The Unauthorized X-Men
Mark Todd’s New Works at Luz de Jesus will probably go down in history as one of my favorite shows of all time. As always, his work is full of surprises, wonderfully fun, and attentive to detail. But seeing a favorite artist’s interpretation of a favorite subject matter is a rare dream come true. While I attempted to put my appreciation into words, Coober Skeber came up.
Coober Skeber was a indie comics anthology published by Highwater Books. Marvel comics declared bankruptcy in the nineties. In response, the second issue of Coober Skeber was jokingly titled, “The Marvel Benefit Issue.” It gave all of its artists a stab at their favorite Marvel superheroes. Obscure characters were preferred. (Moon-Boy got a job and Man-Thing battled Galactus.) But Seth tackled the X-Men on the cover. Ron Rege drew Peter Parker’s first encounter with the Fantastic Four. James Kochalka’s story about the Hulk fighting the rain still makes me laugh out loud (and was later included, surprisingly, in an official Marvel comic). Of course, Coober Skeber was a blatant copyright infringement. Marvel issued a cease and desist order… which turned the anthology into a legendary collector’s item.
Thanks to the internet, it is not out of reach. Wired wrote an article about it. Hand-Drawn Corpses attempted to collect the work online. Word is that Marvel may even take a hint and publish its own collection of superhero comics by indie artists.
In YOUR dream come true, which Marvel superheroes would you like to see drawn by which artists?
Posted: November 3rd, 2007 under artists, books, comic, the art of living.
Comments: 4
Comments
Comment from mckenzee
Time: November 3, 2007, 9:43 am
Matt Howath’s old-skool Avengers!
Chester Brown’s Dr. Strange and Ghostrider.
Comment from rama
Time: November 3, 2007, 12:09 pm
this list changes the more i think about it but, in my dream come true Marvel anthology, i’d love to see:
a comic strip forward by stan lee illustrated by me (as long as i’m dreaming)
captain america vs. the nazis by seth
the avengers vs. the hulk by paul pope
fantastic four vs. iron man by mark todd
spider-man by craig thompson
daredevil by erik drooker
doctor strange by michael wertz
the silver surfer by dave mckean
the incredible hulk by chris ware
the coming of galactus by maira kalman
mary jane loves spider-man by laura park
the sub-mariner attacks by istvan banyai
thing on yancy street by peter kuper
ghost rider by debbie drechsler
she-hulk by ashley wood
iron man by micheal cho
tony stark by julia wertz (the booze!)
thor by esther pearl watson (the hair!)
power-man & iron-fist by johnny ryan (the jokes!)
peter porker, the amazing spider-ham, by aaron renier
the x-men by s. britt
the blob by dave cooper
the watcher by joe matt
kitty pride by daniel krall
wolverine by jeffrey brown
the avengers by calef brown
the inhumans by chester brown
franklin richards & the fantastic four by james kochalka
spider-man & his amazing friends by steven weissman
and contributor bios at the back with portraits of all the artists drawn by one another
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