Thumbnail: Jim Lee

In the second of Ninth Art's creator profiles, Brent Keane looks at the career-so-far of the creator most associated with the Image movement; an artist whose great talents seem to have been largely lost to the boardroom.
25 November 2002

EARLY DAYS

Jim Lee was born in Seoul, South Korea, in August of 1964. He immigrated to the United States with his family when he was five years of age, and settled in St Louis, Missouri. Attending Princeton University in the early 1980s, he graduated with a medical degree.

Post-graduation, he worked in a research lab, while teaching himself how to draw. In the summer of 1986, Lee, with friend and future collaborator Brandon Choi, submitted a proposal to Marvel Comics. As a result of the proposal (entitled 'Wild Boys'), Lee was hired by the publisher.

LANDMARKS

October 1987 - Lee began pencilling ALPHA FLIGHT with issue #51, his first professional work.

November 1988 - Promoted to THE PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL, Lee developed the detail-intensive style he is known for, and came to the attention of fandom with issues 6 and 7 of the series, which guest-star Wolverine. Lee said of his stint on the title: "My career seemed like it was on an upswing... [it] was my first big project... things kind of took off". He claimed the guest appearance by Wolverine "opened the door to the X-Men."

September 1989 - UNCANNY X-MEN #248 featured Lee's debut on the mutant team. He returned in December to render a three-issue arc (issues #256-258), which tied into Marvel's major crossover for that summer, "Acts of Vengeance".

September 1990 - At last, Lee became the regular penciller of UNCANNY X-MEN with #267, aiding Homage Studios workmate Whilce Portacio. "I was totally ready for it," said Lee, "I was there 110 percent." The following issue, a World War II flashback featuring a Captain America/Wolverine team-up, was the first issue to have full pencils by Lee. Perennial X-MEN writer Chris Claremont was full of praise for his new artist. "Everything gelled," he remembered, "All of what you want in an issue is there." During Lee's ten-issue run, the X-MEN visited Genosha, the Savage Land, and outer space, showcasing Lee's artistic versatility while also cementing his fan-favourite status.

October 1991 - X-MEN #1, with five variant covers and eight million copies sold, set all manner of records. It also confirmed Lee's status as an artistic superstar: "It was an exciting time for me ... I was [allowed] a lot of creative freedom ... to do different things and offer a new take on these characters."

February 1992 - Lee became a co-founder of Image Comics. In one of the more momentous upheavals the modern comics industry has undergone, a cadre of popular Marvel Comics artists - among them Lee, Erik Larsen, Rob Liefeld and Todd McFarlane - quit the publisher to form their own company, in order to exert full creative control over their properties. In an interview with The Comics Journal, Liefeld told the magazine about the reasons for the split: "Image was born out of a feeling that ... our positions at Marvel were numbered. We had become too big for the system. Marvel didn't want a star system, but with Todd's, Jim's and my books selling millions of copies, that's what we were becoming. ... [T]he truth of the matter was SPIDER-MAN happened because Todd had heat on AMAZING SPIDER-MAN and X-MEN happened because Jim Lee had heat. They were trying to replace us already, and we hasn't even talked about leaving."

August 1992 - Lee's first creator-owned project, WILDCATS #1, was released. It was sold largely on his fan-favourite appeal, and his art reached a new standard, despite the plot being somewhat confusing.

January 1993 - DARKER IMAGE, an anthology title, appeared on stands featuring Lee's soldier of fortune character Deathblow. Lee's art showed a radical departure from his usual style, which appeared to have been largely inspired by Frank Miller's SIN CITY ("It blew me away!" said Lee at the time). Deathblow would soon graduate to his own ongoing title, but Lee would only render the first two issues.

June 1993 - The Image/Valiant crossover event DEATHMATE premiered, but due to the chronic lateness of many Image books, only the issues produced by Valiant reached stores on time. Lee contributed to the Prologue, inking over Barry Windsor-Smith. Lee said at the time, "I don't foresee any delays... there are a lot of people waiting on this project... I don't think people will be disappointed."

October 1993 - DEATHMATE "Black" shipped some four months late. However, Lee, along with Greg Capullo, Marc Silvestri and others, made the book an artistic standout, despite the nonsensical plot. In the course of the story, the teens that would comprise GEN 13 were introduced.

September 1994 - The Image founders exchanged titles and characters as part of the 'Image X' promotion, and Lee pencilled an issue of Erik Larsen's SAVAGE DRAGON (with Larsen returning the favour on WILDCATS). Also, WILDCATS debuted on US network television as an animated series, with an accompanying toy line following some weeks later.

March 1995 - In the wake of a successful miniseries tryout, GEN 13 became an ongoing series, with thirteen variant covers for the first issue. Lee played the role of 'number one fan' to Brandon Choi and J Scott Campbell's work on the characters. Later, in 1995, Lee stepped in for Campbell and pencilled two issues of the series.

February 1996 - Partnered with Rob Liefeld, Lee announced his return to Marvel Comics to work on the 'Heroes Reborn' project. The yearlong endeavour would see Lee mastermind a revival of the FANTASTIC FOUR (which he himself would pencil) and IRON MAN. Industry pundits and fans were appalled and intrigued in equal measure. Lee was adamant that "I don't want to change who these characters are, I just want to update their circumstances."

April/May 1996 - 'Fire From Heaven', Wildstorm Productions' second studio-wide crossover following 'Wildstorm Rising', was rolled out. Despite contributions from Alan Moore (the regular writer of WILDCATS at this point), Warren Ellis (making his Wildstorm debut), and Lee himself (pencilling one of the titular bookend issues), the crossover was poorly received. Following 'Fire From Heaven', Lee briefly returned to WILDCATS.

November 1996 - FANTASTIC FOUR Vol.2 #1 was released, plotted and pencilled by Lee. It was an instant best seller, but was heavily criticised. Lee pencilled the first six issues, leaving the remainder to fellow Wildstorm artist Brett Booth. Halfway through the project, Liefeld was fired - low sales were cited - and Lee inherited CAPTAIN AMERICA and THE AVENGERS from him, overseeing all four titles through the length of the twelve-month contract. Lee later observed that while the sales on the project had been a tremendous success, he had found the politics of the experience "depressing".

September 1997 - Following a WILDCATS/X-MEN crossover project, Lee returned to Wildstorm proper with his new project DIVINE RIGHT: THE ADVENTURES OF MAX FARADAY. Response was positive, although sluggish sales led people to believe that Lee's fan appeal was not what it once had been.

January 1999 - In a controversial move, DC Comics bought the entirety of Lee's Wildstorm imprint, including Homage and Alan Moore's nascent ABC line. Lee claimed the move was intended to insure Wildstorm's future in an unstable market, and complained of frustration at not being either the artist or the businessman he wanted to be.

RECENT DAYS

Wildstorm was re-invigorated following the DC purchase, spearheaded by Warren Ellis' successful releases THE AUTHORITY and PLANETARY, the ABC line, and the re-invented WILDCATS, which had moved from being an X-Men knockoff to what series writer Joe Casey termed 'spandex exploitation.' In contrast, Lee had become the 'invisible man' of comic books, only pencilling sporadic back-up stories, such as a BATMAN: BLACK & WHITE short with Warren Ellis and a WEIRD WAR TALES story with Garth Ennis, as well as occasional covers.

Lee returned to full-length comics by participating in the JUST IMAGINE STAN LEE... project, re-imagining Wonder Woman, then moved on to illustrate a one shot based on the role playing game EVERQUEST. This year, Lee made his triumphant return to monthly comics, working on BATMAN with Jeph Loeb. Anticipation was high, and their first issue was the highest-ordered comic for the month of October, with a second printing on the way. Lee - the so-called 'golden boy' of the comics industry - seems to have regained his Midas touch.

NINTH ART RECOMMENDS

X-MEN: VISIONARIES - JIM LEE (2002): Does what it says on the tin - gives you the best of Lee's work on the mutants, including his early material. X-MEN: MUTANT GENESIS (re-released early this year) is also worth exploring, as Lee is at the peak of his artistic powers in this volume.

FANTASTIC FOUR: HEROES REBORN (2000): Full of what Scott McCloud referred to as 'sensory overload' as well as primo Lee art. The story may be overly familiar, but don't let that put you off - Lee makes it seem like new.

CREATORS ON LEE

"[The Image creators have] a very radical approach to story. They tend not to be so linear. They often open in the middle and end in the middle. Especially the early ones by Liefeld and Lee. The characters were just leaping out of the panel borders every ten seconds ... but the readership was looking for something like that - sensory overload." - Scott McCloud, The Comics Journal, August 1995.

"Whenever I look at Jim Lee, I'm aware of how he's grown [as an artist] ... What you'll find is a distinctive creative progression. You'll find an artist who is still pushing himself. Trying. Growing." - James Robinson, from his introduction to the the Wizard Jim Lee Special, 1996.

Brent Keane is a regular contributor to Ninth Art and PopImage and has also written for Opi8, Sequential Tart and Nerdbait.

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