Anthony castrillo wrote: The final layout for litho. Darren,Vlad, Anthony? Suggestions,comments? Red marker if you see any tangents or bad composition. Thanks, MAC

MAC, you didn't ask me specifically for any comments, but if I may...

The problem I see with your layout is that there doesn't appear to be a central focus within the composition for the eye to use as a point of balance.  What I mean by "balance" is how the weight of the compositional elements within the drawing are distributed.  There are no hard and fast rules where this is concerned, as there are different forms of design: symmetrical, asymmetrical, random, etc.  But its always good to approach a composition with a design goal in mind, IMO.  Otherwise, a composition can appear cluttered or haphazard, with figures just flying off in all different areas and appearing pasted on.  

Not saying this is the case with your layout; just sharing some background thoughts on design and composition.

One way to approach a piece like this is to try and create a design "shape" involving the elements within the picture.  Basic shapes; a pyramid (or inverted pyramid), a sphere, and so on.  You have a strong base (someone already pointed out that the two figures on the lower left, Archer and Armstrong I think, are juxtaposed a bit awkardly next to each other), but the power of that base isn't held up by the figures in the upper half.  Those figures, to my eye, aren't as carefully and creatively placed and just appear to be hanging in space...whereas the figures on the lower plane appear to be posed atop a base of some kind.  The composition therefore doesn't appear unified.

Solar's figure is distracting to my eye.  The leaning angle of his figure leads my eye right out of the picture before it's supposed to...and the figures to his left appear to be just pasted on (hence, the large area of negative space between them, Solar and NightMan (I think that's his name).

I suggest positioning the characters in the sky in such a way that they draw the eye DOWN towards the figures standing on the base, primarily Turok and Magnus (is that the name?  The guy w/ the "M" on his belt buckle).  THAT space appears to be the forward thrust of your entire composition, and all the visual motion of the characters should be directed towards that space, IMO.

Anthony, I'm confident that you'll recognize that I'm not being critical for criticism's sake.  You're a pro and I think you'll recognize what I'm talking about with the terms I used, even if they may be unfamiliar to some of the guys less experienced than you and I may be.

I got a lot out of Andrew Loomis' books regarding these issues, specifically Creative Illustration and Three-Dimensional Drawing (the revised edition of Successful Drawing; same book with extra pages).  Very hard to find books and expensive if you do; but well worth it to the working illustrator.  Neal Adams has also had some interesting things to say about design and composition in various interviews he's given.