April 2024 – In My Not So Humble Opinion

Last week I posted a short tribute to comic book artist Mark “M.D.” Bright, who passed away in late March. Among Bright’s many credits, he was the co-creator & penciler on the Icon series published by Milestone Media through DC Comics. I admitted that I had never read Icon, which prompted Gregory Wright, a former colleague of Bright’s in the comic biz, to comment “Seriously read ICON. It has some of Mark’s best work.”

I promptly went on eBay to see if I could find a collected edition. The trade paperback Icon: A Hero’s Welcome collects the first eight issues of Icon. The original 1996 printing of A Hero’s Welcome was very much out of print and the asking prices for it were expensive. Fortunately, DC re-released A Hero’s Welcome in 2009, and I was able to find a copy of that edition for close to cover price. It arrived in the mail a couple of days ago and I promptly read the entire thing in less than a day. Yeah, it really was that good.

Icon was co-created by writer / editor Dwayne McDuffie and penciler M.D. Bright. It ran for 42 issues, from May 1993 to February 1997.

In the year 1839 an alien escape pod from a doomed spaceship crash-lands in the Deep South. It is discovered by an enslaved black woman, and the pod, to enable its single occupant to blend in, promptly transforms him into a black infant who is raised by the woman. The alien, taking the name Augustus Freeman, lives as a human being for the next 150 years, surviving slavery and wars to become a wealthy attorney.

In the then-present day of 1993 Augustus Freeman encounters Raquel Ervin, a 15-year-old African American girl who lives in a housing project on Paris Island in the city of Dakota. Raquel is a highly intelligent young woman who dreams of one day becoming a writer, but her impoverished circumstances leave her little chance of advancing herself. Raquel discovers that Augustus possesses superpowers, and she challenges the conservative-leaning lawyer, who unironically advises people to “pull yourself up by your own bootstraps,” to use his fantastic abilities to help the people of Dakota. Augustus reluctantly agrees, and Raquel designs costumes for the two of them. Augustus provides Raquel with a force field belt, and the two assume the identities of Icon and Rocket.

I really wonder what I would have made of Icon if I had read it back when I was 16 years old. I’ve commented in the past about my experiences with Hardware, and I suspect that unfortunately, as a white middle-class teenage male from the suburbs, I would not have been mature & open-minded enough to truly appreciate the characterization & themes in McDuffie’s work on Icon, either. But reading these first eight issues three decades later, I really felt that he did a great with these characters & stories, that he addressed some vital social, political & economic themes.

I previously described Bright as having “a clear style [and] effective storytelling” and those qualities really come into play in a character-driven series like Icon. Much of the focus is on Rocket’s civilian life, and Bright’s artwork really brings Raquel and her world into existence.

Issue #7, “The Moment of Truth,” features especially effective work by Bright. Raquel discovers she is pregnant, and the teenage girl is faced with the difficult decision whether to keep the baby or have an abortion. McDuffie and co-writer Erica Helene (Milestone’s production coordinator, who I suspect was brought on to this issue to provide a female perspective on such a sensitive issue) do quality work in “The Moment of Truth,” and the penciling by Bright really brings to life the complex emotions & struggles being experienced by Raquel.

Mike Gustovich inks Bright’s pencils on all eight issues in A Hero’s Welcome. Gustovich is himself a talented artist, and he does solid work over Bright. They definitely make an effective art team.

The cover artwork for the first issue is by Denys Cowan & Jimmy Palmiotti with Noelle Giddings. ChrisCross provides the covers to issues #7 and #8. The others are by Bright & Gustovich.

Having finished A Hero’s Welcome, I definitely found myself wondering what happened next with Raquel and Augustis and the plotlines that McDuffie had set up. It’s unfortunate that there was never a second Icon collection.

DC / Milestone has been releasing oversized Compendiums which are collecting the original runs of their series. Milestone Compendium One contains Blood Syndicate #1-12, Hardware #1-12, Icon #1-10, Static #1-8, Xombi #0-11 and Shadow Cabinet #0. That’s certainly one way to catch up on the entire 1990s Milestone universe, although I’m not overly fond of these omnibus-type editions, since I do most of my reading on my commute to & from work and on my lunch breaks, so I prefer smaller volumes that I can easier carry around.

Maybe I’ll look into tracking down the actual back issues of Icon once I get rid of some other stuff and make room for more comic books. I guess I’ll see how it goes. Given my interest, I’m definitely planning to pick up the collected edition of Icon and Rocket: Season One, which reboots the series.

I recommend checking out Icon for yourself. At the very least, seek out a copy of Icon: A Hero’s Welcome collection. It’s a quality read.

I wanted to post a few brief thoughts concerning comic book artist Mark Bright, also known as M.D. Bright, who passed away on March 27th.

Bright entered the comic book industry in the late 1970s. He worked on a variety of series in the first half of the 1980s, most notably the Falcon miniseries written by Jim Owsley that was published by Marvel in 1983. Bright and Owsley would work together again during the final year of Power Man and Iron Fist in 1985, and would reunite periodically throughout the next two decades.

Iron Man #225 cover penciled by M.D. Mright and inked by Bob Layton, published by Marvel Comics in December 1987

Bright became the regular penciler on Iron Man at Marvel beginning with issue #200 in late 1985. He remained on the series for two and a half years. During his stint on the book, the acclaimed team of co-plotter & scripter David Michelinie and co-plotter & inker Bob Layton, who had previously revolutionized Iron Man in the late 1970s, returned to the series. Michelinie, Layton & Bright worked together on the now-classic “Armor Wars” storyline that ran in issues #225 to #231, which saw an increasingly-fanatical Tony Stark going rogue and attempting to destroy all traces of his armor technology. During his Iron Man run, Bright penciled the Spider-Man vs. Wolverine special written by Owsley.

In 1988 Bright became the artist on the Hawkeye feature in the Solo Avengers split book. He also began working for DC Comics on a variety of assignments, among them the Green Lantern feature in Action Comics Weekly written by Owsley, while also penciling several issues of G.I. Joe for Marvel.

Action Comics Weekly #621 co-plotted & scripted by Jim Owsley, co-plotted & penciled by M.D. Bright, inked by Jose Marzan Jr., lettered by Albert DeGuzman and colored by Anthony Tollin, published by DC Comics in October 1988

In late 1989 DC published the six issue Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn, a post-Crisis retelling of Hal Jordan’s origin. Emerald Dawn led into a new ongoing Green Lantern series, and Bright alternated with Pat Broderick and Joe Staton on penciling duties while also drawing the Emerald Dawn II miniseries.

In 1993 Bright became one of the creators to work at the Milestone Media imprint, where he penciled the Icon series written by Dwayne McDuffie. Bright was the artist on nearly every issue of the entire 42 issue run of Icon.

G.I. Joe #92 written by Larry Hama, penciled by M.D. Bright, inked by Randy Emberlin, lettered by Rick Parker and colored by Bob Sharen, published by Marvel Comics in November 1989

Owsley, now known as Christopher Priest, once again teamed up with Bright in 1997, this time at Acclaim / Valiant Comics, on the superhero buddy comedy Quantum and Woody. Although it was plagued by sales problems, suffering both a year-long hiatus and then cancellation, Quantum and Woody was nevertheless well received, becoming something of a beloved cult classic. Bright would also draw several issues of Priest’s very well-regarded Black Panther run published under the Marvel Knights imprint.

One of Bright’s last jobs in comic books was Bill Jemas’ ill-fated six-issue satiric Marville miniseries. Following this, Bright moved into storyboarding, working on commercials, television and movies.

Quantum and Woody #1, co-plotted & scripted by Christopher Priest, co-plotted & penciled by M.D. Bright, inked by Greg Adams, lettered by Dave Lanphear & Comicraft and colored by Atomic Paintbrush, published by Acclaim / Valiant Comics in June 1997

I always considered Bright to be one of those good, solid, professional artists who make up the backbone of the comic book industry. He had a clear style, effective storytelling, and could always be counted on to meet a deadline. I found his depictions of Iron Man, the Falcon, Hawkeye, the G.I. Joe team and the Green Lantern Corps to all be appealing.

I never read Icon, since as I’ve previously recounted I unfortunately passed on the majority of the Milestone titles when I was in high school. I did read a few issues of Quantum and Woody, but I never really got into it. Nevertheless I recognize that both those series were beloved by their audiences, and I imagine Bright’s quality work played a role in that. He will definitely be missed.

Month: April 2024

It Came from the 1990s: Icon “A Hero’s Welcome”

M.D. Bright: 1955 to 2024