The Hawk rises again,15 years on since I drew the first issue of Darkhawk. At the time I was looking for any book to do since buring out on Quasar, my first regular Marvel gig as a penciler, but a book I never really liked. Quasar was sort of a "weenie Captain Marvell crossed with Superman." But I wanted to be a guy drawing for Marvel, that was my goal since a teen and I took the opportunity and that was the book I was offered by the late Mark Gruenwald. I was never a big fan of DH either to be frank, I wasn't even the first artist offered the book, Pat Broderick was, but they were not happy with his take and Quasar editor Howard Mackie gave me a shot at DH. From the first I felt it was a bit too much like Spidey for my tastes and the last storyline featuring interstellar weapons manufacturers and aliens was much more to my liking. The suit after all was a weapon. Much like the updating of Batman's suit crossed with the Guyver. But Marvel was smart then, and the business was so different, you can't even compare then to now... lot more kids and young teens reading, this was pre-Image, and Marvel was launching several new books each year, essentially throwing stuff against the wall and seeing what stuck. DH was one of them.
I finally left with issue 25, and never looked back.I never looked at an issue after i left, so I never knew what happened to Chris Powelland DH. I never felt the book was popular and got no kudos at Marvel for working on it. This was at the time of the rise of guys like Liefeld and Mcfarland, Wolverine and the Punisher appearing in every book,and soon Image. What I felt I brought to the table, strong storytelling and drawing were just not in favor at the time. So it's funny to have so many people tell me in the last few years how much they enjoyed the book and my work on it. I get that at every show or con, and several e-mails, even folks who post here. Seems like the character is popping up more and more at Marvel too, I haven't seen any of the books though... Maybe it's time for me to try and pitch a new DH series? I don't know, as I have heard it guys 40+ are not welcome at Marvel...
Here is a link to a nice review of
While Googeling myself ( come on admit it, you do it too) I came across a link to this review of the character and first issue of DARKHAWK by Drew Clements. Enough time has passed that I don't feel bitter and burned out like I did when I left DH and Marvel soon after for DC and eventually Batman. And that friends is a story for another day.
I agree, and while I love Torpedo and any book by Bernet, love the whole Euro-canon, Moebius,Pratt etc.,I do think Dark Knight and Watchment were good an bad like you said, but the worst is the colapse of the direct market coupled with loss of readers that brought.
ReplyDeletethat caused there to be a loss across the field in variety of material. Gone are the Richie Rich, War, Goldkey, Warren horror mags etc. Only babyman dark books left.
DH was like a combo of Shazam and Spidey. Chris could swith bodies like Billy Batson did and he had problems the typical teen had in the fantasy universe of Marvel. the thing is you can but the whole run cheap on Ebay.
I really enjoyed DH as a kid. It had the elements I liked about Spidey during a time when the Spidey books had lost their way (even pre-clone saga, they were going for a darker riff). So, my top reads around the time of Mike's run on the book were DH, Spidey 2099 and New Warriors. Just fun, superhero stuff. DH has popped up here and there, but the cameos haven't been all that consistent, in my opinion, so if someone came in with a new pitch, they could probably start anew.
ReplyDeleteAnd Mike, your Batman run was really underrated, I thought.
On an unrelated note: would you be up for doing an interview for the comic blog I edit, The Great Curve? I'd love to get the chance to lob a few questions your way. Great hearing from you.
Sure Alex, fired me an e-mail off blog, I'll be happy to do something for your site.
ReplyDeleteNice neat, concise history lesson busted.
ReplyDeleteAnd now the CCA is like a toothless old cat, a mummified one at that. I don't think they have any say anymore at all.
The mags I was talking about SPJ were the Warren mags, Creepy, Eerie, 1984 and Vampirella. They were some of the best magazines art wise up into the 80's, and for a while had some of the best short story writing by guys like the late Archie Goodwin. Vampirella is still published, but it isn't anything like it used to be, it's just another booring pin-up chick book.
If you are interested you can often find back issues of the warren stuff like Eerie and Creepy at many shops and local cons. Ebay too. They are the direct decendent of EC and many of the artists who worked for EC did work for the Warren magazines.
Does anybody still work for the CCA? Do they get paid? How do they make money?
ReplyDeleteHow do they feel about about being a toothless old censor cat?
These are questions that I occasionally think about at night, while I'm trying to sleep but my brain won't let me. Since the CCA was brought up, I thought I'd ask.
SPJ, I agree, there should not be censorship, especially in the library, but people are lazy. lazy pople always want other people to take responsibility for them, even the goverment. No, they can't turn off the TV when something comes on they find offensive, they want the TV Police to do this for them.
ReplyDeletePart of living in a free society that engenders self expression through all media is that you will have to come in contact and listen to ideas and expressions ( art, songs, movies etc.) that you find offensive, dumb, irritating, etc.
In the library there is a section for kids, but also section for everything else, and a kid could go and borrow books by Mamment, or The Tropic of Cancer or many, many other books that might not be deemed age appropriate, but this is the tricky area. You are still a minor, so if a librray lent you a book that some might consider "adult" that leaves them open to trouble. Your parents should be monitoring what you read, watch, listen to. that is a parents job, to help you put things in perspective, and at times to say no if they think you are not ready for something yet.
Comics is crossing over into less "childrens fantasy into babymen's fantasy". the females are drawn to titilate ina way they were not yeras ago, storylines deal with rape, sex and violence far beyond the adventures of the same characters in the 60'70's even the 80's. This is especially tricky when you take into account state and local laws. the laws in LA are not the same as laws in PA or NY. certainly not the same as a place like Georgia. What may be harmless titalation here in Philly, a fairly liberal place, can get you busted in states like Gerogia. The comic book legal defense Fund has fought many such cases if you are interested in reading about them.
Comics walks this messy landscape as 99.9% of people associate comics with children and childrens entertainment, yet mostly adults read them now. kids can't even be 3% of the readership on any comic not sold in a supermarket.
The CCA is no more I think, they were sponsored, or funded by Marvel, DC, Archie etc. I don't know if they are still funded by them but the books no longer carry the seal. Image never belonged nor I believe did Dark Horse etc.
SPJ, since you are so interetsted in humor comics why not try writing or drawing some yourself? The industry certainly need more women cartoonists and writers.
Happy earlier B-day SPJ.
ReplyDeleteYeah,parents never really are able to stop kids from seeing things or protecting them 24-7. I saw smut (Playboy pin-ups in my dad's work shop)and heard plenty of dirty words early...of course many from my parents too :-)
You write well for your age, wellbetter than many people several years older as I get letters from many professed college grads who couldn't write a menu order.
You seem to have a sharp eye and wit, which I think make for good comedic writing.
Quasar was not a weenie!
ReplyDeleteI object to that!
bringbackwendell.com