Frank wrote: I absolutely LOVE this piece! Reminds me of that childhood love I had with comics and my first introduction to Iron Fist and JB.  Iron Fist was a favorite character simply because JB's art seemed to be far and above anyone else's at that time.

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Frank, I have a similar experience to yours.

I distinctly remember that Iron Fist #12 was the first comic that I ever really took notice (or cared) who the artist was. Before that, I had never really bothered to read the credits. But when I saw that issue, my young mind was so blown away by the art, I had to know who drew it. I checked the credits, and I was like "Who is this John Byrne guy?" Then I started noticing that almost every comicbook that I really loved was pencilled by this same fellow: Iron Fist, Marvel Team-Up, X-Men, etc. And from then on I was hooked.

It's also when I first began to realize just how important the art is when it comes to my enjoyment of comics. I personally think it's actually more important than the writing. After all, the artist is as much the storyteller as the writer, and the art is the first thing that a potential reader sees.

This was never more evident to me than after JB left the X-Men. I said to myself, "Well, Claremont is still writing it, so even though the art won't be as pretty, the stories should still be just as good." How wrong I was. I think I lasted two issue after John left. I couldn't believe how important he (the artist) was to the actual storytelling of the book.

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Thanks. I think of it as an example -- one of the last of which I am aware -- of what we used to call "Marvel Serendipity". The kind of stuff that just falls together as if it was actually intended all along.

One of my favorites from this approach was in the battle with Scimitar, where Iron Fist punches him thru a wall, leaps after him, grabs his sash, vaults over him, and lands on the other side. Seeing what I'd drawn, Chris wrote something like "The leap is impossible, but you make it anyway." Without ever having seen a kung fu movie, I was anticipating those impossible kick and leaps that would become a staple of "wire fighting"!

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I should add that Misty Knight has been a favorite of mine since I "met" her, which happened to have been the first time I drew her. I was SO happy I was allowed to get rid of the Emma Peel inspired outfit she had on in that first meeting.

It made me sad to leave IRON FIST mostly because it meant leaving Misty. I've admitted before that Tony Murcheson, in NEXT MEN, was very much Misty's "goddaughter".