What comic book creators have their doppleganger in the musical world, the person that has the exact same niche and perspective?
Alan Moore = Billy JoelI mean, think about it: SUPREME and 1963 = "An Innocent Man." SUPREME was all about combining a modern aesthetic to classic ideas about the superhero to give them longevity, which is what "An Innocent Man" was all about: doing a nostalgic retro project that was a tribute to Motown and Tinpan Alley. But 1963 was not *exactly* the Marvel heroes, and likewise, no song on "An Innocent Man" was entirely borrowed from the Doowop sound: there were all sorts of twists in the songs that colored them as original, clearly distinct and just as interesting as the songs they were based on. "Christy Lee" was not EXACTLY Jerry Lee Lewis song, but captured his energy and piano sound to create a new sound. Likewise, in the middle of these homages and clear starting points, there is always one character in Moore's works that seems like he's inspired by five or six characters at once: the "hardly human Hypernaut" or "Spacehunter." Likewise, "An Innocent Man" had "Uptown Girl," which was clearly "inspired" by a specific aesthetic...but by several songs.
Alan Zelenetz = JobriathBoth of these are equivalent because at one point both were all but deified as the Next Big Thing, but instead their failures were so colossal that they were
retroactive: nobody remembers them today. At the time, both were horribly overrated and are both now forgotten. There was one article from the early 1980s or thereabouts (I think it was the Gary Groth one), which listed the comics creators that were going to take the medium forward in the next decade. What was interesting was theygave the usual gushing, slobbery praise, but to: Alan Moore, Frank Miller, and...
Alan Zelenetz?
Oh, wait, but it gets better: Alan Zelenetz's most famous work is being "the guy that was on MIGHTY THOR just before Walt Simonson took over."
Jobriath on the other hand, was supposed to be the American David Bowie. Advertisements were everywhere, even in Times Square. The guitarist from Led Zepplin was on his album. Jobriath even had a stage show that involved him - in a King Kong costume, climbing the Empire State Building, only to have him take the costume off to reveal a Marlene Dietrich outfit, and the building below him reveal to be an erupting penis.
Like Alan Zelenetz, Jobriath had an equally embarassing moment: when Morissey tried to find Jobriath to open for him in a tour back in 1996, he discovered that Jobriath had been dead for over 12 years.
Stan Lee/Jack Kirby = The BeatlesLike the Beatles, the Lee-Kirby combination produced something greater than the sum of their parts. None of the Beatles solo careers were as grand as what they produced when they were in divine syzygy.
If Lee and Kirby are the Beatles...does that make Coletta Ringo?
Jack Kirby in the Seventies = The Flaming LipsMy first instinct was to say "Wings," because it's solo work by a guy best known for working in a team. But really, a better match would be the Flaming Lips, because both Kirby in the seventies and the Flaming Lips created a subgenre that pretty much only consists of themselves. You can only compare Kirby in the seventies to other Kirby work, and you can only compare Lips albums to other Lips albums.
Grant Morrison = BlondieBlondie was a pop band that took what it wanted from the punk challenge. Blondie, like Grant, emphasized simple and short 3 1/2 minute songs, with a hip "weird for the sake of weird" gimmickry that comes from punk (e.g. "Rapture"). Grant, whatever else I can say about him, does give you bang for your buck, as did Blondie, who always had 10-12 tracks on their albums (remember, this was when David Bowie's "Station to Station" had only six songs total).
Steve Gerber = The Alan Parsons ProjectAlan Parsons vacillates between whimsical and humorous electronica pieces ("Pie in the Sky" = Howard the Duck), cold, tragic science fiction numbers ("Hyper Gamma Space" = Guardians of the Galaxy), and atmosphere-heavy, Zeplin-esque horror pieces like his concept album dedicated to Edgar Allen Poe, "Tales of Mystery and Imagination" (Man-Thing).
Like Steve Gerber, the APP is a litmus test I take to see if a person is cool or not. "Hey, do you like Steve Gerber?" "Yeah, I'm a big fan of DAREDEVIL AND THE BLACK WIDOW, and DEFENDERS." "Really? We should talk sometime..."
Frank Miller = Flava FlavI mentally cringe when I realize the same genius that in the eighties did such incredible, tough "tell it like it is" work with Public Enemy as "Fear of a Black Planet" is now a Viking hat wearing madman on reality TV dating Red Sonja. I get this exact same squirmy feeling when reading ALL-STAR BATMAN.
The Image Founders = Trevor HornTrevor Horn, originator of "Video Killed the Radio Star" and the "wall of sound" electronica best seen in groups like Frankie Goes to Hollywood, created a type of sound that emphasized production values over any kind of originality or soul.
One music critic in ROLLING STONE argued that "Like a Virgin" was the single most important song of the 1980s because it was simple, only 12 tracks and only a one note overdub, and because of its influence there was a "back to the basics" approach with pop afterward. Likewise, post Image, comics only got good when they went back to basics.
U2 = Kurt BusiekBoth emphasize a return to classic greatness and basics like good old fashoined skill with instruments, and both are an ultra-rare combination: superhumanly great but simultaneously also really, really popular and beloved by nearly everybody.
Does that mean that his AVENGERS is "The Joshua Tree" of comics?
Warren Ellis = The Sex PistolsAs I've never thought much of the Sex Pistols, this is not a flattering comparison. Like Ellis, they are full of very studied, inarticulate antiestablishment sound and fury that signifies nothing. Both use generous amounts of swear words.
"Never Mind the Bollocks" is barely 50 minutes long, and has barely TWO good songs on it. Buying it, you're left unsatisfied - which is a better metaphor for Ellis's movie-style decompressed style as I've ever seen.
Tragically, there is no comics equivalent of The Clash to totally redeem the niche that Ellis occupies.