ARTISTS WE LOVE: JOE QUESADA

Luis explains how the kid from Queens guided Marvel to new heights

One of the most important names in comics this century is this month’s artist we love: Joe Quesada. Quesada grew up in Jackson Heights, the son of Cuban-born parents. He became a fan of Spider-Man, another boy from Queens, at an early age. His love of comics would lead him to study illustration at the School of Visual Arts, but he was reintroduced to the medium with Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns when he was 25.

Quesada was hired to do spot work by DC in 1990, but his career really took off two years later when he started working for Valiant Comics. While at Valiant, we would start to see the development of Quesada’s signature style—a mix of the line work of Alex Toth, the thicker line and character design of Mike Mignola, and the break neck action pacing of Frank Miller. With his work on Ninjak and Solar proving to be a hit, he parlayed that into new work for DC creating the one-time Bat replacement Azrael. Quesada used his ever-growing profile to form his own comics company, Event Comics, with his inking partner Jimmy Palmiotti. Together they launched Ash. His experience running Event Comics would get him ready for his next job which would turn him into one of the most powerful men in all of comics.

Daredevil

Marvel Comics

In 1998, with Marvel in the throes of bankruptcy, Marvel hired Quesada to create his own line of books. With Marvel Knights, Quesada was handed the reigns to some of Marvel’s struggling characters: Punisher, Inhumans, Black Panther, and Daredevil. He would go on to pencil Daredevil with scripts penned by famed director Kevin Smith. Quesada didn’t stop there. He then recruited A+ talent to the other titles (David Mack, Reginal Hudlin, Mark Texiera, Garth Ennis, Steve Dillon, Brian Michael Bendis, and Michael Avon Oeming), made sure the printing and coloring were top-notch, and gave Marvel the shot in the arm it needed.

In 2000, Marvel promoted Quesada to editor-in-chief of the entire company. Under his watch multiple successful imprints were launched including the ridiculously successful Ultimate Marvel, which elevated the company to unprecedented heights. With the launch of the MCU and the multi-billion dollar acquisition by Disney, Marvel has continued to dominate the landscape. Joe Quesada is a huge part of that. He was promoted to chief creative officer in 2011 and then executive vice president and creative director at Marvel Entertainment in 2019. Quesada will oversee adaptations of Marvel properties to ensure that all portrayals of characters and stories remain true to the essence of Marvel history.

Sword of Azrael

DC Comics

Ninjak

Valiant Comics

Ash

Event Comics