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Post by Deleted on Jun 19, 2022 9:01:43 GMT -5
I can't say that any departure really bothered me that much and certainly didn't "hurt", as I tend to just think that creators leaving and changing on a series is all part of the ebb and flow of any comic book title. I try to remember that when such discussions take place. I remember some folk complaining when Richard Dean Anderson left Stargate: SG-1, but at that point, he must have clocked up at least a decade on the show. Acting on a TV show or writing a comic, they are still jobs at the end of the day. And with some exceptions, folk don’t stay in the same job. In my life, I know of ONE person who was in the same job for 28 years (and on the same team). But elsewhere, it’s different. In my clerical days (public sector), the longest I was on the same team was 2 years. I was moving from teams, getting transferred, promoted, etc. I suppose as fans, we might expect our favourites to stick around on the same comic for decades, but if they view it as a job, then I guess at times they might have a desire to move on - or circumstances dictate that they do. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 19, 2022 10:27:29 GMT -5
Spider-Man was never the same after Ditko left. Not a big fan of the Romita Sr. years, big drop in exciting new rogues and the "cool Peter" left me cold. I'm a bigger Ross Andru fan actually, he really did make New York come alive like nobody else and felt like a more well-rounded artist to me. Romita was a better Romance artist who happened to make good looking characters in a superhero comic book. They be fighting words, my friend! *Cleans boxing gloves* Hah hah...I yield!! I said all that, yet there's an irony, as I literally stare at my John Romita Sr. Amazing Spider-Man Artifact Edition sitting on the shelf nearby. But my man Ross was getting a drubbing, so I had to go big on the critique  |
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Post by tarkintino on Jun 19, 2022 10:51:42 GMT -5
Spider-Man was never the same after Ditko left. Not a big fan of the Romita Sr. years, big drop in exciting new rogues and the "cool Peter" left me cold. I'm a bigger Ross Andru fan actually, he really did make New York come alive like nobody else and felt like a more well-rounded artist to me. Romita was a better Romance artist who happened to make good looking characters in a superhero comic book. I was okay with "cool Peter" as it seemed like a natural progression in the character's life. For the most part, Peter aged in real time throughout the 60s. The trouble is that it wasn't sustainable. Pretty soon he would have wound up being a middle-aged Spider-Man. Romita and Lee knew Parker could not grow as a character--and be relatable to readers if he was forever trapped in Ditko's nerd/quirk mode, and would not survive the decade if his (Ditko's) art/influence never left the title. Parker was growing up, becoming confident in himself (and his costumed half), just as that tumultuous decade rolled on, and he felt like a part of it--not some oddball out of place with everything around him. Spider-Man became Marvel's flagship icon in the Romita era, a potent example of the heights comics could reach, and the character has never matched those creative highs in the decades since, making Romita (and Kane's) departure a serious blow to the art and heart of the title. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 19, 2022 11:21:36 GMT -5
I was okay with "cool Peter" as it seemed like a natural progression in the character's life. For the most part, Peter aged in real time throughout the 60s. The trouble is that it wasn't sustainable. Pretty soon he would have wound up being a middle-aged Spider-Man. Romita and Lee knew Parker could not grow as a character--and be relatable to readers if he was forever trapped in Ditko's nerd/quirk mode, and would not survive the decade if his (Ditko's) art/influence never left the title. Parker was growing up, becoming confident in himself (and his costumed half), just as that tumultuous decade rolled on, and he felt like a part of it--not some oddball out of place with everything around him. Spider-Man became Marvel's flagship icon in the Romita era, a potent example of the heights comics could reach, and the character has never matched those creative highs in the decades since, making Romita (and Kane's) departure a serious blow to the art and heart of the title. But I would also argue most comic book readers don't "grow up" at the same time as most characers. I didn't start reading Spider-Man until 1977. I simultaneously had Ditko reprints and contemporary material I was consuming at the start. Ditko's version was more relatable to me by far. The Romita era just didn't have that groundbreaking feel with crazy bizarre new villains regularly being introduced, or the nerdy awkwardness of say Peter trying to have the nerve to date Betty (which I also found more relatable). It was just lightning in a bottle during that earlier period, though don't get me wrong, the Romita era did cement an image (quite literally) of Spidey that was very defining. |
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Post by MWGallaher on Jun 19, 2022 11:54:14 GMT -5
The first I remember really hurting, early in my comic-reading career, was the transition from Jim Aparo drawing PHANTOM STRANGER #26:  ...to Gerry Talaoc in #27:  Eventually I developed a fondness for Talaoc's quirky, caricatured style, but I thought it was a disastrous choice for such a moody comic as PS was. I didn't realize that writer Len Wein and Aparo had been reassigned because the series had been cancelled, but then was un-cancelled and left scrambling for a new creative team, I just knew my favorite artist was gone from one of my favorite series, a series which plunged instantly into disappointment. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 19, 2022 12:01:00 GMT -5
Tony Harris leaving Starman was a big change; but, I quickly warmed to Peter Snejbjerg, especially with the space stuff, which suited him to a T.
Perez leaving Titans pretty much killed it, for me. I read some more; but, it never really works for more than a story or two, without him.
Claremont leaving X-Men was and wasn't a shock. I wasn't reading, but I did sample a couple of the Lee issues, before they launched that speculator con mess that was X-Men #1. I still didn't have desire to continue it' but hearing that he was leaving, after so long, was a shock. Seeing what was happening in the series, it wasn't too surprising, as story had been thrown out in favor of "purty pichers." I was reading CBG and the odd Amazing Heroes and such, so I knew what went down.
Mike Grell no longer drawing Warlord was the death of it, for me, though I read some while he was still writing. Same with Jon Sable. As soon as Grell steps away as writer & artist, it goes south for me. Green Arrow was the one exception; it wasn't Longbow Hunters; but, Grell maintained enough of the spirit and Ed Hannigan could do what Grell was writing, in a less flashy but compelling style.
Miracleman kind of falls apart, for me, without Alan Moore. Gaiman & Buckingham did some interesting stuff (I stopped holding my breath for a return long before Marvel's various hollow announcements); but, it felt more like an alternate world, than a continuation, even after bringing back Young Miracleman, at the end of The Golden Age.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jun 19, 2022 13:54:35 GMT -5
Mike Grell no longer drawing Warlord was the death of it, for me, though I read some while he was still writing. Same with Jon Sable. As soon as Grell steps away as writer & artist, it goes south for me. Green Arrow was the one exception; it wasn't Longbow Hunters; but, Grell maintained enough of the spirit and Ed Hannigan could do what Grell was writing, in a less flashy but compelling style. Pretty much Grell leaving any of his books. Warlord, Starslayer, Jon Sable, Green Arrow. I had no interest in them after Grell left. |
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jun 19, 2022 14:23:54 GMT -5
From the 1980's, the one that first comes to mind was Steve Rude leaving Nexus. That was his baby along with Mike Baron. Paul Smith did a fine job replacing Rude but it seemed the best days were behind. Rude came back years later for some mini-series
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Post by berkley on Jun 19, 2022 14:32:50 GMT -5
I was sad when Brunner's run on Dr. Strange ended. I was wondering if anyone would mention this one. It's another one that happened while I was away from comics, although it was in fact a coverless copy of Doctor Strange #4 that got me back into them in the first place. But my first new issue was #11, well into Gene Colan's run on the title. I was disappointed that Brunner had left, since it was his artwork that was partly responsible for bringing me back but I also remembered liking Colan's work on DS in the 1960s so my feelings were ambivalent. |
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Post by berkley on Jun 19, 2022 14:35:52 GMT -5
Perez leaving the Avengers was definitely a big one for me: I haven't followed the series ever since.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jun 19, 2022 15:35:24 GMT -5
Roy Thomas leaving Conan left my favourite series into a state of utter disrepair for several years. Eventually new writers who knew how to write a proper S&S story would show up, but even these showed a near-complete disregard for the works of Robert E. Howard.
By contrast, Roy's return a decade later was one of my happiest days as a comics reader!
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jun 19, 2022 16:16:20 GMT -5
Perez leaving the Titans is another good one.. I read those as back issues, not as they wee coming out, so it's a different thing, but totally agree the book was never the same.
Same with Conan and Roy Thomas.. some of the other writers could write decent Sword and Sorcery stories, but most didn't get Conan, or just were only familar with the movie.
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Post by james on Jun 19, 2022 16:28:29 GMT -5
Taking into account I was 11 when I first saw John Byrne’s art on Avengers 189( first time I got comics mailed to me) only to have Byrne’s run end in 191, 3 issues into my subscription. GP came on with 194 and i was still devastated with JB leaving. I finally got used to GP only in time for him to leave after 202. Then of course having JB leave with 143 of the X-Men after I again got a subscription to have some new guy” named Cockrum come on with 145. Tough times for a neophyte collector. Yes, for me it was the time of JB
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Post by tarkintino on Jun 19, 2022 16:39:57 GMT -5
Perez leaving the Titans is another good one.. I read those as back issues, not as they wee coming out, so it's a different thing, but totally agree the book was never the same. Agreed--Perez was part of the breath of The New Teen Titans. Its difficult to think of another example where an artist leaving a team book was as much of a blow, other than John Buscema on The Avengers. While Adams' brief run was grand, that's just it--it was brief, so where a regular artist was concerned, John Buscema's departure from The Avengers probably bothered be more than Perez on TNTT. |
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Post by badwolf on Jun 19, 2022 17:37:08 GMT -5
I was disappointed when Byrne left The Incredible Hulk. I was intrigued by some of his ideas, such as separating Banner and Hogan, so I definitely would have liked to have seen where he would have taken the book. It did feel like he was trying to do new things with the Hulk, Banner, his supporting cast, etc. Just seems a short run, which it was. I probably was disappointed with that but maybe not as much as if it had been a longer run. I have to admit I didn't really understand the logic of separating Banner and Hulk. They weren't separate entities, after all. But I still enjoyed that handful of issues. |
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