Wasted Potential

[Perpetual Failure]

Alrighty I got yet another idea for a thread and again it is kind of negative so I hope no one takes offense!

What comic creators do you feel never lived up to their potential or otherwise disappointed you in some way? I am thinking mainly of people who were really good at doing comics but for some reason left the medium. Examples would be that you were sad when Stan Lee stopped actively writing comics in the 70's or when Alex Schomburg moved over to illustrating novels instead of comic covers after the golden age.

Actually my motivation for this thread was Al Williamson. I love his work, but it pains me that he never really did a whole lot of it. He has been in the comic business for decades but has spent the majority of his time as an inker. Even if he is a great inker, and is inking very good artists, I still feel a sense of loss that he didn't produce more actual artwork for publication. Other examples I can think of would be Mark Schultz and Dave Stevens, who both slowed down their output tremendously.

So what comic creators are you sad didn't do more work (or do better work)?

[Chad]

Great topic, though I didn't have to think for too long to come up with my answer.

DC was initially going to ask Alan Moore to take over the Superman books following the Crisis, but instead decided that John Byrne would do a better job. As consolation, they asked Moore to write Action Comics with the provision that he follow Byrne's plots. He replied "Sure, if he doesn't mind inking my drawings!"

[Red Oak Kid]

I wish Bernie Wrightson had done more comic book work.

[Mike Kuypers]

Mike Kaluta
Mike Parobeck (died too soon)
Don Newton (ditto)

[Allan Harvey]

Actually my motivation for this thread was Al Williamson. I love his work, but it pains me that he never really did a whole lot of it.

Don't forget that Williamson spent decades drawing comic strips rather than comic books (Secret Agent X9, Star Wars). His "sequential art" output is actually pretty high. Like you, though, I really wish he were drawing rather than inking. If I was a publisher, I'd give him a hundred grand and no deadline and ask him to draw a Flash Gordon graphic novel.

The three issues of Flash Gordon he did for King in the mid '60s? Some of the best comics ever.

[T GUy]

DC... asked Moore to write Action Comics with the provision that he follow Byrne's plots. He replied "Sure, if he doesn't mind inking my drawings!"

LoL, as they say on the wibbly-wobbly web. Perfect reply.

My regret is that we didn't see more work from Alex Toth. Even more, that we didn't see more of Jack Kirby's work without it being interfered with or cut short.

[MDG]

Don't forget that Williamson spent decades drawing comic strips rather than comic books (Secret Agent X9, Star Wars). His "sequential art" output is actually pretty high. Like you, though, I really wish he were drawing rather than inking. If I was a publisher, I'd give him a hundred grand and no deadline and ask him to draw a Flash Gordon graphic novel.

The three issues of Flash Gordon he did for King in the mid '60s? Some of the best comics ever.

Did you see the 2-issue Flash Gordon mini that Williamson did for Marvel about 10 years ago. Beautiful stuff.

But I think one reason that Williamson hasn't done a lot of pencilling work in the past 20 or so years is that he just isn't interested in drawing superheroes.

I wish Bernie Wrightson had done more comic book work.

Why are we talking about him in the past tense? Did something happen?

Actually, I often wonder what Wrightson's working on day-to-day. He's probably one of the greatest talents ever to work in comics.

Two names that come to my mind are Marshall Rogers and Trevor Von Eeden.

MDG

[Jonathan Bogart]

Jack Cole and Bernie Krigstein are at the top of my list, and I'm surprised nobody's mentioned them yet.

Wally Wood and Jim Steranko are two others that often come up in discussions like these.

[Red Oak Kid]

Bernie Wrightson

Why are we talking about him in the past tense? Did something happen?

Actually, I often wonder what Wrightson's working on day-to-day. He's probably one of the greatest talents ever to work in comics.

MDG

Nothing happened:o

He seems to be a regular on the convention circuit these days.

I should have completed the sentence, something like; I wish he had done more comic book work before moving on to other higher paying branches of commercial art like storyboards for movies.

I think he does some concept work for movies too. I think that is where he is given a movie script and comes up with drawings of how the characters and settings would look to him. Not a storyboard, but finished presentation drawings of how things could look.

[MWGallaher]

Rodolfo Dimaggio. He did some magnificent issues of Green Arrow before he moved on to, I think, Hollywood storyboarding. What interested me what how much his style seemed influenced by Dan Spiegle, but when he was asked about it, he didn't seem to know Spiegle, and instead said his style was influenced mainly by Lee Weeks, with whom he'd worked. But, at the time, Weeks was doing work that was obviously influenced by Spiegle..so I think it was second-hand...

[Kan-Man]

When I was actively collecting during the early 70s to the early 80s, I didn't know anything about the behind the scenes politics of the comic book industry, I just knew who I liked and who I didn't. And I remember each month buying my favorite comics and hoping that Neal Adams did the artwork. One of my first comics was Batman 243 and by that time he was almost done doing mainstream work for either DC or Marvel.

[Gingold]

For someone so influential and revered, Steranko's actualy comics output is pretty small. It would've been interesting if he had stayed in comics and kept pushing the boundaries of the medium. Who knows what cool stuff he would've done?

[dan bailey]

Mike Parobeck (died too soon)
Don Newton (ditto)

Gene Day belongs in that sad category as well.

[dupersuper]

Thinking of Dusty Abel makes me sad. I picked up the Superman annual he did, and it looked GREAT. Very open, nice flow...then he proceeded to do almost nothing the next 15 years, and what he did do looked like crap compared to the annual. All dark with jagged lines and ugly, rdiculous looking bulging veins on the arms...so sad.

[Allan Harvey]

Did you see the 2-issue Flash Gordon mini that Williamson did for Marvel about 10 years ago. Beautiful stuff.

It took me ages to find the second issue, but, yes, it's beautiful work by a master of the medium. His adaptation of the 1980 film is lovely too.

As to the wider question, I wish Jim Sherman had drawn more comics. His last few Legion jobs were fabulous. His few pages of Legion #300 I'd rank as some of the best the Legion ever had.

More Brian Bolland comics would be nice, rather than just covers: I remember when he used to draw Judge Dredd regularly. Or Adam Hughes for that matter.