I'm pretty sure when this blog posts, that masterpiece above is going to get cut in half. Well, tough nookie. I'm saving my precious for the new year, when I'll rejigger my Martian Manhunter blog, The Idol-Head of Diabolu. If you want more than a sneak preview, you'll have to deal with another damned inter-company crossover, the company you'll keep being Mike Netzer's.
You might now be asking yourself, well, why isn't this on that friggin' blog? For starters, this very occasional extant blog was made for discussing whatever geekery came to mind whenever I felt like, free from self-imposed restrictions at the more kid friendly (pg-13?) Diabolu. Also, it says right there in the crappy old logo "A Blog For J'Onn J'Onzz," where this matter is becoming increasingly about me. Happy me. Happy joy me.
Speaking of me, I was born right around the time Nasser was beginning his career as a really, really good comic book illustrator. Problem being, by the time I was old enough to start reading comics (and I may have started as early as '78,) he was already leaving the industry in favor of spiritual pursuits. My introduction to his work was mostly derived from DC Comics house ads heralding books that didn't make their way to the newsstands I frequented in Texas. I was however a big fan of what I saw, both from Nasser and his influences and contemporaries at Continuity Studios. Neal Adams, Mark Texeira, and Mark Beachum were big parts of my 80's diet. For instance, I bought "Psi-Force" and "Samuree," repeatedly and on purpose. Sadly, I didn't get to experience Nasser's work more fully until the 1990's, both through back issues of his 70's efforts and the much darker turn his style took upon his return to comics as Mike Netzer (psst--I've made not one, but two Huntress animated fan videos-- a favored character he spent time with in this period.) It's never cool to be that late to the party, but I enjoyed the opportunities to play catch up, especially when it came to his brief but highly influential run on my favorite, the Manhunter from Mars.
Now, I have no pretenses about my pissant little country blog. Nothin' much to see. I get about 75-100 loads a day on average, which happens about every 17 seconds on, say, CHUD.com, but I'm happy to have every visitor. I get happier, of course, when a dude as talented and generous as Mike Netzer shows up, says nice things, repeats, and then gives me a gorgeous, professional quality, suitable for framing banner for my blog. It's magnificent, and as I've repeatedly asserted, I'm just not worthy. Oh, and then he blogs about not just my blog, but your very own blogger. I'm both charmed and deeply embarrassed, but under no illusions that this is anything less than a blessing. I've thanked Mr. Netzer profusely and offered to bathe his feet, but I just don't feel its enough. I need to run out and perform random acts of charity in his name or something.
I've got to say too, look at that image. Why isn't this guy turning down as many offers as George Perez? More pointedly, why isn't he turning down work that should never even be offered to some of the wretched excuses for "artists" getting paid premiums these days for their shoddily rendered, rubbery, anatomically-incorrect abominations? I'm looking at you, Joe Quesada & Dan Didio! How alike you are in your ageism and currying the favor of the lowest common denominator of commercial "taste." Give Mike Netzer your money! I demand it! If I can get such lovingly crafted works as Mike Netzer's new logo handed to me out of the clear blue sky, imagine what can happen when I apply my overpowering force of will to your chromium-wrapped little minds! Imagine! IMAGINE!!!
Yeah, that didn't work out for John Lennon, so my odds aren't so great. As previously mentioned, I dream big. In general, I mean. In the specific, it's just common sense to have Mike Netzer draw a cover for you, as it is guaranteed to move more units than any comic on the stands would be capable of otherwise. Bets don't come safer.
One last note, doesn't J'Onn J'Onzz look great there. See, "Nasser" drew Manhunter at a time of transition, when he he went from a nigh-cuddly alien visitor to a brutal dispenser of extra-terrestrial justice (plus some really unnecessary hero-on-hero-violence.) While the peace-hungering spiritualist Mike Netzer was coming into being, J'Onn J'Onzz experienced a similar shift under the gentle guidance of write J.M. DeMatteis in the 80's. Recently, misguidedly, DC has returned Manhunter to the role of punchy killjoy. Wouldn't it be awesome, not to mention cathartic, to see DeMatteis & Netzer return J'Onn J'Onzz to his 80's highs as an introspective, humor-enhanced hero with the emphasis returned his brow over that tumor/tubor sticking out his fool head today?
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