On Saturday, at New York Comic-Con’s Marvel Fanfare panel, Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief CB Cebulski sat down with fan-favorite artist J. Scott Campbell to get candid about Campbell’s career, from his early days as an X-Men fan to his evolution into one of Marvel’s best-known cover artists.
Mr. Cebulski began by asking about the Campbells. The screen displayed some drawings from his childhood and some handmade paper X-Men figures. Campbell talked about growing up in Colorado, his early dreams of becoming an animator, and how his love of comics, especially the X-Men and his favorite character, Rogue, shaped his artistic journey.
The discussion then turned to Campbell’s big break in the ’90s, his dedication to the study of anatomy, and his formative years entering Marvel with a new generation of artists.
One fun discovery for longtime fans is that “J.” His name actually stands for Jeffrey, but his parents thought “J. Scott” sounded better.
Campbell and Cebulski reimagined the story behind Campbell’s now-iconic Mary Jane cover for The Amazing Spider-Man #601 (2009), a story that arguably defined his career. It was originally supposed to be a print for the convention, but in order to meet the New York CC deadline, Campbell asked me to color it myself and ended up doing the cover at the last minute.
Ironically, this hasty work ended up being one of his most popular and enduring works, but it was also the subject of much debate.
Before concluding their summary, Campbell and Cebulski alluded to something that had been forgotten in Campbell’s work at Marvel. The pair mentioned an unreleased project from the Amazing Spider-Man era, The Astonishing Spider-Man, which includes two completed issues with legendary creator Jeph Loeb.
It seems unlikely that this mention will lead to the matter seeing the light of day, but the house of ideas always has surprises in store.
Stay tuned to The Beat for more coverage of NYCC ’25.
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