Marshall Law
comments: 3
Marshall Law
or: REJECTED!
I've had my work... edited... a few times over the years. In Hollywood it was usually about impressionable kids, animation in perspective, too much slapstick (in Tom and Jerry? Too much slapstick?!?) In comics it was always about blood-n-guts. Not that I had exceeded some objective level. There were those doing far more than I. The "problem" was, my work was too pretty or attractive outside of those instances that it made the shift "too much". If I drew poorly or ugly as a matter of course it would've been OK!
I argued the need for dichotomy. If you want Spider-Man to be Amazing or, the Hulk to be Incredible then Peter and Bruce need to be normal and boring. If you start at 11 cranking it up to 10 gets you nowhere. Starting with a style that was clean and inviting gave me someplace to go when the story required a jolt... editors, gotta love'em.
Of course, that's nuthin' compared to what happened to the recently departed Kevin O'Neill of Marshall Law and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen fame. The Comics Code was so discombobulated by his work that they didn't object to any individual scene or panel, they just banned HIM! If Kevin O'Neill drew your book, no CCA stamp for you!
This one's for you, Kevin!
Happy Trails
Smitty
3 Comments so far
Love that you included the
Submitted by Tim S (not verified) on Mon, 2022-11-14 08:19
Love that you included the penciled preliminary, even more angular like Nolan's work! Love this detailed tribute.
Objection!
Submitted by JRN (not verified) on Mon, 2022-11-14 13:35
I had heard the story of the CCA's rejection of the Green Lantern story from editors and creators alike over the years. I had never read it. Then, once I read it, I loved it all the more. It was, and is, DISTURBING. I can only imagine the poor folks who were used to teen/tween boy entertainment and got the story of the aliens who convinced Abin Sur to fly in a spaceship instead of under the sole power of his ring. One of the biggest stand out stories from one of the biggest writer/artist teams of all time came from... trying to fix a John Broome plot hole. O'Neil will be missed. He'll also live forever in our libraries. Godspeed past the alien horrors, noble artist.
Poor CCA. Delighted Fans.
Submitted by JRN (not verified) on Mon, 2022-11-14 13:38
When I say "the poor folks" I mean the CCA censors. Those poor people had their minds broken by Moore/O'Neil. They were NOT ready for what the new comic creators had to offer. As for the CCA in general, I'm glad it's gone, and it isn't missed.