Ron Wilson Appreciation Post

Ron Wilson first came to my attention in Thing #7. It wasn't a title I was reading regularly so I hadn't seen him name on the first half-dozen issues, but not only had he drawn this issue but he also appeared in it. It stood out to me because it was the first time I'd seen a comic creator's name in the credits for the first time and simultaneously learned what they looked like!

I was a big Fantastic Four fan and was eagerly trying to scrounge up every appearance of theirs I could, so with him working on Thing regularly and contributing to around half of Marvel Two-in-One's hundred issues, I saw a fair amount of his work early on in my comics hobby. But after Thing was cancelled, I didn't see much of him any more. He was still getting work, but mostly for licensed properities (notably Masters of the Universe and WCW) which never hit my radar at all, and some anthologies (largely for Marvel) that I generally avoided. (I do not care for the anthology format for Marvel and DC. They almost always come across as an excuse to get rid of a slush pile of inventory material.)

Despite an impressive body of work over several decades, I rarely see him talked about. His entire Wikipedia article reads as follows...

Wilson entered the comics industry in the early 1970s at Marvel Comics where he produced both cover illustrations and interior artwork. He was the regular artist on Marvel Two-in-One from 1975–1978 and again from 1980–1983; while additionally working on titles such as Black Goliath, Power Man, The Hulk! and Captain Britain.

In the 1980s, after the cancellation of Marvel Two-in-One, Wilson teamed with writer John Byrne on The Thing (1983–1986). In 1983 he plotted and drew "Super Boxers" (Marvel Graphic Novel #8). He drew the entire run of Marvel's Masters of the Universe (1986–1988) and the Wolfpack limited series (1988–1989). Wilson's work also appeared in The Avengers, Captain America, Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, and What If.

In 1990, Wilson illustrated an issue of Urth 4 for Continuity Comics and then returned to Marvel to draw WCW World Championship Wrestling in 1992–1993. His work appeared regularly in Marvel Comics Presents in 1992–1994. Wilson contributed to DC Comics Milestone Media imprint providing character design work and pencilled an issue of Icon as well as the DC universe mini-series Arion the Immortal. In 2008, he provided a cover for the second issue of the pro wrestling-themed mini-series Headlocked published by Visionary Comics. As of 2012, Wilson was preparing a new creator-owned project Battle Rappers.

That's not nothing, of course, but that still seems pretty slight. Nothing really about his background or how he got into the business or his art style or anything like that. It's basically just a listing of what he worked on in paragraph form.

It's not like there's not info out there about him. He tables at conventions (well, whenever we ever get back to doing conventions) and there's a good 45 minute interview with him over at The Jamie Coville Experience.

I get that he never really hit "superstar" status, and he's not going to be as sought after as some other artists, but I thought he always turned in really solid work and I find myself periodically looking on ebay and at various dealers to see if I can score an original Two-in-One or Thing page he worked on. Particularly if you're a fan of 1970s and '80s Marvel, do yourself a favor and track down some of his work. His illustration style isn't en vogue these days, but he's got more storytelling chops than a lot of other folks I see out there these days!

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