NGN FAVORITES: COMIC BOOKS II-ARTISTS & WRITERS

If we took the greatest artist and the greatest writer. We put them in a room together and asked them to create a masterpiece together. Want to know what they would make? A comic book. Neal Adams had a quote (that I can't remember exactly or find of course) that said the same thing. And it is true. With equal showing of each persons ability, a comic book would be exactly that. In the comic book world, generally speaking, the artist gets the credit for great comic books. It is the art that draws (no intended pun, but meh) people in, and the stories are what keeps them coming back. Although I must admit, artwork that isn't of my own preference can severely take away from a story. I've seen perfect "wordless" comic books, that told the story without them, but even then somebody had to write a story for the artist to follow. The true under valued are the inkers, colorists, and letterers haha

Writers

• Scott Snyder
• Todd McFarlane
• Fabian Nicieza
• Geoff Johns
• Alan Moore
• Frank Miller

Loved Snyder's run on Batman in the New 52 era, on all levels really. Character portrayals, revamped origins, all of the story arcs from Court Of Owls to Zero Year, and all in between and beyond. Only got a taste of Spawn, but I liked it and of course credit goes to fellow Canadian (just found that out haha), Todd McFarlane. Fabian was part of my my childhood with his work on X-Men. Although he overdoes them, Geoff Johns has created a Green Lantern, and now Justice League world that was...is?....New 52 Green Lantern and Justice League was good reads haha Moore and Miller are almost mandatory in some circles haha Watchmen, Swamp Thing, The Dark Knight Rises, Sin City, 300, the list goes on.

Artists

• Adam Kubert
• Andy Kubert
• Alex Ross
• Greg Capullo
• Todd McFarlane
• Jim Lee

I've mentioned in previous postings about having no Batman, then finding Marvel Comics and loving their universe, most notably the X-Men. That is how the Kubert brothers make their way in, and stay even today. Ironically there is some Kubert material in what I returned to, Batman. Alex Ross' work is flawless, I just wished his style would include all the looks and not just the classics. Capullo on Spawn and of course Batman during the New 52. Jim Lee and fellow Canuck, Todd McFarlane have actually gotten even better than when I was a young kid reading Marvel and the seeing the launching of Image and WildStorm.

No shocker that this is another ever evolving list. But, these will always remain in at least a Top 50 or 100 situation. Sometimes the era and the technology impacted and hindered some peoples art abilities. And of course censorship may have held both writers and artists back from unleashing their true talents.

A WTF GOES OUT TO DC COMICS

Rebirth. Another relaunch? If Dan Dido and Jim Lee want to be like Marvel so bad, just jump ship already. In regards to comic books, it was the only valid statement in a DC v Marvel conversation. DC Comics had relaunched/renumbered just the one time, where Marvel seemed to do it quite often. Haven't seen anything that has verified this, but if the rumors are true, I am not happy about that haha

I understand some of the possible reasons I have come across. Shows like Arrow and The Flash bringing in new fans, and wanting a product that is similar to that of the television show. It happened to me with Green Lantern. I watched the movie in 2011, didn't mind it at all, then began to read the comic books. Yes, I enjoyed Ryan Reynolds' Green Lantern. I am thinking it is because I was only aware of the character, because I will admit now that the comic book is better and understand why that franchise is in reboot mode. I got into the comic book version and didn't expect things to be the same as the movie. A lot of people seem to forget that the shows/movies are adaptations of the comic books. I only point this out as I am curious as to what Dan and Jim have planned if their other forms of media become flops and failures? Rumors have it that Supergirl and Legends Of Tomorrow are up in the air in regards to there being second seasons.
In all honest, DC Comics should have done one of two things. First, they shouldn't have revamped and simply renumbered. Their top titles like Detective Comics, Batman, etc were approaching issue number 1000. Issue number 1001, should have been 1. They didn't do this so, secondly, they should have had a unshakable commitment to what they were doing. Some titles throughout the New 52 era, weren't in print long enough to really get any traction and make sense of things. They did  show commitment, just in the wrong way. Convergence took over for a couple of months, which for some people meant that if you weren't interested in the storyline, then you were left with nothing to read. When did they decide to not simply do as they always have done and simply made a new temporary title that tied into other permanent titles. I usually try to be pro-DC Comics all the time, but this is a hard one. As a Batman fan (ya, ya typical of me right?) I now have to deal with Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo leaving the title, then whatever DC Comics decides to do with the goddamn Batman and his soiree of characters. The only saving grace is that Snyders' replacement is James Tynion IV, who we've been given tastes of his writing style throughout Snyder's run on Batman. And also, what happens to the good things that came from the New 52 relaunch? Again with Batman, I enjoyed some of the villains backstories being updated (Mr. Freeze, Scarecrow, etc).

I am sure everything will be good. Just a matter of overlooking this almost comic book cliche of relaunches, and revamps. I enjoy movies and television shows too, I just don't expect the comic books to be the ones to change and mirror the live action. Save that for new titles that are separate from the main comic book universe. I didn't read the Smallville comic books, but thought that they were an amazing idea. I enjoyed Batman '66 for a brief period, and have been wanting a Batman (1989) series. Perhaps it is time for some change atop DC Comics. Till next time, stay Nerdy!