Did anyone pick up Aspen's Soulfire this week?

[Alberto1975]

I did, and I thought it was pretty good.

You really can't go wrong with Michael Turner and Jeph Loeb...

 

Anyone else read it? Don't want to post any spoilers yet!

[AlexH]

I picked it up, but I haven't read it yet.

[rob_react]

You really can't go wrong with Michael Turner and Jeph Loeb...

 

Except for when they're months behind in terms of schedule

[Alberto1975]

haha, good point there about the schedule, but it's still a good read

[Kevin Boyd]

Hey, I can appreciate that you like Soulfire, but I was out for dinner last night with some people (two comic store owners, two store employees and two indie artists, plus another friend of mine, ages ranged from 21 to 40) and Michael Turner and Jeph Loeb came up for discussion.

 

Here are 8 people who are involved in some way in comic selling or producing, and not a single one of us could explain why Michael Turner is so popular. No one thinks his non-DC work is of any real interest. A few of us thought his covers for Flash, Superman/Batman and Identity Crisis were actually pretty good, but his interiors... ugh. While I admit I have not read any of his Fathom/Aspen/Witchblade/Soulfire stuff, when I've flipped thru them on the rack the impression I get is that it is mostly flashy splashes and variant covers. All pseudo-style over substance.

 

We sat around naming dozens of artists who are more talented working in the industry but hardly seem to get a fraction of the attention that he does, including the extremely talented Carlos Pacheco who is slated to follow Turner on Superman/Batman in the fall (other names that came up Alan Davis, John Cassaday, Eduardo Risso, Mike Mignola, Art Adams, etc.).

 

I don't really have anything against the guy either. I've met him on many occasions and I agree that he is a really nice guy. Very friendly and courteous. I can appreciate that he has a rabid fan following too... but come on... why is this guy the #2 fan favorite?

 

At least I can understand Jim Lee...

[AlexH]

Hey, I can appreciate that you like Soulfire, but I was out for dinner last night with some people (two comic store owners, two store employees and two indie artists, plus another friend of mine, ages ranged from 21 to 40) and Michael Turner and Jeph Loeb came up for discussion.

 

Here are 8 people who are involved in some way in comic selling or producing, and not a single one of us could explain why Michael Turner is so popular. No one thinks his non-DC work is of any real interest. A few of us thought his covers for Flash, Superman/Batman and Identity Crisis were actually pretty good, but his interiors... ugh. While I admit I have not read any of his Fathom/Aspen/Witchblade/Soulfire stuff, when I've flipped thru them on the rack the impression I get is that it is mostly flashy splashes and variant covers. All pseudo-style over substance.

 

We sat around naming dozens of artists who are more talented working in the industry but hardly seem to get a fraction of the attention that he does, including the extremely talented Carlos Pacheco who is slated to follow Turner on Superman/Batman in the fall (other names that came up Alan Davis, John Cassaday, Eduardo Risso, Mike Mignola, Art Adams, etc.).

 

I don't really have anything against the guy either. I've met him on many occasions and I agree that he is a really nice guy. Very friendly and courteous. I can appreciate that he has a rabid fan following too... but come on... why is this guy the #2 fan favorite?

 

At least I can understand Jim Lee...

 

All I can say is, sometimes its nice to look at pretty pictures.

[Alberto1975]

While I wouldn't say Turner is the best artist out there, I do like his art, I think he's pretty consistent (at least what I've seen of him, which is probably a small percentage of his stuff) and I enjoy looking it at.

There are some comics where I think the story is the most important thing, and I don't mind having worse art at the expense of a better story, but sometime it's nice to open a book with big pictures, splash pages, basically something different and refreshing.

 

On another note, since you mentioned him, I am personally not a big fan of Lee. I liked some of the X-Men stuff he did, but when I've seen DC used him in the last year to relaunch titles, I was surprised. Personally, it didn't make me start buying those titles, but apparently, a lot of people did.

 

Heck, a lot of people thought Sienkewitz (of however you spelll his names) did great art with Elektra Assassin and other stuff, but I personally always hated it too (and Sam Mack comes to mind too), so I guess there's tastes for everything!

 

Still, I'd recommend people to buy the first issue and share their opinions, and if they don't like it, just don't buy any more.

[Kevin Boyd]

Sam Mack? Is that the love child of Sam Kieth and David Mack?

 

Put me in the don't like it category on Soulfire and the ok category on Turner's Superman/Batman - only because Loeb has Superman and Batman nailed and the story has been intriguing enough.

 

Have you had a chance to look over X-Force #1?

[Alberto1975]

! Sorry for the slip, I meant David Mack. Cut the new guy on the block some slack!

 

I'm enjoying Superman/Batman a lot also, but as for X-Force 1, I got it, but wasn't impressed by it. I'm going to give it my usually 5 issue trial run, and I might not continue after that.

[chrisco37]

We sat around naming dozens of artists who are more talented working in the industry but hardly seem to get a fraction of the attention that he does....John Cassaday, Eduardo Risso

 

My two current favorites!

[Darthdiesel]

While I admit I have not read any of his Fathom / Aspen / Witchblade / Soulfire stuff,...

 

 

This is all there is to it. If you were a fan of Turner from the time he kicked off Witchblade with Silvestri in 1995 and he did Tomb Raider covers, along with Fathom, then you might still hold the same appreciation for him today. He set his style apart from the rest of his peers, even Silvestri and Lee who were already known for their female form. Turner took it to another level. Despite his forced leave due to his bout with cancer, he made a miraculous recovery and went back to drawing. I'm sure DC fans are happy that he decided to expand his horizons beyond Top Cow's stable of characters. And his work has been sensational since.

 

Now turner only did DC interiors for Superman/Batman; the interior art for Flash was admittedly poor but it's not Turner...

[Kevin Boyd]

This is all there is to it. If you were a fan of Turner from the time he kicked off Witchblade with Silvestri in 1995 and he did Tomb Raider covers, along with Fathom, then you might still hold the same appreciation for him today. He set his style apart from the rest of his peers, even Silvestri and Lee who were already known for their female form. Turner took it to another level. Despite his forced leave due to his bout with cancer, he made a miraculous recovery and went back to drawing. I'm sure DC fans are happy that he decided to expand his horizons beyond Top Cow's stable of characters. And his work has been sensational since.

 

Now turner only did DC interiors for Superman/Batman; the interior art for Flash was admittedly poor but it's not Turner...

 

I bought Witchblade 1 when it came out. I'm going to cry foul on your statement "he set his style apart from the rest of his peers, even Silvestri and Lee who were already known for their female form". Turner's style was very derivative of his mentor, Marc Silvestri when he started out. Sure, he started to draw better women than Marc, but he still has problems drawing any and everything other than hot chicks.

 

Yes, he's made a name for himself drawing women but there are other cheesecake artists out there who are better all around artists: Adam Hughes, Terry Dodson, Frank Cho, to name a few.

 

Turner's deal with DC was purely a business move. At the time he was in a legal battle with Top Cow and couldn't get Aspen shipped by Diamond until it was settled. He needed cash fast, and DC offered him some covers to do so that he could stay in business.

 

I never said he did the interior art for Flash, just some covers.

[MutantKeys]

I think Mike Turner is a above average artist and he has done an excellent job with superman/batman so I think that this book soulfire will be the first sucessful book to come out of Aspen...This book is sold out for a reason...He is a good artist with a great partner for this book in Jeph Loeb