I think I would be too, if I were him. I met him at a con about 5 years ago and I told him how much I loved the way he draws Spidey and that he's my all time favorite Spidey artist. He wasn't mean at all, but he just kinda smirked, said a quick thanks, and signed my Spidey comics, kinda like he had had enough Spider-Man to last him a lifetime. I guess it didn't help that the other 200 people in his line mostly had Spidey stuff for him to sign, too.
I don’t blame him either. He has to have one of that longest runs on a single character ever. Personally he’s the definitive Spider-Man artist . That being said, his artwork on the character isn’t quite what it use to be. It’s still absolutely amazing but it’s just not on the level of his past work. I attribute that to him just being flat out drained drawing him.
It’s funny how the industry has so many artist struggling to keep up with the schedule and Bagely was and still is an absolute work horse.
Yeah, I kind of liken it to a singer/musician who has a TON of great albums and music, but everybody always wants to focus on their ONE most popular song or album. I know Prince said for YEARS that he was tired of Purple Rain, and for a while he even refused to sing any of his old hits on tour and would only perform his current material.
I think a guy like Mark Bagley who has drawn long runs of Spider-Man for 30 years (!) probably sort of feels that way; like "Spider-Man isn't the ONLY thing I can draw or that I have ever worked on, you know?" I can't read the guy's mind, but I would think that's probably how he feels, at least some of the time. That's definitely the impression I got when I met him, even though he was nice about it.
Mark Bagley is my definitive Spider-Man artist as well, but I also always say that his BEST Spider-Man art was his first run on Amazing. He is a still a talented workhorse, but I think maybe age and workload have kind of naturally led to his skills declining over the years. I still love his art though, and still get excited whenever he does anything Spidey.
Seriously, you’re are literally stealing the thoughts right from my head. His first run in ASM was definitely his best as far as I’m concerned. I won’t ignore his early work on USM as well....absolutely gorgeous stuff. Much like you, I do still get excited when I find out he’s drawing anything Spider-Man related. I just can’t help but notice that his stuff has declined. However for me, he was so ahead of the pack in terms of Spider-Man that even his declined skills are still a step or two ahead of the rest.
So...why are we talking about Bagley when he's not on this title?
Who do we think will be the first villains of this series? Classic foes? Someone new?
Ugh. The title is horrible, but I’m on board with Kelly/Bachalo.
Comic-Watch Reviewer
Titles:
/Doctor Strange/Captain Marvel\Scarlet Witch\
/Iron Man/Captain Britain/Wasp\X-Men\
/JSA\/X-Treme X-Men\/WILDCATS\
https://comic-watch.com/author/baradtzgmail-com
With Bachalo? I kind of doubt it. His art lends more towards really out there and fluid to the point of incomprehension visuals then character designs.
Maybe if it was more of the weird villains like Swarm or Vermin but otherwise I don't see the appeal.
Kelly seems like a type who would write new threats.
Maybe it was pointed out, but I think they're trying to do something besides just using adjectives.
The name's dumb, but at least it'd make it a bit easier to talk about it at least.