Posted: 03 July 2017 at 7:36pm | IP Logged | 3
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I was in line one time at Comic-Con behind a guy showing his portfolio to an editor. The artist did a perfect Curt Swan with just slightly updated details. If I had a company, I would have hired the guy on the spot. The editor told him the work looked great, but there was no way he (a Curt Swan clone) would get work in the business. (I don't remember if he said that Curt Swan himself, by extension, would not be able to get work.) I never saw this talented guy or his work again.
Cut to a few years later and Mark Waid's IRREDEEMABLE was one of the "hot" comics for about three years, with Peter Krause doing a pretty good "Curt Swan" through all his issues.
It made me think how many projects Curt Swan would be great for, even today in 2017. Maybe I wouldn't put him on the big super-hero projects that are supposed to action-filled and "cool," but I WOULD put him on something like ROAD TO PERDITION, maybe an ASTRO CITY spin-off, a ROCKETEER story, MR. X, or any of a number of low-key Indie comics where the people are supposed to look like people and buildings are supposed to look like buildings, etc. (Of course, I really would love to see him do at least one SPIDER-MAN, FANTASTIC FOUR, or DOC SAVAGE story!)
Likewise, Kirby would be a welcome sight today! I can't picture the editors at the Big Two hiring him for any of their "hip" books (that sell 10,000 or less copies), but I would have loved to see him do a two-year writer/artist stint on THE INCREDIBLE HULK or revisit any of his creator-owned or DC creations, especially KAMANDI.
No, it's not the talent or the audience that is lacking, it's the vision of the editors and publishers.
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