A few weeks ago, we discussed the new writer on The Spirit but there was some mystery as to who the artist would be. Well the new artist as been revealed… it’s Mike Ploog.
Ploog, a veteran of the comics industry has been working since the ’70s and is a solid, established choice. Clickthrough for some highlights of Ploog’s career and our thoughts on this choice.
Mike Ploog is best known for his work at Marvel in the 1970s on titles such as Ghost Rider and Man-Thing. Most recently he worked on Abadazad with J.M. DeMatteis. You can see his complete body of work at comicbookdb.com
While Ploog’s style is a more traditional style than that of Darwyn Cooke, I think that this pairing with writers Sergio Aragones and Mark Evanier is a smart one. Their collective experience and ability to play off each others strengths should provide a solid quality product. But I think that this will mean that The Spirit will definitely have a different feel/approach than the first 12 issues. Not necessarily bad, but different. I wonder how much of Cooke’s influence the new creative team will feel in terms of tone and approach to the book.
Regardless, while these may be names newer comic fans don’t recognize, I can say that I’m looking forward to seeing some of the masters of the industry take their hand on a classic character,
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I was a bit worried when I heard Cooke was leaving the book, especially after the fill-in issue, but this shaping into something very exciting. A book like this deserves careful thought put into the creators being put on it. I wanna see The Spirit carry on for 500 issues.
Great choice. I’ve been a huge fan of Ploog’s Man Thing for years (gotta love a thread where Man Thing comes up). If you have the opportunity, check out his Frankenstein work, too. Marvel put out an Essentials and there are color reprints available in an early 90s series called Book of the Dead (also features Man-Thing reprints, but don’t recall which issues).
I think this is a great choice by DC and while Aragones and Ploog are an odd fit for the Spirit, I’m still looking forward to what they do together on the title.
I was only reading it for Cooke. I’m dropping it in issues after 12. If the new team is good, I’ll pick it up in trade.
Even though I’ve loved Cooke’s run on book, I’m curious to see where these two fellas take it. I’ll definitely scope it for an issue or two. Ploog’s art seems interesting…
Ploog will do some fantastic work, I’m sure…I’m still floored at the thought of Aragones writing the book, though. Totally intrigued, mind you, but floored. I can’t even imagine how the book is going to read. Maybe I need to pick up some old Groo issues to get some idea. I pray that it will be good, though. I’m totally loving this series!