Marvel just announced that after 3 years as a DC Exclusive artist, Mark Bagley is headed back to the Bullpen.
After working on Trinity and Justice League of America, Mark Bagley will be back to Ultimate Spider-Man, taking part in the upcoming Death of Spider-Man event by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Millar. His long time collaborator on Ultimate Spider-Man, Bendis also says they've got plans for stuff in both the Ultimate universe and the Marvel Universe proper for Bagley.
Says Bagley, “I’ve always been a Marvel guy at heart and look forward to playing in that pool again. Don’t get me wrong, [DC Comics] treated me well [and] it was fun to play around there. Having said that, most folks have a special place in their heart for one company [or the other] and since I was nine years old and after a 20-plus-year career at Marvel, that place [has been] the house that Stan and Jack built. I’d like to be able to make another solid statement on a Marvel book as I did with New Warriors, Amazing Spider-Man, Thunderbolts and, of course, Ultimate Spider-Man.”
And echoing the thoughts many readers had about his DC work, “I’ve had three years of working on well-established, iconic characters that were frankly out of my comfort zone,” he notes. “I think I’ve improved as an artist and I look forward to seeing how the adjustments in my drawing style that I’ve made translate to Marvel characters. I realized quite quickly that some of the artistic shorthand I’d been using drawing Ultimate Spider-Man for years wouldn’t work as well on very different types of characters. It was an interesting and exciting learning experience [and] I think I’m a better artist for it.”
Finally, he addresses the big elephant in the room: the haircut. “I really like his new haircut! That is a lot easier to draw; the only challenge is making his face distinctive enough. I always saw his original hairstyle as sorta Superman’s spit curl—a visual key to immediately identify the character. More importantly, it’s interesting to see how Peter’s supporting cast has been solidified and shaped. Each character adds a fun or exciting mix to the collective story. I’m certainly going to have to stop by my daughter’s high school and refresh my teenage fashion sense a bit. Damn kids, you dress funny.”
Look for Bagley to start appearing in March.
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Great! Can’t wait until he’s off JLA.
@AquaPimp82 Maybe a shakeup on JLA will make it worth reading again
Zzzzzzzzzzz…..wake me up when Spidey comes magically back to life.
YES! My Prayers Have Been Answered!!!!
Awesome news, though I’ve loved the newer artists in a way, this is for the best. Bags is one of the best all time Spider-Man artists, from his characterizations, to his explosive action scenes.
@AquaPimp – Nobody reads JLA. 😉
How many comic creators wake up thinking they should kill off a iconic character? The number has to be pretty high. I have a slight urge to pick this up for Bagley. He’s really one of my all time favorites. I hope the “Death of Spider-Man” is more of a metaphor then another batch of drama about a fallen son. The big two have really gotten some mileage out of death the last couple of years.
Greatest news about this is someone new will take over JLA !! He was all wrong for it. Don’t share in the excitement for ‘Death of Spiderman”. Anything Millar is involved with means every character will come off as an a$$hole..
Glad to hear he’s back on Ult. Spidey and other upcoming Marvel stuff. Bagley has always been a quintessential Spidey artist to me.
I kinda feel that DC missed the boat with Bagley though. They threw him on a terrible book that not many people read. I was stupid excited when he did the few issues of Batman, a place I wish they would have left him and Judd Winick for a bit longer.
For some reason, I had a feeling this was coming. While his DC work was solid, it wasn’t USM or Thunderbolts. I’m excited that Bagley is excited for this.
I love the hidden remark about looking at high school students.
Best news of the day!!!
Pretty excited for this. Ultimate Spider-man just didnt feel the same without him
Awesome!
YES.
Does this mean Pichelli and Lafuente are off the book?
I really don’t enjoy Bagley’s art.
I thought Pichelli and Lafuente had put life back into the book and taken Ultimate Spidey to new heights? Their fresh, youthful Spidey was magical, right? I’m confused.
Mark Bagley’s Back at Marvel.
I would’ve used this as an alternative title Josh:
“AKA JLA is still shit out of luck”
@TheNextChampion Yeah, but I’m not a jerk.
@josh: Touche
(alternative comment: Eh……)
im thrilled to see Bagley back. He’s my second favorite artist next to Ryan Ottley! No offense to Lafuente/Pichelli (they both do great work) but i prefer Bagley for USM
The story says Bagley will be involved with the Death of Spider-man event, folks. It doesn’t say he’s the new regular artist on the Utimate Spidey book. So don’t assume Lafuente and Pichelli are being put to pasture so soon. Bendis’ remarks make it sound like maybe he’ll be moved to a new Ultimate project after that. Or maybe an Avengers book in the MU proper? I do believe New Avengers is looking for a new artist, no?
I like his comment on how kids dress…LaFuente’s fashion sense for the kids seems wildly unlike anything you’d actually see in the real world–he dresses Gwen like a superhip wealthy anime chick.
NOOOOOO. I love Lafuete’s Spider-Man art. Gah.
Mark Bagley have not been great on JLA, but he was not the only reason the JLA book is bad. It’s a combonation of everyone involved, including editors, DC for not allowing the major characters to be in it. We’ll see though, I’m not going to put a JLA book on my pull list until Batman, Superman, Hal Jordan, Wonder Woman, Barry Allen, Hawkman, Martian Manhunter and Aquaman are on the team.
It will be nice to see Bagley doing Ult. Spidey.
Wow. I can actually read Ultimate Spider-man again. For real this time. (I kinda held out for trades ever since that one other guy started ruining it).
The story is very vague on how Bagley will return to USM. It doesn’t say he’ll go back to being the regular artist. It just says he’ll be working on the Death of Spider-Man. That might be a mini-series. That might be a flashback portion. It could be anything. Intentionally OK.
Hooray for the JLA. Now put the big players back on it and we will have something…Bat, Supes,WW,GL,Flash. Then sprinkle in some Hawkman, MM and Aquaman. Gold I say, pure Silver Age Gold!!’
Props to AmirCat. He said what I said first.
I hope and pray that this means Lafuente will be off of USM permanently as the regular artist!
See ya Mark. Now let’s get Robinson and his motley bunch of third stringers off JLA.
@WheelHands YES! Exactly.