Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Wallace Wood — EC For Me, See?

Original Art and The Artists

Tales From The Crypt #25, August 1951

Wallace Wood and film noir. A favorite artist and a favorite fiction genre for me. I’m in, of course.

Okay, so this page is actually from Tales from the Crypt, EC’s best-known horror title. But the look and feel are pure film noir, so I’m counting it. Crime and horror overlap pretty frequently—especially in EC comics, now that I think of it. A rotting corpse—or a witch—might show up along the way, but the atmosphere is still straight out of a noir film.

But I digress.

Funny thing is, despite how much I like this page, I’ve owned it—and parted with it—once before.

Some paste-ups had me convinced that portions of the art were photostats rather than original drawings. Then I learned that Wood sometimes combined original art from different boards onto a single page, whether to incorporate shading from Craftint paper or to rework the storytelling or a “camera angle.”

Unfortunately, I learned that after I’d let it go.

Anyway, that’s probably more in-the-weeds information than you need. All you really need to know is that I really dig this page, and I paid dearly to own it a second time.

That last part I’d just as soon forget myself.

New York Comic Con, 2026 (Part 4 of 4)

Original Art and The Artists

New York City, October 8-11, 2026

Time for one last New York Comic Con update before we roll into the next convention season.

This fall marks 55 years since my first comic book—or any kind of pop culture—convention. So if I look tired… well, I have good reason.

Happy to see so many old friends, but I wish I’d learn to get a few more photos with them before we all wander off in different directions.

Well, it’s good to have goals. 

And why, you ask, is Jamie Moy (Albert Moy’s spouse) pointing to my zipped jacket pocket? I’m glad you asked. Because, for once, I had my wallet secured—something she’s been relentlessly reminding me about for a few years.

That zipper isn’t easy to open. But if I were really smart, I’d put the wallet in, sew the pocket shut, and save a lot of money.

New York Comic Con, 2026 (Part 3)

Original Art and The Artists

New York City, October 8-11, 2026

A "realistic" Jurassic Park Dinosaur visits New York Comic Con, 2026. Photo by Greg Goldstein.

I’d call this a “realistic” dinosaur, but how would I actually know without a time machine?

Its tail hit me in the head a few times, so that’s realistic enough for me.

It looks like Blue from Jurassic World, although its name tag says “Rocky.” Maybe Blue is his stage name.

I never did figure out why its handler was dressed as if he’d wandered out of The Matrix. Maybe it relates to the most recent Jurassic World film, which I skipped. Come to think of it, it could relate to one of the previous films. Those weren’t just terrible; they weren’t memorable.

Or maybe the guy just likes The Matrix and has a pet Velociraptor.

But, as always, I digress.

One of the best things about this encounter was how many people barely gave the dinosaur a second glance. Then again, this was a comic book convention. In New York.

You’d be surprised how little attention a dinosaur attracts.

Or maybe you wouldn’t.

A "realistic" Jurassic Park Dinosaur visits New York Comic Con, 2026. Photo by Greg Goldstein.
A "realistic" Jurassic Park Dinosaur visits New York Comic Con, 2026. Photo by Greg Goldstein.
A "realistic" Jurassic Park Dinosaur visits New York Comic Con, 2026. Photo by Greg Goldstein.

Barry Windsor-Smith — Strange Brew

Original Art and The Artists

Marvel Premiere #3, July 1972

Doctor Strange by Barry-Windsor Smith. Original art from the colection of Greg Goldstein

Barry Windsor-Smith drawing Doctor Strange. I wish we’d gotten more of that.

This page is from Marvel Premiere #3, the launch of Doc’s new bronze-age solo series and the only issue of the run fully penciled by Smith. He also plotted the story, with Stan Lee handling the script.

And what a story. Doctor Strange vs. Doctor Strange. It gave Smith plenty to work with, and this terrific page is one of the results. I could explain what’s happening, but that would spoil some of the fun. It’s worth reading.

Trust me on this.

Smith helped usher in a new wave of young, “hipper” artists taking on Doc. Windsor-Smith. Starlin. Brunner. Different approaches, but all well suited to a character whose adventures could go pretty much anywhere. The stories and art got even trippier—which, considering where Ditko and Colan had already taken him, is saying something.

Marvel had been easing Doc back into circulation, first as a founding member of the Defenders and then with a major guest-starring role in Amazing Spider-Man. Now he had a series again. Well, technically, he took over Marvel Premiere for nearly two years before getting his own title back. Close enough.

One fully penciled issue. I’m glad we got it. Like I said, wish we’d gotten a few more.

It’s October, so we’re celebrating Halloween all month with some appropriately spooky selections from the collection. No costume required. (Although it helps.)

Baltimore Comic-Con, 2026 (Part 2)

Original Art and The Artists

Baltimore, September 25-27, 2026

With my much more colorfully-attirred friends, Bob Greenberger and Walter Simonson.

And even more talent…

Jim Starlin
Jim Lee
Jo Chen
Keith Williams
Jose Marzan Jr.
Joe Pruett
Kevin Maguire
Mark Wheatley
Kevin Nowlan
Matt Slay
Laura Martin
Louise Simonson (w/ birthday roses)
Mike Hawthorne
Margeaux Pepoy
Pop Mhan
Joëlle Jones
Nikkol_Jelenic
Rafael_Albuquerque
Ron März
Rick Leonardi
Ron Wilson
Russ Braun
Sarah Myer
Scott Hanna
Shawn Martinborough & Howard Chaykin
Stephane Roux
Stephen_Platt
Terry Moore
Taurin Clarke
Tony Harris

Baltimore Comic-Con, 2026 (Part 1)

Original Art and The Artists

Baltimore, September 25-27, 2026

Walter Simonson with original Thor art for the Hero initiative auction, Baltimore Comic-Con, September 26, 2026. Photo by Greg Goldstein.
Walter Simonson with his HUGE oversized original Marvel Thor art, donated for the Hero Initiative Auction, moderated by Scott Dunbier. The Auction rased 100K for the charity, with Walter’s piece the big gun (literally) at 32K. My favorite convention of the year came and went much too quickly.

So much talent…

Andy MacDonald
Adriana Melo
Anthony_Marques
Art Adams
Billy Tucci & Brian Pulido
Brian Stelfreeze
Caitlin_Yarsky
Bob McLeod
Coleen Doran
Creees Lee
Dan Parsons
Dan Jurgens
Dean Haspiel
Cully Hamner
Dave Johnson
Don Simpson
Eric Canete
Drew Moss
Jason Aaron
Erik Larsen
Eric Powell
Jeffrey Brown
James Robinson
Jerome Opena
JG Jones
Howard Chaykin & Bob Chapman
Frank Cho

Darwyn Cooke & Mike Allred — Cat Got Your Tongue?

Original Art and The Artists

Catwoman #3, March 2002

Darwyn Cooke drew only four “regular” issues of Catwoman.

Four.

Yes, there was also “Trail of the Catwoman” in Detective Comics, and the terrific Selina’s Big Score. But still, it wasn’t nearly enough.

Ed Brubaker and Darwyn gave us a terrific version of Selina Kyle. Smart, stylish, funny and noirish, with a costume that was both sexy — and, for a change, a bit more practical.

She finally looked like someone who could actually leap across rooftops without losing parts of her wardrobe.

This page, inked by Mike Allred, is a great example of Darwyn’s storytelling. Two small panels to set things up, followed by one big payoff.

Simple. Clear. Terrific.

And, of course, Catwoman owns the page.

I’ve featured Darwyn’s work on the blog many times: Parker, The Spirit, and those wonderful classic comic-book reinterpretations he apparently created to “relax.”

(Most of us relax differently. But I digress.)

Darwyn’s Catwoman run was much too short. Sadly, so was Darwyn’s time on planet Earth. He died in 2016 at the age of 53.

He was one of the greatest cartoonists of his generation, despite entering the field relatively late, and I was fortunate to know him and work with him. I might be biased, but his Parker graphic novels (IDW Publishing) are some of the best ever published.

The man and his talent are very much missed. Fortunately, the art and the stories are still very much with us.

I’m thrilled that DC is finally publishing Batman by Darwyn Cooke: The Absolute Edition, collecting all of his extraordinary work with the Batman family in a format it deserves.

DC asked me to provide images of several pieces of Darwyn’s original art from my collection, and I happily obliged. Which pieces did they actually use in the finished book? Excellent question.

Apparently, even with a $125 cover price, their budget didn’t quite stretch far enough for a contributor copy. As a former publisher, I definitely recognize fiscal discipline, although this might be pushing that philosophy a bit too far.

No worries. I’ll contribute to the Warner Bros. bottom line as soon as I can get a copy.

Meanwhile, this page is a pretty good reminder of just how much Darwyn could accomplish in a very small amount of space.

And how much more we wish there had been.