A bomb sort of dropped on Tuesday when artist Mahmud Asrar announced that he was off Supergirl. He discusses it over on his blog here: http://mahmudasrar.com/post/55608652850/a-farewell
And he discusses the decision over there. It is well worth reading.
Supergirl #20 was his last issue even though he has several more covers in the chute. I have had my issues with the New 52 Supergirl, from the decompressed early issues to the 'disaffected' publicity.
But if there was one thing that I never had a problem with it was Mahmud Asrar's artwork on the title. It was slick, stylish, and fantastic. His style seemed so well suited for Supergirl. He drew her like a teenage girl. He had a tremendous ability for facial expressions to add emotion to a script. And he was able to show joy in her despite the book being darker than expected. Even the commission above, used in his farewell post, shows that.
He doesn't come right out and say exactly why he left the book but for his career and life he needed to move away from the book. Everything I have read by Asrar, he loved being on the book. I can remember a Twitter thread when he wanted to know who had drawn Supergirl the longest, as if he was wondering he could reach that plateau.
And on Twitter, Asrar felt he needed to say in very measured words that it was not his health that made him leave. It was something else.
I may be placing my own conspiracy theories on this tweet, but it sounds like he had some issues with DC Comics and wanted to take the high road.
I say this because we know it isn't comics that he is walking away from. Heck CBR just announced that Asrar is drawing the Indestructible Hulk Annual, coming out soon here.
It has to be something specific to DC.
I suppose I shouldn't be surprised.
I don't want to lose sight of the reason for this post. I come not to bury Asrar but to praise him. He will always hold a place of importance for Supergirl and her fans. He was a shining new star for DC Comics who is moving across the aisle to the competition.
I will miss his tremendous art on this book. I can only hope that at some point in the future we see more Supergirl by him.
9 comments:
I certainly have a straightforward reading of his post, Anj - that health kept him off Supergirl and the new offer has tempted him away. No subtext. Sometimes we just fancy a change, and you must have seen people after a health scare conclude they should grab new opportunities.
I'd like to thank Mahmud for the fine work, wish him the best for the future and agree that yes, I'll see him in the funny papers.
You are probably right Mart.
I unfortunately read all news about DC with a jaundiced eye these days because of the torrent of bizarre and bad news that has sprung from them this past year.
I am a fan of Asrar and will look for his work as well.
I'm now highly tempted to follow his Marvel work. It's such a shame that he's no longer doing Supergirl.
I hope that as Mart says there is no subtext.
I enjoyed his art while not my favorite it was unique and interesting. Sad to see the state of DC atm, seems a lot of talent is jumping ship over the last 3 months.
This is the first I'm hearing of this, but I'm not surprised. When he started drawing the X-Men book at Marvel, I figured he wasn't too long for DC, regardless of the reason.
While I'm sorry to see him leave Supergirl, I can't wait to see his work on the Indestructible Hulk annual. The Hulk is one of my all-time favorite characters.
He's also moving onto the INDESTRUCTIBLE HULK ongoing series after the annual.
I wonder if he knows something we do not...
JF
Thanks for all the comments. Don't know if I like the Hulk enough to follow him there. But will definitely follow his career.
Bummed.
JF I was wondering that too.
The next month or two and seeing the sales stats from Diamond will show if Nelson is really upping the sales on it or not.
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