Joe Quesada

For some reason I just seen this guy at the bottom of my page in the CBR news widget and got to thinking about this guy and wondered if we had a thread on him and found this.

His art has been oddly polarizing for me. For a bit there I thought he was fresh and vibrant and had a lot going for his art. I think when I see his work now he is technically better, but he reminds me of a weirded out McFarlane with maybe better ability. But even still, I've grown to dislike his art for the most part. Oh occasionally I can love pieces he does. But I don't think he is a good artist for books. I see his art now as more like poster material and that kind of stuff grows old to me.

I'm not so much sure of his role as EIC at Marvel. I think 90% of what Marvel does now sucks, but they still can put out 10% material that very often looks and reads better than most of their competition. Unfortunately, that is too few and far between. The rest of Marvel looks like pure shit to me and he's overseeing it.

I find the more I think about it, the more the big names of the 90s are running things and I don't think it is for the better.

Quasada, Lee, McFarlane, Larsen all seem to have too much position of power and all came from the same era and all are putting out pretty much the same kind of drek under different labels.

I hate to say it, but I'd rather some other guys from maybe even some other eras be running the heavy hitting spots from comics. I don't think what they did for comics was good then and I don't think what they are doing for comics now is good for comics now. They don't appear to appreciate what made comics great before they were ever around.

I used to find Larsen as being one of the most creative and interesting in terms of dynamic art out of the group. I think his recent works look like he's been phoning it in and I'm sorry, as much as I've tried (and I have tried) I just have never found The Savage Dragon to be an interesting/great character. It's almost like a joke in some ways and it gets hard to take it serious when he draws it like crap and his stories have been watered down to being almost juvenile. I would feel better about him if he stopped doing Savage Dragon, teamed up with a real writer and stopped phoning in his artwork. His twitter feed is downright arrogant.

McFarlane is just dishing out the same shit month after month. His art looks just like 1993. He bores the hell out me whenever I see anything done by him or for Spawn. Spawn is one of the most over-rated 200+ issues series of all time. Every picture and cover looks the same. McFarlane is a sheep-herder who totally forgot how to get something else out besides Spawn. Yeah I know he has businesses. But to be honest, I'd rather he be the one to totally quit comics and just run his business. Anything done by him or anyone he has work on his stuff just looks like more him. Sucky same ole shit. Capes, guns, teeth and poses.

I feel like Quesada may have past his peak with Marvel. I don't know what he's turning Marvel into anymore. If they could make the 10% take more of the pie of the 90% shit slice, I'd dig him a lot more. I've never felt comfortable with him in charge. I'm not exactly looking back on the past decade of Marvel and thinking they kicked ass.

Has Lee totally quit drawing? I haven't seen anything by him in awhile personally. Out of all of these Artist/Big Wigs, I'd probably feel he has the most potential because when he does hit, he hits it pretty good. I've never been a big fan of his style especially with Williams finishes, but his artwork appears to have matured over the years and I like his work more now than I ever did back on his days of doing X-Men/Wildcats. When he put out a new book or did a run of comics, I'd admit to at least looking if not downright buying a lot of them eventually. To me the biggest rip is him being the big wig is and he basically took himself mostly out of doing comics.

I will add that any capable artist can look great with a great inker. You used to see the inking carrying it's weight and making books look good. These days, they try to do everything in photoshop and it starts rough and ends looking sloppy.

df1

I used to love Quesada's work, but over the years, the toll of being the boss at Marvel has caused his work to suffer and become largely inconsistent. His work is filled with the kind of mistakes an amatuer like me makes, and that is a big letdown.
As far as his work at Marvel goes, many of the things he has done have had large appeal to me.
Like putting Garth Ennis on the Punisher books. Beyond someone like Chuck dixon, Ennis is the only guy that should write him.
I liked the Ultimate line and the take on the characters, but, just like everything else that has been happening over there, most of it has an expiration date to it and the regular Marvel stuff with a few exceptions has become stunt filled money grabbers.

Admittedly, I am not completely up to date with most books from anyone because I quite buying them.
In fact my favorite books now are the Hellboy/BPRD/associated mini series. They show how it should be done, because even if a title focuses on one character, all of the titles he is putting out are part of their own expanding tapestry that is all leading to a single outcome. Just really well done.

I dislike most all of the 90'2 artists.
The best thing McFarlane has done was bring Greg Capullo back to drawing pages after 9 years of not drawing. Say what you want, but that guy is one of the best Artists working because of his dynamic and energetic pages.
Not a great Fan of Haunt, which on the surface looks like a Mashup o Spidey and Spawn, but thanks to Kirkman is actually a bit deeper than that. But, Capullo's work makes it worth checking out.

Larsen is a nice guy. As far as his work goes, he has become more af a channeler of Jack Kirby these days. Just look at anything he does, and its like he is attempting to put Kirby on the page.
I have not read Savage Dragon in years, but the few people I know who do enjoy it, say they do because it is done like an old school comic. Bright colors, fun action, over the top villains and Ideas and no angsty seriousness to it. Its just a comic for the sake of being a comic.

Lee is still the most accomplished, but he has pretty much been away from comics for about 12-15 years now. With the exception of the periodic mini series he has stuck mostly with design work and Editing.
I agree wholeheartedly that he needs to drop Williams as an inker.
Jim is a helluva nice guy though. Especially after he got me drunk on tequila up in Philly one year and tried to talk me into sitting in on a poker game with him.
(don't play poker with him ever, unless you are really good)

I still will check out his work when given the chance though.

The reason you see these guys running things now is because the companies are attempting to keep the books fresh, meaning closer to the public pulse. The older guys who you say you wish would run them, are a bit out of touch with the attitudes of the day.
People like us,(read; old bastards who cling to the comics) are not their target That is why you see these guys in there. People say its fanboys doing all of the nostalgia and all that, and that is brobably about 30% true, but the real nostalgia comes from all of us old grumblers who wish it was like it was when we were 12.

Now, unlike you guys, I like a lot of the things that have come out in the last few years. Mainly because I like hard edged stuff both to read and to write and have little interest in safe fluffy superhero fare.
Probably why I follow more Vertigo type books (TPB waiter) over Superheroes.
If I was in charge of Marvel comics, Peter Parker and many of them would be dead and replaced by new people who took up the mantle.
Which is probably why I like Morrisons Batman and Robin far better than regular Batman. After a while, you run out of actual growth for the characters and just start eating your own cud.

My favorite artist of the last decade is Bryan Hitch. If my work is moving in any direction, it is in his.
He just blows away everyone and is 90% of the time well worth the wait.

Honestly though I think I am just getting over Superheroes. None of the companies are making much effort to create anything new.

Invincible in my opinion is the best new Superhero creation in years. It properly draws from the right sources and even has some fun in the work.

Everything else, like Quesada, is just worn out.