Death Metal issue 2 

This comic book cover, “Death Metal issue 2,” was created by Stanley Artgerm Lau, likely using digital painting techniques. The effect imitates airbrushing, favored by comic book artists, in which a smooth, almost hyper-real surface is achieved. This digital rendering offers a seamless surface, devoid of brushstrokes or other tactile evidence of the artist's hand. But despite this industrial polish, the artwork is clearly hand-made; the composition, color scheme, and subject matter are carefully controlled. The image features Harley Quinn with a wolf in the background, a character in the DC Comics franchise. As a mass-produced object, this image has a clear connection to a very specific and complex mode of production: the commercial culture industry. Comics like “Death Metal” require not only the artist's skill, but the entire distribution apparatus of a publishing house. Looking closely, we can see this work as a manifestation of contemporary capitalism.