Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Category: Original Art and The Artists

Steve Ditko — The Drowned Girl

Original Art and The Artists

Scary Tales #12, March 1975

Legendary artist Steve Ditko delivers a great page in this mid-70s  “EC-style” story of murder and comeuppance. (And puzzled fish. Don’t forget the puzzled fish.)

Ditko’s work during this period at Charlton tends to be a bit all over the map in terms of draftsmanship and level detail, but this story is a fine example of his more polished work from the era. 

(For the record, even lesser Ditko stories are still better than 80-90 percent of the rest of industry’s output in that timeframe, especially at secondary companies.)

From a rights and commercial standpoint, it’s likely that this Ditko material will never officially be collected into trades. Some of it can be found on the Internet, and fortunately, the Charlton horror comics themselves are typically very inexpensive in lesser condition. 

In addition to the original publication, “The Drowned Girl” was also reprinted in an “all-water” horror-themed comic a few years later.

Johnny Craig — Extra!

Original Art and The Artists

Extra #5, December 1955

Johnny Craig helped usher in the classic era of EC comics and here he helps bring the curtain down on that same era.

Craig, The EC crime and horror stalwart, creates a typically clean and graphic page in this final issue of a title he also edited.

EXTRA! was one of the seven comic book titles in ECs’ “New Direction” series launched in 1955 to satisfy the Comics Code Authority, the industry’s new self-censorship body, created in the wake of Senate hearings on comics and juvenile delinquency. None of the seven could survive the distribution pushback on EC, and by early 1956, EC Comics existed in legend only.

“EXTRA! built an impressive cast with an image of journalists that fit neatly into professional and gender stereotypes of the era. The male journalists were young, rugged, and handsome… more likely to use their fists or a gun than a pen or camera.”

-Tom Brislin, Extra! Journalism History v21 p123-30 Autumn ’95

Eduardo Risso — The Man I Love

Original Art and The Artists

Spirit #6, November 2010

Continuing our celebration of “Will Eisner Week,” with other creators’ takes on the beloved and influential character, The Spirit.

Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso follow-up their astonishing 100 Bullets Vertigo series with a fun short story featuring the Spirit.

Not all creators understand Eisner’s subtle and delicate balance between noir and (often dark) humor, but despite the strictly hard-boiled nature of 100 Bullets, the team captures Eisner’s spirit nicely.

(I know, we use that pun a lot. It will probably show up next year, too.)

Fun fact: Back in 2002 and 2003, I engineered the deal between DC Comics and Acclaim Entertainment leading to the development of a 100 Bullets video game. Acclaim was in financial trouble when the contract was signed, so unsurprisingly, the game never made into final production. (Acclaim ended up declaring bankruptcy and folding in 2004.)

It’s too bad — the development team was passionate and fully engaged on the project. Some early footage can be found on-line here.

Darwyn Cooke — Pulp Friction

Original Art and The Artists

Rocketeer Spirit #1 and #2, (Cover Preliminary Art) July/August 2013

Continuing our celebration of “Will Eisner Week,” with other creators’ takes on the beloved and influential character, The Spirit.

As noted last year, the late Darwyn Cooke was likely the closest modern creator to fully realize Will Eisner’s legacy.  Darwyn was an astonishing storyteller, designer illustrator, letterer and more. (Among dozens of awards and nominations, he also received an Emmy nomination for his work on the 2008 animated film Justice League: New Frontier.)

DC launched its ongoing Cooke Spirit series with a Batman / Sprit crossover, and this Spirit / Rocketeer crossover (covers only) brings some closure to that brief run.

The covers are designed to form one single unit, and a limited variant wraparound cover might exist, although I can’t find it in my collection — or on-line. ( I can’t recall if we ended up printing it or not.)

As for these prelims? They are oversize on real art board… and they are spectacular.

“I can remember it was one of those days when I was thirteen, and I was in a comic store, and there was nothing that I wanted to get. On the wall was a copy of Warren’s Spirit magazine. I think it’s number three, where he is running down the elevated track straight at you, and the train is behind him. It’s just one of the most exciting images I have ever seen…”

-Darwyn Cooke interview From Will Eisner: A Spirited Life by Bob Andelman

Will Eisner — Cheering The Bronx

Original Art and The Artists

Dropsie Avenue, June 1995

Dropsie Avenue is the third (and final) graphic novel in the Contract With God Trilogy.

As noted previously All Contract With God did was change the face of comic book storytelling and popularize the concept, and phrase, “graphic novel.”

Eisner’s career remains fascinating. He had all but given up on comic book work after he discontinued the Spirit in 1952, but the growth of comics’ fandom convinced him to return in the 70s. He did indeed revisit The Spirit, but more importantly, he realized his personal literary aspiration of creating something completely unique and personal with COG, its sequels, and other graphic novels he produced until his death in 2005.

Dropsie Avenue (1995) tells the evolution of a fictional street and its residents in New York’s Bronx Borough — spanning more than 100 years, beginning about 1870 One of the many reasons I enjoy this page is that it features a street pole with the name of the street, and hence the title of the graphic novel.

Eisner owned outright nearly all the comic book material he created in his lifetime. He had great foresight to retain his intellectual property, and remain a true independent until his passing.

Welcome to Will Eisner week, 2021.

Dan Parent — Three On A Bat-Shake

Original Art and The Artists

Commission, 2019

I asked my pal Dan Parent for this commission in 2019, shortly after he completed art chores on the actual Batman / Archie crossover.

I love this piece, but shortly after I returned home with it, the first thought that occurred to me was: “Shouldn’t this be Robin?” Duh.

Well, there’s always next time. Meanwhile, in addition to the 80th anniversary of Archie, it’s the 55th anniversary of the Batman television show as well.

Holy dual celebration!

Dan Parent — Three On A Soda

Original Art and The Artists

Archie #647, October 2013

“Three on a soda” is likely the most iconic image in the Archie universe. Bob Montana, Harry Lucey, and Dan DeCarlo all created their own versions, and Dan Parent introduces his version in 2013. 

That’s the four most influential creators in the company’s history.

Nuff said.

The three previous versions of “three on a soda” by Bob Montana, Harry Lucey, and Decarlo. Decarlo’s version made it as a postage stamp. The Riverdale television show recreated the image as well.

Dexter Taylor — See The Stars

Original Art and The Artists

Little Archie #54, July 1969

Dexter Taylor creates a sweet (literally AND figuratively) page of the Little Archie gang from a 1969 issue. Archie comics hit my radar from time to time as a youngster when I couldn’t find any new comics from Marvel or DC, and the is likely one of my earliest encounters with the younger versions of the Riverdale crew.

Many of the Archie stories from this period, especially the one-pagers like this one, are unsigned. And although, some are easily identifiable, some are not.I’m grateful to my pal, the late, great Archie Editor Victor Gorelick, who could identify pretty much any classic Archie artist and story, for always helping me sort it out. Victor, who worked at Archie fore more than 60(!) years, passed away just about a year ago, and he is sorely missed.

Superboy set the standard for “the younger version” comic, and eventually Archie caught up. As a side note Little Archie #1 is one of the rarest comics of the 1950s.

Dan DeCarlo — Cover Girls

Original Art and The Artists

Archie’s Joke Book #132, July 1969

Many consider Dan DeCarlo THE quintessential Archie artist. A generation of Boomers would probably find little argument with that. 

As part of the Archie 80th anniversary celebration in 2021, we will have a special tribute to Dan later in the year. In the meantime, here’s a great DeCarlo cover featuring Betty, Veronica, Mr. Lodge, and… Archie… sort of. 

It’s a typical fashion gag from the era, and this original is a nicely rebuilt and restored “large-art” cover. (The penny-wise folks at Archie reused the nameplate boards as templates over and over again, simply removing the art, and pasting the new art and issue dates in place. I’ve owned another one where the original art was actually pasted over the previous issue’s original art. Ouch.)

Interlude — Planet Money Podcast

Original Art and The Artists

Who wants to sell these guys a superhero?

https://www.npr.org/2021/02/12/967425295/we-buy-a-superhero-origins

Doorman? Yep, he and the rest of these oddball characters launched in Marvel’s West Coast Avengers #46, courtesy of our pal John Byrne.

Planet Money is our favorite economics podcast (Freakonomics is a close second) and we were pleasantly surprised to see the most recent episode (likely part one of a two-parter) discuss superhero economics. Or at least the part that deals with the intellectual property valuation of superhero ownership. 

We’re extra delighted that our old pal Alex Segura, co-president of Archie Comics is the featured interview.

And yes, the hosts do get it in their head to try to buy Doorman, an especially — and purposely — lame character, from Marvel. 

Listen… and subscribe.