Drawing Comics

I'm pretty sure your wording is saying that the Marvel Way was the right way and today's way is what is wrong with comics. I couldn't agree more.

One doesn't have to be in love with Marvel to appreciate the old Marvel Way of comics. But I find even Marvel has forgotten the old Marvel Way of comics.

I used to have that book. One area I distinctly remember was showing the creation of a cover. They had a Nova cover in what looked like a library room with Spiderman and they were showing strong cover shots. It's amazing, but the one they called bad would be better than about 95% of what passes for a cover today. They showed a somewhat dynamic cover giving you a good idea of what to expect inside but the camera angle wasn't dramatic enough. So instead, they redrew it with a different camera angle and perspective and it further emphasized the drama. And at the same time, you had a sense of what to expect in the book.

Today, more often than not, I get a coloring book poster shot or a group fan out shot or some random shot where the book's character is supposedly looking cool. Okay, maybe 1/2 the time they accomplish making it look cool. But even that is debatable. What they fail to do is give any sense of drama or why should I buy this comic? I have absolutely no concept of what to expect inside.

You wanna know what I think is one of the worst comics for this? Spawn. Ever flipped through a stack of Spawn comics and looked at the covers? It's all pretty much the same exact cover just a different shot of him looking creepy and imposing. Over and over and over and over again. I mean, it is some of the most uninspiring covers of all time. Sure, some of them look cool. But after 200+ issues, I have never had any idea what to expect if I actually bought the comic. Its amazing to me that this concept they have still works. I honestly think the people who actively collect today ask so little of comics. We've basically made the job easy for creators today. Just draw a sketchbook cool shot like you have since you were a kid. That's EASY for a comic creator. What's hard is making a dynamic cover that gives you an idea what is inside and teases you to buy the comic. That is totally missing today.

I look at clips and books and articles of old creators and I always get the sense that they felt like they had to do better or they were worried they weren't doing things good enough. Almost like they needed to prove their selves to everyone every month. Almost like they were worried that someone else would come along and do things better than them. It's amazing. They actually cared about their craft. They actually wanted to do things better and better. They slaved over their work.

Today, I see artists doing the same thing they have done for 20 years and do it no better than they did 20 years ago. Check out Liefeld. Okay, I'll say over 20 years that he has improved and in fact, I find him to be one of the more dynamic artists of the original Image force. But look at his figures, his drawings, his placements. Its the same. And compared to the greats of yesteryear, if the editors and leaders of yesteryear were still in place today. I would wonder if Liefeld would even have a job. Thing of it is, he has enough talent that he would have been forced to have gotten better. And he would have.

Today, he's allowed to do things the same way he always has and be rewarded handsomely for it. And one by one the greats from the past die off or can't get work.

All in all, the whole situation is sad. The lack of leadership to me might be the biggest problem. I miss creators who were scared of their editors. Not ones who say their editors work for them.