Matt D. Wilson
The Artist’s Spider-Man: Humberto Ramos’ Exuberant Exaggeration
Humberto Ramos has been a consistent presence on the Spider-Man titles for the past 14 years or so, but he actually came to the character nearly a decade into his career.
Before tackling Spidey, Ramos worked on Milestone books, including Hardware, and numerous books for DC Comics, most notably a two-year run on Impulse with writer Mark Waid. Then he moved onto Wildstorm and helped found the Cliffhanger publishing imprint, where he produced 24 issues of his creator-owned comic Crimson with writer Brian Augustyn. It wasn't until 2002 that Ramos worked on a Spider-book.
How Invading a Spider-Man Comic Cemented Deadpool’s Character
Over the past couple of decades, a narrative has built up around Deadpool's character evolution: He started out like any other mercenary, sword-carrying '90s badass, and it wasn't until the debut of his Joe Kelly-written and largely Ed McGuinness-drawn solo series in 1997 that the character came into his own.
I'd argue that it's not quite that cut-and-dry. Go back and read Deadpool's early X-Force appearances and you'll discover he was still a wisecracker, though a bit more mean-spirited. Where Deadpool really seemed to come into his own, though, was almost a year into his solo series, in an issue that would long be hailed as the best single-issue Deadpool story: Deadpool #11, written by Kelly, with art by Pete Woods.
Just Making a Good Show: A Birthday Tribute to Bruce Timm
Ask a generation of cartoon watchers what their prototypical Batman or Superman would look like, and there's a pretty good chance the image that will pop into the heads of many will look a whole lot like a Bruce Timm drawing. Same goes for Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl, Harley Quinn, The Flash, Martian Manhunter, Robin, Batgirl, Lois Lane and dozens of other DC characters.
Timm, born on this day in 1961, has made his career in animation, co-creating Batman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, Superman: The Animated Series and Justice League, among other shows, but he has arguably had as much of an impact on superheroes as any living comic artist.