The Four Color Media Monitor

The Chesnut Hill Local spoke with artist Ben Harvey, another artist who may do more work with covers than anything else, and he's one of those kind of sugarcoaters who won't admit he's working on an overrated crossover that does no favors for the previous stories of the past:

Ben Harvey was busy when Marvel reached out to him to create covers for the “One World Under Doom” comic books a little over a year ago. Working on multiple other projects at the time, the illustrator politely declined the opportunity. However, when Marvel insisted they could work around his schedule, Harvey relented. He is glad he did.

“I had no idea what I was getting into,” Harvey told the Local about the project. “It wound up being this huge event,” a multi-issue storyline with large ramifications for the comic book’s universe.

According to Harvey, “One World Under Doom” has gone to its third printing, an accomplishment that indicates just how popular the comic books are. With issue No. 9 — the final one in the 2025 event — releasing on Nov. 19, Harvey will be celebrating the release at Multiverse (8026 Germantown Ave.) in Chestnut Hill on Nov. 22 from 1-3 p.m. He will be signing comics, and the first 30 attendees to purchase the “One World Under Doom” comic also will receive a free Ben Harvey print.

Forget it, these crossover events have become so insulting, it would be meaningless to own a print that pretentious. Again, sales figures aren't given here, so one must reasonably wonder if the company's wasting money trying to make it look like everything's dandy. We're supposed to waste money on this shoddy item built on the concept of crossovers, which eventually ruined mainstream superhero comics? That kind of stuff has also made it nigh impossible to develop stand-alone stories that could be built on character drama, but apparently, none of that matters to an artist who's clearly only in the business for drawing coverscans.

In addition to Marvel, Harvey has worked with multiple prestigious publishing houses such as DC Comics, Dynamite Entertainment, and Valiant Entertainment. Outside of the world of comic books, he also has provided illustrations for Wizards of the Coast’s Magic the Gathering x Marvel crossover and partnered with Epic Games to produce loading screens for the popular video game Fortnite.

Harvey said these high points of his career so far have typically been unanticipated.

“I guess you could say I’m just happy to be here,” Harvey said. “I never realized going into this [industry] I would be able to reach such successes with my work.”

With “One World Under Doom,” the work has not just ended in success, but also provided Harvey with “solid job training.”

“Throughout this whole ride with Marvel, as you do more and more of these covers for them, it’s a learning process,” Harvey said. “Looking at that first cover, issue No. 1 all the way out to No. 9, I feel like I’ve grown a foot between all that.”

And once more, what are the sales figures for this shoddy crossover that had its share of political metaphors? Harvey's just as dismaying as various other artists who've sugarcoated these overrated events intended only for short-term headlines, and what's to learn from participating in a story with tasteless political motivations? That's hardly "solid" training, and if he's going to keep propping up the company despite all the bad directions they sunk into, that's one of the ways things have gone wrong with modern comicdom. No doubt, Harvey also takes a naive, fluff-coated view of DC and Valiant/Dynamite, even though they too have their share of ill-advised directions they won't take responsibility for. I've seen some of his art, which appears to be more of the computerized variety, though what's really sad is how he wastes his talents on unproductive crossovers like One World Under Doom. Something which'll only be forgotten by next year, and will have accomplished nothing lasting, contrary to what Harvey wants everyone to think.

Labels: bad editors, crossoverloading, dc comics, Fantastic Four, golden calf of villainy, indie publishers, marvel comics, msm propaganda, technology