What does it take to be one of the most influential comic book artists in the 2020s? Believe it or not, the genesis of titles like Ghost Machine #1 today starts as far back as the 1970s.
Many of the top artists, storyline creators and producers leading the charge with today’s titles are card-carrying members of Generation X, having been well-fed on a long history of comic book titles like Batman, the Amazing Spiderman, Sandman, X-men, Thor, Spawn and a whole lot more. The artistry that exploded with this generation as an audience, particularly in the 1980s, established the standards for what good comic books should be, and that torch has been diligently carried forward into the 2020s.
Paying Homage To Earlier Names In The Industry
Ghost Machine #1, both in terms of art styles and storytelling, can easily find roots in previous creators, with the likes of Todd McFarlane and Frank Miller among others. The grittiness of the tales and the detail of the visual displays are exponentially higher quality than anything that was coming out in the 1980s, but the need to provide a good story arc overall still finds its history in early titles that carried readers from one issue to the next monthly.
Learning from those earlier examples, team members producing Ghost Machine now, like Geoff Johns, are putting years of experience together in new products that recaptivate readers, as well as remind older comic book audiences what they loved about the genre in the first place.
Why Comic Books Still?
Despite its seemingly-juvenile category in the world of literature, comic books have easily established their mark on modern, 20th century culture, and the latest versions are doing the same going forward in a multimedia Internet-riddled age that didn’t exist widespread just some 25 years ago. This kind of lasting value continues to boggle the tech-purists types who want to see everything in digital form, but for the comic book lover it all makes sense. Comic book stories are just darn good stuff, including how they spur the imagination. In that regard, they have the same high value as a good book, both of which include stepping away from the computer or mobile for a minute and just enjoying imagining things.
Ghost Machine #1 continues the tradition with the latest approach to visual comic storytelling, and hopefully it will stay established into the 2030s as well. The Image team is betting on it with their latest releases.
