This page may contain one or more affiliate links, which means that if you purchase a product through that link, I may receive compensation. The links will be identified with the text "affiliate link". Click to learn more.
It is hard to remember back to the nineties when the top comic artist superstars decided to open up their own studios under the name Image Comics. If we did though, we would remember a time when all Jim Lee art work had big guns held by muscular guys or women with tiny waists. It was not his fault though; all Image Comics art work looked this way at the time.
I was reminded of all this when I came across an issue of WildCats number 13, a comic created by you-know-who, complete with Jim Lee art from 1994. His pencils are the most interesting thing in comics that are so loud and obscure that you have no idea what is going on. It is interesting to see him progress from his early days of X-Men and Punisher into his Image Studios work where he began to level out and develop his method. Although still a bit raw, it is still a delight to look at.
In the comic series Marvel Age (issue 104) (Affiliate Link) Jim Lee gives an interview saying that his work on The Punisher is his most proudest achievement, as it was this work that began to give him recognition. When he was invited to join forces to create Image Comics, hindsight begs the question, was it all worth it?
It must be embarrassing to know that you were part of the all-action-and-no-plot trend of Image Comics, when a bunch of top artists decided to start their own company without realizing that their abilities needed to be coupled with top writing. The good news is that, beside phenomenal Jim Lee art, we also received awesome work from Marc Silverstri, J Scott Campbell and many others.
What are your thoughts on the Wildcats series? Surely you have read a few issues, considering that this early Image crap can be found in any bargain bin for the price of the paper it was printed on.