Tag Archives: pirate art

Review: Pirate Mermaid Prints

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Rating: ★★★☆☆
David Delamare
www.aviddelamare.com/mermaids.html

OK mate – first thing you should know when decorating yer cabin/office/rec-room – old world maps, as great as they are, *can* be overdone. Proper pirate wall decor requires variety. It requires color and texture. It requires bare-chested mermaids.

Artist David Delware has released a series of three prints, each featuring various encounters between pirates and mermaids. They’re pretty, and they’re large (review prints were a hefty 10″ tall and 20″ wide.) All of them make fine use of “candlelight” coloring, focusing heavily on warm golds and with most other colors (with the exception of some blues) being rather muted for a nice, old-worldy effect.

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Review: Blackbeard the Pirate

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Rating: ★★★★☆
Blackbeard the Pirate
by Richard Becker
www.pirate-tales.com

In a world where pirate comic books come and go – frequently dying off before they have a chance to find their footing (R.I.P. El Cazador and Scurvy Dogs), it’s refreshing to note that Bloodthirsty Pirate Tales, being the well researched, historically accurate comic-book telling of Blackbeard’s story, lasted a full eight years from beginning to end. There’s only one problem – it came and went well before the current boom in pirate popularity. Continue reading →

Review: The Pirate Art Book

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Rating: ★★★☆☆
The Pirate Art Book: 17 Years of Drawing Sea Rovers
www.pirate-tales.com

Richard Becker has quite the history as a pirate artist. From designing shirts for Sea Wolf Clothing and covers for No Quarter Given, and right through his two comic book series “Bloodthirsty Pirate Tales” (a limited run over several years telling the historical story of Blackbeard) and “Pirate Tales” (his newer, ongoing series of historical pirates in general), it would seem he must have illustrated every conceivable pirate subject by now.

The Pirate Art Book: 17 Years of Drawing Sea Rovers, is a testemant to exactly this – nearly two decades of pirate art summed up into 64 pages of black and white illustrations. What’s inside should appeal to a wide variety of pirate enthusiast… Continue reading →

Review: Pirate Tales

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Pirate Tales Issue #2
www.pirate-tales.com

The world of pirate comicbooks has been precarious at best. As soon as a new title enters the market – be it good or bad – it quite often fades into oblivian before you can even give it a fair chance. Not so with “Bloodthirsty Pirate Tales,” a historically-based comic book series that primarily traces the exploits of Blackbeard. “Bloodthirsty Pirate Tales” managed to stay alive for a full eight years – virtually an eternity for the pirate comic genre. And even though they only managed an average of one comic per year, they nontheless left a fine legacy, and are surely remembered fondly by many a pirate enthusiast. Continue reading →

Review: El Cazador

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Rating: ★★★★☆
El Cazador
by Chuck Dixon, Steve Epting, and Frank D’Armata
published by Cross Gen (no longer in business)

It’s been some time since I’ve picked up a comic book, but El Cazador was something I just couldn’t pass up. The artwork is simply beautiful, and the storyline is a rich mixture – realistic enough to be possible, but polished enough to keep the romance of the high seas (free from scurvy, rats, and ripe smelling shipmates.) The story revolves around the Donessa Cinzia Elena Maria Esperanza Diego-Luis Hidalgo, a.k.a. Lady Sin, an oh-so-sexy she-captain who nontheless remains fully and realistically clothed throughout the series’ first four issues (and one assumes thereafter, but we can always dream.) Continue reading →

Review: Scurvy Dogs

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Rating: ★★★★☆
Scurvy Dogs
by Andrew Boyd and Ryan Yount
www.scurvy-dogs.com

The writers of Scurvy Dogs claim time and time again that “pirates are the new monkeys.” I must confess that I only half understand that statement, but deep in my heart I still know it’s true. Similar could be said of their comic book, as I can’t fully understand how the same batch of comically stereotyped pirates (led by Blackbeard himself) can fight both Portuguese Lepers and Vikings from the future while still finding time to work in highrise offices and chase after tankers full of Tang. Nope, I don’t get it – but this comic is so funny it doesn’t really matter. Whether our pirates are picking fights with monkeys in a martini bar or plotting mutiny from their cubicles, this comic is a demented taste of Pirate Heaven. Continue reading →