EEK!
I got a few issues of Joe Q's X-Factor run a few days ago, and that got me thinking, what kind of artistic legacy has Joe Quesada etched for himself so far? Will his arguably successful, sometimes controversial run as Marvel EIC cause his pencilling work to be pushed aside as a footnote in his career?Obviously, his editorial duties prevent him from doing any sort of consistent work (NYX and Daredevil: Father). But even before he was named as Marvel's head honcho, he didn't really have a huge body of work. And, the books that he did work on aren't exactly bigtime properties. Outside of Sword of Azrael, I'm not even sure if they're still available in trade form.
Let's see... he did some Impact/DC work, then got noticed on Sword of Azrael. He did a handful of Ninjak, Ash, and X-Factor. But I don't think any of those runs exceeded 6 issues. Then he did a highly publicized year-long run on Daredevil-- but that was unfortunately follwed by a long, criticially acclaimed run by Bendis and Maleev.
Of course, Quesada's career is by no means over. He's been hinting at the big time book that he wants to draw for Marvel. And after his run as EIC is done, he'll be able to do whatever he wants. But Millar has the theory about a creator's shelf-life, and Joe is going to be pretty near that when he's done. And historically, most of Marvel's EICs do their best creative work before they get the job, not after.
Will Joe the Artist be remembered like Steranko, who, with only a handful of issues under his belt, remains one of the more influential comic artists ever?
Or could he be remembered like Michael Golden, someone who produces high quality but with a very limited output?
Or, like Jim Shooter, will he be remembered for his contributions as the head of Marvel, his creative career just a tiny detail that only few fans remember?
posted by butch @ 5/26/2006
0 comments
