Pipeline #521 - 05 June 2007

[Augie De Blieck Jr.]

This week:

* It's the return of the (so-called, but not really) one-liners!

-Augie

[goman]

...but can Augie be trusted?

Question of the week. Can we really trust you?

And I think Ian Churchill may have been the last big name artist attached to Uncanny X-men. I remember him being a big deal at the time at least. We see how that went. Maybe that burned them for a while.

[torippu]

Does Marvel really have a monthly book that they place the latest, greatest, up and coming artist on anymore? I agree that Uncanny X-Men used to be that book, but is there one today? Maybe New Avengers?

[Christopher Burton]

I want a trade paperback collection of William Van Horn's NERVOUS REX. 99% of you just said, "Who?" The other one percent muttered, "That sounds vaguely familiar."

I must fall into the sampling margin of error. Nervous Rex was such a charming little all-ages title (before anyone coined the term "all-ages). It's been awhile since I've read them but I have all nine issues in a box in the other room. Perhaps I'll pull them out again soon. They're due for a re-reading. William Van Horn is undisputably, I think, in the top three Disney Duck creators with Barks and Rosa. (I'd put Vicar at #4, but that's just me.)

If Nervous Rex were to be published, I think it might be well-served to present it in color. The original series was in b&w, but the covers were done in pastels, mostly. I always wondered what it would be like to have that palette extended to the story pages.

[D'ohboy]

I'd like to see Dave Johnson's 100 Bullets covers collected when the series ends.

[George Khoury]

Augie is right. Joe Mad is the last true superstar artist on X-Men. For me, it's the last time that I had any interest in Uncanny (and I was die-hard X fan). For a couple of decades, Uncanny was the measuring stick for success in sales and the top status for an artist. It's funny that this came up in the Image book a few times. Upon Claremont leaving, the books did lose some magic. With Jim Lee's departure, there was nothing there for me until Morrison and Quitely were there for that brief run.

For me, the X-Men aren't as uncanny as they used to be. There was a time when the whole team was mysterious and there were really no rules and there was an attachment to those characters... that's no longer the case. That surprise and mood to those characters isn't there anymore.

BTW, Churchill seemed destined for X-Men greatness before he was headhunted by Rob. He was just starting to get really good on Cable when he went to Coven and Heroes Reborn: Avengers. He's still has a good artist and had a nice career.

[torippu]

Augie is right. Joe Mad is the last true superstar artist on X-Men.

John Cassaday doesn't count as a superstar artist? Or are we relegating the discussion to only Uncanny X-Men?

[pmpknface]

Probablly, but we've also had Chris Bachalo! I love that guy's stuff!

[torippu]

Probablly, but we've also had Chris Bachalo! I love that guy's stuff!

I think that his star was bigger back during his Gen-X days...

[pmpknface]

I think that his star was bigger back during his Gen-X days...
Probablly, but then he did 25 CONSECTUTIVE issues - and STARTED the book. I think that helped. Now he does bunches of issues in a row with a few fill-ins here and there. Have you seen his 1/2 of the X-Men 200 cover or been reading his run? The man still has some serious chops!

I thought of buying the Witchblade issues he's done covers for JUST fr the covers. He's an artist I'd LOVE to have an art book from.

[Augie De Blieck Jr.]

UNCANNY was the book that the young up-and-comers hit their peak with. When they got so big that they could sell any book Marvel put them on, Marvel would put them on X-MEN. And, yes, this is strictly UNCANNY we're talking about here.

It was the pinnacle of any career at that point, from Romita Jr. (whose gone on to become even bigger) to Silvestri to Lee to even Joe Mad.

It's not the destination book it once was.

-Augie

[torippu]

Probablly, but then he did 25 CONSECTUTIVE issues - and STARTED the book. I think that helped. Now he does bunches of issues in a row with a few fill-ins here and there. Have you seen his 1/2 of the X-Men 200 cover or been reading his run? The man still has some serious chops!

I thought of buying the Witchblade issues he's done covers for JUST fr the covers. He's an artist I'd LOVE to have an art book from.

I used to love Bachalo's art! Of course, I think that he was helped out a lot in those early Gen-X issues by Mark Buckingham on inks. Steampunk was a major disappointment and then he fell off my radar screen for the next 5 years. I did pick up his first 2~3 issues of his run on X-Men with Mike Carey. The art was good, his storytelling wasn't as obtuse as I remembered it being and I loved the cover designs that he used. The real problem is that I just don't care enough about the X-Men anymore to read the books on a regular basis - Whedon & Cassaday on Astonishing being the one exception.

[torippu]

UNCANNY was the book that the young up-and-comers hit their peak with. When they got so big that they could sell any book Marvel put them on, Marvel would put them on X-MEN. And, yes, this is strictly UNCANNY we're talking about here.

It was the pinnacle of any career at that point, from Romita Jr. (whose gone on to become even bigger) to Silvestri to Lee to even Joe Mad.

Anyone remember who bridged the gap between Jim Lee & Joe Mad? I was still reading the X-Men books at the time. Whilce Portacio? Brandon Peterson? Andy Kubert?


It's not the destination book it once was.

-Augie
Agreed.

[George Khoury]

Anyone remember who bridged the gap between Jim Lee & Joe Mad? I was still reading the X-Men books at the time. Whilce Portacio? Brandon Peterson? Andy Kubert?

Agreed.

After Jim Lee, Whilce got the book. After Whilce, things got a little weird... Bob Harras had an eye for talent, but he had a difficult time when Whilce left. There were a lot of guys, like Peterson and Raney, who just weren't ready. Also, Romita Jr. had a nice little return performance... but it was nothing like his first run. I have to admit that Joe Mad's stuff was really fun to look at. It came in at the right time. (When I was interning at Marvel, Joe Mad was the only true superstar left at Marvel around 1995. He even redesigned that short-lived mutated Wasp during the days that the Avengers ended their first volume.)

[dancj]

I'd like to see Dave Johnson's 100 Bullets covers collected when the series ends.
James Jean's Fables covers are deserving.
There are probably enough John Tottleben Swamp Thing covers for a book too.

[pmpknface]

James Jean actually has 1 art book, it's just not Fables-centric.

I really liked that all of teh Promethea covers were collected into a comic of their own. :D

[pmpknface]

Anyone remember who bridged the gap between Jim Lee & Joe Mad? I was still reading the X-Men books at the time. Whilce Portacio? Brandon Peterson? Andy Kubert?

Agreed.

Take a look for yourself! ;)

http://www.uncannyxmen.net/db/covers/showgallery2.asp?fldAuto=5&ID=uncanny&title=Uncanny%20X-Men&page=19

[torippu]

Take a look for yourself! ;)

http://www.uncannyxmen.net/db/covers/showgallery2.asp?fldAuto=5&ID=uncanny&title=Uncanny%20X-Men&page=19

As always, you da man with the links to comic covers. Thanks! Brings back some good memories...

[pmpknface]

Hey, I try. If you think that's cool, we're picking put Bowen statues / MB's and trying to come up with cool covers to display them with!

CHECK OUT THIS THREAD! (http://statueforum.com/showthread.php?t=48859)