After his work in the military and atRingling College of Art and Design, Bagley continued trying to break into the comic industry. While working a construction job, he suffered a severe injury to his leg while using a handsaw that required 132 stitches. He eventually ended up working forLockheed Martin making technical drawings.[1]
In 1983,Marvel Comics Editor-in-ChiefJim Shooter created theMarvel Try-out Book to draw new talent into the comic book industry. The contest involved a deconstructed comic book, which contestants could complete and submit to Marvel. The winner would be awarded a professional assignment with Marvel. At the time, Bagley was 27 years old and living inMarietta, Georgia.[3] He had almost given up on trying to find a job in comics and was satisfied with his position at Lockheed Martin. Bagley was reluctant to enter the contest because of the cost of theTry-out Book itself. His friend,Cliff Biggers, gave him the book and persuaded Bagley to enter the contest.[4] Bagley won first place for penciling, finishing ahead of thousands of other hopefuls.[3] After winning the contest, he did not hear from Marvel for several months. After approaching Shooter at a comic convention, Bagley was assigned to a series of low-profile penciling jobs. His comics work during this period includedVisionaries, a comic book based on a 1980s toy line, various titles in theNew Universe line, backup stories inCaptain America,[5] and the first series ofMarvel Universe Cards.[6]
In 1989,Tom DeFalco andRon Frenz created a team of teenage superheroes called theNew Warriors.[7] The following year, Marvel launched a new series based on these heroes and assigned Bagley and writerFabian Nicieza to the title.[8] Bagley stayed on the title until #25, at which point he left to transition directly ontoThe Amazing Spider-Man.[4]
WhenErik Larsen leftThe Amazing Spider-Man in 1991, Bagley was assigned to the title. He andDavid Michelinie introduced theCarnage character inThe Amazing Spider-Man #361 (April 1992)[9] and produced theVenom: Lethal Protector limited series in 1993. Although not the first artist to draw eitherVenom orEddie Brock, Bagley's version of both characters are widely considered to be the most popular versions of them by fans.[10] Bagley was one of the artists on the "Maximum Carnage"[11] and "Clone Saga"[12] storylines which ran through the Spider-Man titles. Bagley's artwork was used extensively for licensed material, appearing on everything from plates and cups to credit cards and even video games suchThe Amazing Spider-Man: Lethal Foes released exclusively in Japan. In 2012,Comic Book Resources ranked Bagley fourth on its list of the "50 Greatest Spider-Man Creators".[13]
In 1997, Bagley collaborated with writerKurt Busiek on a new team of superheroes, theThunderbolts, a group of super-villains disguised as super-heroes, with the final page of the first issue of the series revealing that the Thunderbolts were actually theMasters of Evil, a surprise twist carefully guarded by Marvel.[14]
In 2000, Marvel's then-publisherBill Jemas was looking to relaunch Marvel's primary franchises in a way that would make them accessible to newer readers.Ultimate Spider-Man would be a title that began the Spider-Man mythos from the beginning set in modern times. Bagley was assigned toUltimate Spider-Man with writerBrian Michael Bendis.[15] The Bendis/Bagley partnership of 111 consecutive issues made their partnership one of the longest in American comic book history, and the longest run by a Marvel creative team, beating out Stan Lee and Jack Kirby onFantastic Four.[16] Bagley collaborated with Bendis onThe Pulse and a four-issue arc onMighty Avengers.[5]
Bagley's long and successful run onUltimate Spider-Man earned him recognition inWizard magazine's top ten artists of the 2000s inWizard #219. Ranked #2 on the list, article writer Mark Allen Haverty noted of Bagley, "no other artist came close to the number of comics Bagley sold [in the 2000s], nor the number of Top 20 comics he was a part of."[17]
In 2011, Bagley left DC and returned to Marvel andUltimate Spider-Man. He reunited with writer Brian Michael Bendis and drew the "Death of Spider-Man" arc in issues #156–160.[24] As he started the Ultimate imprint alongside Bendis, he was also called forCataclysm,Ultimate End (which ended the imprint) and the last pages ofSpider-Men II (which set up its return). Bagley and Bendis teamed for a creator-owned series,Brilliant, which was published through Marvel'sIcon Comics Imprint. It has similarities toMark Millar's own Icon comic,Kick-Ass, as it explores the idea of superheroes existing in the real world, however unlikeKick-Ass, the characters have actual super-powers.[25][26]
Brian Michael Bendis and Bagley worked onAvengers Assemble, an Avengers title produced concurrently withBrilliant. To differentiate between otherAvengers titles,Assemble consisted of the roster present in theAvengers film, but set in present Marvel continuity.[27]
According to Bagley, drawing crowd scenes are his "weak point", because he becomes worn out on them, and finds them difficult to render in a timely fashion. He dislikes drawingCaptain America.[31]
Marvel Legacy Primer Pages: All-New Wolverine, The Amazing Spider-Man, Cable, The Despicable Deadpool, Falcon, Iron Fist, Jean Grey, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Spider-Gwen, The Unbelievable Gwenpool, Venom, X-Men: Blue & X-Men: Gold (one page stories) (2017)
^abAllred, Will (September 15, 2000)."Mark Bagley Interview".Comic Book Resources.Archived from the original on October 28, 2012.I wasn't gonna buy the book. It was about 20 bucks back then, and this was when 20 bucks was a lot of money. I thought it was a gimmick…something Jim Shooter came up with, and I didn't buy it. Luckily, Cliff Biggers, the guy who publishes Comic Shop News, was a friend of mine. He owned the comic book store that I went to at the time. He told me, 'If you don't do this, you'll hate yourself.' So, he gave it to me. And, I won first place.
^DeFalco, Tom (2008). "1980s". In Gilbert, Laura (ed.).Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History. London, United Kingdom:Dorling Kindersley. p. 243.ISBN978-0756641238.Tom DeFalco had intended to launch a team of teenage super-heroes in 1990, but an opportunity came along in 1989.
^Manning, Matthew K. "1990s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 249: "In this ongoing series, writer Fabian Nicieza with...Mark Bagley chronicled the tales of a team that not only thrived in this brave new decade [of the 1990s], but continued to make an impact in the Marvel Universe over the years."
^Cowsill, Alan (2012). "1990s". In Gilbert, Laura (ed.).Spider-Man Chronicle Celebrating 50 Years of Web-Slinging. London, United Kingdom:Dorling Kindersley. p. 197.ISBN978-0756692360.Artist Mark Bagley's era ofThe Amazing Spider-Man hit its stride as Carnage revealed the true face of his evil. Carnage was a symbiotic offspring produced when Venom bonded to psychopath Cletus Kasady."
^Cowsill "1990s" in Gilbert (2012), p. 202: "In February [1993], Venom gined his own title at last! Written by David Michelinie and illustrated by Mark Bagley...Venom: Lethal Protector was set after the events ofThe Amazing Spider-Man #375."
^Manning "1990s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 263: "Artists Mark Bagley, Sal Buscema, Ron Lim, Tom Lyle, and Alex Saviuk all brought their talents to this key story line."
^Manning "1990s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 274: "Continuing the epic 'Clone Saga', the team of artists Tom Lyle, Robert Brown, Roy Burdine, and Mark Bagley revealed the supposed final fate of the genius Jackal."
^Manning "1990s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 283: "Busiek and company ignored the pleas from Marvel's marketing division who thought that sales would be affected by not revealing the comic's twist. They managed to conceal their comic's confidential ending until the release of the first issue, and indeed shocked their entire fanbase with their dramatic reveal."
^Cowsill "2000s" in Gilbert (2012), p. 259: "Written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Mark Bagley, the series built on the original Spidey stories but soon spun off into bold new directions."
^Cowsill, Alan (2010). "2000s". In Dolan, Hannah (ed.).DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom:Dorling Kindersley. p. 333.ISBN978-0-7566-6742-9.Writer Kurt Busiek and artist Mark Bagley (in his first project for DC) guided the travails of the three heroes as they struggled to find the secret of a cosmic force."
^Cowsill "2010s" in Gilbert (2012), p. 338: "It made the news across the world - Marvel was going to kill Spider-Man. His death came in this issue [Ultimate Spider-Man #160] written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Mark Bagley."
