Planetary #22 Page 12

Planetary is one of my top five comic series of all-time. There are many reasons for that, but one of those reasons is the late John Cassaday.

That series was my introduction to Cassaday and I was blown away. The nature of the series meant that he had to tackle almost any genre in any given issue, and he did so with aplomb. From Steranko-ish spy-fy to Honk Kong cop movies to the gamut of the Vertigo line, he both captured it and made it his own.

Since deciding to curate a collection of narrative art meaningful to me, I’ve been keeping an eye out for a Planetary page that spoke to me. Many of these had been claimed long ago, and the ones that do become available (and in my budget) didn’t stand on their own that well (nor do they need to, they serve the overall story). I don’t mind a talking heads page, in fact I might even prefer them, but in the era of digital lettering, they have lost some luster. Those, however, are frequently the pages that would feature the members of Planetary the most.

With Cassaday’s tragic passing, far too young, I let go of many of the restrictions I placed upon myself and found this page. It speaks to me, and I believe it spoke to John as well.

Cassaday was one of the early adopters of digital tools in comic art, but in a hybridized form. He was known to work very closely with colorists, like Laura DuPuy Martin, to realize his vision. Sometimes it resulted in pages with blank panels, patched in later, or backgrounds rooted in color. The end result was inarguably impressive. This page, however, he put a lot of it down in ink (and not a stroke that doesn't serve the image). Without color, it feels complete.

He certainly had a facility with (if not passion for) the western genre. Desperadoes and his work on Firefly and, yes, Star Wars bely a love of the genre. More than that, The Lone Ranger (as seen in homage here), was a favorite character and dream project for him. That makes this page special to me as it represents both a series I regard as one of the best in its era (and should be talked about much more) and it represents his career very well indeed. Knowing that it was his work on this issue that got him (and Dynamite) the Lone Ranger gig, it stands out to me that much more (Thanks to Nick Barrucci for the background on that). I think he was really feeling this sequence, if not this issue, more than usual.

It’s also an excellent example of the widescreen storytelling style that he and Bryan Hitch (both in collaboration with Warren Ellis) pioneered and popularized at the turn of the century.

More than that, just as the art feels complete, so too does the story of this page. With only the strokes of John’s pen, you know that this “gentleman” is someone of questionable character at best and a villain at worst, trying to escape a vengeful justice he most surely deserves, but that justice finds him and is done.

Cassaday has left a valued and indelible mark on comic art that will not be forgotten and I’m very pleased to be able to add this piece to my collection.

And he could draw a horse.


John Cassaday
1971-2024
11.5" x 17"
Ink on Bristol (DC stock verso)