AWESOME. Bagley was my favourite Spidey artist in the 90s. He was the reason I read ASM. When he left, I dropped the book.

 

Depends on your definition of what achieved means. There are very few artists willing to stay with a non-creator owned book for over 100 issues. I'd day that pretty "achieved."

 

That's what I mean when I commend Bagley's "longevity". From what I can tell, the guy is a workhorse, and adheres to the oldschool of comic art... which is saying something for a guy from the "Image generation".

However, I confess I don't know what the politics are within the industry concerning artists and writers staying on a book long term. I wasn't aware that was the artist's choice in most cases (and how much motivation do you need to stay on one of Marvel's most reliable titles with their most recognizable character?). I do notice that having a creative team stick around for more than a year or two (at most) has become quite a rarity, but I don't know what internal or market factors influence that.

I think my definition of an "achieved artist" has nothing to do with their work ethic, or strength of character, or loyalty or whatever the heck staying with one book for several years says about them. I think it has to do with their technique and development as an artist.

And considering how long Bagley has been around, I'd say that as an artist he hasn't evolved greatly. In 20-odd years, his work remains firmly "not bad" and "functional", without exhibiting much flair or growth. Hence we have numerous newer artists whose style and command over the medium is actually stronger than his. Immomen has been around a while too, though I've only recently started identifying his stuff by name, and I think he is more fluid, more atmospheric and more naturalistic than Bagley.

Regardless, Bagley's always good for a straight up old-school Mighty Marvel slugfest, so I do appreciate him on that level... though he's not quite in the same company as Frenz, Byrne, Buscema, Davis, Perez, etc...

zmog

 

By your standard then, many of the greats aren't really achieved either. Not many comic artists try to change their technique once they get a working style all their own. Look at Perez for instance, his technique hasn't in nearly 30 years.

And yeah, I think an artist that is personally willing to invest into a character not of his own creation for the long term is most certainly an achievement. You just don't see that very often in modern comics.

Personal opinion and all, I think he certainly has earned his place among the great Spider-Man artists. His style has pretty much defined the character since McFarlane stopped drawing the character. Though He's definitely one of the great workhorses of our generation. He has a very simplistic and traditional style, but that IS his style and that is the appeal to that style. That being said, I'll most definitely agree that he should not be among THE greats, but say he isn't an achieved artist of the industry is just false.

 

No, LAFUENTE WAS HORRIBLE!

 

Yes, but his style achieved a degree of maturity and refinement before stagnating. John Byrne also reached a high point, though his work kind of went downhill after that.

I don't think Bagley ever really reached a plateau of true excellence. Even today, his work is full of just plain awkward or sloppy panels. I find this is especially apparent in his faces. At a 3/4 angle, the side of the face furthest from us always seems to come forward, creating a discord in the planar relationships. Likewise he uses a lot of clumsy flat profile shots, presumably to avoid 3/4 turns. After close to 30 years in comics, he's still using cheap rookie tricks, so I gotta at least call him on that.

I dunno... I don't see it that way. It's a regular gig on a prestigious title, which is more than many artists manage. Is it an achievement, or is it just a rut? Wouldn't a "true" artist become dissatisfied doing the same thing for so long, and decide they needed to branch out and take on a more ambitious or personal challenge?

My intent here isn't to slam Bagley. He's reliable and I like that... there are a lot more over-hyped comic artists I enjoy much less. I'm just wary of giving him too much credit, especially to the extent of defaming very capable artists like Immomen.

Agreed, though again that's as much a function of his longevity with the character than anything else. It's not so much that I begrudge his style for being simple, or that it doesn't have its appeal... it's that it's still awkward and clumsy in places, and I find that really absurd after so long as a professional.

I guess I'm just drawing the line between being a successful comics professional, and being an "achieved artist"... though I guess it can be a fine line.

zmog

 

I always liked Bagleys Work, it will be nice to see him back at Marvel.

 

I think Bagley is one of the best in the business. He's a constant professional and hammers out superior work on time. When looking through a Bagely book you're never wonder who is who as I have to with many artist.

I hope so see him back on Ultimate Spider-Man in the near future.

 

i tend to agree

 

Nextwave is the best book of all time but would not be as gosh darned glorious without Immonen. HATERS DESTROYED!

Check and mate!

Bagley's cool, yo, but whoever said his stuff hasn't changed since day 1 is absoloutely right. Also isn't he like the fastest guy in the business?

 

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

It's slightly broken, but nothing serious.  

zmog

 

Forget about Ultimate Spidey...put Bagley back on Amazing. ASM needs some good art!

 

What it needs right now is a good STORY. Worry about the art later.

 

I'm cool w/ the story. I'm not one of the ones that though the world was ending when OMD happened. Granted it's not my favorite storyline, but I like how they have handled several of the stories like New Ways to Die, the Gauntlet and Shed so far has been good.

The writing has been fine and with the exception of Lee Weeks run on the last few issues I feel the art has been severely lacking. I normally don't care about the art if the story is good, but it's been so long since there has been a good/consistant artist on the book.