By Ben Morse
Last week in his
MyCup o' Joe column on
MySpace Comic Books, Marvel Editor-In-Chief Joe Quesada announced the latest sextet of burgeoning artistic stars who would be notching their guns as the House of Ideas' latest round of Young Guns in 2009: Daniel Acuña (ETERNALS), Stefano Casselli (AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE), Mike Choi (X-FORCE), Marko Djurdjevic (DAREDEVIL covers), Rafa Sandoval (INCREDIBLE HERCULES) and Khoi Pham (MIGHTY AVENGERS).
Earlier this week, we revisited
the original Young Guns and tracked where their careers have taken them. In 2006, two years after the first class of Young Guns made the scene, Marvel reloaded with six more artists tagged for superstardom. Tomorrow, we'll speak with the latest gunslingers, but first, we check in with the class of 2006 and soak in their spectacular visual achievements.
CLASS OF 2004
SIMONE BIANCHI
Italian sensation Simone Bianchi hits the United States' shores in a major way, earning him a Young Guns appointment in 2006 which led to a six-issue run on WOLVERINE with writer Jeph Loeb the next year released in both color and black and white editions to highlight the artist's ink wash techniques. Bianchi ventured back into the
X-Men Universe in the summer of 2008 to begin a run collaborating with Warren Ellis on ASTONISHING X-MEN.
CLAYTON CRAIN
Coming off the hit GHOST RIDER: ROAD TO DAMNATION limited series with writer Garth Ennis, Clayton Crain rode his newfound Young Guns status into work on SENSATIONAL SPIDER-MAN in 2006 and then another go-around on the
Spirit of Vengeance with GHOST RIDER: TRAIL OF TEARS in 2007. Earlier this year, Crain and his visceral art helped launch the hit X-FORCE series.
PASQUAL FERRY
Upon becoming a Young Gun, Pasqual Ferry wasted no time in leaving his mark on Marvel, beginning a popular run with writer Mike Carey on ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR in mid-2006. Ferry would jump over to another Ultimate property at the end of 2007, taking on the ULTIMATE IRON MAN II limited series written by famed science fiction writer Orson Scott Card. Impressed by Ferry's work, Card supported the choice to make the Spanish sensation the artist on ENDER'S GAME: BATTLE SCHOOL, the long-awaited adaptation of his most famous story, in 2008.
ARIEL OLIVETTI
With over a decade in the comic book industry under his belt prior to becoming a Young Gun, Ariel Olivetti significantly stepped up his already impressive game in helping writer Matt Fraction to launch the PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL series in the fires of Marvel's
Civil War event. Earlier this year, Olivetti began bringing his unique vision of the future to life monthly as the artist on the CABLE ongoing series that spun out of "Messiah CompleX."
BILLY TAN
In 2006, Billy Tan hit two major career milestones: becoming a Young Gun and being named the new artist on one of Marvel's flagship titles, UNCANNY X-MEN. Following his 12-issue X-epic "The Rise and Fall of the
Shi'ar Empire" with acclaimed writer Ed Brubaker, Tan spent the next year providing dynamic cover art for BLACK PANTHER, ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR and more. In 2008, Billy Tan teamed up with writer Brian Michael Bendis to guide NEW AVENGERS through Secret Invasion and has since been named that title's regular artist.
LEINIL FRANCIS YU
Already one of the most popular artists in comics, Leinil Francis Yu only added to his impressive reputation when he added the title of Young Gun to his resume. In 2007, Yu teamed with writer Jeph Loeb and returned to a character he had made his mark on years earlier,
Wolverine, as part of the FALLEN SON: DEATH OF CAPTAIN AMERICA limited series before taking over the best-selling NEW AVENGERS with issue #26. His work with Brian Michael Bendis on Earth's Mightiest Heroes would lead the writer to select Yu to illustrate Marvel's biggest event of 2008, SECRET INVASION.
Join us back tomorrow when we take a look at the 2009 Young Guns!
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