The winner of the 2013 ComicsAlliance prize for Raddest Superhero Art, Filipe Andrade draws some of the coolest pictures we've seen in recent years. His drawing style is an uncanny blend of wild, kinetic line work and fine, intricate detail, which made his stint on Captain Marvel one of Marvel Comics' best looking productions last year. We'd been wondering where Andrade would pop up next and got our answers when Marvel released its solicitations for books going on sale in June. The artist's next big gig is Figment, written by Jim Zub (Skullkickers, Samurai Jack) and inspired by the Journey Into Imagination attraction at the EPCOT theme park at Disneyworld, starring a steampunky inventor called Dreamfinder and his dragon Figment.

I'm a pretty big fan of Disney lore with respect to theme parks. The story elements the imagineers build into every ride or other attraction are always interesting, even peculiar, and in many cases the deeper narratives behind the attractions have remained mysterious for decades. That's why the Disney Kingdoms comics are a cool idea. The rides wouldn't work if they were burdened with delivering linear plot points, but the tone and worlds are so well defined that visitors experience the adventures in that visceral way that only Disney parks can offer. But consequently, you want to return to those worlds and explore them further. Outside of a ludicrously budgeted filmic experience along the lines of Disney's Tron sequel, the best way to immerse yourself in a fantastical world is in comic books.

That said, I've no familiarity at all with Journey Into Imagination. I gather it's about an inventor called Dreamfinder who was part of the original attraction but hasn't been seen in many years, and the Journey Into Imagination mascot Figment, a cute little dragon.

It doesn't really matter; I know Andrade's drawing it, and he is a fine choice to take the reader to unreal places. See, while Captain Marvel demonstrated the artist's exaggerated, almost brazen style of drawing, the book took place in the contemporary world. What some Captain Marvel readers haven't seen is Andrade's illustration work, which take the observer into dark dystopias and hyper-colored dreamscapes. Marvel teases the book with questions like "What is the Academy Scientifica-Lucidus?" and "Who is Blarion Mercurial?" and "What is the Integrated Mesmonic Spark Convertor?" I have no idea what those are, but I want to see Andrade draw them.

Here are some never-before-seen pages from Andrade, along with the Figment #1 cover by John Tyler Christopher. The book goes on sale in June.

 

Elements based on Figment ©Disney
Elements based on Figment ©Disney
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Elements based on Figment ©Disney
Elements based on Figment ©Disney
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Elements based on Figment ©Disney
Elements based on Figment ©Disney
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Elements based on Figment ©Disney
Elements based on Figment ©Disney
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Elements based on Figment ©Disney
Elements based on Figment ©Disney
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Elements based on Figment ©Disney
Elements based on Figment ©Disney
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Elements based on Figment ©Disney
Elements based on Figment ©Disney
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Elements based on Figment ©Disney

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