In 1990 Lee Weeks had recently finished at the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art (now just “The Kubert School”) and was regularly drawing Daredevil for Marvel. Before that job started, fellow alum Andy Kubert had helped get him a cover job on G.I. Joe, and in the middle of that 10-issue cover run, Weeks drew a fill-in issue as regular artist Mark Bright’s time on the series was winding down. Below is the original art to page 3 of issue 107 by Weeks and inker Randy Emberlin. Click to enlarge.
Bright and Weeks draw more similarly than dissimilarly, but part of what kept the fill-in stylistically in Bright’s ballpark was what went over the pencil art. Randy Emberlin had inked Bright’s issues, and did this fill-in as well. Weeks only drew this one issue, and he told me in 2005 that “In fact, I had to take an issue off from Daredevil after only my first two issues so I could fulfill my obligation to the Joe office,” so Weeks’ interior contribution was not supposed to be the start of a longer run. (Emberlin stayed on G.I. Joe for another year and a half until swinging over to Amazing Spider-Man.) Here’s a detail, click to enlarge:
Weeks is a mega talent, and one of my favorite artists. Click to enlarge.
He’s come a long way since 1990, and may have been working out some kinks in this single issue filled with unfamiliar characters. Which is to say I love this page, but it’s not my favorite from the issue, and Weeks’ work only gets better from here. His dramatic sense of lighting, strong anatomy, and fluid acting make him a real force in comics. He’s also a great writer, too. Go buy the recent Daredevil: Dark Knights issues 1, 2, and 3 and you will not be disappointed. It’s tight as a drum, a quintessential Daredevil story, beautifully drawn and with a big emotional current. (Hey, Marvel, howabout a big hardcover of that, DD #380, “Gentlemen’s Agreement,” and “Spider-Man: Death and Destiny?”)
Weeks is also a gentleman. Say hello if you meet him at a convention.
I’m a huge Lee Weeks fan as well. His covers for G.I. Joe during this period are dynamic yet moody, probably my favorites next to Mike Zeck’s.
Lee’s Daredevil run is equally outstanding and highly recommended. Great to hear that he is a nice guy to boot.
I was a monster Daredevil fan back in those days and was absolutely thrilled to see him in the pages of G.I. Joe… even though I loved Bright’s work, I wished I could have seen more of Weeks as well.
As I recall from my interview with Weeks, he had already committed to drawing that fill-in on “Joe,” meaning that when he started drawing “Daredevil” he knew he would have to miss his second or third issue.