Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Michael Netzer Makes My Day



Just so you know, I think my blog is lame. I enjoy doing it, and I'm glad other folks seem to as well, but I have no pretensions here. That said, I was shocked when Roger Stern, presumably surfing for news about his upcoming run with John Byrne on JLA: Classified, stopped by to correct my solicitation information regarding the new work. That was swell, but I figured it for a fluke and moved on.

Michael Nasser/Netzer has made about three appearances on this blog so far, always in a sideways manner. The first was when, seeing a 1986 DC Comics subscription ad consisting of found art and Martian Manhunter drawn in the Neal Adams school, I assumed the credit belong to Nasser. The second reference was in my fake Martian Manhunter #100 synopsis. The third-- well, why don't I let the artist himself explain, in this reprint of a comment posted today...

"That ad looks like it was penciled by Ross Andru. Though I did pencil the 3 installments of Martian Manhunter in World's Finest, inked by Terry Austin, where I also designed the logo at your blog heading... I wasn't involved with this particular advertisement at all. But thanks for the mention.

Best wishes,
Michael Netzer (Nasser)"

Now see, when you compare my actual usage of glorious "Mike Nasser" art above, it's readily apparant how misguided I was in thinking this was him...



Both, however, are lovely-- and my second guess would have been Jose Luis Garcia Lopez inked by someone unusual (like Klaus Janson in his prime.) Now I've got to figure out the where and why of Ross Andru drawing J'Onn J'Onzz, because unlike Netzer's three issues of Adventure Comics, this is not a thing I possess. Any help would be appreciated, and I'd like to take this opportunity to thank one of the Manhunter From Mars' greatest (if briefest) artists for taking the time to inform us all. That, and thanks for the snazzy logo, obviously a favorite of mine.

Check out Michael Netzer's blog at www.michaelnetzer.com

4 comments:

Michael Netzer said...

You're right, Frank. It looks a lot like Garcia Lopez and I'm pretty sure that's who did it. Ross Andru likely come to mind because I was reading something about Superman / Spider-Man yesterday and was seeing a lot of his art.

In some of these ads, figures were lifted from various places, so something like this could have art from several creators. But this does look all Lopez.

Very nice blog. I enjoyed reading through it. It does give the itch to work on MM again, and I'd sure like to, among other possibilities at DC. But they seem to like young blood, I suppose. Almost everyone I know from my time just can't find work in the comics anymore. So, we build eccentric web sites and shoot our mouth off about the injustices of the world and other silly things.

You know, the only thing missing from your logo is an Oreo Cookie. And Christmas is around the corner. So watch out for Santa this year.

And thanks for the very nice sentiment.

Michael Netzer said...

Damn Oreo cookies. J'onn never really got over them.

http://www.michaelnetzer.com/diabolu.jpg

Diabolu Frank said...

Have you seen what DC's done to J'Onn J'Onzz lately? With the head and the scowl? They clearly don't know what they're doing over there, or else they'd have you doing it. I'm thinking you'd work better on Grant Morrison's return to the "sexy" Batman than either Kubert or Tony Daniel, for instance.

Marvel seems to be somewhat kinder to the Bronze Age creators, but only by so much. Maybe after a few months writing Legion of Super-Heroes, the publishing bug will bite Jim Shooter again and we'll get another company for ya'll to work at out of the deal. If nothing else, I've got to start making more money so I can look into commissions. Dream big, I do.

Speaking of which, between all the old school writers and artists knocking out blogs and such, you'd think more people would mix the chocolate and the peanut butter and get new web comics out of it all. Maybe if www.comicmix.com goes over?

I'm sure I'll get around to working Oreos into a new banner eventually. That one was done on the quick with "charming" crudeness, but I'll inevitably want to gussy things up.

Merry Christmas to you, Mr. Netzer! I got through Hanukkah unscathed, but Lord knows these last couple weeks of the year are liable to be eventful. Anyway, it's been a pleasure talking with you, and I'm proud to have you dig on the digs. :)

Diabolu Frank said...

Oh. My. God... bless you Mr. Netzer! I'll start using it on January 1st, to ring in the new year. It's beautiful. I'm gobsmacked. Thank you so much!