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Comics
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Written by MN
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Thursday, 07 February 2008 |
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Saying It Backwards looks back at an adventurous Monel story.
 Thomas Denton, keeper of the Superman Family blog Saying It Backwards, and mentioned previously here as having inspired the re-inking of the Superman merchandising icon, has posted a few nice words with images of the Feb 1978 Superboy & the Legion of Superheroes #236 back-up solo Monel story I illutsrated of a Paul Levitz/Paul Kupperberg script, in Folks who know the score: Michael Netzer.
   Michael Netzer, formerly Mike Nasser, is one of the most underrated artists ever. His work in the 70s and 80s was easily on the level of Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Unfortunately, there isn't a great deal of his work out there. That makes me very sad. He hasn't done huge amounts of work with the Superman Family, but when he did, he definitely got it right.
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 Most of Mike's work on Superman Family related stuff was in Superboy and the Legion of Superheroes. My favorite work of his, what best shows what I love about it, was a Mon El solo story.
Expressive faces, fluid action, a big sense of adventure. Everything you could want in a super hero comic. I wish more comics felt this big. That's just a small look at what he can do. Gorgeous, gorgeous work.
Thomas has good reason for this story to be a favorite. The art was the last work I produced before stepping out from the daily routine of drawing comics in search of a way to consolidate this work into a more inclusive effort that reflects and supports the influence that comics have in our culture. It was the most accomplished artwork I had produced and which attempted to portray the grand sense of adventure of the Superhero mythology in the most classic style and draftmanship I could muster. Joe Rubenstein was in top inking form and even brought in Rick Bryant to apply his space effects wizardry for the backgrounds. Having agreement to color the story myself also contributed to the intended look and feel as envisioned in the planning stages.
  There was however one issue with this story that Paul Levitz didn't agree to. I had originally produced the splash page upside down from the image as it appears in the book. I did this to emphasize a sense of displacement that exists in space, where nothing is really right side up, but rather only relevant to the viewers eyes. Paul thought this was a little too much of a stretch and disorientation for the reader, and asked that it be rotated to feel more comfortable.
I still believe the original version is more powerful and doesn't really cause unnecessary disarray, but I can understand Paul's concern then and agreed to it wholeheartedly in light of his remarks.
Thank you Thomas for the nice words and images, you've brought back very nice memories of a good era indeed.
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