I've been following Guy Davis' work since his BAKER STREET days at Caliber Comics. I loved the way he and Gary Reed mixed my childhood hero Sherlock Holmes with a punk/proto-goth aesthetic to create something new and unique. And boy... was it unique. And very, very cool.After I'd broken into the industry (through the very same Caliber Comics), I found out Guy was doing the SANDMAN MYSTERY THEATRE series at DC's new Vertigo line. Needless to say, I picked up every issue, with the exception of some that Guy didn't draw, which is ironic considering a few years later, I was one of the artists brought in to draw a fill-in story arc.
Somewhere along the way, Guy launched his own book, THE MARQUIS. It's jumped from publisher to publisher (Caliber to ONI to Dark Horse), but I've been following it from day one. Guy's work on any title is worth picking up and pouring over, but his work on THE MARQUIS is just exceptional. Not to mention the writing, which is as good as it gets. Always nice to find an artist who writes as well as he draws. It's becoming a rare combination these days.
As much as I love Guy's work on BPRD and other HELLBOY tie-ins (and boy do I love it), I wish he could just do THE MARQUIS full-time. Every time I hear a rumour about a new mini-series, I get ridiculously excited, even if I know the other work will take precedence over his creator-owned material. Still, it gives me something to look forward to whenever I go into the local comic book shop. You just never know when you'll come across a random MARQUIS one-shot that will totally make your year.
Now I hear there's a new collected edition of all THE MARQUIS material to date coming soon from Dark Horse. Can't wait. Even if I already have everything in the collection, my old editions are looking pretty threadbare by now. Whenever I run into a storytelling problem, or need a little inspiration, my old copies of THE MARQUIS are one of the places I always turn to for solutions.
On a personal note, I came very, very close to writing a book for Guy to draw at one of the 'Big Two'. Unfortunately, we lost our editor and the project fell apart. It's been almost 9 years since then, and I'm STILL in mourning. And yet, it's probably for the best... it would have been yet another project that kept Guy from working on THE MARQUIS.
5 comments:
I bought a few months ago the Baker Street Story collected book by Guy Davis, and read a dozen of pages... Well, tried to read, actually, because my english seems not to be good enough to really appreciate that comic book. But your article makes me want to persevere...
It's worth the read, Thomas. But I think you might have an easier time with THE MARQUIS. It's a smoother read, not to mention all the cool monsters. You're gonna' like the monsters.
--MDS
The Marquis has already been published in France. Much easier to understand, for me !
Well, I should think that would be a much easier read for you. Did HUMANOIDS put that out? I seem to remember seeing a cover for a HUMANOIDS edition online somewhere.
I'd recommend giving Baker Street another try. If you're reading the original Caliber trade paperbacks, the first volume is a little hard to follow in spots, but the second gets a little easier.
Of course, you could just skip the words and look at all the pretty pictures. Even at the beginning of his career, Guy could draw circles around the rest of us.
--MDS
Yes, the Humanoïds published it. I don't know if all the material has been published in france.
For the Baker Street, I have the collected book, published by ibooks.
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