Comic Book Spotlight: Jeph Loeb

I listened to LEOG X yesterday and yet again another great episode but there was alot of Jeph Loeb bashing which I do not agree on.

So I decided to make my first Comic Book Spotlight on Jeph Loeb. This will be a weekly blog that I will put on my page and my review group.

First, let me tell you who Jeph Loeb is. This is brought to you by the good people of Wikipedia.

Joseph "Jeph" Loeb III is an Emmy and WGA nominated American film and television writer, producer and award-winning comic book writer. Loeb is a Co-Executive Producer on the NBC hit show Heroes, and was formerly a producer/writer on the TV series Smallville and Lost.

A four-time Eisner Award winner and five-time Wizard Fan Awards winner, Loeb's comic book career includes work on many major characters, including Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, Hulk, Captain America, Cable, Iron Man, Daredevil, Supergirl, the Avengers, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, much of which he has produced in collaboration with artist Tim Sale, who provides the comic art seen on Heroes.

Television and Movies

Loeb's first worked on the scripts to Teen Wolf and Commando. Both of these movies were financial successes and were well received by film critics. Loeb’s next two credited works were Burglar, one of the worst comedies I have ever seen and Teen Wolf Too, which is one of the worst sequels have ever seen.

Also Loeb was working on a Flash script but his script was never picked because Warner Brothers didn’t want to take a chance with an “unknown” hero.

Loeb later became a writer/producer on the ABC TV series Lost during that show's second season. Leaving Lost, Loeb went on to become Co-Executive Producer and writer on the NBC drama Heroes, which his colleague Tim Kring had created. Loeb wrote the teleplay for the first-season episodes "One Giant Leap" and "Unexpected". The show prominently features the artwork of Tim Sale, Loeb's longtime artistic collaborator from his comics work.
The series was nominated for the 2007 Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, and a Writers Guild of America award for Best New Series. It won The People's Choice Award for Favorite New TV Drama, as well the Saturn Award for Best Network Television Series. It was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Dramatic Television Series.
Loeb and Tim Kring were presented with the Jules Verne Award for Artistic Achievement at the Jules Verne Festival in Paris, France on April 22, 2007 for their work on Heroes. Loeb himself was also presented with a belated 2005 Jules Verne Award for Best Writing for his work on Smallville, which he had not previously been given because his trip to the Festival that year had been cancelled due to his son's health

Comics

Loeb first worked on Challengers of the Unknown which is a 8 issue mini-series that DC published.

Loeb then went on to write Batman: The Long Halloween, Batman: Dark Victory and Superman For All Seasons. All three of these books were critical successes. The Long Halloween is one of my favorite Two-Face/Batman storys and is in my top 20 Batman stories and the same goes for Dark Victory. Loeb also wrote some issues of Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight.

In 2003, Loeb and Jim Lee teamed up to write Batman: Hush which is in my top 10 favorite Batman stories. This story arc is the highest selling DC comic in 10 years and there’s a good reason for it. Most of Batman villains are in this they all fight him, Hush is introduce and this is one of the only stories that show what the Riddler should be.

In 2004, Loeb wrote the first 25 issues of Superman/Batman which are the only good issues of that series in my opinion then he wrote the first SuperGirl arc.

Loeb then wrote the best Wolverine story I have ever read Wolverine: Evolution which showcases Wolverine and Sabretooth’s relationship and how people view it. It also starts the next two years of Wolverine storys.

Loeb then wrote Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America, which shows how Wolverine, DareDevil, Spider-Man, Hawkeye, Iron Man, and the rest of the Avengers feel about the death of Captain America.

Loeb is now writing two series for Marvel one is Hulk, which follows the new Red Hulk or Rulk and The Ultimates 3 which follows the Ultimate Universes “Avengers”. His Hulk series isn’t great but it is interesting and has great art in it while Ultimates 3 is a piece of shit and might be the worst Ultimate Universe book yet.

Loeb just started Captain America: White, which continues his color series. Only one issue has come out and it was amazing.


So, Jeph Loeb isn't anywhere close to a hack and I think I showed it here in this very long blog.

Recommeded Reading
9-11: September 11, 2001.
Batman: Hush
Batman: Dark Victory
Batman: The Long Halloween
Batman/Spirit
DareDevil: Yellow
Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America
Hulk: Grey
Spider-Man: Blue
Stan Lee Meets Doctor Doom
Superman For All Seasons
Superman: Emporer Joker
Superman/Batman #1 - 15
Wolverine: Evolution