Marshall Law
comments:
Marshall Law
or: REJECTED!
I've had my work... edited... a few times over the years. In Hollywood it was usually about impressionable kids, animation in perspective, too much slapstick (in Tom and Jerry? Too much slapstick?!?) In comics it was always about blood-n-guts. Not that I had exceeded some objective level. There were those doing far more than I. The "problem" was, my work was too pretty or attractive outside of those instances that it made the shift "too much". If I drew poorly or ugly as a matter of course it would've been OK!
I argued the need for dichotomy. If you want Spider-Man to be Amazing or, the Hulk to be Incredible then Peter and Bruce need to be normal and boring. If you start at 11 cranking it up to 10 gets you nowhere. Starting with a style that was clean and inviting gave me someplace to go when the story required a jolt... editors, gotta love'em.
Of course, that's nuthin' compared to what happened to the recently departed Kevin O'Neill of Marshall Law and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen fame. The Comics Code was so discombobulated by his work that they didn't object to any individual scene or panel, they just banned HIM! If Kevin O'Neill drew your book, no CCA stamp for you!
This one's for you, Kevin!
Happy Trails
Smitty