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Ed Brubaker talks up Cameron Stewart

 
  

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rakehell
21:56 / 03.02.03
In an interview on comicbookresources.com Ed Brubaker says things like "I can't think of a brighter debut in comics in recent history." about Cameron.

Well done Cameron, and that cover for issue 20 looks great!
 
 
arcboi
22:52 / 03.02.03
Can't disagree. Prior to Cameron's work on The Invisibles I wasn't aware of his work but I could be sorely tempted to pick up comics like this on the strength of the artwork alone.

Mr Stewart, you're a star
 
 
yawn - thing's buddy
09:19 / 04.02.03
Hey! Swat I said:

At 10:11 01.11.2002:

Cameron – I bought Catwoman for the first time yesterday, to check out your work.
I’ll be honest. I thought it was fucking amazing. As far as I’m concerned, this issue of Catwoman is one of those comics where you’re aware that a major new talent has arrived. There are two pages within this book that I would rank as some of the best sequential art I’ve seen in a long time. I say Sequential art not because I’m trying to elevate the medium or any of that shite, I’m saying sequential art cos the story as Deric says…….

Flows.

Oh, and you can draw architecture.

I will go into more detail later
 
 
Sax
09:24 / 04.02.03
His style kind of reminds me of Broad Arrow Jack's, though. Completely derivative, if you ask me.
 
 
yawn - thing's buddy
12:45 / 04.02.03
True. True.
 
 
CameronStewart
13:33 / 04.02.03
Thanks everyone!
 
 
at the scarwash
23:21 / 25.04.03
I picked up 16 today, finally. My first issue. I don't know why I waited so long. Mr. Stewart, congratulations upon being so damned talented.
 
 
The Falcon
03:42 / 26.04.03
I grabbed all Cameron's stuff on this title a couple of weeks back, partially influenced by enjoying Brubaker's work on Sleeper, I must admit. This is an excellent comic.

The recent Javier Pulido issue was very good also. It occurs that both artists would probably make shit-hot fill-ins on X-Statix, too.
 
 
yawn - thing's buddy
07:34 / 28.04.03
yeah, dunkers? I fell asleep on page 4.

should I wake up?
 
 
yawn - thing's buddy
07:37 / 28.04.03
dunco, forget it: I was thinking of Beware the Creeper.
 
 
The Falcon
13:40 / 28.04.03
I avoided that. The art looked bonny though.

A wee Sleeper thread is available on the 'lith, with a good synopsis by Fly.
 
 
bio k9
04:38 / 19.07.03
From Comicon's Pulse:
Beginning with issue 25 of Catwoman, Jimmy Palmiotti and Paul Gulacy will be taking over the art chores on Gotham’s favorite cat.

Well, that sucks.
So...whats next Mr. Stewart? GM's secret DC Universe book? Come on, spill it.
 
 
SavageFistsOfFengshui
08:03 / 19.07.03
Palmiotti is quoted as saying "The writing and artwork have been top shelf since issue one," which made me laugh. Maybe he was thinking of the Jim Balent series.
 
 
bio k9
17:05 / 19.07.03
Yeah, because it was so much better when boobies filled every panel.
 
 
Solitaire Rose as Tom Servo
05:39 / 20.07.03
I agree with all who have said that Cameron has done a great job on Catwoman, and I hope that his next series gets him a lot more acclaim than this book has (and better sales).

I wonder about bringing Paul Gulacy on, tho. I LOVE Gulacy's work (and am currently re-reading all of my Master of Kung Fu run), but does DC really want to appeal to aging fanboys like me with talent that was hot in the 70's and has been kind of coasting on past glories since then?

Has Gulacy had a comic since MoKF that people were giddy over? I loved his work with Moench on their very few Batman issues, but his other stuff has been lacking.
 
 
The Falcon
08:45 / 20.07.03
His art on that Warren Ellis thing, Reload(?), was stunning. Didn't buy it, but still.
 
 
sleazenation
08:51 / 20.07.03
gaucey had an acclaimed run on Shanna the she devil in Marvel comics presents...
 
 
SavageFistsOfFengshui
11:40 / 20.07.03
Acclaimed by whom?
 
 
Persephone
12:00 / 20.07.03
Aagh, really? That's both my comics done in...
 
 
moriarty
12:22 / 20.07.03
Same here. There goes the last of my purchases from the Big Two.
 
 
The Falcon
14:51 / 20.07.03
Seems something of an overreaction to me.
 
 
Spatula Clarke
15:34 / 20.07.03
Me too. Much as I love Cameron's work (love your work, Cameron), that's far from the only reason I buy the book - it may have been what drew me to it, but I've stayed because I'm also enjopying the writing. Brubaker's not going anywhere, is he?
 
 
Persephone
15:41 / 20.07.03
It's just stopping a comic. I'm not cutting off my arm.
 
 
moriarty
15:57 / 20.07.03
Overreaction? How so? If Silvestri stayed on New X-Men after Morrison took off, would it be an overreaction for people to drop the book because only the writer left? I'm usually more interested in the artist then the writer, so I hardly think it's an overreaction to let go of Catwoman after it loses that uber multi-panel, Frank Robbins Sunday page look.
 
 
Spatula Clarke
17:23 / 20.07.03
I guess that begs the question "what do you want from a comic?" Your point about being more interested in the artist than the writer's an interesting one, moriarty, in that it's almost the exact opposite of my own opinion - "only the writer" seems, to me, like an odd way to phrase it.

I'm not familiar with either of Cameron's replacements, but isn't there a good chance that the style, the direction of the art in the book is at least partly down to the writer? Obviously, that depends on how Brubaker alys out his scripts and whether he specifies the panel layouts in detail himself, but the recent Pulido issues suggest that the whole pulp thing is partly down to him. Leaving aside the issue of editorial decision, it's ultimately the writer who defines a comic (provided that writer actually gives two shits about the work they're producing). Catwoman reads like Brubaker really cares about what he's doing and I'm interested to see where he takes us.

Importantly, while I don't see the book working if the art takes a radically different direction I think the sheer quality of the writing almost provides a guarantee that it'll continue to be worth buying each month, even if the art does take a slight hit. That's not something I can say about NXM.

New thread about the relative importance of writers compared to artists, anyone?
 
 
The Falcon
18:18 / 20.07.03
Fair enough, moriarty + Persephone.

I'm mainly interested in comics for the writing, which I think's been excellent on Catwoman. Seems a shame to deny yourself that because of Paul Gulacy, who I reckon is pretty tasty himself.
 
 
moriarty
18:19 / 20.07.03
I think that's a fair response, ERD, I just don't understand why dropping a comic for any reason would be considered an overreaction. I'm familiar with Gulacy's work, and though he was one of the innovators of the multi-paneled cinematic comic book, it doesn't do much for me. Catwoman was the only comic from the Big Two that I regularly bought, despite swearing off books from Marvel and DC long ago. I bought it because it's the only thing by those companies I consider good enough to purchase, and not because of Brubaker's writing. In no way would I suggest that others should follow suit. This isn't a call for a boycott, or even a show of disgust. I have no doubt that Cameron is going on to bigger and better things, as his recent foray into self-publishing shows. It all comes down to personal preference, as a thread on the importance of writers versus artists would no doubt reveal. Happily, this will be the last comic with a writer/artist split I will likely read for a long, long time, so I don't have to worry about the debate.

And the "only the writer" thing should probably have been used with quotes or italics to denote a small degree of sarcasm to make a point. Barbelith has always seemed to be very writer-centric (nothing wrong about that, considering), so it shouldn't surprise me when a change in writers is considered to be more important then the same for artists.
 
 
Matthew Fluxington
20:45 / 20.07.03
My only interest in buying Catwoman was to see Cameron Stewart's , because I really like the style that ne, along with Javier Pulido and Darwyn Cooke brought to the comic. I think that Catwoman really looked unlike most every other comic on the rack, and to me that was the appeal. I don't dislike the writing on the comic, but to me, it was just a vehicle for those three artists to do something really interesting and special.

I'm definitely a fan of Cameron's, and I'm sort of glad that he's moved on, because I'm hoping for him to get on a project where I might enjoy the story as much as his art.
 
 
Matthew Fluxington
20:51 / 20.07.03
Also: I don't see how any of this comes down to a writer vs. artist thing - I think we all follow certain artists and writers because we like their style. They lend something to a project that someone else could not bring to the table - a Catwoman comic drawn by someone other than Cameron would feel different, and wouldn't appeal in quite the same way. Any given issue of an X-Men comic not written by Grant Morrison is an extremely different experience than reading one that he did write. With Chris Bachalo on the NXM comic right now, we can prove that point - go pick up an issue that he did with Steven Seagle or an issue of the Ultimate War comic with Mark Millar - they aren't much like a Grant Morrison comic at all, and if you don't have much invested in liking Chris Bachalo, the difference in writer is definitely a deal breaker.
 
 
The Falcon
21:22 / 20.07.03
I honestly never buy a comic for the artist; I have my favourites, and they can swing a 'possible buy', but that's all.
 
 
moriarty
22:18 / 20.07.03
And I'm the opposite. To each their own.
 
 
The Falcon
02:30 / 21.07.03
Cool.
 
 
FinderWolf
16:13 / 22.07.03
Cameron's art is terrific, and he's really grown by leaps and bounds since his INVISIBLES bits. Brubaker's writing is fantastic. Together they make CATWOMAN a terrific book. I'll still read it when Gulacy takes over the art, and I'll check out anything Cameron's doing in the future. The STRIPERELLA book got cancelled, so I guess we won't see Cameron's cover for that book.
 
 
CameronStewart
16:41 / 22.07.03
Thanks for all the love, everyone! I just got back from San Diego where the official announcement was made - seems like reaction is pretty mixed but I think, while obviously quite different to what's come before, Paul's going to do a great job. He's a big fan of the book already and promises to bring his "A-game" to it.

I had a blast working on Catwoman, it's been the greatest experience of my career so far, but I left because the pressure of pencilling and inking a monthly book was far too much for me - I'm not cut out for it, at least at this point in my life, being still relatively inexperienced at all this. Fortunately everyone at DC is very happy to keep me around, but rather than doing one monthly series you'll hopefully be seeing me pop up all over the place in the DCU and Vertigo.

I'm also doing a pinup in Hellboy Weird Tales, and a 6-page story written by the one and only Joss Whedon in a new Buffy spinoff series - for that one I'll not only be pencilling and inking, but colouring too!

If you haven't already, go over to my mailing list signup page (www.cameron-stewart.com) and join, and I'll send out updates of what's coming up...

Thanks again!
 
 
FinderWolf
20:37 / 29.07.03
I just re-read CATWOMAN #20 -- fantastic art by Cameron (I also loved the Javier Pulido issues). Brubaker is just doing a terrific job writing this book and has since issue #1 of the relaunch. And the story by Bru has really grown and matured; the characters really are developing.

So Cameron's last issue will be #24, with Gulacy's first ish being 25, I guess?

The one strange thing about #20 was the use of what appeared to be magic in such a street-crime, gritty, noir book. Ninjas who dissolve like The Hand in Frank Miller's DAREDEVIL?? A cat statue which lets out a burst of energy magically *kills* Catwoman and then she is brought back to life in just a few moments via CPR from Wildcat?? Huh?? Isn't this a crime book??

Cameron, was there discussion about having such Indiana Jones-type stuff in CATWOMAN? (I know that the book doesn't have to always be all-crime/street stuff, and that the supernatural has always worked in BATMAN with Ra's al Ghul, Batman encountering cosmic/magic stuff, I was just wondering. If I was the editor of CATWOMAN, I'd at least take a moment to look at switching gears in what had been established as a crime book a la Bendis' DAREDEVIL.)
 
  

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