| Comics are a medium in which the artists get a lot of the credit and, often, rightly so. But all comics need a writer. Some of my favourites are Steve Englehart, Neil Gaiman, Steve Gerber, Frank Miller, Alan Moore and Joe Straczynski but one whose work doesn't achieve the same level of acclaim as these is one I would always read something by - |
| J M DeMatteis. |
| Some of my favourites of the works J M DeMatteis is responsible for are; |
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| Captain America - Cap is one of my favourite characters (and I'm not even an American). He's one of those character that it seems Marvel has to publish no matter how good or bad the stories are. There have been a few great runs (Kirby's, Englehart's, early Waid) but there have also been some dreadful periods (Rob Leifeld and Dan Jurgens come to mind for me) Dematteis' run with art by Mike Zeck and Paul Neary was one of the good periods. Some of the high points were the return of Nomad and a death of the Red Skull. (Notice I said "a death" and not "the death". But the story arc leading up to issue #300 would have been a great ending if Marvel had every truly been considering writing the character out). This was also the first comic where I started to notice J M DeMatteis was the writer |
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| Justice League - who'd have thought that super heroes could be funny? With co-plotter and artist Keith Giffen they gave us a Batman who was true to the Dark Knight mantle but great fun too |
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| Amazing Spider-Man - three words - Kraven's Last Hunt. The exciting and moving story of Kraven the Hunter's death which also includes one of my favourite spider-villains, Vermin, and a death and rebirth of sorts for Peter Parker. This was the comic where I started to watch out for anything written by J M DeMatteis |
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| Superman: Speeding Bullets - what if Superman had been found by the Waynes instead of the Kents? How would the death of the Waynes effect him? A Dark Knight like you've never encountered. |
| But where he really comes into his own are with stories dealing with the ordinary, the mystical and, dare I say it, the spiritual. Time and again he has used the boundaries of comics (and sometimes super-heroes) to show us that an "adult" comic isn't all violence and nudity (as nice as they are). Some of the works he's shown us this in are |
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| Batman: Absolution |
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| Brooklyn Dreams |
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| Dr. Fate |
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| Moonshadow |
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| Realworlds: Justice League of America |
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| Seekers Into The Mystery |
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| Silver Surfer |
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| These are the types of stories that, for me, sets his work apart from other writers. |
| And if you want to talk about art, take a look at some of the artists he's worked with - Brian Ashmore, Glenn Barr, Brian Bolland, John Buscema, Sal Buscema, Gene Colan, Steve Ditko, Seth Fisher, Ron Garney, Keith Giffen, Adam Hughes, Carmine Infantino, Klaus Janson, Gil Kane, Kevin Maguire, Mark McKone, Shawn McManus, John J Muth, Paul Neary, Mike Ploog, Joe Quesada, Marshall Rogers, John Romita Jr, Luke Ross, Liam Sharp, Ryan Sook, Joe Staton, Jill Thompson, Herb Trimpe, Kent Williams, Mike Zeck and Michael Zulli. |
| Impressed yet?? |
| The Spectre |
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| Doctor Strange: Into Shamballa |
| Mercy |
| And, of course |
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| Then keep looking |