The Outhouse - The Greatest Comic Book Forum

by **Log-Man** » Wed Mar 20, 2013 7:59 pm

When I was starting to read comics as a kid, around 5 or 6, the creators of a comic book meant nothing. In fact, they took up extra space on that intro page that could have been somebody doing something cool. I vaguely started to know a few names on some books, mostly artists because I wanted to draw more than anything. I slowly became aware of who Ditko was via Dr. Strange, Jack "The King" Kirby on FF, John Buscema on a number of things, Curt Swan on Superman... but even being aware of who was working on any individual comic was rare.

Years later I would look back at issues I loved and realize "wow, so that was young George Perez? Cool! I had no idea." I had to learn names like Gene Colan and Neal Adams long after I had actually read and enjoyed their work.

I think one of the first writers I came to know was John Byrne because he pissed me off so badly when he replaced Ben with the She-Hulk in the FF. (I've almost forgiven him.) I started to learn and know other writers all in the early to mid 80s, I guess, but it still wasn't anything I really kept track of.

Fast forward to today and all of the talk is about the creative teams. Most of us not only know who these creators are, we will buy books for the creators alone and not the properties while avoiding others despite the properties. The writers and artists are bigger stars than the characters sometimes. I wonder if this is a natural progression.

by **Keb** » Wed Mar 20, 2013 8:03 pm

Bendis. I saw his picture and thought "Hey isn't that the guy who played the cave troll in Lord of the Rings?"

by **Log-Man** » Wed Mar 20, 2013 8:04 pm

by **syxxpakk** » Wed Mar 20, 2013 8:12 pm

Joe Mad. He was the first creator of any kind that I genuinely cared about seeing anything from.

by **Grayson** » Wed Mar 20, 2013 8:29 pm

I would say that the moment I began to notice comic book creators was when I actually worked at a comic book store. When I was interacting with regular customers on a day to day basis, it became necessary for me to learn as many facets of comics books as I could. I already loved comics to begin with but working for a comic store definitely gave me a deeper appreciation for the industry as a whole.

by **MoneyMelon** » Wed Mar 20, 2013 8:32 pm

In the 80's when my brother introduced me to Frank Miller stuff like Dark Knight Returns, Year One and Daredevil.

by **Agent Panic** » Wed Mar 20, 2013 9:02 pm

Jim Lee.. maybe Todd MacFarlane before him, when he did Spider-Man. I think I was in the 3rd grade.

Website · by **TheSecondLex** » Wed Mar 20, 2013 9:07 pm

Loeb on Hush (i was like 15).

Then I discovered Frank Miller...

by **Sunless** » Wed Mar 20, 2013 9:13 pm

Sure I read comics as a kid, but never became a regular reader until I was 18. First writer I took notice of was Garth Ennis and it was Welcome Back Frank. He's become my favourite writer ever.

by **TROY** » Wed Mar 20, 2013 9:34 pm

Like the OP when I was a kid I could have given a shit less who wrote or drew the comics I was reading. I think I really took notice of the men behind the works with Jim Lee. He is the first artist that I knew by name and recognized instantly, then would come McFarlane and all the guys that jumped and formed Image. All those guys I took note of because they basically made themselves standout from the rest of the pack, like they were more important than the characters they were working with, they quickly realized they were not, well most of the did anyways.

by **mrorangesoda** » Wed Mar 20, 2013 9:44 pm

Two years after I picked up my first comic. It was the early 90s and my favorite characters were Spider-man and the X-Men and pretty soon I was all about McFarlane (who's work I recognized from a Spider-man puzzle I had) and Lee.

by **habitual** » Wed Mar 20, 2013 10:12 pm

Usually in my bathroom.

I read a lot on the crapper.

Hab

by **ElijahSnowFan** » Wed Mar 20, 2013 10:15 pm

I always knew -- while it appears that some books might've been ghost-written or drawn back in the day (think Marvel Bullpen), it was always fairly obvious that knowing who produced the book was a barometer of what you'd be seeing and reading.

That's not good or bad. It's just a fact.

by **alaska1125** » Wed Mar 20, 2013 11:44 pm

Marshall Rogers on Batman. Then Perez and Byrne.

by **Keb** » Thu Mar 21, 2013 12:21 am

mrorangesoda wrote:Two years after I picked up my first comic. It was the early 90s and my favorite characters were Spider-man and the X-Men and pretty soon I was all about McFarlane (who's work I recognized from a Spider-man puzzle I had) and Lee.

Yeah I pretty much always had McFarlane and Larsen in my head since my brother was a big fan of them.

I didn't start actively seeking out works by a certain creator until I started actually reading comics in university. After reading New X-Men, I sought out Grant Morrison's work.