MY FIVE FAVORITE COMIC BOOK ARTISTS

It's been some time since I did a little list like this, but for whatever reason, not long ago I was thinking about which artists I consider to be my favorites of all time in the comic book field. It honestly didn't take much thought at all to come up with five; these guys all came to mind immediately with very little head-scratching or consideration over anyone else. So in alphabetical order, here they are:

• Mark Bagley: I first encountered Bagley as the regular artist on AMAZING SPIDER-MAN when I became a regular ongoing reader with issue 360 (which was a fill-in, but Bagley returned for the next installment). At the time I wasn't all that enamored with him; he seemed to draw people's heads too small for their bodies sometimes, and as his time on AMAZING went along, he drew Spider-Man's eyes larger and larger until they seemed to take up about 75 percent of his head. But over the years, on THUNDERBOLTS and his subsequent work for Marvel, I've come to love his expressive style. I really like the way he draws musculature; his characters are all sinew and strength, and I love the way he draws faces these days. Plus, in Tom DeFalco's COMICS CREATORS ON SPIDER-MAN book, he admitted that he loves drawing "big, strong buxom women", which is always a plus in my book. Bagley is one of only two artists who I will always check out on Marvel Unlimited even if I have no interest in reading the actual issue he drew (the other of those two is #3 below).

SAVAGE HULK #1 - 4

"THE MAN WITHIN"
Writer & Penciler: Alan Davis | Inker: Mark Farmer
colorist: Matt Hollingsworth | Letterer: VC's Clayton Cowles
Assistant Editor: Jon Moisan | Editors: Mark Paniccia with Wil Ross
Editor in Chief: Axel Alonso | Chief Creative Officer: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley | Executive Producer: Alan Fine

(You know you're writing about a modern marvel comic when it takes ten minutes just to type out the stupid credits. Anywho...)

As far as I know, this 2014 story arc is, to date, Alan Davis's most recent work for Marvel in the writing capacity. And it's about what you'd expect of Davis the writer: some good old-fashioned classic Marvel action and adventure. Note that of the Davis works I covered over the past few weeks, FANTASTIC FOUR: THE END, while set in the future, presented the most iconic versions of the various Marvel heroes within its pages. THOR: TRUTH OF HISTORY was set in the distant past and featured the characters' original Jack Kirby looks. It's pretty evident that, given his choice, Davis will always go for the most classic visuals he can, and it's a shame that Marvel has drifted so, so very far from the best visual representations of their characters that in order for him to do so, he must set his stories in the past or in alternate worlds/timelines.

But! Much as I love to comment on the myriad failings of current Marvel comics, I'd rather spend the next few paragraphs singing the praises of Alan Davis. As noted above, this tale is set in the past; around this time, Marvel launched SAVAGE WOLVERINE and SAVAGE HULK, a pair of out-of-continuity series intended to chronicle untold adventures from their title characters' pasts, and each series received an opening arc by a well-known writer/artist (see my look at Frank Cho's opening SAVAGE WOLVERINE arc here).

THOR: THE TRUTH OF HISTORY

Writer & Penciler: Alan Davis
Inker: Mark Farmer | Colorist: Rob Schwager | Letterer: VC's Joe Carmagna
Assistant Editor: Alejandro Arbona | Editor: Warren Simons | Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley

I'm not sure what I make of this story. Written and drawn by Alan Davis in 2008, it begins with a pair of scholars drawn and named to resemble Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy as they debate the nature of the Sphinx in Egypt. Stanley believes the fabled statue originally had a different head, which was resculpted into the visage we know today. "Olivier", meanwhile, stands by conventional wisdom which says the entire thing was created at the same time.

This leads into the main story, set "less than 4,000 years ago," as Thor and his allies, Balder, Sif, and the Warriors Three, fight off a clandestine incursion into Asgard by agents of Nedra, Queen of the Frost Giants. The heroes learn that Nedra has, in violation of Odin's law, opened a portal to the Earth which leads to Egypt. Volstagg of the Warriors Three falls through the portal, so Thor and Volstagg's partners, Fandral and Hogun, go after him. In Egypt, the Asgardians battle a half-animal slavemaster and travel to Giza in time to save Volstagg from being sacrificed to a fire-breathing griffin at the order of a mad pharaoh. But the pharaoh is slain when the griffin gets loose, then Thor defeats the beast and brings rain to Egypt.

FANTASTIC FOUR: THE END

Story and Pencils: Alan Davis | Inks: Mark Farmer
Color Art: John Kalisz | Letters: Dave Lanphear | Production: Anthony Dial
Assistant Editors: Molly Lazer & Aubrey Sitterson | Editor: Tom Brevoort
Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada | Publisher: Dan Buckley

At some point, Alan Davis somehow became linked with the Fantastic Four. In recent years he provided regular covers for the series. Back in 1998, he was to be the FF's ongoing artist following the "Heroes Reborn" event, before dropping out after the third issue of their relaunched title. Around that time, he was tapped to provide cover art for the first printings of ESSENTIAL FANTASTIC FOUR volumes 1 and 2, as well.

And in 2007, Davis was commissioned for an entry into Marvel's series of "The End" mini-series and one-shots, for a six-issue saga describing the final adventure of the Fantastic Four.

The story is set some decades in the future, after Earth was nearly destroyed in something called the "Mutant War". Reed Richards has developed a "Methuselah Treatment" which allows the members of humanity to live in their prime long past their natural lifespans. Earth has been restored as a utopia and the solar system has been terraformed.

But all is not well. Years earlier, Franklin and Valeria Richards, children of Reed and his wife Sue, were killed in the Fantastic Four's final battle with Doctor Doom. Reed now lives as a hermit aboard an asteroid lab, estranged from Sue, working on a mysterious matter transferral experiment, while Sue spends her days on an archaeological quest on Earth. Meanwhile, John Storm is now a lead member of the Avengers, who battle villains throughout known space, while Ben Grimm, his wife Alicia, and their children live on Mars among the Inhumans.

SPRINGTIME GRAB BAG II

Before I get into this year's summer project (which, as noted previously, will be a bit shorter than the DANGER GIRL and STREET FIGHTER series I posted over the past couple years), we've got a few more "grab bag" items to close out the spring. The next couple Fridays will see a look at DANGER GIRL: RENEGADE, the latest installment in that franchise's ongoing world, and then IDW's TRANSFORMERS: DEVIATIONS one-shot, a "What If?" story set in the world of 1986's TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE. Then it'll be three weeks covering three relatively recent Marvel projects from Alan Davis in the writer/artist capacity.

Afterward it's on with that summer project, beginning mid-June, and that'll take things up into August, when this year's fall TRANSFORMERS series will begin. I've got the rest of the year planned out at this point, so I expect smooth sailing all the way through December.

KILLRAVEN BY ALAN DAVIS

Story/Art: Alan Davis
Inks: Mark Farmer | Colors: Gregory Wright | Letters: Pat Prentice
Assistant Editors: Marc Sumerak & Andy Schmidt | Editor: Tom Brevoort
Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada | President: Bill Jemas

I had become a fan of Alan Davis by the time his KILLRAVEN limited series was first published in 2002, but I did not know who or what a "Killraven" was, so I passed on it at the time. But thanks to Marvel Digital Unlimited, I finally took some time to read the six-issue limited series earlier this year. As noted, I was totally unfamiliar with the Killraven character when the series came out, but I had since learned that he debuted in Marvel's adaptaion of THE WAR OF THE WORLDS. I've still never read another comic with him, though, so I have no idea if Davis's story is a sequel, a reboot, or a reimagining -- but I can confirm that it's a very fun read.

I like post apocalyptic stories about small groups traveling the land in search of something, and that's precisely what this is. When the tale begins, it is the "not-so-distant future" and Earth is enslaved by Martians. Our main characters are Raven (a.k.a. Killraven), M'Shulla, Carmilla, Hawk, and Skull. The former four are gladiators from the Martian slave pens, while Skull, older than the rest, was one of their attendants, who essentially raised and trained them. The group quickly takes on a boy named John, and this group forms the core of the story's cast.

BATMAN BY MIKE W. BARR & ALAN DAVIS: DETECTIVE COMICS # 572, 573, 574

"THE DOOMSDAY BOOK"
Writer: Mike W. Barr | Pencilers: Alan Davis, Terry Beatty, Carmine Infantino
Inkers: Paul Neary, Dick Giordano, Al Vey | Colorists: Adrienne Roy, Carl Gafford
Letterers: John Workman, Todd Klein, Romeo Francisco | Editor: Denny O'Neil

"THE MAD HATTER FLIPS HIS LIDS" | "...MY BEGINNING...AND MY PROBABLE END"
Writer: Mike W. Barr | Penciler: Alan Davis | Inker: Paul Neary
Colorist: Adrienne Roy | Letterer: Richard Starkings
Editor: Denny O'Neil

Art by Mike Kaluta

DETECTIVE COMICS #572 is a "jam" issue, celebrating the title's fiftieth anniversary, and starring three of the book's regular featured characters of decades past: Batman (of course), the Elongated Man, and Slam Bradley, who I had never heard of before. Upon looking him up, I've learned that he starred in DETECTIVE #1, and has appeared sporadically in the DC Universe since.

Beyond the above group, the story also stars Sherlock Holmes, who, it seems, is a real person in the DC world. Watson's chronicles of Holmes' cases are treated here as works of non-fiction, and everyone views Holmes as a well-known historical figure. It's a conceit I enjoyed, and it fits just fine into a shared universe like this one. However, Barr goes overboard with the idea here, revealing in the story's finale that Holmes is still alive and fairly spry at well over a hundred years of age, due essentially to nothing more than clean living.

BATMAN BY MIKE W. BARR & ALAN DAVIS: DETECTIVE COMICS # 569, 570, 571

"CATCH AS CATSCAN" | "THE LAST LAUGH" | "FEAR FOR SALE"

Writer: Mike W. Barr | Penciler: Alan Davis | Inker: Paul Neary

Colorist: Adrienne Roy | Letterer: John Workman | Editor: Denny O'Neil

Mike W. Barr and Alan Davis have a slightly peculiar run on DETECTIVE COMICS. Their issues begin after CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS, in the rebooted world of "Batman: Year One" and other such stories. They are telling tales featuring the Batman teamed with post-Crisis Jason Todd, the angry brat who would eventually perish by the Joker's hand.

And yet, no one seemed to tell them this. These stories might as well be set in the pre-Crisis universe. Indeed, they draw upon pre-Crisis continuity, such as the fact that Catwoman is reformed and aware of Batman's secret identity. Robin here has not become the unlikable character who would eventually be killed off -- he is very much like the classic Dick Grayson Robin, in fact.

LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT: ALAN DAVIS

LEGENDS OF THE DARK NIGHT: ALAN DAVIS
Hardcover, 2013

Winter is upon us, and in my mind there's no better superhero to read about on a nice chilly night than the Batman. As a kid I didn't read many DC comics. I was all about Marvel, preferring to get my DC fix from their other media: the Christopher Reeve SUPERMAN films, the Adam West BATMAN series (still in syndication when I grew up in the eighties), and SUPER FRIENDS. Later on, of course, came the Bruce Timm cartoons, starting with BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES. In fact, the comic book spin-off of B:TAS, BATMAN ADVENTURES, was -- and remains -- the only DC comic I ever read regularly on a monthly basis.

I did manage to read the occasional limited series as I got older, but regular monthly DC comics remained a sizable blind spot in my comic book knowledge. Finally, in recent years, I've begun plugging some holes in my DC collection through various collected editions. Among the collections out there are two series of hardcovers from DC, which inexplicably have different titles even though they're essentially the same line: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT and TALES OF THE BATMAN. The books themselves are beautiful, with great design work, slick dustjackets, and top-notch production.

CLANDESTINE PART THREE - MARVEL TALES

MARVEL TALES BY ALAN DAVIS
TPB, 2012

In 2009, shortly following the conclusion of the CLANDESTINE: BLOOD RELATIVE limited series, Alan Davis began work on a trio of annuals for Marvel which would continue the Destines' story. Each of these annuals would headline a different Marvel character, and Destines would be supporting characters in each. The stories would be designed to be read individually if desired; however, if read together, the three annuals would tell one overarching ClanDestine tale.

All three annuals eventually saw release in 2012. The first, FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #33, features the Thing and the Human Torch working with Dr. Strange to investigate the energy escaped from Vincent Destine's grave at the end of BLOOD RELATIVE. The Torch and the Thing are hurled back through time, where they encounter Vincent at various points in his life before finally witnessing his long-hinted death at his father's hands: Adam was forced to take Vincent's life when his reality warping powers ran amok.

CLANDESTINE PART TWO - BLOOD RELATIVE

CLANDESTINE: BLOOD RELATIVE
Premiere Hardcover, 2008

In 2008, twelve years after he had last visited the characters in X-MEN AND THE CLANDESTINE, Alan Davis returned to his creations for a five-issue limited series called CLANDESTINE: BLOOD RELATIVE. Interestingly, Davis treats this story as if is a direct continuation of the last stories from over a decade previous. Now, "Marvel Time" can allow for certain liberties to be taken with timeline compression, but it seems a bit odd to essentially continue a twelve year-old story as if no more than a month had passed between installments. This approach doesn't hurt Davis's efforts, mind you -- it just seems a strange creative decision.

The story is much of the same as the first time around -- in fact, the Destines find themselves battling the very same villain they fought in their first story arc, lo those many years past -- a character of Davis's creation called Griffin. In fact, Griffin's scheme here is a direct sequel to the very first CLANDESTINE issues, wherein he kidnapped the family. We learn now that he cloned them, and he sends those clones to exact revenge for his previous defeat.

CLANDESTINE PART ONE - CLANDESTINE CLASSIC

CLANDESTINE CLASSIC
Premiere Hardcover, 2008

The first story arc in the CLANDESTINE ongoing series is titled "Family Reunion". In it, we meet the core cast: siblings Walter, Dominic, Samantha, Kay, Rory, and Pandora. The last two are the youngest and initially believe themselves to be the niece and nephew of Walter, but they soon learn they are his younger brother and sister, and that everyone they had been told was an aunt or uncle is actually a sibling.

There are other Destines who pop up here and there, notably genius Newton, who lives in a parallel universe, and Gracie, the family mystic -- but the above characters comprise the core cast. Additionally, by the end of the first four-part story arc, we meet Adam Destine, the family's father -- who sired all of his offspring with an otherworldly genie.

CLANDESTINE

Following my months long Captain Britain marathon, I decided to keep the Alan Davis train going over the summer with a series I've had interest in quite a while: CLANDESTINE. I was vaguely aware of this series when it debuted in 1994, but I wasn't entirely sure what it was. And as I was an avowed fan of the "Image Comics" art style, Alan Davis's clean, clear artwork did not appeal to me at the time (how tastes can change!).

CLANDESTINE was an ongoing series, apparently a joint production between Marvel U.S. and Marvel U.K., but it was canceled after only a dozen issues. Alan Davis, the creator of the series, left after eight of those issues and the remaining four were published without his input. About a year after the series' cancellation, Davis returned to the characters for a two-part limited series, X-MEN AND THE CLANDESTINE. He immediately disavowed the final four issues of the ongoing series and picked up with the characters exactly where he had left them.

Following the X-Men crossover, the ClanDestine disappeared for over a decade. Then, in 2008, Davis produced a new five-issue limited series starring the characters. This series led into a trio of annuals, released in 2012, which saw the ClanDestine interacting with the Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Wolverine, and Dr. Strange.

As with my Captain Britain reviews, the ClanDestine posts were composed mainly from memory, since I read these books in July, before I had decided to start blogging. But I like to think I have some interesting -- or at the very least, not boring -- things to say about the books. So, beginning Wednesday: A three-part CLANDESTINE review series.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN PART EIGHTEEN - EXCALIBUR VISIONARIES: ALAN DAVIS, VOL. 3

Much like "The Cross-Time Caper", my Captain Britain review series was intended to be relatively short. I figured maybe one post per book, except two for the Omnibus -- a total of eleven installments. But here we are on part eighteen! Hopefully folks have stayed with me this long. As I noted way back when I stated the series, I hadn't intended on blogging when I read the stories, so my "reviews" are little more than recaps with my own random thoughts tossed in, stream-of-consciousness style. My next, much shorter review series -- to be announced on Monday -- will be in the same format, but then I'll get into issue-by-issue reviews of a classic Marvel run, which will be structured more like my TRANSFORMERS series.

So if you've made it this far into my ramblings on the subject of Captain Britain, I really appreciate that. Let's see of we can tough it out for one last post. Much like Alan Davis at this stage in EXCALIBUR, I'm starting to get a little bored with my subject matter!

CAPTAIN BRITAIN PART SEVENTEEN - EXCALIBUR VISIONARIES: ALAN DAVIS,VOL. 2

Note: This volume contains a fill-in issue and a one-shot called EXCALIBUR: XX CROSSING, neither of which involved Alan Davis in any way. I didn't read either of them for my marathon session.

Alan Davis's run as writer of EXCALIBUR continues with our heroes moving into Braddock Mnor as their new base of operations, thanks to Brian's lighthouse having been destroyed during the anti-Phoenix/Necrom affair. It's nice to see Davis drawing the house again, and the place looks pretty much exactly as it did during his previous run with it. We even get to return to the caverns beneath the manor where the Mastermind computer resides, now joined by Widget.

Davis writes, but does not draw, the two issues immediately following number 50. The first is a throw-away adventure following a group of saurian analogues for Excalibur from a world where dinosaurs rule the Earth. The second of these presents Davis's attempt to unify all previous Phoenix-related stories into one single origin for the Phoenix Force. It's certainly a handy issue for Phoenix-philes, but since we're concerned mainly with the Captain Britain related aspects of this run, it is of little concern for this review. I will mention however, that it guest stars the X-Men, and the beautiful Davis cover makes me wish he'd drawn the interiors.

ALAN DAVIS

In case it hasn't been hammered into your skull yet by way of my Captain Britain reviews -- I love Alan Davis.  I've met him once, in the Marvel booth at the San Diego Comic-Con in 1999, when he was the "plot-master" for the core X-Men books.  I got his autograph and a head sketch of Cyclops -- which, frustratingly, I seem to have misplaced, or I would present it here.  I regret now that I didn't ask Davis for Captain Britain, but I barely knew Cap back then, having never read early EXCALIBUR, and with the Moore/Davis trade paperback reprint a couple years away.



CAPTAIN BRITAIN PART SIXTEEN - EXCALIBUR VISIONARIES: ALAN DAVIS, VOL. 1

Following Chris Claremont's departure from EXCALIBUR in 1991, Scott Lobdell wrote seven issues until a new creative team took over with issue #42. As it happened, that team would turn out to be writer Alan Davis and penciler Alan Davis, both returning to the series they had launched years before with Claremont.

Per Davis, his only directive from editorial was to tie up any loose ends that remained from the Claremont era, and he does so with flair. Though not known primarily as an artist, Davis demonstrates an unexpected aptitude for juggling sub-plots and maintaining a clear long-term narrative while interspersing a number of smaller stories along the way. And as you might expect from Davis, he brings the neglected Captain Britain mythos back to the fore.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN PART FIFTEEN - EXCALIBUR CLASSIC, VOL. 5

Note: This collection includes three fill-in issues and an original graphic novel titled "Weird War III". None were written by Chris Claremont, so I did not read them as part of my marathon.

Chris Claremont's finale on EXCALIBUR is a lackluster three-parter titled "Girls' School From HECK" in which Courtney Ross (who Claremont may or may not remember is actually Sat-Yr-9 posing as Courtney) sends Kitty to the finishing school she (Courtney, not Sat-Yr-9 -- but who knows at this point?) attended as a teen.

Kitty makes a rival in Phoebe Huntsman, but the girls put aside their differences to become cheerleaders for England's first American football team and save the school from going bankrupt. Yes, you read that right -- Chris Claremont's graceful exit from EXCALIBUR was apparently re-tooled from a teen farce movie script he couldn't sell back in the eighties.

(To be fair, he may have intended the story to come across as an homage to those types of films, but it's played so straight that it doesn't really come across that way.)

CAPTAIN BRITAIN PART FOURTEEN - EXCALIBUR CLASSIC, VOL. 4

"The Cross-Time Caper" continues as Excalibur -- sans Kitty, who was transported back to our Earth during the previous issue's Jamie Braddock story -- travels to an Earth ruled by longtime X-Men foe the Shadow King, in a 2-parter illustrated in sub-standard fashion by Chris Wozniak. Despite his amateurish style, Wozniak somehow becomes the series' regular guest penciler from this point.

Fortunately, Alan Davis soon returns for a 2-parter in which Illyana Rasputin -- Magik of the New Mutants -- corrupted by her demonic powers, rules the Earth (sensing a pattern?). Davis's visuals are as spectacular as ever, but as usual, this installment of "Cross-Time" feels like a waste of paper. Claremont's stories have become less and less inspired with every chapter of "Cross-Time", but mercifully, the story is drawing to a close.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN PART THIRTEEN - EXCALIBUR CLASSIC, VOL. 3

Issue number 12 of EXCALIBUR begins a storyline called "The Cross-Time Caper" -- labelled on the cover as part 1 of 9. "Cross-Time Caper" ends in issue #24. Even with one inventory issue along the way (#20), that still means this supposed 9-part storyline actually clocks in at twelve parts! Chris Claremont is known for "writing to the moment" and abandoning his established plans when an apparently better idea comes to him. Presumably, that's what happened here to lengthen "Cross-Time".

Unfortunately, the result is a story which long overstays its welcome. Never mind that sending the heroes of a relatively new series off on an extended trains-dimensional romp, away from their supporting cast and home environs, before they've even hit a dozen issues, is probably not the best-conceived idea -- making that story about two times longer than it probably should've been only exacerbates the problem.