December 2019 – Page 2 – Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Mike Deodato / Andrew Pepoy — Family Feud

December 8, 2019 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Pencil Commission, Undated (Inks, 2019)

Continuing our countdown to Star Wars:The Rise of Skywalker, opening December 20, and concluding, apparently, the Skywalker saga.

I discovered this dynamic undated commission by Mike Deodato a few months ago. Something about it — the composition, Luke’s face, the overall “loose” style — reminded me of Carmine Infantino’s enjoyable run on the original Marvel series 40 years ago.

When I acquired the piece at NYCC, it was pencils only, and although it looked great, my gut told me to get it inked. (Sadly, my guts often have opinion.)

Fortunately, my pal Andrew Pepoy, the talented inker, happened to be nearby. Turns out, he always wanted to ink the late Infantino, and well, maybe this is the next best thing…

He nailed it — keeping the looseness intact, while adding polish and more depth to make it pop. (Look at Luke’s Lightsaber against Vader’s cape for instance.) This is especially impressive because the pencils were created on an odd thin paper stock, nothing like the more typical Bristol board artists employ. Definitely not an easy task.

Carmine’s run comes during the period leading up to to Empire Strikes Back, and I’m sure Lucasfilm was giving Marvel and writer Archie Goodwin fits, keeping them from, well, just about any story element that would spoil the film. Which is… well…. just about everything. Nerveless, they manage to have a few confrontations between Luke and Vader. Even if, of course, nothing is what it seems.

As for this Deodato piece? Mike’s modern Star Wars (see below) art looks nothing like this commission — someday I hope to get the backstory on the art. Until then… stay tuned.

*Detailed pencils… but it still needed finishes.*

*Classic Carmine Infantino Star Wars pages from the late 1970s.* *Check out the length of Luke’s hair in the middle page. Yikes!*

*A fan favorite Infantino cover… in original and published form.*

Tony Harris — The Phantom Limb

December 6, 2019 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Star Wars Special: C-3PO #1, June 2016

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opens in two short weeks, and the Star Wars Skywalker trilogy of trilogies (I can’t bring myself to call it a ennealogy) will apparently conclude, 42 years after it began.

In honor, the next two weeks of posts will feature original art from Star Wars, showcasing one or more of the “original trilogy” characters.

James Robinson and Tony Harris (Starman) reunite for a one-shot C-3PO story that explains the droid’s red arm in The Force Awakens.

Their Starman run was one of the great comic book series of the late 20^thcentury and it was nice to see them back together, even if only for a one-shot. And a pretty good one at that — a surprisingly moving tale about droid sacrifice.

The story is packed with eccentric droids in tight spots, and this splash is perhaps the best page in the book — a full image of C-3PO rendered with delightful and quirky detail by the talented Mr. Harris. He painted the striking “A” cover as well.

I love the final coloring, also by Harris, but as is often true, the art is especially striking in glorious black and white.

May the force… Well, you know.

A knockout wraparound cover from the hardcover collections of Starman Robinson and Harris stories.

Ron Frenz and Sal Buscema — A Different Spin

December 4, 2019 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Spider-Man Collectible Series #2, August 2006

Our celebration of Marvel’s 80^thAnniversary concludes with the publisher’s most iconic character in one of his classic stories.

The lead story in the original Amazing Spider-Man # 1(1963) finally gets its own terrific cover more than 50 years later, thanks to this unique reprint series published in 2006.

News America created The Spider-Man Collectible Series as weekly promotional supplements to Sunday newspapers. Each issue was printed on newsprint and contains half an issue of a classic Lee and Ditko Spider-Man comic, published in original order. Only 24 issues were produced, suggesting the series did not succeed as well as envisioned.

Since each original Spidey comic was split in half, every other issue of the supplements required brand new covers, depicting classic stories. For the most part, the covers are as dynamic as this one — if I could find them, I would attempt to acquire as many as possible.

Ron Frenz is a great visual storyteller (definitely influenced by classic Marvel artists), and Sal Buscema’s inks are always spot-on. (For more than 50 years!) I consistently enjoy their team-ups.

As for this Spider-Man story itself? It’s a classic that sets up storylines and characterizations for years, as Spidey saves J Jonah Jameson’s astronaut son — only to be blamed for sabotaging the rocket in the first place.

It’s a story I heard dramatized over and over again as a kid, because I was somewhat obsessed with the Golden Record recording of that classic issue. (See below).

And of course, it makes sense that the “back-up” story featuring the Fantastic Four is the original cover of Amazing Spider-Man #1 and all other subsequent reprints. Although the original published cover blurb has made me wonder if the astronaut story was actually intended as the cover and pulled. Why call out the cover story as an “extra attraction” if that’s the story we can already see? Hmmm.

Although the Fantastic Four make a great marketing hook, the lead story in issue #1 is actually the rocket rescue, and includes a re-cap of Spidey’s origin for those who missed or didn’t remember Amazing Fantasy #15

*No good deed goes unpunished…and becomes the defining thread in Spidey stories.*

Golden Records produced four “book and record” combos of classic stories in 1966 during the first Marvel Merchandising craze. Each of the four (Thor, Captain America, Fantastic Four and Spidey contained a straight reprint of the associated comic, minus only the cover price.

*Above — Some of the newly created covers for classic Spider-Man stories.*

Mark Bagley — Secret Origin

December 2, 2019 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Original Sin #3.1, August 2014

Continuing our ongoing celebration of Marvel’s 80^thAnniversary.

Tony Stark is forced to relive The Hulk’s origin — and his own potential culpability in the fateful gamma blast — in Original Sin, a clever 2014 crossover event by Mark Waid that introduces some new retcon elements into the Marvel Universe.

Re-imagining a classic scene is an interesting challenge for an artist, and Mark Bagley delivers on Bruce Banner’s transformation with inventive (and concise) storytelling and solid draftsmanship. Andrew Hennessy’s inking on Bagley’s pencils adds some nice polish.

The basics of Hulk’s origin haven’t changed much in the nearly 60 years of his existence, but the nuances have been modified many times. In the early days of the Silver and Bronze ages, a number of artists did different takes, as evidenced below.

Where did I first see the Hulk’s origin? On TV, of course, in the 1966 Marvel Super-Heroes Cartoons. (Courtesy of Jack Kirby’s art.)

Sing along to the theme song if you will:

(Lyrics by Jacques Urbont)

Doc Bruce Banner,
Belted by gamma rays,
Turned into the Hulk.

Ain’t he unglamor-ous!

Wreckin’ the town
With the power of a bull,

Ain’t no monster clown
Who is as lovable.

As ever-lovin’ Hulk! HULK!! HULK!!