Behind the Scenes of X-O Manowar: Birth - More art added

dino · Post by **dino** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 3:10 pm

With Archer & Armstrong: First Impressions on the horizon I thought I would post some of the behind the scenes materials for X-O Manowar: Birth, just the Behind the scenes of Harbinger: The Beginning thread (which I can't find right now)

First up 4 alternate dust jacket cover designs. We asked Anthony Castrillo to create a sketch of the cover we had in mind and to come up with some out of the box ideas. All his ideas were top quality, one in particular I love. Maybe one day we'll have him finish them for another project.

Added six more alternate dust jacket cover designs by Anthony Castrillo. Enjoy!

Along with Anthony's out of the box ideas, he also created a series of sketches of the initial cover idea. Below is the first version of the final X-O Manowar: Birth dust jacket cover.

Here is a second version that pulls back from the action. This is closer to the final framing

Anthony also sketched an alt version that replaced the outdoor background with an office lobby setting.

We had a very particular look we wanted for Lydia. She had to be submissive, sexy, in awe of X-O. Almost begging/praying to him for mercy. Anthony sketched a number of body positions and facial expressions.

In Sean's first version Lydia has a more classic damsel in distress expression, she looks awed and overcome by the situation. I love the detail in her hair and of course the art of the whole piece is fantastic! Below are Sean's first sketch and pencils.

Included in X-O Manowar: Birth is an all-new "The Rise of Lydia" story by Bob Layton and Mike Leeke. Below are the layouts and pencils for page one of the new story.

IanAlexavier · Post by **IanAlexavier** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 3:43 pm

Thanks for letting us see these!! I like the first two! Especially just the hand..

ManofTheAtom · Post by **ManofTheAtom** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 3:48 pm

viewtopic.php?t=20813

Daniel Jackson · Post by **Daniel Jackson** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 7:29 pm

I like the first image, but the fourth is a close runner up.

JustCallMeAric · Post by **JustCallMeAric** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 7:56 pm

Glad you guys selected the one you did

superman-prime · Post by **superman-prime** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 8:58 pm

very cool thanks for the insight

turbod16 · Post by **turbod16** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 11:57 pm

Very cool , thx for letting us check these out. The bottom right one looks good too.

Squirrel · Post by **Squirrel** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 12:34 am

I like the montage one, brings all the other characters to life right on the cover and makes you wanna jump into the book and get reading!!!

Zero · Post by **Zero** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 8:01 am

Very cool! Thanks for sharing.

I like the first image best.

Daniel Jackson · Post by **Daniel Jackson** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 10:19 am

Zero wrote:Very cool! Thanks for sharing.

I like the first image best.

Simple layout, but very effective.

Lightning Strike · Post by **Lightning Strike** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 11:45 am

Lightning Strike · Post by **Lightning Strike** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 11:45 am

Daniel Jackson wrote:I like the first image, but the fourth is a close runner up.

agreed

robb77 · Post by **robb77** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 1:55 pm

very nice

dino · Post by **dino** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 9:21 am

Added six more alternate dust jacket cover designs by Anthony Castrillo. Enjoy!

magnusr · Post by **magnusr** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 9:24 am

dino wrote:Enjoy!

Absolutely

/Magnus

turbod16 · Post by **turbod16** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 9:37 am

sweet

ManofTheAtom · Post by **ManofTheAtom** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 9:57 am

What, no alternate cover of Aric and Randy ridding an X-O bike built for two?

Daniel Jackson · Post by **Daniel Jackson** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 10:23 am

The like the one with that splits Aric between barbarian and the suit.

dino · Post by **dino** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 10:31 am

Daniel Jackson wrote:The like the one with that splits Aric between barbarian and the suit.

That was one we considered strongly. Bart Sears did a take on that a while back

Daniel Jackson · Post by **Daniel Jackson** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 10:38 am

dino wrote:
Daniel Jackson wrote:The like the one with that splits Aric between barbarian and the suit.
That was one we considered strongly. Bart Sears did a take on that a while back

I've always loved that artwork. It would be cool to see you do something like that on the number one issue.

yardstick · Post by **yardstick** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 11:47 am

wow.

etos45 · Post by **etos45** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 12:55 pm

I think it would have been neat if each of these was taken to completion and included in the HC.... something to think about for future releases, maybe?

JustCallMeAric · Post by **JustCallMeAric** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 1:00 pm

dino wrote:
Daniel Jackson wrote:The like the one with that splits Aric between barbarian and the suit.
That was one we considered strongly. Bart Sears did a take on that a while back

Great idea. I also liked the update on the classic cover. I really liked how the Harbinger HC had the original cover recolored on the inside. I would like to see something like that in all of the HCs.

yardstick · Post by **yardstick** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 1:01 pm

etos45 wrote:I think it would have been neat if each of these was taken to completion and included in the HC.... something to think about for future releases, maybe?

Or even if they were used as covers for future issues...

etos45 · Post by **etos45** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 1:03 pm

yardstick wrote:
etos45 wrote:I think it would have been neat if each of these was taken to completion and included in the HC.... something to think about for future releases, maybe?
Or even if they were used as covers for future issues...

Even better idea!

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Behind the Scenes of X-O Manowar: Birth - More art added

Behind the Scenes of X-O Manowar: Birth - More art added

Re: Behind the Scenes of X-O Manowar: Birth