Comments for MICHAEL NETZER online portal

Comment on Tarzan Sketch Commission by Remy Rimavincus

Remy Rimavincus — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 14:22:06 +0000

Would it be possible to get a print of this?

Comment on The War Imposed Upon Us by Ben Cohen

Ben Cohen — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 23:35:15 +0000

I am in. James Sturm was a professor of mine in Savannah and I have been in communication with Steve Bissete and others for weeks regarding this. You have said VERY WELL most of what we have been saying here. For me much of this goes back to my advicocy efforts at SCAD in the late ’90′s. Obviously, while I was just a kid (in the 80′s) who read and draw comics many involved where fighting the good fight. One issue has always been related to what we are taught in school; don’t rock the boat or close any
bridges, comics are a small world. So any effort will be met by potential allies with fear, real and imagined. However, from someone who is holding onto threads of a life in comics after $90,000 investment in myself and a rigged game, I have nothing to loose. If we are finally ready to pull together and fix what had always been broken (it’s as if we have been conditioned to think cartoonist aren’t ligit unless the creative process was produced in a corrupt, poor crucible), then for me no cause is of more valuable. This could, as you say, have far reaching implications beyond our vacuum. Comics certainly are under pressures all industries, consumers and workers are facing of late and it’s been a long time coming. Now is as good a time as any for change.

Comment on The War Imposed Upon Us by Ed Allen

Ed Allen — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 10:58:42 +0000

Well said. You have crystallised a feeling that has been nagging away at me for a while now. It seems so obvious when you put it as clearly as ‘Marvel and DC are intellectual property farms for Disney and Warner Brothers’.

For the most part as comics fans we struggle to see the forest for the trees, caught up in the minutiae of our beloved medium when the big problem has been staring us in the face for a long time.

What can we do as consumers? Much the same as the Occupy protesters it is impossible for us to live outside an all-encompassing capitalist system but for now at least we can improve our purchasing habits. For one: buy creator-owned work and encourage others to do the same. It’s almost always better (both in terms of value and artistic merit) anyway.

By buying the few Marvel & DC properties that I do I too am part of the problem, but I shall be cutting myself off as each story arc ends. It’s probably not enough but it’s something.

Comment on The War Imposed Upon Us by Richard Van Ingram

Richard Van Ingram — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 01:36:22 +0000

Amen, Mr. Netzer. You’ve given voice to something that needed to be said and called for something that needs to be done. What’s going on in comics is, not surprisingly, an extension of broader cultural and spiritual cankers. I genuinely hope that Mr. Friedrich’s case is the straw that shattered the camel. I could say more, but there’s no need when you’ve said it so well.

Comment on Barry Windsor-Smith Portrait by Richard Caldwell

Richard Caldwell — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 19:45:45 +0000

Special brownie points for being the first Windsor-Smith article I have ever encountered that did not include the adjective “Raphaelian”. Ha!
But you are right, his stuff is constantly, improbably, evolving, and yet still it is absolutely never wrong, either technically or aesthetically. I would give my left arm to have been a fly on the wall back in the days of “The Studio” he shared with Jones, Kaluta, and Wrightson.
And a sidenote- Rune was, more than any other of the Ultraverse properties acquired by Marvel, incorporated into the mainstream Marvel Universe. Particularly in the end days of Marvel’s ownership of the Conan license.

Comment on Another Legion Race Commission by Michael Netzer

Michael Netzer — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 04:01:37 +0000

Thank you Super John!

Comment on Alex Toth at Edge by Michael Netzer

Michael Netzer — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 01:19:35 +0000

That page sent shivers up the spine, Richard. Your feeling for it couldn’t have been said better. He certainly wasn’t the first perfectionist, nor likely the last, though he remains a top inspiration. Nice remembrance article at Bleeding Cool, btw. Congrats!

Comment on Alex Toth at Edge by Richard Caldwell

Richard Caldwell — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:34:50 +0000

Great article, Michael. I do doubt that Toth was the first perfectionist to work in funny books. But I have to say, his “ode to the hero” page from Anything Goes #1 back in the 80′s has got to be my all-time favorite page of comic art. Visually and spiritually.

Comment on Giella and Colan Victimized By Con by Richard Caldwell

Richard Caldwell — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 01:47:23 +0000

There should be an additional circle of hell for guys like that.

Maybe the Hero Initiative or Cliff’s new Sidekick Foundation could have some manner of black ops division, setup to properly deal with such incidents as they occur.

Comment on Another Legion Race Commission by JOHN PETER BRITTON

JOHN PETER BRITTON — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 13:47:39 +0000

SUPER ARTWORK BY MICHAEL NETZER!

Comment on Yisrael Medad: My Right Word by Will K

Will K — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 04:53:34 +0000

Great story Mike. It’s also nice to see some of the art from when you had left the States.

Comment on Jim Aparo and Wayne Boring by Joseph Tages

Joseph Tages — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 09:05:42 +0000

Those are great, Michael. Alan and Jim look just as I remember them from various photos. I’d never seen Wayne’s portrait before, though. Quite a gent.

Comment on Have Peace, Jack Adler by Maurine Starkey

Maurine Starkey — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 05:44:26 +0000

Strange Adventures…those were some of my favorite covers. I guess I’ve learn too late who the person was who added so much color to this kid’s imagination.

Comment on Jim Aparo and Wayne Boring by keith Hurson

keith Hurson — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 15:04:32 +0000

Jim Aparo was one of the greats. When I was a kid, I followed his work, avidly, on The Brave & The Bold, as well as the Spectre & Aquaman runs in Adventure Comics, & Phantom Stranger. He was the first artist that really captured my eye. Well, I guess, Kirby hit me at the same time. I was following his Fourth World stuff for DC, too. Aparo was another of the great unsung artists of the 20th century. His name should have been up there with Byrne, & Perez & Miller & all the other “super-star” artists that dominated the 80′s. I guess he just hit too soon. Seems like all the best artists of the 70′s… Chaykin, Starlin, Wrightson, Aparo, Cardy, Windsor Smith, & yourself, Mr. Netzer… never got the recognition or accolades that they deserved.

Comment on Woman in the Man by Michael Netzer

Michael Netzer — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 17:00:54 +0000

Your insight and steadfast stand on the subject adds the perfect touch to the subject of the article, Darlie. Words are sometimes inadequate for someone like myself, who’s maybe not careful enough to touch the precise root and depth that you and others share on it. Though my intention in saying “gender self-determination” was only relative to social labels, which in some cases necessitate letting these these go, and thus allow everyone to determine for themselves what they know to be the truth about themselves…well, your response clarifies it much better in suggesting it’s a predetermination that supersedes the physical gender trappings. It’s a lovely point about no self-determination being needed because it’s already been determined to be what it is anyway.

I’ve spent a lot of time in Wikipedia over some of the issues you mention. I still find it a valuable source of information but read everything with a grain of salt, looking for telltale signs of where bias and prejudice tend to lurk. They are still everywhere actually. You might be surprised how much of it is fanned by the “science” police trying to keep the encyclopedia loyal to the mainstream.

I’d think that in the overall scheme of things, more and more people are becoming aware of how we’ve nurtured a very dogmatic society on so many issues. I don’t think we’re anywhere near what we hope to arrive at. But we seem to be moving in that direction. The entire obsession of institutional constructs suppressing transsexuality is likely one of the biggest blemishes we carry from darker ages.

Thanks for the great spirit and excellent corrections.