Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Writers who honestly make you want to drop a book

Alright, no exaggerations, no flaming, but I honestly see these writers names and consider dropping a title when they're on it:

Chuck Austen
Mark Miller


What about the rest of you? Anyone else tired of seeing over-dramatic wife-beating, alcoholic, pop-culture referencing, over-sexed, religious-parodying comics coming out week after week, that you absolutely hate but are treated by the comics media as worth they're wait in gold? What other writers are there that make you feel this way? Why does it seem like the comic book industry (or maybe just Bill Jemas and Joe Quesada) seem so full of themselves?

I gotta say that if JLA keeps up it's current disapointing "flavor" I'll have to seriously considering adding Joe Kelly to mine. Not sure what happened with that, as I REALLY liked the early issues on his run.

I totally agree on Mark Millar. I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. I really did. But he has yet to excite me. The whole "Ultimate" buzz surrounding him is completely overhyped.

Chuck Austen, on the other hand, I disagree on. I haven't read much of his work, but Superman:Metropolis has me really enthralled. Who knew that a Jimmy Olsen could be so compelling? I guess I'll have to read more of his stuff to have a more acccurate opinion, but thus far I'm impressed.

Years ago, when I was still buying Marvel titles ...

Tom DeFalco ruined Thor after Walt Simonson left, so a year or two later, when DeFalco took over Fantastic Four, I immediately dropped that book.

Can't think of any others off the top of my head ...

Kelly's being moved off JLA in the near future to write a spinoff title. JLA's going to be handled by rotating creative teams for a while. I believe Claremont and Byrne are doing an arc.

Mark Millar most definately. After destroying The Authority (and managing to offend virtually every minority group in the world in the process) I wouldn't read anything by him if you paid me.

What else has Chuck Austen written? I'm not that familiar with his work, off the top of my head.

I'd be wary if Erik Larsen were to take over a book. Not that he's so horrible, but it's not my thing.

I haven't read Superman: Metropolis, so I'm not sure about that. I do have to admit that I really liked the Eternals book that Austin did. It's just when it comes to Austen, it seems all he does with the X-Men is hype of the sex, and have major character-altering changes every three issues.

Joe Kelly is another writer that I try to stay away from now. His JLA run is really not my thing, and his Action run was terrible IMO with the exception of issue #775.

In the late 70's, one of my favorite new jack Kirby books was the short-lived MACHINE MAN. Some time after he left and it was cancelled, it was revived by Marv Wolfman & Steve Ditko. It was awful. Terrible. I coulnd't imagine it being any worse-- until Wolfman was replaced by this "new" guy I'd never heard of before-- Tom DeFalco. DeFalco became, in my mind, the WORST writer I had EVER seen working for Marvel. THE PITS. It was many years before I leanred he'd had a very loing and sucfcessful career writing for Archie Comics.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN was terrible for a long, long time after Stan Lee & John Romita ceased to be a team. Roger Stern was the one bright light of hope on that series after so many bad periods. And abruptly, right after yanking readers' chains by NOT revealing Hobgoblin's identity, Stern disappeared-- and was replaced by DeFalco. ABOMINABLY bad writing. Good grief...

FANTASTIC FOUR, over the years, had been handled possibly WORSE than any other Marvel series after Jack Kirby left. NOBODY, not even their best & brightest writers, seemed capable of figuring out how to do it properly. John Byrne was the ONE exception. He had a nice, decently-long run. When he left, the HORROR started again. Even Roger Stern had NO IDEA what he was doing for once, and was honest enough to admit it when he left so QUICKLY! Steve Englehart-- earlier my favorite writer-- followed-- and did worse than ANYONE before him!!! (There were behind-the-scenes reasons for this-- it wasn't incompetence, I'll tell you that...) Simonson was "interesting", but not much more. So when I heard DEFALCO was taking over... That was it for me. I NEVER picked up a single one of his issues, and never returned to the book until Scott Lobdell & Alan Davis did teir AMAZING, and amazingly BRIEF, run of 3 (3!!!!!) issues.


Chuck Austin started out with a rather "realistic" style, but soon evolved a more "cartoony" style that I came to really love while it turned off many of his earlier fans. He drew a PHANTOM LADY storyline in ACTION COMICS WEEKLY that was one of the brightest highlights of that often-miserable run. Later, he wrote & drew STRIPS, an x-rated soap-opera, and HARDBALL, another x-rated book involving baseball. I LOVED those books. I was just frustrated that STRIPS ended in the middle of a storyline. Austin DISAPPEARED from comics for years after. When he resurfaced, he made an ill-conceived attempt to continue or finish the STRIPS story, sabotaged by reprinting the earlier episodes while simultaneously printing new ones in a separate book. Damn-- I could have told anyone that would have trouble selling.

Not unlike Steve Rude on NEXUS and Mike Allred on MADMAN, Chuckl Austin on STRIPS is something I would love to see happen again someday.

More recently, Austin did a pair of U.S. WAR MACHINE mini-series for the MAX line. The art on the 1st was stunning-- very Japanese in style, with an intense amount of detail. I can't believe one guy did it, it looked like he worked with a roomful of assistants cranking that out. The 2nd was done with 3-D modeling, and really didn't grab me as much-- especially as one entire chapter in the middle of the story appears NOT to have been published! How could ANYONE screw something like THAT up???

Chris Clairmont, In my opinion he lost it a long time ago.

To be honest, I don't know what else I've read that was written by Joe Kelly, but I have to agree that JLA has been disappointing. In all honesty, I think the Mark Waid issues were the only ones of this entire run that I actually enjoyed. I'm trying to hold on, but Joe and Doug Mahnke (sp?) are pushing me closer and closer to dropping JLA altogether, which is sad because I've been collecting JLA for over 20 years.

John Byrne don't like his work!

Grant Morrison

the antichrist of the comicwriters profession!

Usually a new writer won't get me to drop a book (unless I was only buying the book because of the writer to begin with).

For instance, although I am not looking forward to Chuck Austen on Avengers, I won't drop it.

I will however, drop the Flash, once Geoff Johns leaves.

Joe Kelly's JLA has been the closest thing to make me rethink this strategy though, as I cannot stand where the title has gone...

Except Next-Men one of my favorite comics of all time. I just don't care for his new stuff his run on WW was alright at best and Lab Rats was just awful!!!!!

I still like his art, though his figures are a bit too thin for my taste.

Just for God's sake don't let him write.

Byrne was so good during his heyday -- the first twenty issues or so of "Alpha Flight" were amazing. I don't think I've really read anything of his since then and his art, while serviceable, hasn't been exciting in a long time.

Joe Kelly's crap writing (where everyone seems like an attention deficit version of GL-Kyle) forced me to drop JLA. The scene with the JLA playing poker was a particularly low note. Oh for the days of Morrison & Porter (or Waid & Hitch).

PS Noticing a lot of dislike for that Silly Scot Mark Millar. Personally, I love his stuff - am keen to check out 'Run' later this year...

PPS Legion Post-Boot... Ultimate Marvel... Wildstorm in general... Hmmm - I suppose I'm more into the 'new' comic style than 'classic sensibilities'.

Winnick ruined GL for me and I dropped GA as soon as he came aboard.

Greyson did her best to ruin Nightwing for me, but she didn't manage it. Though, I hear that Didio has done a great job of it by revealing Dick Grayson as NW in one of their new events. I don't read the events anymore.

Right now? The guy writing teen titans and Superman. Can't remember his name, but his stories were just dead flat, and the art was even worse to me.

Probably quite a few, but generally I'll have dropped a title well before I hate anyone on it. Often peeking in the shop makes those decisions for me.

I'm not picking up a James Robinson book for the next 3 years (2 years in, making up for all those horrid JLA books I bought because they were on my pull list at the store. Utter, utter rubbish.

I started this thread in 2003 and I'm embarrassed I did. No creator is enough to make me drop a book anymore sight unseen. I'm willing to think every creator has some surprises in them that can win me over if it all falls into place.

(Well. Maybe not Chuck Austen :p)

I'm willing to believe that of James Robinson too. And in a few years I might take a look

I hear you. I won't go out of my way to buy a series written by JT Krul, but if I hear universal praise for it, I'd be open enough to sample it.

thothkins, Robinson does great on certain books, and not on others. His starman was great because it was his baby. His E-2 was really good, just not the JSA I wanted to read. I as well could NOT get into his Justice League.

He does better when he's writing books that don't have franchise characters that he can't move about the way he wants too, I think.

It used to be Winnick for me, then I saw him on a few panels at Comic-con and was surprised how he didn't come off as the D-bag I thought he would. Based on this, I tried out his Power Girl and it was great (much better than the previous team). It still doesn't excuse his earlier transgressions, but it did make me re-think embargoes on creators without compromise.