TPBs that need to be: Dan Mishkin edition (plus Gary Cohn)

COMMENTARY
By Alex Ness
June 29, 2017

I acknowledge that artists are necessary for comics to happen.  However, while I have bought comics for the art, I rarely keep buying them for the art.  Ashley Wood is one the sole exceptions for me, I love his work, regardless of the context.  So, TPBs that need to be is a series of articles I will be writing that focus on series of comics that I enjoyed, and would like to be able to have them in book form.  I follow writers and mostly that.  Art is great, and I am by no means suggesting it is less important than the writer.  I just don't follow work for the art.


I like the writing of Dan Mishkin.  The reason I like his writing is for his ability to tell a straight forward story, without the overarching continuity, or need to read every previous issue.  He in concert with Gary Cohn wrote a comic that I think would appeal to many people who could like comics, but don't yet.  Blue Devil was/is among the most light hearted heroic comics around and it had such a feel of fun, I cannot believe that DC would not want to keep it in eternal tpb status.  Yes, it might not appeal to the uber serious, or the ultra elite.  But it would make a lot of people smile and feel satisfied for their read.

I met Dan Mishkin at SDCC through Tom Mandrake, a fantastical artist.  Their work CREEPS was out then and while I hadn't immediately picked it up, when I did it was really different than anything else on the shelves, and it was fun, and a bit "creepy".  In TPB form it would perhaps not sell a huge amount, but if aimed at the right audience, I think they'd enjoy the hell out of it. I enjoyed the art for its moodiness, and I loved the writing, it was simultaneously icky and fun.

This book, Dan Mishkin's Wonder Woman run, is a long shot.  I realize the audience for a non star tpb of a character who at the time barely mattered it seemed.  But a) the stories were fun and well done, b) Frank Miller did a cover that is considered early in his career, and c) Wonder Woman kicks ass, just go watch the film.  In the right hands, the comic Wonder Woman can be a wonderful thing.

I like other works Dan has done, and I like him as a person.  He is an evangelist for fun comics, and I think that is a wonderful thing.