The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1866: Fighting American #2, October 1997

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As a follow-up to some of the things I said yesterday:

First, I fucking love the Awesome Universe. Once Alan Moore revamped it, it became a place where we could both question and celebrate some of the greatest superheroic characters ever created. I've no doubt that, had Rob Liefeld managed the company a bit better, it could have grown into one of the greats. Having Moore and Jeph Loeb as two of your primary writers, how can you go wrong?

Second, it turns out that Marvel, in the 90s and during "Heroes Reborn," started failing as a company, and asked Liefeld to take a lower pay rate for his work on Captain America. Liefeld refused and left, taking his stories with him, one of which turned into this series. Perhaps that's my big problem with Liefeld. It's the same problem I have with John Byrne. They think so much of themselves, rather than recognizing that they are people doing a job in an industry with thousands of others. Just because you're lauded for a little while doesn't mean you have carte blanche for the rest of your career.

Today's issue attempts to mimic Alan Moore's model of Supreme, giving us a flashback sequence mid-comic. It doesn't quite work as well, as the flashback is drawn by Stephen Platt, in his own inimitable style, rather than in the style of the era within which the flashback was set. The same thing happens with Moore's Glory from Avatar. In order for these flashbacks to work in the way that the writers want them to, they need to be era-appropriate. That's how Awesome was building its universe and its history at the time. Platt's art, which I actually love, screams 90s, so it's hard to imagine that the story he illustrates is taking place in the 50s.

That said, I'm sure lots of people had no problem with it whatsoever. Taste is a very personal thing.

More to follow.

Further Reading and Related Posts

Fighting American was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, and was, uncommonly for the time, creator-owned. I've had a fair bit to say about Jack Kirby. 

And here's a post on Youngblood that I think goes some distance to explaining my fascination with the Extreme/Maximum/Awesome characters.