A Simple Question Concerning Characterization

Doug: Who are those characters that you think should be easy to write "in character"?

And, as a follow-up, where are those examples of gross mischaracterization you can recall?

Spotlight On... Pick a Creator Day!

In the past, we've discussed many, many creators. Among them are: Barry Windsor-Smith, Chris Claremont, the Filipino masters, Frank Robbins, John Buscema, Jack Kirby, Gil Kane, Rich Buckler, Sal Buscema, and Steve Englehart. Toss out a few more for conversation today!

Discuss: Flame-outs

Doug: We have all seen moments of brilliance - zenith, even - followed by Poof! Gone! I'm thinking of the aforementioned Mike Ploog on Monster of Frankenstein. Obviously as moderator I don't want to take any more suggestions away from our conversational readers, but I'd lie if I didn't say Marshall Rogers' run on Detective Comics didn't fit into this category.

Doug: So here's the charge today -- who are those creators whose tenures on a given book were so short that it just left a hole in your reading enjoyment after their departure? And as we said last Tuesday, the following writer or artist (or combination) didn't have to be a step down -- I mean, John Buscema followed Ploog, for crying out loud! Not exactly a consolation prize. You might mention, if you know, who the succeeding creator was (hey, if you know the preceding creator that might be fun as well) and we can add that to our discussion. Should be fun!

PS: Karen's a lucky duck -- she and her husband have been at Disneyland the past few days. She hopes to bring you a report very soon on the Marvel and Star Wars influences in the park. I'm looking forward to it!

Discuss: When Creators Unite... or Not.

Doug: I ran across a tweet from @comicsalliance late yesterday afternoon and wanted to bring the subject over here for discussion. The basic gist of the article (please make the jump, then return here for conversation) is that in 1978 a group of comic book creators sought to form a guild. That didn't happen. But what's interesting is the compensation they sought for contracted work (below), and how those page rates look when adjusted for inflation.

Doug: And, just for the sake of setting your mind, here's a link to Mike's Amazing World of Comics and the books that would have been on sale in May 1978.

Doug: So what do you think? Given all that we've heard of work for hire contracts, freelancing, and most recently Gerry Conway's posts on compensation for character creation, do you have an opinion here? Thanks in advance for sharing those thoughts today.

And Now for Something Completely Nerdy...

Doug: Way back in May, Karen wrote a post called "The Numbers Game", where she asked our readers about numbers that immediately call to mind specific comic book stories. Today I'll take that a step further: show your true devotion by telling us how much of a comic's history you could tell us. So if I said Amazing Spider-Man in the #150s, you could say, "Oh, yeah -- drawn by Ross Andru, and Spidey faced the Shocker, the Sandman, Doc Ock, and Hammerhead. Maybe the writer was Len Wein?" By the way, I did that off the top of my head. Was I right? Who here can do stuff like that? Or wants to admit it?? Please share about your trivia prowess.

The Association

Doug: For those of you who thought we'd be discussing the merits of "Never My Love" or "Windy", I'm sorry to disappoint. However...

Doug: Roy Thomas = Conan and World War II-era heroes, right? That's today's drill, kids. Pick a writer or artist and tell us what immediately pops into your mind. So if someone suggests Jim Aparo, do you first think of Batman in general, or Brave and the Bold in particular?

Doug: Along the way today I'm sure we can get a little healthy debate going on certain creators. For example, for most of us I am going to guess that Stainless Steve Englehart will be revered for his Avengers run. Yet I know there are those among you who are particularly fond of his runs on Dr. Strange and on Detective Comics (hmm... anyone want to suggest Marshall Rogers for something other than that run?). So you see where this can go, huh?

Doug: I'm looking forward to the many great creators who will be suggested today. And even for those who we didn't care for (I'm looking at you, Mr. Robbins), they may be unquestionably linked to a book or character (The Invaders). Have fun!