Panels and Pages… Art and Artists… Creators and Conventions… Musings and Memories…
Author: Greg Goldstein
Greg Goldstein is a veteran publishing and media executive; most recently, he was the Chief Operating Officer, President and Publisher of IDW Publishing, managing all aspects of the company’s book and games business from 2008 to 2019.
Throughout his career, Greg has developed creative and profitable publishing programs for dozens of the world’s best-known entertainment brands including Star Wars, Transformers, Star Trek, James Bond, TMNT, Spider-Man, Batman and Godzilla.
In 2013, Greg led IDW’s acquisition of Top Shelf, an independent publisher best known for Congressman John Lewis’ March trilogy, which has become the most lauded non-fiction graphic novel series in the history of the medium.
In 2011, Greg won an Eisner award for his editing on the first-ever collection of Bob Montana’s Archie newspaper comic strips. (Published under IDW’s Library of American Comics imprint.)
Prior to joining IDW, Greg was VP of Entertainment and Gaming for Upper Deck, responsible for the company’s blockbuster slate of games, including Yu-Gi-Oh, World of Warcraft and The VS Superhero system. During his tenure, he created Marvel Ultimate Battles, the first-ever trading card game that focused exclusively on Marvel’s popular mass media characters.
As VP of Brand Development for Activision from 2000-2002, Greg established strategic partnerships with the largest Hollywood studios, and worked closely with Marvel Entertainment to successfully develop Spider-man into one of the biggest blockbuster licensed videogame brands in interactive history.
Greg’s career has also included a successful stint at Topps, where he helped launch and manage Topps Comics in the mid 1990s.
Additionally, Greg serves as an adviser for to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBDLF). He is also a frequent guest lecturer at San Diego Sate University and has presented at dozens of panels and conferences throughout the US.
He is also a well-known collector of original comic book art and rues the day he sold his collection the first time around in the late 1990s.
Here’s a gorgeous and splashy Frank Thorne washtone page from a terrific Red Sonja story published in the black and white Savage Sword of Conan magazine.
Thorne is one of those artists that I enjoyed as a kid but did not fully appreciate until much later. Excellent draftsmanship, storytelling, and an imaginative sense of design.
And, of course, beautiful women. That part was always obvious.
I acquired this page earlier this year at OAX. Paid too much for it.
Captain Marvel fighting alongside… Captain Marvel? Only on this great battle page by the legendary George Perez from the Justice League / Avengers crossover that took more than 20 years to make happen.
And, appropriately, 2024 is the 20th anniversary of its publication. Twenty years ago? How on Earth (1,2, or 616) did that happen?
(Thanks to pal and super collector Michael Lovitz for parting with this one.)
Torpedo Collection Volume #3 (IDW Publishing, US), April 2011
On each page of Torpedo, the much-lauded Spanish graphic novel series, artist Jordi Bernet provides a masterclass in atmospheric storytelling.
Bernet transports us into the gritty, noir-infused world of 1930s New York City. His stylized art captures the essence of the era, from smoky back alleys to sleek underworld nightclubs. Even Central Park provides no respite from the grit and violence.
Torpedo is not for everyone; The “hero” is a ruthless hitman — and the term misogynist doesn’t begin to define his violent approach to women. Writer Sanchez Abuli often pushes the envelope too far, which is why Alex Toth, the original artist of the series, bolted.
Howard Chaykin turned an unused Batman pitch into an imaginative new series for the extremely short lived “Heavy Hitters” imprint from Marvel/Epic in 1993.
I’ve seen most of the original art for this title, and each page is beautiful: Great storytelling, terrific draftsmanship, and a generous use of deep India ink and screen tone for depth and effect. He worked his ass off on these pages, and it shows.
Bonus: Great lettering, as always, by John Workman.
Honestly, the only thing I don’t like about the series is the coloring (not by Howard), but hey, it was the 90s.
The four-issue series has never been collected, but individual issues typically turn up in dollar bins, and are worth seeking out.
Remember, you can’t kill the Midnight Men.
I’m sure I’ve used this photograph elsewhere, but, we are pals, and I like it. Sue me.
Michael Keaton is trending this week because of the Oscars “Batman” moment between him and Arnold Schwarzenegger/ Danny DeVito this past Sunday.
Many of the comments discuss Keaton being the “best” Batman.
Now, as I’ve said previously, I never loved the way his face looked in that original cowl. That’s partly the fault of the costume, and perhaps partly Keaton’s face shape. And the resulting style guide art was… not great.
That said —
Keaton is still the most enjoyable version of Bruce Wayne on screen. By far.
Keaton’s Wayne is both charming and offbeat. He’s very self-aware, has a sense of a humor and charisma, but still on the edge — likely bordering on psychotic. He provides many, many shades to the Wayne persona. His main scene with Bassinger and Wuhl is one of the great moments from the first film.
And hilariously, the whole “Keaton is the best Batman” thread is one of the most ironic critiques in entertainment history.
Why? Because even without the Internet and social media, the trolls managed to make so much negative noise about Keaton cast as Batman in Tim Burton’s 1989 feature.
“The guy from Beetlejuice? Seriously?”
The long knives were out for Burton, Warner Brothers, DC, and pretty much anyone and everyone associated with film prior to release.
Seriously, I don’t how the casting would have survived if social media had existed in 1988.
Which reminds us of the late, great William Goldman’s classic comment:
Alex Nino proves to be one of Jim Starlin’s better inkers (if not the best) with this one and only fabulous collaboration for Rampaging Hulk magazine in 1977.
It’s a gorgeous Hulk fantasy story, worth seeking out in its original magazine format. (It’s reduced to comic book size, with inferior reproduction, in Rampaging Hulk Essentials, the only available reprint.)
As I was working on this post, Nostalgic Investments listed a beautiful DPS from this story for 15k (see below) and, in today’s market, that definitely seems reasonable.
Darwyn Cooke welcomes The Spirit into the DC Universe with this outstanding cover featuring Will Eisner’s legendary creation, facing off against… well another pretty well-known comic book legend.
Cooke’s take on The Spirit is one of my favorites, and this entire double issue, with inks by J Bone and colors by Dave Stewart is simply wonderful. It definitely deserved its Eisner award (so appropriate) for best single issue of 2007.
This cover is the only Spirit art that Darwyn penciled and inked himself, since this issue, and the subsequent ongoing, was inked on separate blue-line by Bone.
Fun fact: The cover was solicited for sale in its original version, and then ultimately flipped for actual publication. Makes sense, since the title is Batman/The Spirit, not the other way around.
I didn’t realize Joe had worked on a Punisher storyline until I saw these lovely original art pages. And, no surprise, it’s a terrific looking arc, indeed.
Chuck Dixon is the credited writer, but the storytelling here is all Kubert. A unique page with eight small panels and that superbly dramatic half-splash close-up. (A perfect callback to the first panel.)
Kubert was in his sixth decade of professional work when this story appeared; and he was still drawing for more than another 20 years before he passed away at 85 in 2012.
Michael Golden draws a terrific Superman here — likely with the most detailed and beautiful cityscape to ever appear on a comics page.
First it was commissioned as a cover — then it went into inventory — then it came back out as a pin-up in the 600th issue of Superman.
And look, I know it was just after 9/11, and the “American Way” theme made sense. But… when you look at the printed cover, and compare it at this amazing Golden piece, you simply shake your head at the missed opportunity.
(Side note: As noted previously, I am a sucker for “happy” Superman art. If you had those powers, wouldn’t you be happy — at least some of the time?)
