@ungoliantschilde / ungoliantschilde.tumblr.com
J. Michael Straczynski and Jesus Merino, with Letters by Rob Leigh, and Colors by Trisha Mulvahill.
Etrigan is one of the King’s best characters. And yet I totally get why most writers don’t want to use a rhyming demon on a regular basis. It’s a great concept that it is a complete pain in the ass to execute.
This one off issue is as close to perfect as it gets.
Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 1 # 504 by John Romita, Jr., with Inks by Scott Hanna, Colors by Matt Milla, and a Script by J. Michael Straczynski.
Thor, Vol. 3 # 06 Page 15, by Olivier Coipel, with Inks by Mark Morales, Colors by Laura Martin, Letters by Chris Eliopoulos, and a Script by J. Michael Straczynski.
I personally think you would be great on a Brave And The Bold style series, where every issue it’s a one shot by a different writer teaming up two unlikely heroes or maybe even villains. A great way to showcase some lesser known DC characters, have fun one-in-dones and get you drawing the wide range of the DC universe all in one!
I’ve always liked this idea. I don’t know how viable it really is today but it’s something I could get behind in a world where we get to make whatever we want.
Brave and the Bold and Marvel Team-Up are classic favorites older nerds like me. Great, great stuff. And the talent always brought their A-Game to those titles, because they were having fun. Read reprints of either series, because they’re just great fun from start to finish.
Unfortunately.
Neither series sells particular well. Not enough people buy those books. And they have tried over and over again - because the Editors at Marvel and DC absolutely LOVE those books. But the target audience is not the editors of Marvel or DC comics, not older nerds like me, and not great artists like Doc Shaner.
The target audience is 12-16 old kids that are reading their first comic book.
I can sit here and tell a 12 year old how awesome a book about Etrigan and Madame Xanadu going to an outer space casino and gambling for an amulet to help “I Vampire” out is gonna be. And it would be GREAT, so shut up.
But that 12 year will mostly be wondering if Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash or *maybe* Green Lantern shows up at all. And then they’ll ask a bunch of questions and eventually tell their Mom that the tall guy in a AC/DC t-shirt is yelling at them about comics and then the mom will find the Facebook group and BAM! Class-action lawsuit for me, with the collective plaintiffs being the overly sensitive mothers of children with poor taste in comics.
Read the trades of Brave and the Bold, Marvel Team-Up, and frankly A+X was really good too. So was Ultimate Marvel Team-Up. Straczynski did a Brave and the Bold run back in the earlier 2000s, and it’s worth finding. Especially the Aquaman/Etrigan issue.
As for Doc Shaner? I hope you keep making comics that make you enough money to want to keep making comics. You’re awesome dude, and people that shoehorn you into being the golden-silver age retro guy are dumber than the mothers currently suing me because their kids have bad taste in funny papers.
J. Michael Straczynski & John Romita, Jr.
Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 1 # 504 by John Romita, Jr., with Inks by Scott Hanna, Colors by Matt Milla, and a Script by J. Michael Straczynski.
the Mindless Ones attack Times Square!
Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 2 # 57 Pages 10-11, by John Romita, Jr., with Inks by Scott Hanna, Colors by Dan Kemp, Letters by Randy Gentile, and a Script by J. Michael Straczynski.
Silver Surfer: Requiem, Vol. 1 # 1 Page 14 by Esad Ribic, from a Script written by J. Michael Straczynski.
some artwork from the massively unpopular story-arc: Spider-Man: One More Day. Pencils by Joe Quesada, with Inks by Danny Miki, Colors Richard Isanove, and a Script by J. Michael Straczynski.
Personally, I thought the story was terrible, but the effect it had was exactly what the character needed in the long run.
Spider-Man had become stagnant, so a reboot allowed for new stories. And that stagnancy came from a largely controversial J. Michael Straczynski tenure as writer. Also, Civil War happened and Peter was revealed to be Spider-Man, resulting in Aunt May getting shot. A lot of bad stuff happened to Pete during House of M and Civil War. The result was that Spider-Man needed a reboot, whether we like it or not.
Spider-Man: One More Day was manure. Very, very pretty manure. And, great stuff has grown because of that manure ever since.
Joe Quesada pencilled an unpopular story, but he did NOT phone-in the artwork. One More Day was an unpopular but necessary editorial decision. But, hey, at least it was pretty.
the Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 1 # 482 by Jason Pearson, with Colors by Dave Kemp.
the Fantastic Four, Vol. 1 # 536 Second Printing Variant, illustrated by Bryan Hitch.
Saga of the Squadron Supreme # 1, Illustrated by Gary Frank, with Colors by Chris Sotomayor.
Superman: Earth One, Vol. 3, illustrated by Ardian Syaf, with Inks by Sandra Hope, Colors by Barbara Ciardo, and a Script by J. Michael Straczynski.
Thor, Vol. 3 # 08, by Marko Djurdjevic.
Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 1 # 513, Pg. 19, by Mike Deodato, Jr., with inks by Joe Pimentel, colors by Matt Milla, letters by Chris Eliopoulos, and a script from J. Michael Straczynski.
Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 2 # 39, illustrated by John Romita, Jr., with inks by Scott Hanna, colors by Dan Kemp, and a script from J. Michael Straczynski. this 'Nuff Said' issue pretty well sums up why Johnny is one of the best in the business. for starters, the whole issue was published without dialogue or narration. now, consider what is being shown in the pages I posted. Mary Jane Watson-Parker is a model. the opportunity for cheesecake is implicit. instead, we get a quiet look at Mary Jane. she goes to parties and she feels lonely. she goes back to her hotel early because she is lonely. she misses her husband, and she cannot sleep because of it. she does her job and she smiles in her bikini, but she misses her husband. beautiful, emotional, impactful, and true to life. drawing women in sexy poses standing next to guys in spandex with lots of muscles is the easy part. tell a story with no words. a story that does not have a clear action sequence. Johnny told a story about emotions and love, and he did it without words.
