Jeph Loeb, that’s a name no one who follows comics will ever forget. He’s a writer who has made some of the most character defining stories. In DC it involves holidays and seasons; Marvel meanwhile sticks close to comic colors. Loeb is also a family man who keeps his kids close to his heart. Unfortunately, that may also be why some of his later work turns out so divisive. Overall, he’s very human in the best and worst ways.
Disclaimer: Jeph Loeb has been accused of racism within Marvel Entertainment’s TV division. Please read on with that in mind.
Jeph Loeb: Drafting The Sensations
Loeb was originally a movie writer who got tutelage from Paul Schrader in college. Some of his earliest work includes the classic Teen Wolf. Some of his early interests however are in comics. At least it’s enough to write up a script for a Flash feature. While Warner Bros has too much going on, DC Comics’ Jenette Khan asks him to write comics.
Starting small, Loeb begins with Challengers of the Unknown where he meets Tim Sale. The series allows the pair test the waters on the kind of stories they wish to create. Ultimately, the chapters they like the most are about exploring what makes comic characters so memorable. All of this begins with Batman.
Batman: The Tragic Cycle
With the Dark Knight’s popularity thanks to series by Frank Miller, Loeb shows Batman’s history of change. I will let Matt Draper handle the introductions:
The above is kind of ironic though. Before the Long Halloween came Halloween issues that show how Batman affects Bruce Wayne. He’s losing hope after spending many sleepless nights in Gotham. Yet it’s the memory of Leslie Thompkins and how she helped Bruce that Batman continues on. Perhaps that is what leads to the Dark Victory.
With the transition from organized crime to supervillains, Loeb demonstrates the cycle from The Long Halloween in full effect; complete with a copycat Holiday Killer known as The Hangman. Batman spirals down into the futility of his actions to save Gotham to the point of pushing people away. When Dick comes in though, there is a small glimmer of hope back in his life. Batman’s new purpose comes from protecting this glimmer from the darkness.
Interestingly, Sale wanted nothing to do with Robin, feeling Dick was out of place. But Batman and Robin are essential to Gotham as much as Sale is towards Loeb. Otherwise Loeb and Batman are all alone in their despair. That leads to the pair doing more stories in DC.
Contrast is Key
One of those stories highlights another one of DC’s major characters, Superman. In contrast to Batman whose battle for Gotham is forever stagnant; Superman is a character who remains static as the world changes around him. However this video explains that’s what makes Clark Kent so special.
That same kind of love is what helps Loeb create more stories featuring Superman including Smallville. Back on the comics however, Loeb spends a great deal of focus on the Superman and Batman mythos. Most if not all of them involve love from friendship, family, and romance. Superman and Batman’s friendship is easily the most obvious. Superman is that ideal Batman strives for while, Batman helps ground Superman. Superman/Batman is that concept at its best. From President Lex Luthor to the forces of Darkseid, nothing can stop the World’s Finest.
Purpose in Contrast
Superman and Batman are powerful forces that inspire others around them. Selina Kyle becomes Catwoman in reaction to Batman; while Kara Zor-El becomes Supergirl in reaction to her cousin. The problem with both of them are the parallels between their inspirations. Selina shares with Batman the struggle of inevitability of ending back to where she started. Supergirl is a character struggling with a world that didn’t want her. If their only purposes are as extensions, what’s the point of all of these stories? Now consider what Loeb is going through near the end of of his Supergirl run.
Jeph Loeb: The Comic Colors of Love
Loeb’s son Sam contracted bone cancer and died at the age of 17. Interestingly enough some of Loeb’s work at Marvel deals with loss sometimes even before his most iconic series. During X-Men’s Age of Apocalypse, Loeb co-creates X-Man (Nate Grey); born with powers that would eventually kill him, this feels like Loeb foreseeing his son’s condition. Then there’s the Marvel Spectrum of Spider-Man, Daredevil, Hulk and eventually Captain America.
The Marvel Spectrum uses the primary comic colors as a theme for individual stories about love and loss. Spider-Man: Blue reexamines some Spider-Man issues that offers a deeper insight into Peter’s relationship with Gwen Stacy.
This state of mourning for someone continues well into the rest of the other series. Daredevil: Yellow and Hulk: Gray look at some heroes’ beginnings and how love shaped them to be better. Daredevil remembers his time with Karen so fondly it almost parallels/overwrites an event that shapes his heroism. For the Hulk, love for Betty Ross blinds him and General Ross to their overall anger and helplessness. Loeb will remember Sam by focusing on the good times, but that doesn’t change the helplessness.
Which might be why Captain America: White takes eight years to fully publish. Even though Loeb knew it was coming, he never came to terms with Sam’s death. Sam admired his dad but Jeph still feels he let his son down. As such the plot likely changed from its original vision.
Mourning Breaks
After Sam died, Loeb wanted to retire from comics until Joe Quesada convinced him to come back. Unfortunately, Loeb had no passions left and most of his work is more pessimistic. That of course is helped in no small part to the atmosphere of Marvel at the time. With Civil War being the biggest sensation in years, Loeb does his part by showing the stages of grief. With Sam’s death still fresh in his mind and Marvel constantly improvising, Loeb barely puts in any effort.
Retroactive Wreckage
At this point, Loeb just uses uninspiring surprises that Marvel uses to exploit sales numbers. From Wolverine’s already confusing origins involving Romulus to a Red Hulk that comes from nowhere. The worst parts come from how there are no satisfying payoffs, just plots that go nowhere. But that’s just icing on the cake for what ends up wrecking Loeb’s reputation.
Ultimate Downfall
Another one of Mark Millar‘s series, The Ultimates has Loeb take the reins. Of course the pessimistic premise of the franchise makes it obvious Loeb just wants to quit. Without the idealism in comics like in DC, Loeb feels stuck. However he’s likely under contract and can’t quit. Ultimate Power is practically the last straw for Loeb; with Greg Land’s lazy artwork, who could blame him? In just about every chapter of The Ultimates 3 and Ultimatum, senseless deaths are everywhere. Sometimes I have to question the decisions of Quesada.
Jeph Loeb: Proving Everyone Wrong
Loeb’s career in TV seems to suit him better than comics do at this point; even if it includes getting kicked out of Heroes for all of the self-pity. In Marvel Entertainment, for all of his service, Loeb becomes head of its TV division. It’s there Loeb becomes the producer for a number of properties including Agents of SHIELD. This includes animation as well such as Ultimate Spider-Man. Despite being an overall improv session, the show introduces something missing from Loeb’s work, optimism.
Sam Alexander has a bad reputation in the Ultimate Spider-Man show for being a “Scrappy”. He also has the fan nickname of NINO (Nova in name only). This is mainly because Richard Rider hardly ever gets his time in the limelight. Getting replaced by a younger, cockier, Nova certainly feels unfair.
NINO No More
Yet the Nova comics make Sam less annoying while dealing with expectations. Unlike the show he’s a regular teenager with worries, hobbies, and crushes. Much like Richard, he’s an everyman that readers young and old relate with. Some of them can even relate to having a seemingly deadbeat dad.
Sam’s father Jesse is based on Loeb’s co-producer in Heroes and likely the one who propels Loeb into this story. Like the real Jesse and Loeb himself, the glory days of Sam’s father are long behind him. Between drunken rants and stories Jesse tells his kids about the Nova Corps, Sam is less than satisfied with his father. Sam however still loves Jesse, helping clean up Jesse’s messes because it’s the right thing to do.
It is that very love that has been missing from Loeb’s work that returns in this series. When Jesse goes missing, Sam takes his father’s mantle in the first of many new adventures. Afterwards Loeb gives Sam over to his successor, finally at peace with his late son.
What About Now, Jeph Loeb?
After so many years, Jeph Loeb may be going on his own course. With Loeb stepping down from Marvel TV, let’s all hope that his next endeavor retains his humanity. For Loeb, love is a powerful force that can enrich or ruin people. Because if all you’re left with are shortcomings and vices, what does that mean for people who follow the example? Donny Cates and Tradd Moore for example do their own take on the Marvel Spectrum with Silver Surfer: Black.
But what do you all believe? Is Jeph Loeb settling down or is he just ready to move onto something else? The ink’s not dry yet. Thanks for coming and as always, remember to look between the panels.