12/7/07

X15: Favorite Creators #10

X15 is a series of blog posts celebrating the 15 years of x-fandom I have experienced. From the 15th anniversary of first seeing the X-Men in Fox's animated series (late October 1992) to the 15th anniversary of my first comic book purchase (January 1993), I will explore every facet of Professor Charles Xavier's gifted youngsters.

The comic world has as many celebrities, egos, gossip-fests, and feuds as anything covered by Steve Kmetko on E! (I'm pretty sure he's not around anymore, right?). These celebrities are the people that create the comics themselves, some of them being powerhouse names as big as Tom Hanks or Steven Spielberg. These ten blog entries will countdown my ten favorite writers and pencilers, and we won't stop til we reach the top.

WRITER
10. MARK MILLAR
First Work Read:
Ultimate X-Men #16 (May 2002)
Favorite Work: The Ultimates #7-13
Notable Work: Ultimate X-Men (2001-2003), The Ultimates (2002-2004), Wolverine (volume 3; 2004-2005), Marvel Knights Spider-Man (2004-2005), The Ultimates 2 (2004-2007), Civil War (2006-2007)

Mark Millar is not known for subtlety. If you want a comic with big explosions, sarcastic wit, and haphazard political overtones, then Millar is your guy. He gets a lot of flack for his style but, to be honest, I always have way too much fun when I read his work. He made Wolverine interesting, rebooted the X-Men franchise with the ultimate bang, and pitted Iron Man against Captain America in a way that was initially compelling. I know what I'm going to get out of a Mark Millar comic and he rarely, if ever, disappoints. It doesn't hurt that he's usually paired with some of the artists you'll read about later on in this list of my favorites. I can't even begin to describe his work on The Ultimates. In it, he made the Avengers not only relevant but cool. And not cool like Rob Liefeld comics in 1991, but cool like Alias season two (if you're so inclined). Smart, quick paced, character driven, edgy, over-the-top and yet insanely real. "This 'A' doesn't stand for France" indeed.


PENCILER
10. CARLOS PACHECO
First Work Read: Bishop #1 (December 1994)
Favorite Work:
X-Men (volume 2) #70
Notable Work: Excalibur (1996), X-Men (volume 2; 1997-1998)

Some artists drawn dynamic faces, or dynamic boobs, or dynamic backgrounds, but Carlos Pacheco draws dynamic fingers. And not just fingers, the guy knows how to twist and turn his drawings in just the right way to make every single page interesting, captivating, and dynamic. I actually haven't seen a lot of his work , which is what keeps him from being higher up on the list. But the work that I have seen is so strong that it instantly gets him in the top ten. His pacing of the X-Men's capture by Bastion's Sentinels and the care and detail he put into making the new X-Men of 1997 so fully realized is still amazing today. If only Maggott, Marrow and Cecelia Reyes had stuck around to ensure his legacy. Below are some of his best covers (click to enlarge).


Favorite Creators #9

1 comment:

eleKtrofly said...

i share this enthusiasm bordering on obsession.