TIM TRUMAN (USA)
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GUNS OF THE DRAGON WAS THE MASTERPIECE OF OUR GENERATION AND IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN A FULL SERIES AND GIVE TIM TRUMAN THE OTHER KEYS TO ANYTHING ENEMY ACE AND I'LL BE HAPPY.
...that's a lotta capslock. You'll forgive me my excitement however -- not only is GotD a fun adventure, it had biting meta, interesting weaving of history into fiction and an excellent grasp of Hans as a character. Also, I love random dynamics that can work and by gosh, is the entire Bat Lash-Biff Bradley-Hans trio fun. (With the extra Chop-Chop dose, who gets his due a little bit.) The comic is set in a very specific time and setting, and very much open and close, but there's a reason why I joked about a "full series." I would have loved to see these folks in a longer adventure series.
Also, Truman has given a lot of expression to Hans within the limited typical Hans range--and IT HAS GIVEN ME MY FAVORITE PANEL, BAR NONE

Look, nobody else has given me a Hans who rolls his eyes when he's just done with people, and you'd think there would have been more but no! Apparently Truman had to do it. God bless that man.
In general, I think Truman did an amazing job and while I knew of his name through comics osmosis (Grimjack is his best known work), I never really read anything of his. I read this only because of Hans. And while I haven't had much time to seek out the rest of Truman's work, I always stop to stare at his art whenever I see it posted. His inking work and character work is great. I would absolutely love to see him do something with Hans again.
Last note: you'll see it in some of the comic pages below but it appears that Guns of the Dragon was originally going to be titled Dragon Island -- I haven't found anything as to why the name change but I suspect that GotD was a better marketable title? Snappier than Dragon Island and a bit more in tune with the plot, though DI is just as good of a title as well. Shooting a guess out there, no idea.
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We don't have much for Truman here, but what we have is fun to look!
✠ Commission, 1998
I assume this might have been during the comic's run, given the date. I love the poker card detail -- I know Weston has also used it in one of his pieces as well. More people should use it, haha.
In general, great hatching and inking here.
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Enemy Ace by Tim Truman |
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✠ Commission, 2010
I remember seeing this on some random site soooo many years ago, unsourced, forgot about it for years, and now the only place I found it...was on Truman's own site! Very randomly, might I add, when trying to make sure to find a place to look at Truman's work.
Overall, another lovely Hans. He almost looks older, which I think is funny. But it's interesting that the only other commission Truman has done came almost 12 years later!
✠ Guns of the Dragon issue 1 p.12
A wee warning for racial slurs, because Bat Lash is that old
A very nice B&W page, and signed! And only on sale for $100! I envy the person who can get it for that price... Not anymore LMAO! It's been sold and the page has been taken down. Well, uh, good thing I saved this art, huh?
✠ Guns of the Dragon issue 2 p.12
A wee warning for a racial slur, because...well, it's racist but (unfortunately) relevant for the plot twist!
One of my favorite pages -- and the reason why I mentioned Chop Chop getting his due. While Truman uses the racist version of Chop Chop, he turns that around on its head with his writing. A potshot at tourists, it's great.
And while this page features the punchline, I love the Billy Mitchell joke--AND BAT LASH FEARING FOR HIS LIFE LOL. Hans enjoying someone's schadenfreude? Say it ain't so!
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Guns of the Dragon #2 pg12 |
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✠ Guns of the Dragon issue 2 p.19
From the description of the page:
Enemy Ace and Bat Lash. Truman's note outside of the art - "Pteranodons are highly flammable - so use caution when shooting flying Pteranodons!"
Another nice piece. You can find it over here.
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Guns of the Dragon #2 p. 19 by Tim Truman |
Click Here to visit my Art Gallery on comicartfans.com! |