What's your go to Jim Lee key? 5 5

[500Club]

Go with Batman 609.  It’s most likely that Tommy Elliot/Hush becomes a key Batman villain over time.

That said, Lee, as purely an artist, as opposed to a writer/artist, has been at the mercy of the creative whims of the writers he’s worked with, in terms of establishing a key book/character/first app over his career. 

[Broke as a Joke]

Uncanny X-men 256 the reinvention of Psylocke.  

[kav]

3 hours ago, comicginger1789 said:

I associate Jim Lee with 90s art that never really does much for me. Put his stuff next to everything from that era on and it isn’t that distinguishable. I like art that stands out for reasons like detail, variety of shots, background detail and the ability to tell a story beyond the text. Maybe I’m wrong but Lees artwork just doesn’t do that for me. He can draw a decent cover but beyond that Im not a fan.

You took the words right outta my mouth.  Pls put them back.

[William-James88]

Just wanted to write in since I remembered 2 other Jim Lee keys.

Infinite crisis 5 when Jaime becomes the new blue beetle (he first appears in issue 3, also a jim lee cover)

 

 

And then there's The Casting 1 with the first appearance of the Dark Knights.

Edited September 18, 2020 by William-James88

[Sweet Lou 14]

On 8/29/2020 at 10:48 PM, ADAMANTIUM said:

X-men 266 is an early one

He is one of the creators of Gambit 

+1 to this.  First thing I thought of.

While the books in question have very little value, in part due to enormous supply, I still think his extended cover of X-Men #1 (spanning four variants plus a fifth that brings them all together in a gatefold cover) remains one of his most memorable.

[Prince Namor]

On 8/30/2020 at 10:50 PM, William-James88 said:

Isn't that how all of Jim Lee's books are? Like the ones we are discussing. Does he have an actual key then? That first appearance of Gambit is definitely a key, but I wouldn't attribute it to him over Kubert since he isn't the artist on it.

It's interesting, as you say, especially since his other two contemporaries of the day - McFarlane and Liefeld both have very notable key books as a part of their history. 

And it's weird in that because Lee is probably still one of the most popular artists of his generation - and one of only two who could take over a book at Marvel or DC right now and we'd see the sales of it immediately go through the roof.

[Jesse-Lee]

I'm a big fan of his Wolverine 27 cover:

 

[revat]

I like the Legion of Superheroes 1 variant from 2010? there's a regular and sketch cover for Saturn Girl.

And Justice League 4 New 52.  Best Aquaman cover in history (different color backgrounds for 2nd print and combo pack, same cover).

[bpc3qh]

On 8/30/2020 at 10:36 PM, Lazyboy said:

What he doesn't have is a first appearance of a character like Venom or Deadpool. Even if he created the character, he didn't work on Gambit's first brief or first full appearance.

Not sure I agree about that--as mentioned, he has Hush, who I view as a significant Batman villain.

[revat]

58 minutes ago, bpc3qh said:

On ‎8‎/‎30‎/‎2020 at 8:36 PM, Lazyboy said:

What he doesn't have is a first appearance of a character like Venom or Deadpool. Even if he created the character, he didn't work on Gambit's first brief or first full appearance.

Not sure I agree about that--as mentioned, he has Hush, who I view as a significant Batman villain.

Unfortunately, no iconic Hush cover at the time, and literally no crossover fanbase into the mainstream for hush.  For spiderman, if you ask a random person for spiderman enemies, Venom probably comes in the top 3 (not favorites), just known (even before the movie).  Does Hush even show up in the top ten for Batman?  Does anyone know what his weapons are?  What his costume is?  I would argue less than 50% of CGC board members can name the comic 1st appearance of Hush, which is worth like what $125 in CGC 9.8?

Note:  I loved the original Hush storyline, and I love Jim Lee art.  But yah, Hush and Omega Red AT THIS TIME aren't cutting it as awesome signature creations at this time.

[William-James88]

1 hour ago, bpc3qh said:

Not sure I agree about that--as mentioned, he has Hush, who I view as a significant Batman villain.

By next year Deadpool and Venom will both have 2 high profile films where they are the main character. Meanwhile Hush didn't even appear in the Lego Batman movie meaning Condiment King has more time on the big screen than Hush at the moment.

Edited September 18, 2020 by William-James88

[Lazyboy]

1 hour ago, bpc3qh said:

Not sure I agree about that--as mentioned, he has Hush, who I view as a significant Batman villain.

Well, Hush is okay, but he's not even close to being a Venom or Deadpool.

[Sweet Lou 14]

1 hour ago, revat said:

Unfortunately, no iconic Hush cover at the time, and literally no crossover fanbase into the mainstream for hush.  For spiderman, if you ask a random person for spiderman enemies, Venom probably comes in the top 3 (not favorites), just known (even before the movie).  Does Hush even show up in the top ten for Batman?  Does anyone know what his weapons are?  What his costume is?  I would argue less than 50% of CGC board members can name the comic 1st appearance of Hush, which is worth like what $125 in CGC 9.8?

Note:  I loved the original Hush storyline, and I love Jim Lee art.  But yah, Hush and Omega Red AT THIS TIME aren't cutting it as awesome signature creations at this time.

As a Marvel collector who doesn't read DC, I'm a good test case for this.  I have never heard of Hush, I have no idea at all what he/she even looks like.  But I can probably name 20 other Batman villains.

EDIT:  I lied.  I was able to name 16.

Here's the official Ignorant Marvel Guy's List of Batman Villains:

1. Joker
2. Penguin
3. Catwoman
4. Riddler
5. Two-Face
6. Mr. Freeze
7. Poison Ivy
8. Bane
9. Ra's Al Ghul
10. Scarecrow
11. Harley Quinn
12. Clayface
13. Man-Bat
14. Killer Croc
15. Mr. Zsasz
16. Ra's Al Ghul's daughter (Talia?)

Do I get bonus points for Thug 1 and Thug 2?  

SECOND EDIT:  When I Googled for a list of Batman villains to see who I might have forgotten, I didn't recognize any of the names not on this list.  Never heard of Firefly or Catman.  And I found out there's some dude named Deathstroke whose "real" name is ... Slade Wilson?  Whaaa?  Who came first, him or Wade Wilson a.k.a. Deadpool?

 

Edited September 18, 2020 by Sweet Lou 14

[William-James88]

22 minutes ago, Sweet Lou 14 said:

As a Marvel collector who doesn't read DC, I'm a good test case for this.  I have never heard of Hush, I have no idea at all what he/she even looks like.  But I can probably name 20 other Batman villains.

EDIT:  I lied.  I was able to name 16.

Here's the official Ignorant Marvel Guy's List of Batman Villains:

1. Joker
2. Penguin
3. Catwoman
4. Riddler
5. Two-Face
6. Mr. Freeze
7. Poison Ivy
8. Bane
9. Ra's Al Ghul
10. Scarecrow
11. Harley Quinn
12. Clayface
13. Man-Bat
14. Killer Croc
15. Mr. Zsasz
16. Ra's Al Ghul's daughter (Talia?)

Do I get bonus points for Thug 1 and Thug 2?  

SECOND EDIT:  When I Googled for a list of Batman villains to see who I might have forgotten, I didn't recognize any of the names not on this list.  Never heard of Firefly or Catman.  And I found out there's some dude named Deathstroke whose "real" name is ... Slade Wilson?  Whaaa?  Who came first, him or Wade Wilson a.k.a. Deadpool?

 

Deathstroke came first, Deadpool is based on Deathstroke.

[William-James88]

2 hours ago, revat said:

I would argue less than 50% of CGC board members can name the comic 1st appearance of Hush, which is worth like what $125 in CGC 9.8?

Note:  I loved the original Hush storyline, and I love Jim Lee art.  But yah, Hush and Omega Red AT THIS TIME aren't cutting it as awesome signature creations at this time.

And that's not even the first appearance of Hush, it's the first appearance of Tommy Elliot, the person most established with Hush (Harvey Dent and Jason Todd had that costume as well). I think that also comes into play with how Hush isn't as popular. Because the character was more of a mystery figure, where his ID was unknown (like Jeph Loeb's two previous 12 issue mystery Batman stories), his origin isn't clear cut. To the point that in the animated film adaptation, Hush isn't his own character but revealed to be the Riddler instead. And even after the Hush storyline, they kept playing with who Hush really was and wasn't. As a Batman fan, I feel Hush is more of a storyline than a mainstay character. 

[StreetPreacher]

On 8/30/2020 at 12:01 AM, kav said:

In the Superman cover there is no attempt at design-just a standard hero pose with the awkward clenched fists. 

Well he is like the DC CEO or something now right?  Is he still drawing anything?  Compared to guys like Liefeld and McFarlane who seem to genuinely ENJOY drawing, is Jim Lee more of a business guy?  Does Jim still draw anything other than the odd sketch for charity, or is he more of a behind the scenes business guy?

[StreetPreacher]

22 hours ago, Jesse-Lee said:

I'm a big fan of his Wolverine 27 cover:

 

Love this one too, and picked up a NM copy at my LCS a week ago for $5!  And did you know this was also used as the cover for an Xmen video game?  Think Jim made royalties from the video game deal, or if it all went to Marvel at the time...   And we needed to see this cover reposted to remind everyone that Jim did have some style...  Although the image is a bit similar to Wolverine #17, but those 'speed lines?' make all the difference!

Edited September 19, 2020 by StreetPreacher

[Bird]

17 hours ago, William-James88 said:

Deathstroke came first, Deadpool is based on Deathstroke.

where would you do the death stroke? in a dead pool! 

[StreetPreacher]

2 minutes ago, Bird said:

where would you do the death stroke? in a dead pool! 

And that's Deathstroke THE TERMINATOR to you!

[Sweet Lou 14]

48 minutes ago, Fink said:

You're pulling our legs, aren't you? 

Haha no, that post was sincere.  Probably no surprise that almost everyone on my list of Batman villains made it into the old TV show and/or the movies.  That's what I know.  I wasn't sure whether the mobster from Batman Begins (Mr. Falcone) should be counted so I left him out.

I should have mentioned that when I Googled a list and saw the Red Hood, I did recognize the name because there's a pretty famous GA cover with his first appearance, but I don't know anything about the character.