Bryan Hitch’s Ultimate Comics Studio

One of my all-time favorite artists, who has made quite a name for himself, especially over the last ten years, is British artist Bryan Hitch. I first remember seeing Bryan’s art over 20 years ago in some of Marvel’s British comic book titles. At the time his style reminded my of Alan Davis’ work. Bryan’s art style would continue to grow and mutate, often emulating the very latest art trend, until his own unique style was established.

To American comic book fans that would be his Wildstorm work on The Authority progressing to DC Comics’ JLA and finally to Marvel’s The Ultimates and The Fantastic Four.


What distinguishes Bryan’s work from other artists is his fanatical attention to detail and talent for drawing panoramic crowd and fight scenes. Not since Neal Adams younger days has a comic book artist captured the sheer human emotion and body language and broad sweeping scope in comic books.


In Bryan’s new book, Bryan Hitch’s Ultimate Comics Studio, published by Impact Books with a foreword by Joss Whedon, the writer/artist shares some of his comic book creation secrets.


This is not a step-by-step instruction manual on how to draw comic books as Bryan is quick to point out. Rather it is an examination as to how Bryan creates characters, page layouts, his prep work and finished product, including inking and coloring.


He places high emphasis on accuracy, proper research, careful and meticulous rendering and page layout and especially the importance of being totally professional especially when it comes to meeting deadlines.

The book comes packed with Bryan’s illustrations and includes to-the-point written explanations, suggestions and observations. Besides being a beautiful book to look it is also a powerful reference tool to use when, and if, you decide to create your own comic book art.