Through most of the 1990s, I worked for comics legend Jim Lee–then, as now, one of the most popular and creative artists in the business–at what was alternately called Homage Studios, Aegis Entertainment, and WildStorm Productions. I was initially brought in to write the backs of some trading cards featuring Jim’s series WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams. That extended into writing sourcebooks, then correspondence, and eventually comics, as well as becoming the company’s VP of marketing. As part of Image Comics, Jim and WildStorm led the way in advances both creative and technological. He developed a studio system that brought in talented young artists whose skills he helped hone. Eventually, industry leader DC Comics bought the company and Jim’s been there ever since, leading it to ever greater creative heights.
But before that, in 1995, he recognized that the company was overly dependent on superhero books and wanted to branch out. He formed Homage Comics, a line of creator-owned books that would only publish one superhero title–the brilliant, multiple award-winning Kurt Busiek’s Astro City, written by Kurt, with interior art by Brent Anderson and covers by Alex Ross. Also at the Homage Comics launch was Leave it to Chance, a wonderful series by James Robinson and Paul Smith. I had met writer/artist Terry Moore somewhere along the way, and Jim asked me to reach out to him about bringing his wonderful Strangers in Paradise series to Homage Comics. He agreed, and in 1996, a prestigious new line was born.
Jim wanted to explore other genres in the Homage Comics line. One day he came to me and said, “You like westerns, don’t you?” I did (and do still). He asked me to pitch him a western title. I wrote up a short pitch of a series called Desperadoes. In the summary, one line hinted at a supernatural twist. Jim seized on that and told me to develop it further, and the weird-western series Desperadoes was born.
Or at least, conceived. It couldn’t be birthed until I found the right artist for it. During my search, I had a fateful breakfast with one of my all-time favorite comics writers, Mark Waid, and I told him of my plight. He had, as it turned out, just met a young artist named John Cassaday who had shown him some terrific pages he’d drawn.
I took copies of the pages back to the studio in California and showed them to Jim, who agreed that John could do the job. Our then editor-in-chief Jonathan Peterson called John and offered him the gig, and to my delight, John accepted. Soon I had some character sketches–the first images ever drawn of the folks who were by then living in my head–and they were brilliant.
We had our artist.
John had grown up on a Texas farm. He knew horses and cattle and the wide-open landscapes of the American west. He also knew dynamic comics storytelling, and he brought it all to the beautiful pages he delivered.
Homage Comics was, at the time, a very high-profile comics line. That meant Desperadoes launched with a bang–so much so that the first printing sold out immediately, and we had to rush a second printing, with a new cover that John crafted pretty much overnight.
I can’t overemphasize how much the series did for my career as a writer. It brought me serious attention. It was reviewed everywhere, and I was invited to sign comics in places I never thought I’d see. At the time, there were no western comics from mainstream publishers–DC Comics had folded their Jonah Hex series a while earlier, and that had been the last one. So a new western, with horror elements and fantastic artwork, made a big splash. After John’s run I worked with a variety of other artists on the series, including the truly legendary John Severin, who’d been drawing comics since the 1940s. The series was honored by True West Magazine as the best western comic of 2007, and appeared in a museum exhibition focused on the American west in pop culture.
John, of course, moved on to even more high-profile gigs. I had shown an early photocopy of Desperadoes #1 to comics writer Warren Ellis, who gave me a very nice blurb for the series. After our Desperadoes run, Warren snagged John for his WildStorm series Planetary, which made John a superstar. John redesigned Captain America for Marvel Comics–a look that made it to the silver screen. He teamed with Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon on Astonishing X-Men for Marvel, which was hugely successful.
As an aside, I worked on Joss’s properties for years, writing Buffy and Angel novels and comics. At one San Diego Comic-Con, I ran into Joss. As we chatted, he asked what was going on in the DC booth, which was packed with fans. I told him that John Cassaday, my partner on Desperadoes, was signing. Joss said, “I love Desperadoes!” I said, “Do you want to meet John?” Joss said, “Naaah.”
So Joss and John didn’t meet that time, but they did later, and got along brilliantly, with Joss even inviting John to direct an episode of his TV series Dollhouse.
I was told a few days before John’s death that he was in bad shape and was unlikely to pull through, so when the news hit last night it wasn’t the shock it was to most people. But it was still a hammer blow to the heart. John was young, handsome, supremely talented, with unlimited potential. I always considered him a friend, though it’s been 5 or 6 years since I’ve seen him (at a comics convention in Glendale, AZ).
In an afterword John wrote for A Moment’s Sunlight, the trade paperback collection of our Desperadoes run together, John said, “I began looking to my past for what I wanted to visually portray in the work. Jeff Mariotte’s superb script offered me a chance I didn’t even realize I was looking for. A shot at going back. The colorful world of Desperadoes included a vast spectrum of characters, endless horizons, dark, moody shacks and all the pastel smoke, dust and blood you’d ever want to choke on. It’s been one grand ride. I have to thank Jim Lee, Jonathan Peterson, and of course, that fast-talker himself, Jeff Mariotte. Aside from putting together one hell of a story, he’s been incredibly helpful with the research on my end and a good friend. These guys didn’t just offer me a job, they gave me a gift.”
John, you gave me a gift, too, one I can never repay. I hope you know that. I hope you’re at peace, my friend. My partner.
(Note: the most recent appearance of the Desperadoes was in a short story in my collection Byrd’s Luck & Other Western Stories, from Silverado Press. Will there be more Desperadoes in the future? Stay tuned.)
#Tags: comic books, horror, Westerns, writing
