Some news of the passing of another comics artist I missed is Jackson Guice, who died at age 63 earlier this month, according to ComicBook:
Comic artist Jackson “Butch” Guice died at the age of 63. Guice worked for Marvel and DC Comics over his decade spanning career. Guice came to prominence on the X-Men book X-Factor, where he was one of the co-creators of Apocalypse, one of the greatest X-Men villains ever, and The Flash, where he helped kick off Wally West’s tenure as the Flash with Mike Baron. Guice also drew Action Comics in the early ’90s, drawing chapters of the blockbuster “The Death of Superman”, “World Without a Superman”, “Funeral for a Friend”, “Reign of the Supermen”, and “Return of Superman”. […]
Chuck Dixon also wrote about his experiences working with Guice. I think there were some impressive moments in Guice’s career, like the revival of the Flash solo title in 1987, but The Death and Return of Superman‘s not what I’d describe as a collosal classic, mainly because of the storyline where the Toyman murdered Cat Grant’s son, something which, till this day, hasn’t been reversed. And not all Guice’s partnerings with writers are something to admire:
Guice’s best work for a lot of fans was Resurrection Man. Written by the team of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, Resurrection Man followed Mitch Shelley, a man who resurrected after he died with a different superpower each time. Resurrection Man ran through 1997 to 1999 for 28 issues — #1-27 and #1,000,000 — and Guice’s work really gave the book its own visual identity. Guice was that kind of artist; his work seemed simple, but his style was one of a kind. Guice worked with some of the best writers in the history of the modern comic medium — Mark Waid, Brian Michael Bendis, Chris Claremont, Warren Ellis, Abnett and Lanning, and many more. While his output slowed down in the ’10 and ’20s, he’s a true legend and will be dearly missed. Go find his Resurrection Man; you’ll be happy you did.
Resurrection Man may be worth the price of admission, but his work with Bendis, and even Ellis? Please. Once again, a case of sugarcoatings in effect. Even Waid’s not exactly somebody we can fully appreciate at this point. It should also be considered that while the Death and Return of Superman may have been a “blockbuster”, this obscures any objective view of the story merit, which was not enough. And lest we forget, the story also set up what was to come with Green Lantern in Emerald Twilight and Zero Hour.
There are some good examples of work in Guice’s resume, including X-Factor from the late 80s. But he also unfortunately – yet perhaps not surprisingly – has some pretentious items to his record as well from since the late 2000s. And it’s a shame a talented artist has to lend his skills at all costs to products that are more like spam, and have only dampened the medium since the turn of the century.
Originally published here.
English (US) · 