While we're on the subject of how Keith Giffen destroys series, I decided to go looking for another letter column that I remembered once being especially critical of Keith Giffen's art. From 1986's Hex #18 (the final issue):

While most editors wouldn't print so much negative press in their letter columns, maybe because Hex was being canceled, or maybe because he had received a 3-to-1 ration of anti-Giffen letters, writer/editor Michael Fleisher filled the series final letter column with responses to Giffen's art. Nearly a quarter of a century later, and it doesn't seem that the reading public's opinion has much changed.

Have a happy Labor Day/Dragon*Con Weekend, everybody!

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For those of you who may want more information on Keith Giffen's plans after leaving Justice League: Generation Lost, Newsarama's got it here. I'm kind of surprised that he'd rather leave the JLI than Booster Gold, but he makes it very clear that he's having a lot of fun working with DeMatteis again. To those of you who are having a problem with the amount of silliness month to month in Booster Gold, beware that it won't be ending anytime soon. To those of you who are enjoying it, congratulations.

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Last week, in the Newsarama.com article appropriately titled "Judd Winick Goes Solo on Justice League: Generation Lost," Vaneta Rogers confirmed that Keith Giffen is leaving Generation Lost beginning in issue #8. I can't speak for anyone but myself, but I've been a big fan of Giffen's breakdowns. They provide an experienced and even-handed tempo for the sequential art that proves invaluable, especially for ensemble artist series such as JL:GL. I expect that from this point forward, the series art is likely to become even more erratic from issue to issue. Hopefully, this will not unduly affect the story-telling in a title that is already looking a little too rushed.

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The interviews don't end! Russ Burlingame returns with another "Gold Exchange" column, interviewing J.M. DeMatteis about Booster Gold #34. Many of you will be pleased to hear that DeMatteis confirms that Keith Giffen's art was included primarily to ease deadlines for regular series artist Chris Batista and will not become a mainstay for future issues. But don't take my word for it. Go read the the latest "Gold Exchange" yourself at newsarama.com.

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Yesterday, TGB posted his strong dislike for the art in Booster Gold #34 on his blog, The Greatest Blog Youve Never Heard Of. His opinion is reflective of that posted earlier on the livejournal blog of erin_starlight, erin-starlight.

All of this outcry has to raise the question: how strong a role does art style play in the success of Booster Gold? Traditionally all super hero comics have been presented in naturalistic detail, and Booster Gold is no exception. Is Giffen's use of caricature such a dramatic departure from the norm as to be offensive to his audience? Or is it just too hard to maintain suspension of disbelief for a costumed melodrama when the adventures are rendered in a cartoonish style? Art appreciation is almost entirely subjective to the viewer, and I suspect that the discord that Giffen has struck in his audience has more to do with expectations than anything else.

These harsh criticisms put me in mind of much, much worse comic book art from the DC Brazilian Explosion of the mid 1990s. (Andrew Prenger just reviewed Extreme Justice on his blogspot blog, Booster Gold Fan Club. That, ladies and gentlemen, was bad art.) But maybe it was a style that was more palatable for its genre than what is found in Booster Gold #34.

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