ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, September 15, 1996 TAG: 9609160007
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 14 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: WHAT IS ART?
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
Kevin Sharpe always loved the Incredible Hulk.
Growing up in Louisa, about 25 miles east of Charlottesville, Sharpe used to watch the old television show with Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno. Then he became a dedicated fan of the comic book series on which the show was based. He got into other comic book characters, primarily the superheroes.
And one day it occurred to him: I can do this.
``I just thought it was amazing that you could actually work on those books,'' he said.
So, he practiced drawing, took art classes in high school, and attended comic book conventions to peddle his talents to the big comic book publishing houses. That led to free-lance work with DC Comics and Harris Comics, where he illustrated two issues in the comic book series featuring the cult character Vampirella.
Sharpe, 22, lives in Blacksburg. He is working for a smaller, independent publisher on a serial, loosely based on Norse mythology, titled ``The Norse Saga.'' He also has created a character named Grey Wolf, an American Indian-turned superhero in a post-nuclear holocaust world.
Cheery stuff to be sure, but is it art?
Sharpe says it is, despite the snobby vibes he picks up about comic book art from art schools and other art institutions. ``They look down on comic books so much, and I challenge that,'' he said.
Sharpe compares comic books to movies in their structure and form, with words and pictures used together to tell a story. He said comic book artists pay special attention to detail, emotion, anatomy and perspective that makes their work unique.
``I don't see how that sort of expression is not art,'' he said. ``I mean, if William Shakespeare and Michelangelo got together on a comic book, would anybody not call it art? I don't think so.''
LENGTH: Short : 43 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: Detail from Kevin Sharpe's "Angus."by CNB