Earlier
today I was in the midst of a Twitter conversation that brought up our earliest
comic book influences.
Every
artist, and writer, has their influences. Not all of us will agree as to who
the greatest or the worst, the most dynamic, narrative, or the worst is. But we
all know who influences us.
For me, it
goes nearly to the very beginning of reading comics. I had already read through
a digest reprint of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #100 (written by Len Wein,
another important influence to me), which introduced me to the world of the DC
Universe that wasn't the SUPER FRIENDS of Saturday Morning Cartoons.
Here was
not only the Justice League of America, but also another team that called
themselves the Justice Society of America. As a little kid, all I knew was that
these were alternate takes on what I thought were well-established characters.
Over the
next few months I would beginning to pick up other comic books. One comic was
THE NEW TEEN TITANS by Marv Wolfman and George Perez. The second was an issue
of ALL STAR SQUADRON written by Roy Thomas and among many artists was Jerry
Ordway.
These two
books would truly build my view of the DC Universe. The Teen Titans very
'science fiction' based modern stories with highly detailed artwork, while All
Star Squadron showed heroes in the midst of World War II and had heroes with
magic based powers.
For a while
I believe that Earth 1 took place in the modern day, and Earth 2 in the 1940s,
so that even when they did a cross over story they were coming from two
different points in time. I soon learned
that wasn't true.
Anyway,
back to my influences.
For
writing, I couldn't have picked any better writers to follow than Marv Wolfman
and Roy Thomas. Yes, I'll hear people mention who they believe are better with
more complexity to their writing, but for me these two men were the
foundational influence to me that everything grew from.
Where
Wolfman knew who to emotionally grab me in one story and then tell great
actions sequences in the next, Thomas knew how to handle dozens of characters
sometimes at once. Thomas also knows
everything about what I was learning to call the 'Golden Age' of comics, and
spent time in every issue telling something about it all.
Because of
Roy Thomas and the All-Star Squadron, I quickly became infatuated by Golden
Age, and I saw out reprint books of the original stories (there was no way I
could afford the originals, but I found the stories I wanted).
As with
most young comic readers I soon began to create my own characters. But I didn't
want to create them in my modern world. I didn't fit in a New York that I saw
through George Perez's detailed art. I created my characters influenced by
Jerry Ordway that I felt had a more 'realistic' style. His faces were and are
great.
(Imagine my
thrill later when Ordway was hired to ink Perez's work on CRISIS ON INFINITE
EARTH. The two were so perfect together.)
(SIDE NOTE:
I would also discover in the back issue bings the John Byrne issues of FANTASIC
FOUR, and I bought as many as I could afford over several years of collecting.
The greats of these were those where Byrne's art was inked over by Jerry
Ordway.)
So I'm
creating my own characters, refining them, turning them into something more
than just sketches on a page. I gave them names, and origins, not just the
basic how they got power origins, but why and who the characters are with out
powers.)
I was
looking towards Roy Thomas and his interpretation of the Golden Age, that I
began to emulate.
Three
characters that I developed the furthest were The Torchlight, Speedstar, and a
heroine I called FLYING GLORY.
I have
written stories about all these characters, and as you all know, I took FLYING
GLORY the furthest.
I've told
the story already as how publishers were interested in a FLYING GLORY comic,
one really liked the story that I told, but eventually it became clear that I
couldn't sells a Golden Age story when I was pitching it.
So with the
help of Shannon Muir I updated the Flying Glory character, made her the
granddaughter of the original and gave her a group of friends that supported
her. THE HOUNDS OF GLORY.
Our
webcomic FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY, currently celebrating its 10th
Anniversary of being online. Everything that I put into a script I owe to Marv
Wolfman and Roy Thomas, and each panel of my art is so greatly influenced by
Jerry Orway and George Perez (though I'll never be able to draw hi details and
crowd scenes).
Thank you
Mr. Ordway, Mr. Perez, Mr. Thomas, Mr. Wolfman for you have made me the comic
book professional that I am today.
Kevin Paul Shaw Broden
Four Names of Professional Creativity
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