<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><FONT SIZE=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0">Everyone:<BR>
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I asked Sigvald why he appears to believe that the knowledge that other writers were responsible for Paul Murry's comic book stories SOMEHOW DIMINISHED Mr. Murry's art. He responded: <BR>
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"No, but it tell me that Murry was not as inventive as I have been lead to<BR>
believe. Earlier Murry has been given the credits for inventing characters<BR>
like Dangerous Dan McBoo and Idgit the Midgit. It now seems that he just<BR>
presented other persons ideas???"<BR>
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And exactly what is so wrong with that, Sigvald? Outside of Disney comics, it is almost always the norm. Is the great artist/painter Alex Ross any less so because his best known work for Marvel and DC was written by Kurt Busiek, Mark Waid, and Paul Dini? <BR>
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I have never had a higher regard for artist Jim Lee than I do on his current run on BATMAN. Is he lessened by the fact that BATMAN's scripts are prepared for him by the equally brilliant writer, Jeph Loeb? <BR>
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Then again, Erik Larsen is always enjoyable as the sole writer/artist of SAVAGE DRAGON. But, would that rank him higher than Alex Ross and Jim Lee. I doubt even Larsen, himself, would presume that. <BR>
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Writer/Artists like Barks, Rosa, Van Horn, and sometimes Gottfredson are the exception to the way most comic book material -- be it "funny animal" OR super hero -- is created. Oh, and does Van Horn fluctuate, depending on whether John Lustig has written the story for him? Not in MY book! <BR>
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Also, thanks to Klaus Spillmann's early efforts, I've known for about 20 years that Murry did not write his stories, or create his characters. Yes, I was disappointed to learn that -- but only because most of the Murry stories I knew and loved had SUCH A CONSISTENCY TO THEM (...unlike the Strobl DONALD DUCKS, that seemed to vary more, according to noticeably different writing styles) that I was certain that they were the product of one man (I thought Murry, himself). BUT, my enthusiasm and love for his art remains undiminished to this day. <BR>
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So, if there's any "reevaluation" to be done, Sigvald, I'd say it should be of the sources of your information, rather than the very talented Mr. Murry. <BR>
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Joe Torcivia. <BR>
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