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San Diego ComiCon 2004: Rich Bernatovech and Luciano Vecchio |
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It was great to connect with Rich Bernatovech and Luciano Vecchio at the San Diego ComiCon. Many Titans fans are familiar with Luciano's work through his many wonderful renditions of the Titans universe characters. What some of you may not know, is that Luciano is a professionally published comic book artist. Both Rich and Luciano have been hard at work on their original series, Sentinels. Sentinels Book 1: Footsteps was published in 2003. The series is written by Rich Bernatovech with art by Luciano Vecchio. I first saw Sentinels at a convention in New York. Luciano's art caught my eye immediately. I chatted with Sentinels' author and creator, Rich Bernatovech, to discover he is a major Titans fan. He was a longtime member of the old TTalk APA [Amateur Press Alliance] in the 1980s and 1990s. TTalk was a fan-club-by-mail before the internet days, where Titans fans would trade stories, art, and gossip about the Titans series. I was a member myself in 1995, during the last year of TTalk.
Sentinels is a superhero team book with divergent characters and an intricate backstory. The current Sentinels are the children of the first Sentinels team, who were obliterated in a mysterious mission. The team gathers together once again, to encounter demons, aliens and more. Think Infinity Inc. crossed with Titans mixed with Elementals. I bought the Sentinels book and I started reading when I got home. Good stuff. I really got into it after the first 3 chapters or so. I think releasing them as a series of trade paperbacks is a REALLY good idea. The problem with a lot of indies? You read the first issue, and it's usually a long story arc... as a consumer, you wonder... is it worth getting invested in? Will there be a #2? And when will it come out? So this approach really works. Plus, at $14.95 for the equivalent of 8 issues? That's a bargain in today's market. At first, I was a little overwhelmed by the amount of characters and info in the first chapters. Then, I started to get to know each of them. The feel and the pacing is good. Reminds me of Titans [of course!] with some Elementals influence as well. And Luciano's art is very good, of course!
It was great to finally meet Luciano at the San Diego ComiCon. I've been a fan of his work for awhile. Luciano is a really nice guy and totally dedicated to his craft. His work just keeps getting better. I enjoyed the book a lot. I was looking forward to reading a new chapter every night-- which is a good sign. If anyone is a fan of team book superheroics, I suggest you give the book a look! You can find more information and order it at The Sentinels Website. Be sure to check out the gallery of that website for some original GEORGE Pérez renditions of the Sentinels cast. And check out Luciano's fantastic character designs.
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