Chuck Austen.....Writer and Artist?

[spaz]

So I'm reading Elektra written by Bendis and drawn by Chuck Austen. Left wondering if this is the same Chuck Austen who wrote X-men, Avengers and is hated by a lot of comic fans. Personally I don't think he's that bad. Wouldn't buy any of his books he's written but I wouldn't thrash him like everyone else has.

[Expletive Deleted]

Yeah, same guy.

[Kirayoshi]

Yeah, same guy.He also wrote and pencilled the Ghost Rider one-shot for Marvel's Mangaverse. Quite possibly the single worst comic book Marvel has published in the last twenty years. If you check out the Marvel Mangaverse tpb, skip that chapter. It ain't worth it and doesn't really do anything for the main plot. Go directly to the Punisher story by Peter David and Lea Hernandez. Much better.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Austen also pops up in DC in the late 80's ! He did some good art from an issue of Action Comics Weekly featuring the Phantom Lady ! :D

[Young Avenger]

Wait a minute, Chuck Austen is an artist too?

[The Shadow]

Wait a minute, Chuck Austen is an artist too?
He started as an artist.

For all the flack the guy gets he writes entertaining stories and draws well.

[Magneto_X]

Austen even drew several issues of Miracle Man, but his last name was "Beckum" on that.

[thik_3rd]

Austen even drew several issues of Miracle Man, but his last name was "Beckum" on that.
he actually wrote a few issues of it too, under the pen name alan moore.

[The Foreigner]

he actually wrote a few issues of it too, under the pen name alan moore.

Chuck Austen also wrote an obscure series from the late 80's called "Watchmen."

[Will.S]

Wow spaz is just full of questions.

[abyss]

At least his drawing skills are better than his writing ones. And even than he isn't that great of an artist I did not like his Elektra or War Machine.

[Expletive Deleted]

That was during his CGI phase (http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=400). His straightforward pencil art is a bit better.

[Ivan Isaacs]

He also drew his porn comics "Hardball" and... ehm... that other one.

He also wrote and pencilled the Ghost Rider one-shot for Marvel's Mangaverse. Quite possibly the single worst comic book Marvel has published in the last twenty years. If you check out the Marvel Mangaverse tpb, skip that chapter. It ain't worth it and doesn't really do anything for the main plot. Go directly to the Punisher story by Peter David and Lea Hernandez. Much better.

And I think that the Ghost Rider story was the best one next to "Avengers Assemble" while I didn't like the Punisher one. :D

[TJ Shoun]

I loved Austen's work.

I wish he'd come back to mainstream comics.

Specifically his Superman: Metropolis (where he wrote the best take on the Supes/Jimmy Olsen relationship EVER), The Eternal, and War Machine.

Hell... I liked his X-Men, Avengers, Superman, Worldwatch, and JLA too -- but whatever.

(Didn't care for his work on The Call, though.)

I really don't like manga-style storytelling but I'm gonna buy his upcoming baseball comic this spring.

I'll probably order and read his porn comics one day too, since I like his take on sexuality and male-female relationships.

I'm glad he's at least writing comics again, even if it's not superheroes.

[Magneto_X]

Wasn't The Eternal a porn comic?

[Shellhead]

I've only read one comic that was drawn by Chuck Austen, one of the later issues of Elementals. (I think it was Elementals, vol. 2, #4) It was really bad artwork. The basic anatomy of the characters wasn't awful, and the backgrounds were okay, but the poses were odd and there was absolutely no flow to the action. Each individual panel was an odd scene that seemed to have no connection to any other panels on the page, except for the coincidental appearance of the same characters.

It was so disappointing, because this was a big battle between two teams that had been anticpated for several issues. The actual battle wasn't a huge confusing melee, it was more like capture the flag, with both teams scattered across a section of wilderness, stalking each other in solo or in teams of two. Willingham's writing salvaged the mess, using dialogue to help convey what the art was supposed to be showing us. Btw, the first volume of Elementals was a great comic, several years ahead of most of the industry in terms of storytelling.

Anyway, despite my dislike of Austen's work, I would reluctantly say that I prefer his writing to his artwork. Chuck actually is an okay writer when he is working with characters without much history, judging by his work on Exiles. I think that he never really understood why Willingham's mature stories worked so well, and tended to imitate the mere trappings of Bill's style, with crude jokes, extreme violence, and heavy innuendo. That's a shame, because Willingham works with those same tools and soars far above Austen because Bill tells great stories and gives us real character development.

[Ivan Isaacs]

Wasn't The Eternal a porn comic?

No. There were however some sex scenes in it. Sometimes pretty radical ones.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Anyway, despite my dislike of Austen's work, I would reluctantly say that I prefer his writing to his artwork. Chuck actually is an okay writer when he is working with characters without much history, judging by his work on Exiles. I think that he never really understood why Willingham's mature stories worked so well, and tended to imitate the mere trappings of Bill's style, with crude jokes, extreme violence, and heavy innuendo. That's a shame, because Willingham works with those same tools and soars far above Austen because Bill tells great stories and gives us real character development.


Willingham works best on Fables. Thats where his work is best suited for I think. His Robin wasn't that much good after Stephanie Brown and his "Days of Vengence " dragged along.

Willingham and Austen do have something in common. Thier attitudes towards cynical fans can be pretty mean. Like when Willingham took major heat for writing a long term charactor in a way no one believed and then gave the " How Do Ya Like Them Apples ." response.

[riftt]

my only experience with chuck austen is MAX war machine which i thought was great. People say his x-men and the rest suck, but most internet comic fans say everything sucks so im keeping an open mind.