• Avalon Chronicles: The Girl & the Unicorn (Oni Press ISBN 978-1934964903)
• Bates Motel: Jiao's Sketchbook (A&E ibook edition)

I can't help but notice the diversity on show here: from My Little Pony to Much Ado About Nothing. Let's have a look at her style (again, her website was very helpful here...)

I am not going to be one of those creepy guys who goes on about My Little Pony (have you seen the fan fiction about it?), but forcing myself to look at something that isn't really my taste makes me see how the bright, lively colours and clear sense of line puts this both in the tradition of Jack Kirby and Japanese anime - especially the big eyes, lending the ponies a neoteny that adds to their vulnerability. Before I get into the whole politics of that (I am quite uncomfortable looking at this), I'll point out that Rachel Maclean applies a similar aesthetic to her films. 

I hope Viecelli gets to see Maclean's work when she comes to comic con. 

Here's another panel...

Within the conventions of the anime style (the dynamic panels, the clear outline of the faces, the eyes again), Viecelli discovers a more sensitive expression of character. In one sense, this is a fairly generic scene - the female character moving from an aggressive display towards anguish - the movement between the bodies has a choreographic dynamism - the male antagonist is excluded by the final panel, except as a supportive, yet confused presence.