Original Art and The Artists – Page 41 – Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Bob Powell And Wallace Wood — Buddy Movie

January 23, 2021 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Strange tales #134, July 1965

The Human Torch and Thing buddy comedies of the early 60s come to an end in this cool penultimate page by Bob Powell and Wallace Wood.

Torch solo stories started in Strange Tales #101 (hey, it worked in the Golden Age) and within a few years, the Thing was added to the strip as well. An ever-changing group of creators, and frankly, some second-rate stories and villains, didn’t apparently do much for sales, and our Fantastic two get bumped by Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. in the very next issue.

Meanwhile, this amusing story features time travel, The Watcher, Merlin the Magician, and Kang the Conqueror, who is apparently about to play an important role in the MCU. (It’s only his third appearance as “Kang” at this point, following two run-ins with the Avengers.)

Because I love time travel stories I can forgive all of it — except maybe Powell and Wood’s execution of the Thing. They are not alone though in rocky renditions of Ben Grimm. Flipping through these old Strange Tales stories, very few artists other than Jack Kirby seemed to figure out how to successfully make anatomic sense of a character made from rocks.

It’s clobberin’ time, indeed.

The Silver Age gets retro-golden very quickly in these early Torch Strange Tales stories. (Although, for the record, that’s an imposter pretending to be Captain America. But you wouldn’t know it until you bought the issue, or stood around reading it at Dave’s Luncheonette until he kicked you out.)

John Romita Jr. — Stan’s Fantastic Farewell

January 21, 2021 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

The Last Fantastic Four Story #1, October 2007

Stan Lee, nearly 85 years old at the time, returns to the Fantastic Four for one last tale.

It’s not a groundbreaking story by any means. And it’s not meant to be. Is the dialogue corny in places? Certainly. Is the plot surprising? Nope. An all-powerful big bad (The “Adjudicator”) comes to destroy Earth and pretty much everyone is helpless to stop him. Its up to Reed Richards to figure something out, which ultimately involves the previous almost all-powerful big bad, Galactus.

The entire issue could definitely be an unused story from Lee and Kirby’s FF heyday in the 60s.

Who cares? Not me. Great art from John Romita Jr. (inks by Scott Hanna) make this a fun tribute to the “old days.” Stan works in most of the great supporting characters from the original run, including Doctor Doom and the Silver Surfer.

This page of course features both of them, along with the entire FF. Plus, it’s signed by the entire creative team, because, for once, I had the presence of mind to remember to get that done.

Definitely a keeper.

John Byrne — Powered Up

January 19, 2021 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Fantastic Four Commission (20x 30), 2003

As discussed previously here, John Byrne does (or did?) some amazing commissions. The reason I’m not confident on my verb tense here is that I hear John stopped creating them when he put his artistic efforts behind his X-Men “fan-fiction” project.

One of most interseting facts about these commissions is that John has done them as large as 30×40. That’s slightly bigger than a movie poster!

This terrific one here is 20×30. I’m the second owner, as the first one sold his entire collection all at once. Right place, right time for me; I’m a big fan (no pun intended) of the Super-Skrull.

I commissioned Len O’Grady to color the piece for me, and he did a terrific job. If I recall correctly, we sent it over to JB, who approved it as well.

(And if my recollection were incorrect about that, it would not surprise me to hear about it. John is not shy about offering his opinion.)

*Some of the many additional Byrne Fantastic Four commissions in the hands of fans and collectors.*

*The first appearance of the Super-Skull, followed by an issue of Thor where I first encountered him as a young Marvel reader.*

Bruce Timm — Fantastic Four-Ever

January 16, 2021 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Comics Magazine #8, September 2001

“What if Stan Lee and Jack Kirby concluded their historic run on FF with one last wild adventure?”

Bruce Timm and other all-star creators showcase their love and admiration for Jack Kirby in this fun 2001 mini-series.

And when we say “other,” we mean it. This terrific title page features layouts by Erik Larsen, pencils by Ron Frenz and Inks by Timm. Other creators in this issue alone include Bill Wray, Rick Veitch and Terry Beatty. Others in the full series include Keith Giffen, Al Williamson, Joe Sinnott, and Paul Ryan, to name just some of the cast.

The story itself takes between issues #100 and #101 of the original Fantastic Four run. It took Marvel 10 years before they finally collected it, and its now available in both hardcover and trade paperback. If you’re a fan of that amazing Lee Kirby FF run, this series is a must-own.

And if you’re not a fan of that classic, my sympathies.

*The Larsen/Frenz/Timm splash immediately called to mind the classic opening to FF #49.*

Dan Jurgens And Bob McLeod — Flashback

January 14, 2021 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Domination Factor: Fantastic Four #1and #2, December 1999

Dan Jurgens has some fun with time travel in this clever interlocking mini-series featuring the FF and The Avengers.

The part of the story that takes place in the contemporary era (1999) sees Dan storytelling in his traditional artistic style. But when time travel is involved, Dan and inker Bob McLeod purposely ape Jack Kirby. (And Joe Sinnot.) As you can see from the pages below, Dan and Bob re-do the top panel from FF 94, 30 years prior. And then the story takes a turn — literally — as The Thing realizes that Dr. Strange’s time spell has worked.

Bonus points: The pages are hand-lettered by the talented John Costanza. Although John came on board at Marvel too late to work on the original Lee and Kirby Fantastic Four run, he did in fact letter the Lee and Kirby “reunion” Silver Surfer graphic novel. Close enough in my book to at least earn a no-prize.

Paolo Rivera — Origins

January 9, 2021 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Mythos: Fantastic Four #1, December 2007

I don’t own another page like this one. In fact, I’m not certain I can recall seeing another page like this one.

I’m pretty sure there must be some out there, but four vertical page-length panels is definitely an atypical layout.

And here, it’s perfect. Four astronauts — Sue Storm, Reed Richards, Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm — blasted by cosmic rays, and, well, you know the rest: They become… fantastic.

This page is an example of great visual storytelling by the terrifically talented Paolo Rivera. I love the character reactions and facial expressions here. Even though the team will shortly have superpowers, it certainly looks like a painful origin process to get there.

And for one member of the team, those powers might be more curse than blessing.

After all, his moniker is the Thing.

*Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s original cosmic origin of the Fantastic Four in 1961.*

Jack Kirby — Happy Anniversary

January 7, 2021 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Fantastic Four #42, September 1965

Jack Kirby. The Fantastic Four. A great action page from near the beginning of the peak three-year period of the comic that launched a cultural phenomenon.

Not much more to add here.

Except…2021 is the 60th anniversary of “The World’s Greatest Comics Magazine” and the “Marvel Age of Comics.”

60 years. That’s a big deal. Much more on the Fantastic Four to come during the next few weeks.

Paul Gulacy — Toys For The Holidays (Part 3)

December 31, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

GI Joe Special Missions #4, June 2013

When I was a kid, G.I. Joe never looked like this.

Of course, there’s an easy explanation for that. I grew up with the original Joe’s somewhat vanilla representations of America’s fighting forces. I loved them, as did most of my friends, but character development was not in the 60s line-up.

Characters like “bad girl” Baroness here were the result of Hasbro’s re-introduction and revamp of the brand in 1982. Marvel Comics was essentially paid to create colorful heroes and even more colorful bad guys. And they delivered, mainly with the creativity and guidance of writer Larry Hama.

The rest, as they say (Ok, I say it a lot) is history.

IDW became publisher of record shortly after I cane on board in 2008, and has had some terrific success with various iterations during the last dozen years.

This Special Missions series is a fine example, with script by Chuck Dixon and terrific visual storytelling by fan favorite Paul Gulacy.

I acquired a few pages from this series, including this dynamic splash, but another one of these pages comes with a unusual annecdote, which I will share down the road. (I’d bet you can’t wait, but I’d lose.)

And so, 2020 finally comes to an end. Whew. Here’s looking forward to a much better 2021. We will be back on Thursday, January 7, with a special year-opening series on… well… that will be telling. See you soon, and thanks again for visiting.

The original G.I. Joe included a desert jeep and related gear, capitalizing on the brief success of the Rat Patrol television series. I was obsessed with this vehicle.

*Cobra’s Baroness started out as a sexy character back in the 80s, but became even sexier as figure design and sculpting moved into the digital age.*

Gil Kane and Wallace Wood — Toys For The Holidays (Part 2)

December 29, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Captain Action #3, May 1969

Can lightning strike twice in the toy biz? Inventor Stan Weston thought so, and I for one, became proof of concept.

Weston had created the original 12” G.I. Joe “doll” for Hasbro in 1964 and younger baby boomers like myself quickly became obsessed with the figures and all their wonderfully detailed accessories.

Next up: Weston took his invention to Ideal Toys in 1966, and turned it into a superhero concept, capturing the zeitgeist of the era. Captain Action was born, and despite the goofy name, its dozen licensed superhero costumes were a terrific gimmick.

Kids could turn the good captain into a number of well-known characters including Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, Captain America and Aquaman.

And the best part? The costumes and accessories worked just fine with existing G.I. Joes, so any crafty kid (we were all crafty, FYI) could create a multiverse Justice League without buying multiple Captain Action figures.

The toy line burned brightly, but briefly, and by 1968/69, the product was heading to the closeout racks. That apparently didn’t concern DC, which licensed the character for yet another brief comic book series.

Fortunately, visual storytelling chores were handled by Gil Kane and Wally Wood, making for some great original art. (Wood drew issue #1 solo, and then inked Gil on issues #2, #3 and #5. Gil scripted, penciled and inked issue #4.)

This cool page features the origin of “Dr. Evil,” main nemesis to the good Captain. Remember when I said the Captain Action name was goofy? I have no words for naming a villain “Dr. Evil.”

Alex Toth — Toys For The Holidays (Part 1)

December 27, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Hot Wheels #2, June1970

Mattel’s introduction of Hot Wheels in 1968 brought the 60s Cultural Revolution into miniature toy cars.

I had casually collected matchbox cars previously, and enjoyed them, but Hot Wheels’ souped up designs and colors were game changers. I couldn’t get enough.

And those crazy bright orange track sets and accessories? Near the top of my list for Hanukah 1969 and 1970, if I recall correctly.

DC jumped into the Hot Wheels business with a short-lived (six issues) licensed comic book series based on the animated TV series. Alex Toth, who knew both comics and cars well, and had developed the look and feel of the TV series, drew many of the stories.

I’ve tried for years to collect those six issues into a deluxe hardcover. In fact, I’ve had multiple meetings with senior execs at Mattel who all agree that it absolutely should be collected. Then, when push comes to shove, a contract never appears. My theory, and it’s based on similar situations, is that no one wants to take responsibility for the legal time and money spent on a project that ultimately doesn’t have much revenue potential in the scheme of things.

Sigh. Alex Toth’s art should never, ever remain in limbo.