Comfort Food Comics DNA - Part 1
Recently, I was revisiting some Brandon Graham comics after a long time away. I first encountered his art when I was 17 or 18 and his work, as well as his many blog posts talking about art and influences and comics, went on to become incredibly formative to me. I'm catching up on a lot of his work these days, as well as his blog posts and it has me obsessing over my comic tastes and art influences. The certain creators or works that have that special something that has literally become part of me - the bricks of my foundation.
I thought I'd write a little post for myself examining who and what I've loved over the years and what holds up and what makes me me when it comes to comics.
Corey Lewis - I've been following Lewis since I was about 17. I've never known a creator that is so similar to me in personality, vibe and creative tastes and influences. His work is consistently, unabashedly infused with the things he loves. Naturally, I adore his work. Sharknife is the big one, but I love literally every line the guy has ever done.
Spider-Man: My favorite superhero. My favorite fictional character. I've loved Spider-Man since I became conscious and it's never gone away. Specific influential and deeply important to me works include: DeMatteis/Buscema Spec Spidey, Lee/Ditko, the Michelinie/McFarlane era, The Clone Saga, the JMS/JR Jr. run, the DeZago Sensational run, Kraven's Last Hunt, the Hobgoblin Saga, and the OG Ultimate Spider-Man.
One Piece & Eiichiro Oda: I thought it looked incredibly lame for years then about 15 years ago I finally sat down and gave it a try. Fast forward to today and it's my favorite manga ever. Oda is just the best.
Remake and Lamar Abrams: Lamar Abrams and his tumblr back in the day with constant art ranging from doodles to full comics was a constant source of joy, laughs and inspiration. His comic Remake starring Max Guy is a foundational work.
Garfield: It's really weird but from like ages 7-11 I was OBSESSED with Garfield. And not like this kid reads Garfield when he's not enjoying other activities, but like Garfield is his ONLY activity. I had an INSANE collection of Garfield books, merch, clothing, toys, household items, etc for a little kid. I imagine crack for a crack fiend is like what getting a Fat Cat 3-Pack from Scholastic Books was like for me. By 12 or 13 I pretty much dropped Garfield completely but Big Garf always worms his way back. For all my family and friends, Garfield is synonymous with me.
Ron Marz's Kyle Rayner Green Lantern Vol. 3 run: Kyle Rayner is still my favorite DC character. Reading this run was life affirming at a time when I really needed it. I wrote in depth about that awhile back here.
Akira Toriyama: I don't think I'll ever really be able to unpack how influential Toriyama is to me. He's always been there, from my brother watching Dragon Ball to me Recording DBZ, to Chrono Trigger, to Dragon Quest, to Sand Land, to Dr. Slump. You won't get, it, well a select few will, but that sentence was just me describing my entire life. Dragon Ball is an unparalleled masterpiece (especially before the Z timeskip) but then you read Dr. Slump and realize - oh shit - this guy made two of the greatest comics to ever exist, plus so much more amazing art. It's staggering!
Brandon Graham: Like I mentioned in the intro, Graham has been a consistent influence in my life. Discovering his work at 17/18 led me to knowing I wanted to be in the comics world, either making them or writing about them or something, ANYTHING. His blog posts and unorthodox career path led me to discovering countless new artists and work from all over the world that I wouldnt have ever discovered myself. Graham's comics feel like a friend - like I can remember specific times in my life where I read them that congeal in my memory as if they were a person hanging with me. King City and I sat together on that unseasonably warm September day listening to Nujabes together with the window open. Multiple Warheads helped me move out of my Mom's house. Prophet introduced me to artists I still exchange messages with today. Nowadays, after giving up on being a comic artists or writer and having left the incestuous joke that is the comics industry and comics crit industry, his work is the only work that makes me want to pull out a sketch book and just make my own comics for fun. I'll forever be grateful to him and his work.
Hirohiko Araki & JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: I remember finally starting to read JoJo's around 2010 or so and being blown away how many of the other things in my life that I love, mainly Capcom shit, that it influenced. Part 1 piqued my interest, Part 2 hooked me, Part 3 hooked me for life, Part 4 made me pray at the altar (I think the only way a person can truly experience Part 4 is by having to read the magical Duwang translations first like we had to back in the day), Parts 5 & 6 kept me in the church, and Part 7 had me ascend to comics heaven. Over the years I'd tell anyone that would listen that JoJo's is my favorite thing to ever come out of Japan. I may not fully believe that anymore but it at least makes the top 5.
Superman: I often cite Superman as #1b for my favorite DC chacters with Kyle Rayner being #1a. You can't possibly not love Supes. A constant inspiration to me artistically but also personally. Specific influential and deeply important to me works here.
Hector Plasm & Benito Cereno: A perfect character, perfect creative team and perfect comics. A constant source of inspiration to me. I went in depth on Hector here. It seemed like the world would never get a new Hector comic but guess what?? A NEW MINISERIES IS BEING PUBLISHED AS I WRITE THIS! Read Hector Plasm people!
Calvin & Hobbes: Like most 90's kids, I grew up constantly reading Calvin & Hobbes in the collections and the newspaper. Bill Watterson is probably the most influential creator to me because he taught me so many words and art styles as a kid. Anyone who read Calvin & Hobbes as a kid was already one step above everybody else creatively. It's the only comic strip I can still read today and enjoy as much as I did then.
Batman: David Brothers recently wrote "Batman is one of the most popular characters in the world, and still a complicated sell for me. A side effect of reading a lot of really good Batman comics is that each new one has a higher bar to climb thanks to the last good one." This is so true and it very simply hints at the appeal of Batman. He's existed since 1939 and people are still trying to top the last story he was in. He's a character that demands the very best from creators because you have to do better than what came before, and a whole hell of a lot of great stuff has come before. I think that's what makes Batman so inspiring creatively. Due to creators constantly wanting to make a newer, better Batman story, the character has evolved to a point where he can work in any situation, any genre, any plot alongside literally any character, be that within DC's publishing house or outside it. Batman is just about the greatest storytelling device in Western Art.
Michel Fiffe & Copra: As much as I lauded Brandon Graham above, there was always a ton of art and influences he would gush over that I just did not get, sometimes even hate. That combined with his disdain for mainstream comics and odd career paths had me drop off of him for awhile. Enter Michel Fiffe. For years I loved Graham, Lewis and the Meathaus and Popgun guys but none of them ever seemed to truly love the Big 2 or superheroes or any of it. Fiffe did. Whereas I could never wrap my head around what Graham would see in people like Fil Barlow, I finally "got" Howard Chaykin when Fiffe would explain his love for him. Fiffe, more than any other creator alive, is the guy I respect the most. He gives everything a chance, finds the genius in the most indie to the most mainstream, has the most amazing and succinct writing on comics - from what he thinks is cool, to how to make and publish them, to career spanning retrospectives and interviews, to extremely specific breakdowns on why creators matter. The man lives, breathes and eats comics. It's so inspiring. Everything that makes him special is poured into his baby, Copra, an homage comic that became it's own masterpiece.
X-Men: The X-Men have always been an intense source of inspiration for me from the Jim Lee issues my older brother had as a kid to reading the Claremont era while graduating high school to following Craig Kyle and Chris Yost's New X-Men as I made the awkward transition from teen to "adult" to Hickman's HoXPoX propelling me to sneak in past the velvet rope into the online comics industry. The X-Men will always be a lifelong love for me. Specific influential and deeply important to me works include: Claremont's entire mutant ouvre - especially the Outback X-Men era, Mike Carey's X-Men run, Yost & Kyle's New X-Men, Age of Apocalypse, Morrison's New X-Men, Messiah Complex, Alan Davis Excalibur, New Mutants, Larry Hama Wolverine.
Adam Warren: Dirty Pair, the best Gen 13 comics, his PSM work, his various Big 2 stuff, the delightful Empowered, and so much more. I have never encountered something Warren did that I didnt like. He's a master artist that can do anything or any style, all while developing his own unique style. He can write too! Plus, he's also just the coolest dude ever. I can never get enough Warren.
Ann Nocenti - Besides my wife, maybe the coolest and most badass woman to ever exist. Her run on Daredevil is my favorite Hornhead run and favorite runs on any comic ever. She was so ahead of her time and so weird and so talented. She very much did not conform to any of the so called "rules" the Big 2 and the comic industry at large try to impose. I honestly don't know how she ever even got the jobs. Her DD comics, weird as hell, brilliant. Her Typhoid MAry comics, weird as hell, brilliant. Her Spidey comics, weird as hell, brilliant. Her Venom comics weird as hell, brilliant. ALL OF HER COMICS, WEIRD AS HELL, BRILLIANT!
Katsuhiro Otomo: Maybe the greatest artist ever??? Certainly the greatest rock and rubble artist ever. I remember watching Akira as a cynical teen and thinking "That's It?? This is the big influential masterpiece???" Then I read the comic.........Phew........Man. Few things are as life changing as experiencing the Akira manga for the first time. Since then I've devoured so much of his work, most of it never translated, which led to me learning so much more about art and comics making on a fundamental level.
DC's Sandman: When I was getting back into comics in high school I started wanting to find comics that werent just superheroes.. My oldest brother Steve, who I was never all that close to, started telling me about this comic Sandman and how amazing it was and how much he loved it. I can still remember the rainy day me and my friend went to his dingy apartment and sat as he described it and gave me a stack of every trade, then showed me his vintage, very worn Sandman t-shirts and the Death statue on his windowsill. It's corny to think of now, but Sandman was the first comic that truly showed me what this medium could be beyond superheroes. It was magical to me, a true work of art. I loved being able to experience that same feeling my brother did and for maybe the only time in our lives, truly and genuinely connect on something. After that, Sandman got me into so much more DC, all of Vertigo and so many other comics, not to mention Neil Gaiman's novels, and so many more novels related to him or in the same corner of the bookstore. I ended up getting the Key to Hell from the Seasons of Mist storyline tattooed on my arm (pictured above) in my early 20's because this comic was so influential to me. These days I know a lot of Gaiman's work and pieces of this comic are very entry level mythology and literature and have found a lot of better material, but Sandman still holds up for me. The highs are some of the highest highs of any comic I've ever read. Sadly, my brother Steve is dead and gone now, a victim of his addictions and a hard life. I miss him. But we'll always have Sandman. I'll always be able to read it and treasure the times we were closest, talking about The Endless and Gaiman and comics and art and life and everything in between.
Paul Pope: Before Lewis, before Graham, before Fiffe, there was Paul Pope. A master artist in love with comics, teaching and espousing to all who will listen about the majesty and wonder from Kirby to Moebius. I've loved pretty much every heavy black line Pope has ever put to paper, as well as all the musings and influences he's written about, to all his experimentation in size, package and form for comics in a rigid industry. I particularly love his THB, one of those magical grand masterpieces you just look at in awe.
Art Adams: I remember first encountering Art Adams in the 1991 Marvel Holiday Special. Before my Mom went to get her hair or nails or some other errand done, we stopped in Kelly's Cards & Collectibles for a comic. As a kid with no money alongside a frugal mother who wanted to leave ASAP, you had to get the bang for her buck. Adams' cover for that comic featured all my faves and they were drawn in such a cool way I hadn't ever seen before. I can remember paging through that comic, dangling my wet boots, sitting in some waiting area while my Mom beautified. It stuck with me. Adams has stuck with me. The dude's done maybe 50 pages of official Fantastic Four art and I think he's probably the best to ever do them. His manga influenced fusion art is (along with Michael Golden) responsible for so much amazing art from similar future artists. The X-Men work, Skeeter in that Superman annual, the Gumby shit, those Appleseed covers, Capcom promo art, the Spaghetti-O's art, the thousands of sketches and busts and cover recreations - he's one of the best to ever do it and sometimes I think my favorite artist of all time.
Archie Comics: This is a pretty broad category but I truly love all things Archie Comics and think they're so important to comics, art and culture. I didn't grow up with Archie. I had a few random issues but mainly the only Archie Comics we owned were the Ninja Turtles Adventures books. Only in my late 20's did I really jump in to Archie and I instantly fell in love. They are dumb. They are genius. They contain some of the most iconic art ever made and I'd argue the art that most represents Americana. Get the fuck outta here Rockwell, DeCarlo needs your chair! They have everything - great jokes, wacky antics, innocent fun, lessons to learn, sexual awakenings, empowerment, cultural time capsules - I could keep going forever but I'll stop here. I love Archie, you love Archie, that jaded old asshole loves Archie, your friend's 4 year old girl loves Archie. Archie opened up a whole world, a whole history of art and culture for me. It is the purest, most distilled form of comics making there is. Few things make me happier than being cozy under a blanket with an Archie Digest.
Swamp Thing: People always like to say Daredevil has the longest amount of quality comics with creators bringing their A game. I think the answer is Swamp Thing. There's definitely some runs or eras where his comic lags a bit, but I tend to enjoy nearly every Swampy comic. Hell, even Mark fucking Millar has a great run on the guy. He's a wonderful character that inspires great writing and great art in tandem and is one of the few comic characters that does that. The Wein/Wrightson run, the Moore/Totleben/Bissette run, the Veitch run, the Collins run, the Vaughan run, the Millar run, the Soule run - all incredibly foundational and inspiring runs that make me want to create something.
Naoki Urasawa: When I was like 18 or 19 I first encountered Urasawa's work with 20th Century Boys. I hadn't read a lot of manga yet, I think I was reading Ikki Tousen and Shaman King just prior to, but Urasawa was the first mangaka to make me see manga isn't all shonen. That it could be anything. That it could be transcendent. Pluto came next for me and it was even better. Monster. Billy Bat. Everything he's done is a masterclass in the technique and form of storytelling via comics. I'm always in awe of his work.
Jack Kirby: This is a very obvious one but Kirby is my favorite artist ever. There's never been a bad Jack Kirby comic. He's the best to ever to do it. The Godfather of Comics. The OG. The King. He's the best idea man to ever exist. I'm not religious or anything but he's the only person I'd ever say should be a Saint.
Masamune Shirow: Shirow is truly one of the most creative artists ever, packing so much detail and charm and excitement into all of his work. I think he's one of the few people to ever crack how to accurately reflect "real life" worldscapes in a comic. I don't exactly know how to express it, but you really immerse yourself into his works, his worlds, his cities, his magical landscapes - he phsyically transports you there. It's a real enviable skill. Not many have that ability. Appleseed, GITS, Dominion, Black Magic, Orion - all some of my favorite comics ever. I wish every day I lived in the timeline where he kept making comics instead of bad digital made shiny porn. Still, I gotta respect the hell out of the dude for doing what he wants. and loves.
J. M. DeMatteis: My favorite writer in comics. The man is a mensch. The best to ever do it. Moonshadow, JLI, Brooklyn Dreams, Dr. Fate, Spider-Man and everything else he's ever done. Decades of quiet brilliance.
Grant Morrison: Yeah, it's a cliche pick, and any jokes or criticisms you have, well, I have more. Still though, the old wizard has for decades been one of my favorite creators ever and deeply foundational to me. Batman, Doom Patrol, Zenith, New X-Men, JLA, Final Crisis, Animal Man, Kill Your Boyfriend, Flex Mentallo, Seven Soldiers, All Star Superman, Klaus - each one a uniquely special project that all hit at different times in my life when I really needed them.
Masahiko Nakahira: So influential to me for his Street Fighter manga which includes Ryu Final, a Top 10 manga ever for me. I love the way he conveys movement and battle. He's such a good mangaka he is still influencing creative decisions for Street fighter games today through what he made. He's the guy that gives you ideal artwork of your favorite character.
I know there's more but these are the subjects that immediately popped into my head and tumblr only allows 30 images per sooooo I'll stop here for today. It's been fun for me to parse through my thoughts and grapple with what remains in my comics foundation.
