Broken Frontier

In 1998, I lived in Waltham, Massachusetts, attended Brandeis University, and was blissfully unaware of the comic book industry’s inner workings. As such, for “insider information,” I relied on the letter pages of my favorite comics, a spattering of early web pages, and the coverage of Wizard magazine.

I like to think myself a little savvier now, just days away from my move back to the Boston area. Wrote and published some comics myself in the interim, got involved in the convention circuit and behind-the-scenes, even made a minor name for myself in comic scholarship and analysis. More importantly, though, my sources for information have greatly expanded:  relationships with entrenched creators, business dealings with various companies and printers, expanded mainstream coverage of the industry, and the proliferation of top-rate comic news sites (e.g. Broken Frontier). This is probably much more a function of the growing comic book universe than anything to do with me personally.

But the intervening years have taught me a number of things, two of which sprung immediately to mind as I cleaned out my apartment for packing. Two things.

I’m rifling through an old box of comics and magazines, sorting out those that I simply must keep and those that I can donate to Comics4Kids  (www.comics4kids.org) – a great non-profit organization, and an excellent choice after eBay for thinning one’s collection rather than trashing it...all of which is entirely off-topic – when I find Wizard #84. Cover date August 1998.

Pre-September 11th. Pre-Bush. Pre-reality TV. Pre-Ultimate Marvel. Pre-X-Men on the screen. Not even that old, really, but still something of a relic from what feels like a bygone era. And, as I flipped through it, the first of those lessons from the intervening time from then to now came upon me like a seven-year itch:

Nothing is permanent. No one is irreplaceable. Things change.

These concepts were especially pertinent when I opened to page 56, and article entitled “Power Players 25” chronicling the “biggest movers and shakers in comics, the guys with the most impact.” Seven years ago, according to Wizard, these were the most influential people in the business...and I believed it, no doubt. I believed seven years ago, like it was an article in the New York Times or reported on the CBS Evening News – neither of which, I’m sure, I paid any attention to at the time, except that I knew them, like Wizard, to be entirely reliable.

And now, two Republican terms later, that second lesson materializes in my mind right beside Things change:

Talk is cheap. Everything has an angle. Don’t believe everything you read.

As such, with such a perspective in mind, it struck me as worth the time to evaluate these “power players” in our current. They couldn’t have changed that much, could they? Certainly of the twenty-five, there had to be some degree of durability, of true influence, among them? Wizard’s evaluation of the playing field had to have some merit, especially to my younger, hungry mind, didn’t it?

Things change. Talk is cheap.

25. Howard Mackie: “He holds the future of Marvel’s flagship character in the palm of his hand....It’s up to Mackie to make people happy once again about one of Marvel’s more enduring mainstays.”

I am genuinely uncertain as to whether Mackie is in the comic book business any longer. His latest credit as either an editor or writer on a Spider-Man title, according to a number of online resources, is 2001. Marvel’s “flagship character” did not enjoy much of a turn-around before the debut of his movie and inclusion of J. Michael Stracyznski as his writer. Where that left Mr. Mackie is entirely unclear, except to say well off a top-twenty-five list.

24. Alan Moore: “One of the most influential comic book writers ever...Artists are currently lining up to work with Moore on his new line of books at Wildstorm Productions.”

That line of books would turn out to be America’s Best Comics, which brought us titles such as the tremendous League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, the retro-fitted Tom Strong, and the ground-breaking Promethea. It is also the same line from which Moore appears to be walking away in the wake of DC’s V For Vendetta debacle. Whether he merits a lowly twenty-four on this list is debatable, but Moore’s inclusion on this list marks the first of the few who endured (and thrived) during the last seven years.

23. Richard Starkings: “...pioneered the concept of computer lettering, now an industry standard.”

Again, this was another creator whom the article ranked as low, yet has surprising stamina. Starkings’ Comicraft company celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2002, a laudable feat unto itself. However, with digital lettering now the industry standard, any number of affordable upstarts continue to nip at Starkings and Company’s heels. He is certainly a pioneer, but, in another seven years, will his shop remain the industry leader?

22. Jeff Smith: “...a standard-bearer for everyone with a pencil and a dream...ambassador of the ‘small press.’”

In September of 2004, the Bone: One Volume Edition was officially released nationwide after accomplishing a feat that neither Marvel nor DC could ever boast: Selling out of pre-release comics at San Diego Comic-Con International the previous month. February of this year brought us the first installment of Bone in color from Scholastic Books, certain to take the character and creator to an even wider audience than ever before. But, with his Shazam: Monster Society of Evil work for DC still M.I.A. since it was announced last year, Smith has delivered nothing new since Bone’s final issue in 2003. Therefore, Smith continues to endure, but it is yet to be proven that there is a life for him after Bone.

21. The Team of Burnett, Dini & Timm: “Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, and Bruce Timm produce write, and design the public perception of DC’s two biggest guns [on The New Batman/Superman Adventures.]”

Dini and Timm have managed to parlay their success on the Batman Beyond series (which debuted after this 1998 article) into the current Justice League Unlimited series, while Burnett is committed to the newer Krypto the Superdog show. None of these, however, packs the punch that their earlier series once did, particularly as the comics themselves rest on steadier footing and their live-action counterparts explode on the small screen (Smallville) and big screen (Batman Begins) alike. This team remains reputable, but too many have stood on their shoulders for them to be giants any longer.

20. Dan Jurgens: “He writes. He draws. He sells...With Jurgens, you don’t just get stories – you get EVENTS.”

By his own admission, “The Death of Superman” was a poorly orchestrated event, and few, including Final Night, have come close to recapturing even its impact. At the height of the speculation market, Jurgens delivered collectors’ delights. After that bubble burst, however, the triple-threat creator no longer commanded the same audience, going on to serve a stint on Thor, DC’s “Tangent” events, and now such projects as the Fantastic Four movie’s comic adaptation. As Alex Segura Jr. of TheGreatCurve.net reports, “He's actually doing work pretty consistently, doing an arc on Captain America and Falcon, a Supreme Power mini with JMS and that Iraq comic Marvel is doing. [In addition, there are his] covers on Action Comics with Kevin Nowlan as well.” So, Mr. Jurgens is alive and well, if not the delivery vessel of DC’s latest calamity.

19. Mike Carlin: “He’s the puppet-master of the theater that is the DC Universe.”

Yes, like Moore and Starkings, Carlin marks the third low-ranked, long-term player on Wizard’s 1998 board. Simply put, he remains a creative Godfather at DC, ushering in such remarkable events as the current Identity Crisis and its evolution to Infinite Crisis.

18. The Team of Quesada & Palmiotti: “Quesada and Palmiotti will act as editors for what is essentially the research and development wing of the No. 1 comic publisher...”

Truth be told, this listing is only half-right, and for none of the reasons given. The success of Marvel Knights led to Quesada stepping up to the Editor-In-Chief position at Marvel and reestablishing its connection to its fans (or, at least, the appearance of such a connection). Palmiotti, conversely, continued to execute solid inking and storytelling, most notably on The Pro, but never with the same high profile as with the inception of their Marvel Knights days. To his credit, Palmiotti recently founded Paper Films.studio with Pro-conspirator Amanda Connor and Justin Gray, but Quesada is certainly the break-away from this team-up.

17. Chris Claremont: “Chris Claremont is on a lofty perch: He’s the right-hand man of Marvel Editor-in-Chief Bob Harras [as Vice-president and editorial director...] As Marvel’s No. 2 editorial authority...”

And that went soooo well. With Whedon and Cassaday’s Astonishing X-Men generally lauded as the only compelling X-title currently on the market, Claremont, a legend for his years of work on Uncanny X-Men in the past, has never returned to that zenith of storytelling. While his writing skills argue for the benefit of the doubt in terms of future work, his “lofty perch” as an “editorial authority” has been laid low.

Claremont, though, comes off smelling like a rose compared to some in Wizard’s sweet sixteen of 1998 – some of whom have been weeded right out of the field entirely.

Sixteen more in 30.