Introducing An Easier Way To Stalk Bendis

August 30, 2007

G.I. JOE #60

I think the cover was actually by Mike Zeck.

In third grade, G.I.Joe was it. When the toy wasn't enough there was the cartoon, and when the cartoon wasn't enough there was the comic. And I didn't even buy the comic. I had a friend who had a subscription and he gave me his when he was done reading them.

When G.I.Joe (A Real American Hero) #60 came out, something was wrong. The art looked different. The artist clearly didn't take the assignment seriously. When I mentioned it to my like-minded comic reading friend, he hadn't noticed. How could he not notice? Ron Wagner, the regular penciller was awesome. The fill-in artist sucked ass. How could he not tell the difference?

Ron Wagner eventually left the title. At the time there was no internet to speak of. If Wagner went on to another comic there'd be no way to know.

That fill-in artist on G.I.Joe #60? Todd McFarlane. Ironically, his Spider-man and Spawn work fed my obsession through high school. By the time I found Ron Wagner again, drawing a Justice League comic, McFarlane, Jim Lee, and Rob Liefeld had, for better or worse, changed the look of the industry. Wagner's stuff looked old-fashioned by comparison.

Now, call me shallow, but ever since then, it was the creators that got me to buy the book not the character or storyline. That practice wasn't unique, and it certainly wasn't unique to the 1990s. There were always Kirby fans, and Buscema fans, and Byrne fans; and they followed from book to book, and publisher to publisher.

ComicScout was an idea born out of a decade of frustration: how do I keep track them all? Do I have to read a dozen different comic news, publisher, and creator web sites just to know what Chris Sprouse is drawing this month? ComicScout keeps track of my favorite creators so I don't have to. So the next time Ron Wagner comes along I won't miss him.

-Jon Plante (Check out my favorites)

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