Almost Weakly

Back again to get up to date.
Now where to begin...?

All Star Superman great. It's not controversial to say so. However, it's getting better. Frank Quietly made the choice towards the end of his X-Men issues to ditch inkers as he felt no-one managed to make it look how he wanted. It's taken a while (ie all of WE3 and the previous nine issues of All Star Supes) but this is the first issue I didn't read wincing at bits that I wish he'd inked or had someone else ink.
The storytelling, grace, detail and sense of scale that he's always had hasn't gone anywhere and Morrison is stripping the sory back to the absolute minimum of text etc but the book is so rewarding on a reread. Highlight of this issue are a great Lex Luthor moment, the innovative illustration of Superman's X-Ray vision (above) and Superman creating a mini universe to see what would have happened if he'd never 'come' to Earth (below).

Continuing with Superman, Action Comics 863 finished up the Superman and the Legion of Superheroes arc. Difficult to to remove any image to show without damaging the resolution of the story. No beat is wasted by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank's art, as repeatedly mentioned before is great. I was left wanting more and I'll get more. IN future though, when James Robinson starts on Superman, Action and Superman will run closely together and crossing over. This pisses me off a bit as I like James Robinson but I'm really not sure about the regular artist on the book (Renato Guedes). IT's really souless and I'd already stopped getting the Busiek Superman because of it.
We'll see.
More Superman (what the f*ck's going on). Well Darwyn Cooke and the Justice League New Frontier Special which came out about a month ago. Cooke's written the whole thing and drew half of it, a missing scene from his mega mini New Frontier. A conflict aluded to but only briefly in the series is ellaborated on, Batman Versus Superman. The whole thing is told on three panel per page and feels a little like storyboards. Everything is set up perfectly. Batman stages the fight in a junk yard so the lead will screw up Superman's X-ray vision and then doesn't stop hammering at him. Interesting too are mentions of Batman stuff that retroactively forshadows Dark Knight Returns; interesting because Cooke was very outspoken about Miller's Dark Knight Strikes. However as much as New Frontier was very settled in time because of Cooke's research and structuring of the series within the "real" events of the DC silver age, these nods to Dark Knight, for me, secure it as part of DCs future.
The back ups in the book are good too. The director of the DC:NF cartoon, Dave Bullock does a great Robin and Kid Flash story and Darwynn Cooke's frequent collaborator Jay Bone does a fun Wonder Woman/Black Canary strip.
Oh and DAVE STEWART colors it all.
Which reminds me...the Eisner nominees were announced this week, reminding me how out of touch I am for the for the most part (http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=153595) but Richard Isanove nominated for best colourist!?!?!?!? Awards are always controversial but bloody hell...my finger's really not on the pulse.
Moving on, in my last review of Loveless, I mentioned that it was one of the series I pick up just for the art, when its drawn by Daniel Zezelj. This latest one stand alone story makes me question my judgement. While the art is superb and the colours a perect fit, the story is incredible. Really great. X ammount of years after the main story takes place, a couple of gangsters turn up to hide at a farm house and lie low. They're pretty callous and the old man lives alone and tells 'em a story of when he was a kid, racing horses in a touring racing team. The reveal at the end isn't necessary (though I still shalln't spol it) but if you've read 100 bullets, this is similar to the Kennedy issue. Pick it up, if only when Zezelj is drawing it. Great stuff!
Along with Loveless from Gosh I received issue one of Suitcase Nuke #1. The comic's funny, very well drawn with creative layouts and story telling. I don't, however, know what Wangchung is. Regardless the comic was a really pleasant surprise (I've met him) and I recommend checking out his stuff at http://crowleeey.blogspot.com.
The book also inspired me to flex my polish poster muscle for the first time in ages, the result of which you can see at the bottom of this post.

Also funny Zeb Wells and Bachalo finished their three part Spidey story this week in Amazing 557. This is very much the kind of story which would've bee given a mini or have been relegated to Tangled Web (a place for good solid Spidey stories which don't fit into the convoluted continuity). However, thanks to a load of convoluted continuity, there's now a new unconvoluted continuity so while some stuff might go over your head, you can enjoy what you're reading. As my mate Anthony pointed out, if Spidey was that good every month, we wouldn't miss it. Chris Bachalo's seamingly involved in the colouring of the book, from what I understand, directing the colourist so it looks like he coloured it himself. It looks great, though yet again Tim Townsend ducks out just before the end of the three issues and while Bachalo's pretty hard to overpower/ruin, the art suffers a little for it. Could be worse though, Barry Kitson's on the next arc.
Couple of last mentions of things I can't scan cause it'll f*ck the books up.
The new recoloured Killing Joke has a healthy pricetag but is really gorgeous. I had the book in black and white, which I love, but would never have imagined anyone else colouring it other than the very lively John Higgins. I had a happy moment at Alan Moore's signing at Gosh when he agreed that the Batman Annual story he did with George Freeman (love letter coming soon) was a better Batman story than Killing Joke. It's questionable of course whether its supposed to be a Batman story at all.
Picked up the Mad Archives volume 2 a few weeks back and though I'm dipping in and out (as I feel I have to with really old comics) it's plain gorgeous. Not much to add really, just don't assume it's the weakest link in the EC stable until you've looked at what Wally Wood's capable of with Kurtzman.
Lastly, a friend bought me a book (in the form of giving me the money for me to pick it up). I chose the collection of Michael (Heroes) Green and Denis Cowan's Batman Confidential arc. I'll give it the full review next time but so far, really liking it.

Ketchup

Here we go. Brief recap of my reads from the past month due to waiting and waiting, keeping loyal before finding out my order'd been missed. For the most part I'm up to date and even read a couple of new things that I'd otherwise not have picked up.
In no particular order...

I picked up Kick Ass #1 and subsequently #2 in the out of a sense of keeping my finger on the pulse and always hoping for the best for JRJR. For the record, I get the idea that Mark Millar is 1) a really nice guy b) loves to publicise/overpublicise himself and thirdly, operates in his own bubble in the world of comics.
Every interview I've heard with him tells us how the artist he's working with is the best currently working in comics. Steve McNiven has something, Tommy Lee Edwards is a great illustrator, and Bryan Hitch has come a long way baby. John Romita Jr is probably the closest his claim comes to validity. His art on Kick Ass plays to one his many strengths which is street level. The book looks gorgeous, inked by Tom Palmer who couldn't do any wrong over such a great draftsman. The colourist Dean White also did a great job over him on Black Panther.
The problems start with what I think is Mark Millar's weak point; the high concept. Warren Ellis used to suffer the same thing for me. You come up with a great idea. "A+B=Wow. Now to add to the idea and you have a story". The problem with this is that you get the nice element of surprise at the newness in the firstplace, enjoy it all the way through but can never go back to it. Twelve issues of Wolverine by JRJR, inked by Klaus Janson and I just couldn't go back and read it.
Kick Ass already has that feeling for me. If I get a slow week I might continue with it and keep you posted but I'm not optimistic.
To get it all out of the way, I also picked up the Morrison Batman I'd missed. The story's taken an up swing and has a great Batman moment at the end to remind me why I'm sticking with it but the art attached backs up my feelings about Tony Daniel. Roll on the fill-in issues.

Now Jonah Hex, moving on and up is just a joy. I found one I hadn't noticed in Previews, while desperately seeking my fix. Plus a new one. Great, (generally) stand alone stories by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray that I'd read every month if I didn't have to pay for 'em. I'm spoiled for working in a comic shop in the past to the point of only buying books I feel I'm gonna keep wanting to go back to. Fortunately, every xth issue is drawn by Jordi Bernet who has a mixture of classic styles in his own, not the least of which is Alex Toth, and I feel a bit of John Buscema, Dan DeCarlo there too. As you'll see from the scans, it's just fuggin gorgeous. The stories give him plenty to work with, in terms of environment, characters, violence and comedy and is completely faithful to Michael Fleisher and Garcia-Lopez stories from the 70s. Pick it up!
Wolverine's on a roll. The regular monthly has a three parter by Jason (Scalped) Aaron with Wolverine hunting to kill Mystique, who's generally a treacherous bitx, and great for it, but really screwed the X-Men during the recent X-Men crossover. This was one of those great meetings of the stars. Ron Garney who's comics I always want to buy the writing lets him down, Jason Aaron who's great and, well so far so good. Lastly Wolverine who's a character I love to read done well.
Ron Garney's drawing it, at his absolute best, adapting his style for every project and to this one bringing a lot of John Buscema, shot straight from pencils which gives it a good, rough, Klaus Janson finish. His story telling is great and fluid and his Wolverine is great.
The story is twisty-turny, violent and fun and recommended for Wolverine fans, not however recommended for people that don't like Wolverine.Marvel Knights Logan is by Brian K (he's good) Vaughn and drawn by Eduardo Risso. Dean White colours and while its loud, its also good. A good water colour vibe without the apparent colour blindness that afflicts Richard (three tone) Isanove or Guy (one tone) Major. Dave Stewart makes it look easy and has plenty of peers to show that its not.

Its Risso so its gorgeous. Its Risso Wolverine so it can't go too wrong for me. Plenty of reviewers have gone on about another lost Logan love and another surprise, old enemy who needs revenging and to be honest, I don't know what they want. There's really not too much to add to the character. Get over it. Don't read comics you know aren't going to offer you something new because you only disappoint yourself.
George Pratt wrote and drew a great looking Wolverine story called Netsuke a while back. It bombed, isn't collected because...it's not following the 'formula'. Wolverine+Revenge...Wolverine+Loser at Love=...Wolverine+PLus World War 2=...
This is just a good Wolverine story...And its gorgeous.
Bachalo's just come on for his first arc on Spider-Man with the funny and fun Zeb Wells who never disappoints me and Tim Townsend inking who does him the most justice of any inker (close second of Richard Friend).
I, for one, don't care about Spider-Man's marriage, deal with the devil, dead/dying/alive aunt. I've been seeing scans of pages here and there for a while so I was stuck for what to scan. Hence a good Spidey picture! This is one of those 'does what it says on the tin' reads. If you like the look, pick it up. I thought it was great.Paul Smith on the Spirit. I was excited by the prospect but found the experience jarring. One minute its Paul Smith, the next its Eisnery. Good fun, good Lee Loughridge colours, good fun Aragones and Evanier story...though Cooke is missed. Both Ploog and Smith, I feel, are being overly reverant in dealing with Eisner's flagship character. They could both relax a bit. Regardless, I'll stick about, though I'm really, really dreading Waldon Wong (deadline corrector) who only seems to emerge from the shadows of comics shadows to ink great artists into the ground when they can't meet deadlines.The Iron Man movie's coming and so there's a lot of Iron Man comics about. This is one of the few I jumped at. I fked up a bit and bought the issues, not banking on a collection as Joe Casey+Great Idiosyncratic Aquired Taste Art generally= Critical acclaim, commercial flop.
Great, contempory, year one type story by Casey, incredible art by Eric Canete (see the blog links above) and DAVE STEWART on colours! The quality starts there! Saturfaction guaranteed! Seek it out or buy the book in a couple of months!
To be continued with All Star Supes, New Horizon Special and Action Comics.

Absent Without Leave

Hello cruel world,
Contrary to my slanderous accusations of poor couriers causing delays here in Barcelona, it was in fact a clerical error at my comics shop here that left me without comics for a month : (
I've got a couple of Jonah Hexs, Iron Man Enter The Mandarin, Amazing Spider-Man, Killing Joke Reissue, The Spirit, Batman, Action Comics,Wolverine, Logan, All Star Superman and Kick Ass.
I'm now up to date and will get a load of reviews up over the next few days. In the meantime, here's one of those reminders that no matter how much we love to see creators working on their own stuff (particularly Mignola), there's something about seeing 'em cut loose on Kirby, Ditko etc.
These images are from the Upper Deck Trading Cards so you're probably seeing these bigger than published size.
Watch this Space!

Last weeks reads

The amazing work of Spanish couriers means my comics arrived very late. So here I am the day before (hopefully) getting my new ones, giving opinions on what everyone else has already read.
Anyway...
To begin with a non review.
Batman by Grant Morrison may hold up better upon hindsight. The run started with 'superstar' Andy Kubert on the art who seems like a nice guy and has a distinctive style that really does very little for me. It's very typical of current DC (and Marvel to a certain extent) to tell us how awesome someone is when all the evidence in front of you tells you otherwise. We then got a great three parter by J H Williams with Dave Stewart to show us how good it could be before new 'superstar' Tony Daniel came on as the regular artist with Guy Major colouring.
Now my understanding of the logic behind this decision is that he can do a monthly book with a cool style.
The problem for me is that he doesn't have a cool style. His art is jarringly ugly and I would go so far as to say he was better in '93 on X-Force. It was actually an alright style for the time, Following Greg Capullo (when HE was of interest) and before Adam Pollina. Hence the non review. After wincing through the first few parts, wishing I needed glasses so I could take them off, I then had to read the just plain rubbish Ras Al Ghul crossover and called it a day. This week the first one I didn't order came out and I'd like to read it but I can't spend money on it.
I probably will later though...it's Grant Morrison on Batman and I wanna know what happens : )
Continuing with Batman, though one I've read this time, All Star Batman & Robin #9 hit the shelves and continues to show that while Frank Miller never seems to disappoint every time he opens his mouth lately, he still writes really entertaining comics.
At some point it became fine for me to like Jim Lee's art again. He's as much of the reason I got into American comics at sixteen as Image was responsible for me seeking out good comics elswhere (Dark Horse, Fantagraphics, Europe etc). It seems to me very much that if he's got Scott Williams inking him, you're all right. I even ended up buying the Absolute Hush as a present for my inner child and while it's a crap read, it's nice seeing Jim Lee experimenting with styles and keeping both himself and me interested. He's doing this even more-so in All-Star Batman.
The comic is a real guilty pleasure. I actually enjoy it. That's my review. If I analyse it too hard I'll find I've very little good to say about it but I do enjoy it and recommend it...(if you're me or someone who found you enjoyed DK2 despite yourself).

The post midlife crisis reboot of Action Comics by Geoff Johns and Richard Donner was troubled from the start by delays, all of which would seem to be the fault of Adam Kubert who turned in fantastic work with colours by Dave 'satisfaction guaranteed' Stewart. I really can't imagine what could have caused delays so huge as to have them keep the series going in the meantime and elect to finish his first (only) story arc in an Annual. I liked it and am looking forward to the end of it.
Anyway, in the meantime we've had a great, strange, Bizarro story by Eric Powell and they've also welcomed as the new regular penciller Gary Frank. I've never been a huge Gary Frank fan, marginalising him as "solid" and once he started getting inked by Top Cow inker Jonathan Sibal a few years back, I thought that was the end. However, the current Action Comics arc has been gorgeous, really. We've got Christopher Reeves as Superman, interesting page design and colours by Dave McCaig bringing it all together. The story, for one not at all up to speed on the Legion, has been great fun and I'm looking forward to good long run on the comic I thought I'd never be able to buy.
Number 1 of Rasl, the new Jeff Smith series also hit and was very well received, by me. The printing's a bit sh*t and while I prefer Jeff Smith's work in black and white, the pinting left it all a bit dark grey and white. Only criticism. I thought the story was a great start which got me really interested but the experience was too short. As you can read anywhere, its a sci-fi adventure about an art thief who can jump through dimensions to nick the same thing various times. This takes a lot out of him and so he's got to drink, smoke and meditate before getting back into the swing of things. This is the premise of the series and is pretty much all we get from the first issue so you kind of read it with a sense of de ja vu. Two months till number 2.

Comic Review 27/02/08

As suggested by my friend Anthony 'the great white' Hope-Smith, here begins my reviewing bit. I'll be reviewing the new comics I've bought or or the old comics I've read (thanks to my obsessive online shopping to recollect everything that ever made an impression on me). I'm finished with buying old tut like crazy and now I get to start reading it.
This'll be weekly (weakly) written and will be as long as my pile of comics at Freaks is high.

First up is the latest Loveless, no 22 by Azzarello and regular fill-in artist Daniel Zezelj. This is a series, that much like DC's Jonah Hex, I started to pick up because it was drawn by someone who's work I love and a writer who's work I generally like. I generally pick up comics depending on who's drawing them.
With Loveless I read the first issue when I worked in a comic shop and could do so for free. It was good but Marcelo Fuisin, the original regular artist, does nothing for me so I passed. I've now a few issues of the title because Daniel Zezelj comes along every couple of issues and draws great stand-alone stories with his stylistic, high design, heavy blacked art. His story telling is great and the high design doesn't interfere with reading great Brian Azzarello character pieces.
The latest issue opens with convicts shitting in the woods. THERE's character. The two chained together convicts are on the run across swamps and up mountains. The language is strong as you'd expect from Brian Azzarello and I've yet to read one of these fill-ins that hasn't held it's own as a story and left me wishing I could get passed my art magpie to read the whole series.

The Immortal Iron Fist Orson Randall and the Green Mist Of Death is next up and I won't be typing that again. I picked up the trade paperback of 'The Last Iron Fist Story' by Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction with art by David 'Aha!' Aja, a while back. I'd heard good things but not enough to invest in the hardcover. I kinda wish I had upon hindsight. The art's great, dark and distinct, with nice storytelling and nothing more than Matt Hollingsworth colours so, yeah, easy on the eyes. The story is something else. Having read Matt Fraction's sublime Casanova (with art by the great Gabriel Ba) I knew the series would easily combine action, and science-philosophy without shoving it down your throat. Like the best Grant Morrison work you can take it at face value and enjoy it or just keep digging to see how many levels he's firing on. None of this mentions Ed Brubaker who's work is the gift that keeps on giving, bringing pulpy and mystery(/y) stories to established characters and their world.
This one-shot is written by Matt Fraction on his own and, to be honest I'd forgotten I'd ordered it. Marvel comics, slightly more than DC in general, drive me up the f*ckin' wall for all the adverts, largely comic themed (to interupt even more!). I'm not fussed about comics versus trades apart from monthly comics being printed on crap paper and full of adverts. Yet I ended up with the one-shot. I'd probably just read the trade when I ordered. The issue's by four art teams but the most impressive (for me) is pencilling Nick Dragotta with Mike Allred drawing all over the it. I loved Allred at one point (Dark Horse Madmad, Red Rocket 7 era) but went off his art when he began using less and less black in collaboration with his wife, the great colourist Laura Allred. This art takes me back a bit reminding me what I liked and nudges me back towards buying all the stuff I passed on over the last few years. Russ Heath paints a great chapter and Stefan Gaudiano, regular inker of Michael Lark on Daredevil draws nice too. The whole thing holds together really well and leaves me wishing I bought the issues every month rather than waiting. Following the early 20th century/pulpy incarnation of Iron Fist versus an ambiguous enemy. The stories solid and adds depth to the Iron Fist history while always looking forward.
Kaare Andrew's GREAT cover gives me hope of seeing him working on the interiors at some point.

Lastly but not leastly is the latest Fear Agent trade which I finished reading this morning. I re-read the first couple of trades before reading this third collection which has made me a fan for life, I think. Rick Remender first came to my attention as the friend of Kieron Dwyer. Then he wrote loads of comics I never got around to reading and drawing some too. During a spare half hour I read the first issue of Fear Agent at http://www.imagecomics.com and enjoyed it enough to pick up the first trade. Tony Moore's art was first seen (by me) on Image's Walking Dead, which I really liked. A strong sense of storytelling and a manly approach to his cartooning, its really engaging stuff. When he's not drawing it Jerome Opeña is who renders the whole thing with the same level of action focussed storytelling as Tony Moore, but different. It ALWAYS feels consistent.
The book is genuinely funny, genuinely sad and relentless in it's telling of Earth's fall at the hands of two alien races. It's all told from the point of view of the protagonist Heath Huston, a Texan with drink dependancy issues a well of loss and no aversion to violence following his principles. The Jack Davis quote on the back of the collection says it fine "Fear Agent is just beautiful, I couldn't put it down. God Bless him I wish Harvey Kurtzman was around to see it"

Rick Leonardi Part 3

Just before going into the final part of this bootlegged interview, I should remind everyone that this interview was published in February 2005, and the upcoming work mentioned has long since been and gone. The Star Wars mini series he mentions towards the end of the interview was good fun. He's done a few issues of Superman with Kurt Busiek, inked by Dan Green (for old times' sake?), he did a fantastic JLA story focusing on the Martian Manhunter, inked by Sean Phillips, which was a great fit (but with overly heavy colours). Most recently we got an issue of Witchblade (above) inked by Kevin Nowlan which I've yet to have in my hands but looks to be a really nice mixture of what one expects from both Leonardi and Nowlan (with colours by Dave McCaig). Coming up currently we can 'look forward' to more Superman and Supergirl work. I'm sure it'll be nice enough looking but I personally hope for more Batman related work. Regardless, as long as the editors that be keep giving him work I'll be along for the ride.
One last note regarding one great book not included in the scans, Green Lanter Vs Aliens. Great book, decent inks and great Dave Stewart colours but I've got the trade, which I couldn't scan. Check it out!
Dolmen: Let's talk about your work for DC comics. After spending most of your career working for DC, at some point you decided to move to DC. Why?
Leonardi: It was during the bankrupcy era of Marvel when they made radical changes in the editorial staff. What occured to me was that in just one day I found that all of the editors that figured in my agenda, those that I could call looking for work, disappeared from Marvel. By luck, one of those that went to Marvel called me. At first he gave me a little work and put me in conact with other people. After, Joey Cavalieri arrived at DC and then I had a couple of contacts. I was lucky in that Greg Land went to Crossgen and left Nightwing free so that I had to do a couple of quick issues of Nightwing. Later another couple of creators went to Marvel and again I had to fill in for a a few issues. It wasn't that they gave me any kind of prize rather that they knew I was there and that I could do a good job on time.
Dolmen: At that time you were part of No Man's Land. It wasn't your first experience with crossovers (I think you worked on some mutant crossover) but do you like crossovers?
Leonardi: I think that it's difficult for a writer to tell his story right after someone else and finish it so that someone else can carry on where he finished, but for the artists it's a real probelm to adjust costumes and environments so that they're the same as the other artists.
Dolmen: Do you like working with Chuck Dixon?
Leonardi: Yeah. Chuck fits very well with my way of working because he's a veteran and experienced enough not to tell an artist more than he needs to know. He doesn't tell you what the character's thinking or that how to focus the scene rather he describes person's doing full stop.
Dolmen: Some of us believe that he's a good writer but he always bases his stories on the same structure and that hampers the originality.
Leonardi: You could be right. His speciality are crime stories, in those that might have superheores implicated but they have a lot of plice intrigue. En the case of Nightwing that haas a certain logic, in that Dick grayson is a policeman himself, but on other occasions not so much. Anyway, I like Chuck's work a lot from my point of view as an artist, he's a straight forward guy, he doesn't involve himself in my work and knows what he wants. The rest, it's up to the readers to decide.
Dolmen: I believe that you worked with Devin Grayson too, right?
Leonardi: Yeah. Her strongpoint is the enthusiasm she put into Nightwing (he's her favourite character). In fact, she changed her name and is called Grayson in honour of the character (at least that's what I heard). Her biggest problem is that at times she thinks she's writing a movie and you find camera movements seperated panel to panel as if it were a film, something that's used to great excess unecessarily in the story.
Dolmen: You've drawn Batgirl, a character relatively new and difficult to draw, in that she's got her face completely covered and the face lacks expression. Did it help that you'd drawn Spider-Man in the past when you were confronted with her?
Leonardi: Spider-Man's been with us long enough that people imagine in part the expression based on what he says or thinks. In anyway, her body language is very important and at the moment of expressing one thing or another that also works for Batgirl.
Dolmen: Maybe Spider-Man's eyes account for a lot of the expression that Batgirl lacks completely...
Leonardi: I believe that the dialogue that Stan Lee and all those who've followed him are also a fundemental part of the characterisation and when you have a character like Batgirl, who you can't make speak, the thing is much more difficult. In anyway, it's a challenge for the artist and the character has potencial and isn't simply a female Batman.
Dolmen: What about Birds Of Prey?
Leonardi: It could be a great series. Everything about Barbera, a woman of action who sees herself obligated to live the rest of her life in a wheelchair is a theme difficult to handle. I don't know if the associations for the disabled are very active in Spain or not, but in the US there's a lot of sensitivity to respect and you never know exactly how to sink your teeth into the subject. I don't know why Dick and Barbera stopped going out, if it's because she was in a wheelchair or what, but the implications for that are strong and nobody has touched the theme further. And if he stayed with her? Would he do it out of guilt? Is that better? I tell you, it's a great theme that no-one's approached with valor.
Dolmen: Let's talk about your inkers. Terry Austin inked over you on Cloak and Dagger and at the time he must have been one of the most popular inkers...
Leonardi: Terry got really involved with the characters up to the point of writing stories for the series. He tried to keep it going as long as possible. At the time I thought that they were stories a little silly, but surprisingly I ended up hooked and it made me realise that I was having a good time. We're still in touch. It occurs to me to call him once in a while and we talk. He not much of a talker and at times he's isolated and alone. I recieve more calls from him when there are changes in the industry or he's worried about something. It's something that happens to everyone.
Dolmen: Do you know why he's disappeared a little from the spotlight? By all accounts he continues to be one of the best inkers or at least better than many others that are working on big series...
Leonardi: I completely agree that he's still one of the best. One of the things that happened was that with the change in paper from that new print paper, really absorbant (which was really good with his style of fine pointed inking) he lost a bit of his appeal, and it looked too fine on the high quality paper and the drawings didn't turn out too well.
Dolmen: Bob Wiacek also inked over you at times and is another inker who's practically disappeared from view today.
Leonardi: Bob used a different technique. While Terry uses a black ink really dark and fine, I believe Bob uses some kind of Rotring. The results of Bob's inking is a lot less attractive than Terry's, although it gains a lot when printed.
Dolmen; We know that you like Jesse Delperdang's inks. Can you tell us what are his good points?
Leonardi: Jesse is one the best inkers today. He can ink with thick strokes or fine strokes. I think he's the guy who best known how to interpret my pencils.
Dolmen: What writers would you like to work with in the future?
Leonardi: I'm not really up to date with who are the hot writers today. I don't get those bundles of free comics anymore that the publishers used to send me it I don't feel like buying too many. I think it's a big problem in my career and that's that I've never tried to collaborate with any 'prestigious' writers (like Vertigo writers). It would be fun to work with a British writer and play a little with their dark tendancies.
Dolmen: I don't know, I think that you'd work well with Greg Rucka or Ed Brubaker, in that both specialise more in in telling stories with few superheroic elements and with your ability for characterisation, you could do good stories.
Leonardi: I agree. I should try it. They've always told me that editors look to me when they need characterisation: We chose you because you know how to draw different faces they've told me one time or another as if all the rest only know how to draw one face.
Dolmen: Well, talking about what the future holds. Can you tell us something about your upcoming work?
Leonardi: Star Wars. I'm going to be doing a four part mini series with Chuck Dixon which stars one of the main villains from the third part of Star Wars, Grievous.
Dolmen: Sounds interesting. May the force be with you.
Leonardi: Gracias.

Rick Leonard Part 2

Just a quick note before I continue with what I now know to be part two of three of this translated Leonardi interview. It is REALLY hard to choose pages to show. Similar to someone like John Romita Jr so much of Leonardi's strength is in his story telling so rather than grabbing splashes, I've tried to reflect what for me is the best of Leonardi. It's also become apparent to me doing this that, to date, His Batgirl run is the best run of comics he's done. The writing's nice, his art is great, Jesse Delperdang's inks are a perfect fit, Jason Wrights colours are gorgeous. Now I'm already starting to debate with myself (but what about Spider-Man 2099?) but I'll leave it there.


DOLMEN: You also did an issue of Fantastic Four 2009
LEONARDI: I think it was an attempt to clarify a little the whole history of the 2099 universe. I think the whole 2099 universe was created against the opinion of a lot of professionals. The problem with stories set in the future is that if they have the smallest success, the reader begins to assume that its the future that awaits their characters and that its something fixed and unchangeable. For example, if Miguel is the son of Peter Parker and there’s an issue of Amazing Spider-Man in which he apparently dies, the fans will know that its not true because he still hasn’t had this son that they know he’s going to have. The reason expressed against stories set in the future is they undermine dramatic possibilities, which is really nonsense, as no-one ever said that this was necessarily the future timeline of what we know as the real Marvel Universe.
DOLMEN: Its funny to think that Tom DeFalco was against stories set in the future because he’d later be the main architect of another future Marvel Universe, Spider-Girl’s, which he’s been with for eight years.
LEONARDI: Well, to me at least, they always said it was Tom himself who was against the 2099 Universe. In any case, whoever moved the strings to finish the series would be someone in the upper levels because those types of decisions are made there.
I believe that the main prejudice against future stories comes from Dark Knight, Frank Miller’s mini series which gives us an old Batman and although in theory it didn’t influence the Batman of the present, many writers began to write stories which appeared to be inspired more by Dark Knight than by what Batman had been until then. I don’t think this is Miller’s fault, rather a lack of imagination of those writers.
DOLMEN: Changing the subject a little, you did a few stories for Marvel Comics Presents. Were they part of your unconcerned attitude for working on a career or was it just what they offered you?
LEONARDI: A little of everything. On the other hand they were stories that looked interesting, remembering that they were eight pages and had to be done relatively quickly as the series was weekly. It was excellent training to learn to draw faster…
DOLMEN: Did you not have some kind of safety net of time just in case one day your sick or something?
LEONARDI: You had a little time in reserve but not too much. It was a very immediate job, much more than your classic monthly book. With a comic book of 22 pages I’m almost paralysed until I get to the most important part of the story and I structure everything from there while the episodic nature of a serial stops you thinking in terms of the climax, which hasn’t necessarily even been written yet. You have to focus on a different kind of urgency.
DOLMEN: In Marvel Comics Presents you drew a Colossus story along with Ann Nocenti which was also inked by P Craig Russell and was one of your best works of that peridod. Would you agree?
LEONARDI: Craig Russell’s inks are magnificent: he’s a genius. He’s one of the few artists in this industry who looks out of the window. When I draw a tree, I try to get them to look like trees. I lived in the East when I drew most of those pages and a big part of the nature that I drew was what I was out my window. There are a lot of artists who have never left New York and the only tree they know how to draw is a Christmas tree.
Ann is a really interesting writer. Almost unique. She never begins a story because of a character or an interesting idea, rather because of a message. She’ll then fit the message to the character and from there, arrive at the point of the story.
In the Colossus story she uses the nature of Colossus as a citizen of the Soviet Union to underline the hypocrisies and inconsistencies of American society and to a certain extent I believe that in the same way she was critical to American society she should also be aware of the problems of Soviet society. Colossus isn’t an idiot and he couldn’t say that he wasn’t aware of Soviet totalitarianism or of the injustices committed in his own country, but in this case I think that what you can see is that the way Ann writes is a bit of a cheat.
I think in Daredevil (another series that we worked together on) she got it; to explore psychological aspects of the character, like in the story which she uses the blindness of the character and his ability to penetrate the psyche of the people around him.
To be sure, when Ann gives importance to combining the message and the character, she has a really good story, but when both aren’t strong, the thing doesn’t end up working.
DOLMEN: Do you think Ann Nocenti’s way of working is compatible with superhero comics, with the current market?
LEONARDI: There are always independent publishers that publish all kinds of material. I think there are a lot of independent publishers and this means you can get to readers no problem. Today they publish more than 500 comics a month and a store has to carefully select which books they’re going to order and if they order a book no-one’s going to buy, they’re stuck with it. This is a problem with a difficult solution, but it means that a few works go almost un-noticed though they’re of high quality.
I believe Ann has pretty much abandoned the world of comics and is the editor of some magazine (High Times, a magazine related to marijuana and drug culture).
DOLMEN: There’s a moment in your career when you start to work for independent publishers like Event Comics, for whom you did Painkiller Jane. What brought you into contact with Quesada and Palmiotti?
LEONARDI: They had a great reputation and they went on the adventure of creating their own characters and they invited me to work with them. Obviously I can’t comment about the character. I think it was a character with a few possibilities…
DOLMEN: The Punisher with tits?
LEONARDI: (laughs)Yeah, they never described it to me like that. More than anything it was an experiment in working for someone that wasn’t Marvel or DC. It was enjoyable, Brian Augustyn is a great guy, married with kids, goes to church on Sunday who now runs a publisher of comics with Christian content. This was the guy who was writing Painkiller Jane so our level of commitment was similar. You’ll put me in an uncomfortable position if you ask about the Vampirella/Painkiller Jane crossover…
DOLMEN: Basically, I don’t want to be unkind but as you already said it, why the hell did you do that comic?

LEONARDI: Because I needed the money! (laughs)
DOLMEN: Another slightly risky question is how come you didn’t get more fixed work at Marvel when Quesada was made Editor in Chief, having worked with Quesada and Palmiotti in their own company?
LEONARDI: Yeah, that’s a question I’d also like to know the answer to. It’s interesting that you’re asking too. I’m not going to answer directly but I’ll tell you a story. Three years ago, I think it was at the Philadelphia comic convention, the night before at the launch party. There was a small private party for invited guests. In this bar there were two groups of people around two different people; Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti. Both were sat at two different tables with their backs to each other without speaking or looking at each other. I suppose there are things that happen in all businesses (Rick’s talking about the moment when Palmiotti and Quesada broke up their personal relationship and stopped working together on Marvel Knights. Although there’s a kind of unspoken agreement around the topic, its evident that whoever sat at the wrong table didn’t get work at Marvel).
DOLMEN: Let’s talk a little about Rampaging Hulk. What was it like working with Glen Greenberg?

LEONARDI: He was a really young guy for that at the time, a guy who had been an editor and still had a lot of fan about him. I suppose that they gave him the job as he’d read every comic published and knew the past of the character, but I think more than that a good writer’s necessary.
To understand the creation of The Rampaging Hulk you have to remember that at the time Peter David wrote The Incredible Hulk and as we’ve already said, it’s Peter’s style to make the protagonist the smartest guy in the place. What we had was a character who was not only one of the strongest beings on the planet but who also wasn’t one of the most intelligent. The fans were divided into those who followed Peter in everything he did on the series and those who wanted to return to classic Hulk forever, ‘Hulk Smash’ Hulk. So, Marvel decided to resurrect the old Hulk for the fans who missed him.
DOLMEN: Did it not have anything to do with the interest Marvel had in selling Hollywood a cinematic adaptation and wanting to show them a classic version of the character?
LEONARDI: Could be. Its definitely a good theory and I wouldn’t be the one to say its not the real reason. It would definitely explain why it only lasted six issues when we were planning a much longer run. If their main idea was to show the original idea (a kind of mix of Jeckyll and Hyde with super powers) it would work and to sell Ang Lee the project. Once sold, it wouldn’t make sense to continue with the series.
Dolmen: Another interesting fact about The Rampaging Hulk is that it’s the first time you wrote a story on one of your comics, or at least the first time you’re credited for your part in the story. How did that come about?
Leonardi: Basically what happened is that Terry Kavanagh, the editor, told us that the series was cancelled at number six and that we should try to wrap it as neatly as possible. Greenburg had been let go at issue four and an idea occurred to us for what we thought would be issues six and seven of the series. Later they told us no, the series would only last one issue more and we had to condense the story to one issue. I think it was Terry who suggested the base the story on a Navajo reserve and it just so happened that I’d been reading a lot about the Navajo culture at the time and their ceremonies. So I started to suggest things that could happen in the story (the psychodrama etc) and I think the funny thing is that it worked well as a description of the motivations of the character.
Dolmen: The main problem with Peter David’s Hulk is that while it’s a good comic, it leaves out the basic principal of the Hulk, which is little more than how we handle the violence we have inside us and the different ways to express it…

Leonardi: What a sentence! I think I’m not going to sleep tonight thinking about that (laughs). Seriously, you’ve got a point. This would bring us to talk about the amount of things comics can do for the reader while entertaining. Just the other day in conversation we were talking about the role of the comic book in real life. Its not so much that comics can tell us what would happen if Reed Richards discovered a cure for cancer. Rather the function that comics can assume symbolically to educate the reader or make them aware of a certain problem. This is terrain we should explore, to find something that enriches the reader while entertaining them.
Dolmen: How come you didn’t write anything following that issue?
Leonardi: Well, for the first part, nobody read Rampaging Hulk and I only contributed to the plot. I don’t consider myself a writer, other than bringing story elements occasionally and frequently doing an ‘editing’ job with the text, rewriting scenes to make them more logical. Normally the writer takes a couple of days in front of the word processor to write their story. Wel perhaps I’m not being fair and some take as long as I do in drawing it. If I pick up on errors, inconsistencies or problems with the structure, I correct those kind of things.