iFanboy Upstarts: Julian Totino Tedesco

Have you ever been a big fan of a certain artist that most everyone else you knew never heard of? I’m not talking esoteric underground artists, but the artists already working in the mainstream that, for some reason or another, haven’t got their due. For years I felt that way towards Sean Murphy until he finally started getting his due with Joe The Barbarian, and now there’s another artist who’s taken his place in role of under-estimated artist: Julian Totino Tedesco.

You’ve seen the Argentinean artist’s work, but you may not have put a name to it; he’s done covers for all of Marvel’s Season One books as well as the recent John Carter of Mars series the publisher has done. He’s done a couple issues for Marvel like last month’s Venom #13.3, but that was far from the right platform to get his due. What made him stick with me was his art on two series: Boom!’s Unthinkable and the overlooked graphic novel Rift Raiders. The latter especially showed the artist in full control of his abilities, with the writer, Mark Sable, specifically writing the series as to best take advantage of the skills Tedesco had shown in his previous work. Since then he was snapped up by Marvel, but has primarily been, as I said, a cover artist. It’s rumored he worked on a larger project at Marvel that’s been held up with red tape and may never be published, but it’s only a matter of time before Tedesco is given the chance to grab people. Remember how artists like David LaFuente and Sara Pichelli became ‘overnight sensations’ when put on a big book? That’s Tedesco, just waiting for the chance.

Tedesco would be tailor-made for a stint on Ultimate Comics Spider-Man like the aforementioned LaFuente or Pichelli, but as a fan I’d love to see him join up with Rick Remender on Uncanny X-Force. If anyone could step into the artistic legacy Jerome Opeña put out there, Tedesco could do it. I’d bet money on it. Here’s a sample of his work to get your mind reeling.