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Column:
Variant Coverage
"Just the Facts: Mark Bagley"
By Adam White, Matt Rawson
Published: 2006-06-22
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In a time of late artists and “One-Arc Wonders,” one craftsman stands tall as a beacon of longevity and quality:
Mark Bagley. While many current artists are lucky to complete even three concurrent issues of a series (let alone three
books a year), Mark Bagley has completed ninety-five straight issues of Ultimate Spider-Man not only without any
fill-in artists, but has also produced multiple issues per month in many cases.
Bagley also produced a similar run on the
original Thunderbolts series that was equally impressive, not to mention a good read (so you should look into back
issues). Mark Bagley is a smooth-flowing, fast-producing comicbook art machine that is on his way (along with Brian Bendis)
to breaking the Lee/Kirby record for consecutive issues produced in a series (their original run on Fantastic Four).
In honor of this achievement I (along with colleague Matt Rawson) have generated a list of “Mark Bagley
Facts,” an informative list for the true Mark Bagley Connoisseur. Now, I’m not one for latching onto or copying
trends, but I enjoy the rampant “Chuck Norris Facts” all over the Internet and thought that if anyone currently
in the comicbook industry warranted such a list, it is the incomparable workhorse Bagley. Bagley has been consistent, on
time, and produced more work than any other artist that comes to mind, and the following facts are just a few of the interesting things you
may not have known about him.
Consequently, if anyone out there has other great Bagley Facts to share then shoot us an e-mail; the best may just show
up here in a future column (adequately credited to their sources, of course).
THE MARK BAGLEY FACTS
10) Although Brian Bendis is currently writing Ultimate Spider-Man #102, Mark Bagley has already inked through #217.
9) Mark Bagley’s idea of the word “deadline” is the line he is drawing
when his overworked pencil spontaneously combusts.
8) Mark Bagley has to devour an entire cow every day — raw — in order to maintain his speed.
7) In 2003, Mark Bagley completed seven different projects that won’t be assigned to him until 2008.
6) Mark Bagley is the real reason fan-favorite artist Joe Madureira left comicbooks at the height of his fame — after playing Pictionary with
Bagley, Madureira was left in tears, quietly repeating “Never again, never again...”
5) When first breaking into comics, an editor told Mark Bagley to submit “a few” sequential pages for review;
a week later Bagley turned in a narrative retelling of the Encyclopedia Britannica, bound as a hardcover.
4) Mark Bagley once participated in 24 Hour Comicbook Day and finished with enough time to watch all three Extended
Lord of the Rings movies. Twice.
3) Mark Bagley has, to date, actually collaborated with everyone currently in the comicbook industry as well as a few yet
to be discovered — many just don’t know it yet.
2) Mark Bagley once took a year’s vacation — never once lifting a pencil — and no one knew.
1) In the time you take to read this sentence, Mark Bagley will have drawn and inked an entire issue of Ultimate
Spider-Man, eaten lunch, rebuilt his neighbor’s deck, and completed fill-in issues for five separate other
artists so that they can keep on schedule.
—CCdC—
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