On September 9, 2024, Eisner Award profitable comedian artist John Cassaday handed away on the too-young age of 52. He was broadly mourned by his trade friends and followers, who by no means labored with or met Cassaday, have misplaced any new fruits of his nice expertise. Earlier than he grew to become an artist, Cassaday studied movie in school. As soon as you recognize that, his drawing fashion actually clicks into place. Cassaday typically drew large pictures (each in extensive and customary panels), the sort a film display screen calls for, and his characters had detailed, photorealistic faces. It is no shock he broke into comics through the mid-90s, when that fashion was taking off. If I may evaluate his work to a fellow artist, it will be Bryan Hitch (“The Ultimates,” “The Authority”).
Simply as Hitch broke out working with author Warren Ellis on “The Authority,” Cassaday teamed with Ellis for the collection “Planetary,” printed at WildStorm (a DC publishing imprint) from 1999 to 2009 throughout 27 points. Studying “Planetary” from starting to finish, you may see Cassaday refine his ability from challenge to challenge because the fashion turns into extra distinctive and the line-art extra assured.
What’s “Planetary”? It is a comedian that might’ve solely come into existence on the cusp of a brand new millennium, as a result of it is premised on wanting again on the earlier one. 25 years later, it is a story that precisely rejected the ’90s consensus that humanity had reached the tip of its historical past and as an alternative mentioned there was nonetheless extra exploring to do apart from digging for artifacts.
Cassaday did loads of work for Marvel Comics (his 24-issue run on “Astonishing X-Males” with Joss Whedon from 2004 to 2008 is kind of beloved), however “Planetary” will go down at his finest comedian. Funnily sufficient, the e book’s essential villains are modeled on Marvel’s first incredible household of 4.
Planetary explores each piece of pulp the twentieth century produced
The premise of “Planetary” is that each one the pulp fiction of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries — from science-fiction to fantasy, from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to Jules Verne to Edgar Rice Burroughs to Bram Stoker — truly occurred. The protagonists are Planetary, the identify for 3 superpowered archaeologists: Elijah Snow (who can freeze individuals the place they stand), the speedster Jakita Wagner, and super-hacker known as The Drummer. With limitless funds from a mysterious “Fourth Man,” it is their job to report and doc all of the wild tales of days previous.
“Planetary” builds up a mythology (with out straining itself, because of its brief run), however it capabilities like a religious anthology. Situation #2 is about Japanese Kaiju movies, then challenge #3 jumps to a John Woo-ish motion story a few Hong Kong supercop. The comedian would not simply pay homage to those tales, however digs into the anxieties that had been animating them.
Situation #7 of “Planetary” is about the “British Invasion” of comics within the Nineteen Eighties, when writers like Alan Moore, Garth Ennis, Jamie Delano, and Neil Gaiman came to visit the pond to make darkish and difficult comics. Naturally, Cassaday’s cowl is styled after Gaiman’s “The Sandman.”
DC Comics
Ellis, a Brit himself, concludes that his fellow comedian writers had gone a bit nuts and cynical as a result of Margaret Thatcher was PM. The following eighth challenge, about ’50s monster films like “Them!”, says these creatures had been the outcomes of human experimentation. The U.S. authorities was full of hardline anti-Communists in quest of a weapon, however they solely made monsters. These American monster flicks usually featured beings created by atomic testing; Individuals had been afraid of annihilation by the gadget their very own authorities (through J. Robert Oppenheimer) first invented.
There’s nothing incredible about The 4 in Planetary
You may’t talk about twentieth century pulp and pass over superhero comics. That is much more true in the present day than it was in 1999; “Planetary” was forward of the curve in satirizing the Marvelous home of concepts. (I am certain it being printed by the Distinguished Competitors did not harm, however the collection just isn’t in a fanboy pissing contest, I promise.)
Situation #6 introduces Planetary’s rivals in discovering the multiverse’s mysteries. Generally known as the 4, they’re astronauts who took an area flight in 1961 and walked away with unimaginable powers. Sound acquainted?
The 4 are led by mad scientist Randall Dowling, who has “a listing of disciplines so long as your arm.” (Although not like Reed Richards, Dowling’s powers are about controlling his thoughts, not his physique’s matter.) The opposite three are Jacob Greene (the ship’s pilot who grew to become an enormous inhuman factor), William Leather-based (Dowling’s chief enforcer, who can fly and shoot power beams), and Dowling’s lover Kim Süskind (who can flip invisible — since even mild passes by means of her, she’s blind).
Not one of the allusions in “Planetary” are delicate and even probably the most novice comedian fan can inform the 4 are presupposed to be the Unbelievable 4. To tie in actual historical past, “Planetary” attracts on how America’s rocketry and house journey applications had been largely spearheaded by Operation Paperclip recruits like Wernher Von Braun; Süskind is explicitly mentioned to be the daughter of a high-ranking Nazi scientist.
DC Comics
The characters are, naturally, additionally used as a tool to discover Marvel Comics’ cultural influence. Situation #10, which follows parodies of Superman, Inexperienced Lantern, and Surprise Girl, has all three heroes murdered by the 4. A mirrored image of how, for a time, Stan Lee’s Marvels left the extra classical Justice League within the mud?
Whereas each Planetary and the 4 take into account themselves explorers, the latter wish to hoard the data and secrets and techniques they uncover. They intend to maintain the world as it’s and have spent a long time murdering to take action. Fairly much like how Marvel Comics retains an iron-gripped copyright on its characters, superseding the precise artists who created their money cows, huh?
John Cassaday’s comics are nonetheless price studying
Since Cassaday’s defining comics are and can endlessly be “Planetary” and “Astonishing X-Males,” it is painful that his legacy runs the chance of being sullied by his collaborators. Since 2020, it has been revealed piece by piece that — since “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” all the best way as much as the reshoots on 2017’s “Justice League” — Whedon had created a number of poisonous workplaces, bullying actors and fellow writers. (Most infamously, he fired Charisma Carpenter from “Angel” after she grew to become pregnant and “disrupted” his story plans.)
In 2020, it got here to mild that Ellis had a protracted historical past of manipulative conduct, utilizing his superstar inside the trade to groom dozens of girls (a lot of whom had been attempting to start out a profession in comics and noticed Ellis as a mentor). Ellis’ accusers reported in January 2023 that, even after assembly with him to debate accountability, he did not not take the steps they requested.
Cassaday’s work is sadly intertwined with these two males. (He even directed an episode of Whedon’s TV collection “Dollhouse,” titled “The Attic.”) I am unable to blame individuals who cannot get previous Whedon and Ellis’ involvement in these comics and so won’t ever learn them, however it’s unhappy that Cassaday’s important artwork will at all times carry an asterisk by means of no fault of his personal. I feel this stands as a reminder that, as in movie and tv, no one particular person is liable for a comic book. Sure, Ellis and Whedon’s writing of those two collection is inextricable, however Cassaday’s art work is not any much less integral.
That is my favourite cowl of “Astonishing X-Males,” from the collection’ second challenge.
Marvel Comics
The blocking is ideal, and the character detailing is so sparse even these elements really feel like extra unfavourable house. The blue coloring is an on the spot moodsetter, particularly as a result of Cassaday drenches the whole picture (not simply the background) within the coloration. Cyclops’ eye beams peek out much more so as a result of it is just like the pink pushing towards the power of the blue. Whereas we will not see Scott’s eyes, Emma Frost’s icy gaze pierces ours. This is not only a cool cowl both, it is one which makes you ask questions in regards to the story inside. Is Emma blinding Scott? Does she have a secret eeeevil plot? Or is she a voice of cause Scott must preserve him from unleashing his worst self?
This cowl is all Cassaday. Comics journalism/criticism’s worst behavior is treating the author as the first writer of a comic book and generally even neglecting to credit score the artist. Cassaday’s drawings communicate for themselves about how necessary a task an artist performs in making a comic book.
Should you’re nonetheless ready to make the leap: “Planetary” is offered in 4 commerce paperback volumes and a single hardcover omnibus version. It will also be learn on digital studying service DC Universe Infinite.