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Christopher Priest Remembers M. D. "Doc" Bright

Christopher Priest remembers M. D. “Doc” Bright for Bleeding Cool, the man and the klegacy, from Falcon to Quantum And Woody

Yesterday, Bleeding Cool reported that comic book creator Mark D Bright, also known as M.D. Bright or Doc Bright, died on the 27th of March at the age of 68. He was best known in comics working on titles such as  Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn, Icon and Quantum and Woody with Christopher Priest. Priest – also known as Jim Owsley – wrote the following for Bleeding Cool in memory of his old friend.

My brother, M.D. "Doc" Bright, suddenly passed away March 27th, 2024. An extraordinarily talented painter, cartoonist, comics artist and musician, Doc teamed with me for our Falcon miniseries for Marvel in 1983 and Power Man & Iron Fist in 1984, which became the first ongoing superhero comics series to be written and drawn by African American talent. Additionally, our Spider-Man vs. Wolverine #1 (1986), Superman: The Man of Steel Annual #3 (1994), and Wonder Woman #137-138 (1998), marked the first appearances of those characters to be written and drawn by African American talent.

Doc later became my co-creator for the Acclaim Comics series Quantum & Woody (1996), characters largely inspired by our actual relationship and whose pet goat, initially a castoff single-issue gag, swelled to eclipse the titular characters in their own book. The goat got his own 1-shot comic, his own fan mail, and an officially licensed collectible "inaction" figure. Bright later became the custodian of Milestone Media's Icon, who was principally created by me. Rather than drone on about my long partnership with Doc, I'd rather allow his wonderful art to speak for him (and me). A talented bassist, you can also hear Doc playing on one of my tracks here (headphones recommended).

Taken from my writer's commentary for Quantum & Woody:

"Jim, that's just stupid."

That was us, that was our dynamic: "Hey, Doc, I've got this great idea…" "Jim, that's just stupid."

In most every way that mattered, we literally were Quantum & Woody. I've been asked, many times, which of us is which. The truth is, I think both Eric (Quantum) and Woody are based on Doc, on his perpetual seesaw between stoicism and sarcasm. Doc may be the funniest guy I know, well educated, well-informed, and well deserving of his own late-night talk show. He can and often does mock virtually everything, has an opinion about literally everything, and has amazing creative skill in a number of disciplines. When I met him, back in the 80's, he was a cover artist for places like Dell and Pocket Books, creating acrylic visions of outer space, starships and monsters.

When I was an editor at Marvel Comics, I hired Doc to paint the cover to The Transformers #5, which depicted a lifelike image of the villainous Shockwave beneath "The Transformers" logo, the words, "Are All Dead" burned into the wall behind him. The cover was rejected by Hasbro, the Transformers licensor, because—and yes, some corporate types really are just this stupid—they feared kids would stop buying Transformer toys because they'd believe they were all dead. They also thought Doc's cover was too scary.

I can't swear to it, but I'm pretty sure I called my guy at Hasbro and openly mocked him for being an idiot. It's the best cover we've ever done, I told him—and, yes, it was. The Transformers Wiki lauded it this way, "Transformers images don't GET much more awesome than this. Or imitated." They included links to another cover featuring a different Transformer bad guy which also used Doc's design, and I've seen a third.

This is now a legendary piece of art, reprinted and imitated many times. I don't know if Doc still has the original art, but, if so, I hope he knows how valuable it is. And I'll take my bow for the cover sketch, borrowed from Michael Kaluta's awesome "The Prince Is Dead" cover to Conan The King #20, which I'd previously commissioned.

Mark Bright is one of the most underrated professional artists I've ever met. I never got the sense that Doc had much of an ego about his painted art, but I was blown away by it. I'd flip through canvases in his Montclair apartment and just envy a guy who starts with this blank fabric and, hours or days later, has art sitting in his living room.

Doc's a great guy and an amazing talent. I'm so blessed to know him and to learn from him. I say all these nice things because I don't want anyone to be confused about how deep my affection for the guy goes or why he gets on my damned nerves.

And, thus, the basic formula for Quantum & Woody.

A committed Christian, Doc knew our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the pardoning of his sins. This gives me great comfort and joy in the reassurance that he has transitioned to be with God, having left the troubles of this world behind. Doc left us on the 27th of March, 2024, but his wonderful art and incessant complaining live on in our hearts (and ringing in our ears).

Christopher Priest

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