Redartz: If you're any fan of American Baseball, you've heard about the recent "Field of Dreams" game. If not, you may be familiar with the iconic Kevin Costner movie by that title. Well, in both cases, part of the charm (perhaps the whole point) is the magical blending of past and present. Or to paraphrase James Earl Jones' speech, ...All that was good...and could be again...".
Anyway, it seemed like it might be fun to apply that approach to comics. Just how, you ask? Well, in a two fold question form, that's how. And for our UK contingent, never fear- you can answer these questions too; they aren't baseball specific. Shall we begin?
The first part of the question parallels the movie, bringing the past into the present. Therefore, your challenge is to think of a comic book or series from the past (say, before Marvel circa 1961). Then offer your ideal creative team of Bronze age-or-later vintage to bring new life to that title.
My submission: It's common knowledge that I loved Marvel's "Man-Thing " series, especially under Gerber and Ploog. And the book still gets reboots in our current world. So, let's dig waaaay back to the EC Comics of the 1950s and try Ghastly Graham Ingels on the book! Bet he'd be a perfect fit...
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| Man-Thing by Mike Ploog |
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| Old Witch by Graham Ingels |
The second part of the question is based upon the recent game, wherein the present was revised as the past. Your challenge here is just the opposite of the first part, i.e. name a recent (Bronze age or later) comic or series, and present a classic creative team from the Halcyon Days of Early Comicdom.
My submission: Anyone familiar with "Lady Luck"? A cool character created by Will Eisner and Chuck Mazoujian,published as part of the famous "Spirit Sections", and by Quality Comics. To my mind, the first choice for a contemporary artist for her would be Bruce Timm. I'd buy that book in a heartbeat!
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| Lady Luck by Gill Fox |
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| Batgirl by Bruce Timm |
Oh, and incidentally- for any fellow baseball fans out there, feel free to toss in a comment or two about the movie and/or the game. If you haven't guessed yet, I enjoyed both. And I'm ecstatic that next year's Field of Dreams game will involve the Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago Cubs. Oh, for a ticket...
