Ben Bates Talks Mega Man Universe Style, Archie Issue #9 Variant Cover
Not too long ago, Archie Comics artist Ben Bates has made some posts on his blog regarding his recent work on the Mega Man comic book.
Prior to the release of issue #9, the beginning of “The Return of Dr. Wily” story arc (based on Mega Man 2), he decided to try his hand at the Mega Man Universe style of art, which you can see at right. “I thought the art for Mega Man Universe was pretty cool,” he says, adding “The game itself didn’t really look like my kind of thing, but who knows, maybe it would have won me over if it had been fully developed.” The things we may never know…
A little more recently, Bates looked back at the development of the Villain Variant cover for issue 9. You can see the ideas he went over and how they developed by viewing his entry here.
Thanks to Wilyman for the tip!
Tags: Archie, Ben Bates, comic, Mega Man, Mega Man 2, Mega Man Classic, Merchandise
Filed under: Mega Man News
i personally loved the art direction of megaman universe to be honest!
Dang, the villain variant cover sketches are awesome! Wily holding Mega Man’s head is eXtreme!
I liked Universe’s art style actually. That drawing by Bates is awesome, because seriously, I want to see more of the MMU material adapted y’know. Here’s hoping for an arc in the comic’s future with the same art style. XD
Haha, I’m sure there’d by riots in the streets if there’s a whole arc with that artstyle, I’m afraid. But I really dug that artstyle, too. Especially with Roll, who I thought looked especially adorable in that style.
I actually enjoyed the MMU style, and it would have grown more if the game wasn’t canned for reasons unknown.
I thought the universe art style worked great for classic mega man designs. Classic mega man looks best when kept simple.
I don’t care about the art style, it could be done in picasso style for all I care, I just want more mega man dammit!
Ben Bates is the best artist so far in the megaman comics, just looks at his art in the megaman 2 adaptation.
I have to agree. I like Ben Bates’ stuff even more than Spaz’s stuff. Honestly, as much as everyone loves Spaz’s stuff, to me his artwork of the characters makes them look like they’re constantly posing, and Dr. Wily didn’t have much variety in his expressions (and often times it seemed like his head was disconnected from his body, imo).
Ben Bates’ stuff, on the other hand, seemed to have a more natural feel to it, and the motions don’t look quite as static.
Spaz is still incredible at copying a the art style of some of the Complete Works covers, though, but there isn’t as much life to his work as Ben Bates’ stuff.
The more and more I see of Ben’s art, the more he’s becoming my favorite over Spaz… And I never thought I’d see the day.
I’m a bit apprehensive of Jonathan Hill’s work though for the upcoming story arc. From what I saw of his pages in the last Nintendo Power, they seemed… off. Of course I said the same for Chad Thomas and I grew to like his work, so we’ll just have to wait and see…
Well, I actually liked the work that Chad Thomas did for the 2nd arc. Granted, I was apprehensive of it when I saw his first attempt at the blue bomber, but the actual work he did for that MMPU-inspired was pretty neat, and he still draws the best Dr. Wily, imo.
Jonathan Hill’s stuff, though… I have to admit, I’m a little skeptical about. I think Chad Thomas is leagues above Jonathan Hill, from what I saw in the preview stuff in Nintendo Power.