Saturday, December 20, 2008
Comic Art
SO BAD THEY'RE GOOD
This space received a comment a while back suggesting a look at the character we examine today - the arch enemy of the Sorcerer Supreme, The Dread Dormammu (a name that could only come from the pen of Stan Lee.) So here we are. And since the Kirby stuff had about run its course we will use this to start a series on the baddies of the comic book world.
Dormammu is arguably Dr. Strange's greatest foe, although my money would probably go on Mordru for that role. But one thing is for sure. Dormammu is among the greatest images form the pen of Steve Ditko.
I have never been a huge Ditko fan. To me great artists become definitive for a character and for the most part Ditko's characters have gone on to be done better by someone else. But I have said in this space before and will say it again, the Ditko image here on the left featuring Dormammu and Eternity remains one of the most iconic ever in the medium. It is Ditko at his best. It could be argued that this image's effect is more the result of the inker or the colorist, but Ditko's pencils indicted the stark black of Eternity, and the complete lack of background. Nope, this is Ditko's image.
Dormammu has been through a lot of changes in his fictional existence. That is usually indicative of a character that has great potential, but never gets done quite right. In this case I think it is because he has never found precisely the right place to sit.
As we go through this series, we will talk continually about the fact that a hero is only as good as his villains. I don't think that is entirely true, it is about the conflict that arises and gets played out time and time and time again. Because Strange has Mordru, and their fit is near perfect, Dormammu suffers from not quite fitting into the picture properly.
Dormammu cannot be let go - he is an iconic image and a great one, but he needs someplace to call home - a hero that is both worthy foe and great narrative. Mystic characters in general don't play well in regular series, so I think he needs one more recast, out of the mystic realms into the simply powerful.
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This space received a comment a while back suggesting a look at the character we examine today - the arch enemy of the Sorcerer Supreme, The Dread Dormammu (a name that could only come from the pen of Stan Lee.) So here we are. And since the Kirby stuff had about run its course we will use this to start a series on the baddies of the comic book world.Dormammu is arguably Dr. Strange's greatest foe, although my money would probably go on Mordru for that role. But one thing is for sure. Dormammu is among the greatest images form the pen of Steve Ditko.
I have never been a huge Ditko fan. To me great artists become definitive for a character and for the most part Ditko's characters have gone on to be done better by someone else. But I have said in this space before and will say it again, the Ditko image here on the left featuring Dormammu and Eternity remains one of the most iconic ever in the medium. It is Ditko at his best. It could be argued that this image's effect is more the result of the inker or the colorist, but Ditko's pencils indicted the stark black of Eternity, and the complete lack of background. Nope, this is Ditko's image.Dormammu has been through a lot of changes in his fictional existence. That is usually indicative of a character that has great potential, but never gets done quite right. In this case I think it is because he has never found precisely the right place to sit.
As we go through this series, we will talk continually about the fact that a hero is only as good as his villains. I don't think that is entirely true, it is about the conflict that arises and gets played out time and time and time again. Because Strange has Mordru, and their fit is near perfect, Dormammu suffers from not quite fitting into the picture properly.
Dormammu cannot be let go - he is an iconic image and a great one, but he needs someplace to call home - a hero that is both worthy foe and great narrative. Mystic characters in general don't play well in regular series, so I think he needs one more recast, out of the mystic realms into the simply powerful.
Technorati Tags:comics, comic books, comic art, baddies, dormammu
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