Follow the Creator

Dan Slott mentioned in his radio interview(now archived) that he was an avid follower of John Byrne. And one can see alot of that in the syle of a few of his books, I think that the sort of bond that occurs is a rare one indeed. The true test for me, is would I follow so and so, to another company. Some folks make it easy, like Peter David. And others you are a bit surprised to tell yourself that you might not, like Bendis! (I hate indulging that). And still others have such an effect on you, that you keep wishing there was more to get.

Karl Kesel is in that third category, he properly snagged me as my first continous writer. Before that I would get any Spider-Man and not notice the writer credits. I noticed Karl Kesel, noticed him enough to be able to monologue his thought boxes (the thought balloons were well into being on the way out). I was stealing his one-liners, I might even tweak a compelling bit in my speech class. It is not hard to see the profound effect he has on my writing, or my silliness in general.

Which makes it hard, since the initial DD run I have maybe a handful of Kesel books, a few of them he had written. Alot of that, I suppose, could be attributed to the fact, that I just didn't have the knowledge of product that I do now. Even still, the man is just not out there enough. Well, I am hoping that an upcoming two-parter will flesh out into either a series, or at the very least, a shot at another book entirely.

The two-parter is called Vegas, and it will soon be found in a series called Amazing Fantasy. Vegas is an ambitious project. It is a western, which might push away those of us addicted to capes and tights. It is a modern western, which will push away western fans. I sometimes wonder if it knows what it wants to be, but Kesel seems to have a strong focus for his goal plot-wise. And the art looks gorgeous.

Here is an interview Newsarama posted this morning with Karl Kesel. The preview art alone is worth a look. It is just such a shame, that I can watch a recent favorite like Dan Slott, exceed everyone's expectations, and Kesel remains a huge talent with the words: Marvel should give him more work... doomed to follow him.