Dear Mark Bagley…


Dear Mark Bagley,

My name is Aaron and I am one of your biggest fans. You were drawing Amazing Spider-Man back when I first started reading comics, and I rank you alongside John Romita as one of the two best depictions of the character in it’s nearly 50 years of existence. There’s something about your style that makes me want to buy everything with your name attached.

But for the love of god, please do something worth reading again.

Seriously man, what have you been doing for the last decade? Your post-Amazing work started out with so much promise. Thunderbolts was instantly one of my favorite titles, and the only reason I bought it was because you were drawing it. But what happened then?

I’m sure I’ve ranted on here before about how much I dislike Ultimate Spider-Man (and I challenge Doom Deluise to find it, because I’m too lazy to do so), but it wasn’t because of your art. Bendis just doesn’t write superheroes the right way. So that was, what, seven years I couldn’t read anything you drew?

Then you made the big move to DC and immediately jumped onto a weekly comic series. I have to give you major respect, because no other comic book artist working today could have pulled off that schedule without letting the quality of their art deteriorate. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same about the writing. After a strong Act 1, the book just sorta lost its magic. For some reason Kurt Busiek just couldn’t sustain the quality that the two of you had on your Thunderbolts run. Your art was the only reason I bought all 52 issues of that.

I really could have gotten behind your work with Judd Winick on Batman, but then DC pulled the rug out from underneath you and you got shuffled off to Justice League. And as much as I tried to love the Justice League, I just couldn’t do it. I mean seriously, Congorilla? And Jade was by FAR the least interesting character to come back from the dead in Blackest Night, a list that includes Hawkman, Aquaman and Firestorm. Yikes.

Now you’re making your big triumphant return to Marvel. Unfortunately, your right back to Ultimate Spider-Man and the dreaded Brian Michael Bendis.

I’m begging you Mark, please make your return to the Ultimate Universe a short one. Find someone else to work with. Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, Dan Slott, Peter David, Jeff Parker, Johnathan Hickman, David McCann…so many great writers that you could be working with. Anyone whose initials are not BMB, really.

I want to love the comics you draw, because I love the way you draw comics. Please do something, ANYTHING, that reminds me of the way I loved reading your comics when I was a kid. Don’t make me bring Santa into this.

Sincerely,

Fin Fang Doom