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Rob Barker On Steve Gerber
posted November 16, 2008
 

On the passing of Steve Gerber, in my opinion was probably one of the worst writers I had ever read. I lived through those periods of comic history.

While I enjoyed Howard the Duck, it was very chaotic and most times boring.

Gerber's work on Man-Thing which lasted 22 issues was even more boring when matched up with Jim Mooney's art. I looked forward to Omega, the design and concept of the character were very appealing, but having a mute character ultimately killed that book. The covers were the best part of both Man-Thing and Omega the Unknown.

A lot of things were going on during the 70's. Sal Buscema was doing almost every comic fill in and his art was getting very boring and static, same positioning etc. as if from a stencil. It wasn't until he teamed up with Walt Simonson that I began to appreciate him as an artist. He reinvented himself and had a great run on Peter Parker, Spec. Spiderman.

Gerber's stories, re-reading them today and trying to separate from my then, fanboy and young mentality, STILL don't hold up. They are boring paced stories, always combined with lacking artwork. If there were a meeting of comic fans who read from 1970 to about 1995, solid readers mind you, and asked them about all the memorable moments, not once would Steve Gerber's name come up.

Gerry Conway was doing some incredible writing on Spiderman with the Punisher, Jackal and Spider-clone/Gwen clone storyline. The Miller run on Dardevil Claremont's run on X-men. Roy Thomas who wrote better stories in the 60's than he did in the 70's will be remembered for The Invaders and the All-Star Squadron. Marv Wolfman on Tomb of Dracula.

There is no doubt, Gerber belongs in the historical story of Marvel, but it was really an association, not really any creative or valuable input.

Howard the Duck, period is the only contribution and that never really hit stride.

Compare stories from Gerber like his fill in for Marvel Two in One with Doctor Strange. A hobo with a "celestial" harmonica? Dumb. And most if not ALL Gerber's work can be summed up with story lines like that.

I don't hate Gerber. I just never liked his writing. Maybe because he was always paired with an artist that was not dynamic or a good story teller. Is it coincidence then, that he was always paired with a lame artist all the time?

For me he represented all that was bad of the 70's era of comics.