Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Category: Original Art and The Artists

Eduardo Barreto — Caught

Original Art and The Artists

Pin-up, Rocket’s Blast and Comic Collector (RBCC) #4, 2003

Kraven the Hunter, a classic Spider-Man nemesis, is getting his own film? 

Er… ok. 

I like the character, especially since I’ve been a fan of the legendary Richard Connell short story “The Most Dangerous Game” since, well, forever.

But… Kraven without Spider-Man is useless to me. Actually all of the Spider-man villains are pointless without the main protagonist.

What, exactly, was the point of the Venom film.  A bad guy we root for? Especially one who looks like a monstrous version of… Spider-Man. Huh? What?  Tom Hardy was fine as Eddie Brock as the title character, and the film looks great, but it is ultimately pointless. No Spider-Man, no Venom, as far as I’m concerned.

Of course, none of this apparently bothered mass audiences whatsoever. Venom grossed more than  $800 million worldwide.

And so, back to Kraven. I would love to see him, even as cameo in Spider-Man 3, before we get to a feature length Kraven film. 

In the meantime, the late Eduardo Barreto delivers a terrific splash of Spider-Man capturing Kraven with terrific tonal quality throughout. It appeared in Rockets Blast and Comic Collector #4, the final issue of the short-lived revival of the famous comics zine.

The one question I have is…. Why does Spider-Man look surprised? Did another wall-crawler grab Kraven first? Is this an early and prescient look at the Spider-verse?

But I digress.

Barreto, a Uruguayan artist who passed away at the too young age of 57, was better known for some excellent work at DC (New Teen Titans, Batman, Superman, et al), but his first actual US assignment was in fact Spider-Man, inking Marvel Team-Up #88, featuring Spidey and The Invisible Girl.

As for the actual Spider-Man 3 villains? Start with Scorpion, who is in the Easter egg at the end of Spidey 1, along with possibly the Vulture (ditto), and head down the rabbit hole from there…

And you never know… maybe Kraven after all.

Kraven First appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #15, and returns about a month later with a few “friends” in ASM Annual #1.
The shortest — and possibly most lopsided — hero vs. villain fight in history. Iron man takes care of Kraven in three panels to support narrative involving The Chameleon posing as Captain America. Convoluted, but hilarious.
Some of the earliest Marvel Comics I purchased at the candy store as a kid, and coincidentally about the time where John Romita comes into his own as Spider-Man’s artist. Compared to everything DC and the other companies were doing, this was heady stuff.
Kraven is the villain in one of the most beloved and critically Spider-Man stories of all time, “Kraven’s Last Hunt”. Also pictured: RBCC #4 where the Barreto pin-up appears, and the film poster for the first adaption of Most Dangerous Game, an obvious inspiration for the Kraven concept.

Paul Smith — Wonderous World

Original Art and The Artists

Paul Smith, Pin-up tribute to Steve Ditko, ASM Annual #2 (1965), 2001

Elegant, clean and striking: The definitive Paul Smith style captures Steve Ditko’s classic (and only) pairing of Spider-Man and Doctor Strange in Amazing Spider-man Annual #2 from September 1965.

Seeing the pairing of these now iconic Marvel cinematic characters creates some wistfulness here.

Last week, Disney postponed the feature film Black Widow once again. It’s now scheduled for May 2021, a full year behind schedule. 2020 will be the first year without a film in The MCU since 2009.

And, even when the films were less frequent in the early days, a Fox or Sony Marvel film typically filled in the gaps.

(No, I’m not going to act as if the recent New Mutants counts. More people have probably seen the officially unreleased Roger Corman Fantastic Four film than New Mutants.)

Now of course, Covid has thrown the entire upcoming film schedule into disarray. Eternals and Shang-Chi also moved, and swapped positions in the queue — for now.

After that, it’s a bit of a wild card.

The next three films should be Spider-Man 3, Doctor Strange 2, and Thor 4… but, we’ve seen differing revised release dates for those just in the last week.

Then, the schedule becomes even hazier, but let’s put off that discussion until next week.

Meanwhile, up next this coming week on the blog:

Spidey, Doc, and of course… Thor. See you soon.

The current digital version of the original splash from Amazing Spider-Man Annual #2 in 1965.
Many reprints, many colors, and a few layout and production changes, too. From left to right, the original annual coloring re-mastered for digital, the coloring and other changes from the “emergency” reprint in Doctor Strange #179, and the re-colored (again) reprint from Marvel Tales.
Here’s a bet: Ditko drew the cover for ASM Annual #2 well before he and Stan knew what the story would be. Otherwise… you’d probably see Doctor Strange actually on the cover. A few years later, and a deadline blown, Barry Smith was called on to provide a new cover for the story which was reprinted completely out of continuity in Doctor Strange #179.
Digital colors by Gerry Turnbull, and, in the MCU, Spidey and Doc work together to try to defeat Thanos in Avengers Infinity War. It doesn’t go well… at first.

Patrick Gleason — Demon Child

Original Art and The Artists

Batman and Robin #0, November 2012

Nothing pleases an editor (and publisher) more than when a creative team gels in such a way that they define a character(s) for a long time, and deliver consistently quality storytelling issue after issue. 

The readers, obviously, notice.

Case in point: Writer Peter Tomasi, penciller Patrick Gleason and inker Mick Gray delivered a great run on Batman and Robin during the “New 52” period. 

(They had actually created a cool three-parter in the “Batman Reborn” period prior. So many eras, so little time.)

This page is the phenomenal closing splash from a prequel “zero” issue featuring the full origin of Damien Wayne, the (genetically-engineered) offspring of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul. As you can see from the published page, this is the first time father and son meet.

The composition and use of negative space work seamlessly. Batman looks pissed, and the much-smaller Damien isn’t intimidated at all upon meeting his legendary father.

Perfect.

Gil Kane — All In Color For A Quarter

Original Art and The Artists

Batman # 208, February 1969

Giants. Annuals. King-Size Specials. It didn’t matter what you called them, but for 25 cents I was all in.

The DC oversize reprints appeared frequently when I was a kid. And I had no regular access to back issues until later on, so these definitely scratched the “classics” itch.

This Gil Kane Batman page comes from a short  “bookend” story tying the theme of the reprints together.

I don’t think DC used this bookending approach all that often.

It’s always nice to pick up a page from a story you specifically remember well. It tweaks the Batman origin a bit, although I’m pretty sure this specific thread was never picked up again.

And Silver Age Kane Batman pages are a rarity in themselves. (Although he did draw some Batgirl back-up stories, which often featured Batman as well.)

(The story itself has never been reprinted elsewhere, a challenge with many DC comics of the same period.)

Kelley Jones — Wrath Of The Wraith

Original Art and The Artists

Batman #541, April 1997

Batman and Spectre in the same issue with Kelley Jones on pencils? You KNOW some weirdness is most definitely in store.

Sign me up.

Jones (with writer Doug Moench of course) channels some of the classic sadistically vengeful Fleisher and Aparo Spectre in this issue — the second part of a two-part story. This wraith is not fooling around. (You can see why the infamous Comics Code Authority was completely meaningless at this point.)

And let’s just say Batman and Spectre disagree about a few things. Like capital punishment. And eternal Hell. Those sorts of things.

Terrific art team (John Beatty on inks), terrific page. Overall, a great run of Batman.

Nuff said.

Gene Colan — Moody Detective

Original Art and The Artists

Detective # 560, March 1986

Continuing our art showcase in honor of the annual “Batman Day.”

Gene Colan was a perfect choice for Batman.

Dark, moody noir? Check. 

Acrobatics that defy the laws of physics? Check.

Shadowy forays into the supernatural and horrific? Check.

Gene had left Marvel after some heated disagreements with EIC Jim Shooter, and drew a number of titles for DC, but Batman was easily the best and most logical of the group.

This title page comes from his team-up with writer Doug Moench, following tales he created with Gerry Conway. It was interesting era for Batman, and included Batman’s return to the Wayne manor and his original Batcave for the first time in more than 10 years. 

Colan had helped Bruce make the move back a few years prior to this moody splash page.

Mike Parobeck — Not Joking

Original Art and The Artists

Batman Adventures #16, January 1994

Continuing our art showcase in honor of the annual “Batman Day.”

Here’s an example of the terrific work DC’s editorial accomplished on its Batman animated tie-in comics, which captured the look and spirit of the brilliantly produced animated series.

Mike Parobeck, as discussed in a previous post, passed away much too early. The work he produced in his short time was so well done that an amazing long-term career appeared inevitable.

Lots of things to love about this title splash, including fun lettering (on the art board) by Tim Harkins, his final issue on the series.

Composition is terrific of course, and the multi-faceted Rich Burchett provides some nice slick inks.

Graham Nolan — Widescreen

Original Art and The Artists

Detective Comics #0, October 1994

Graham Nolan delivers an action-packed three-panel page from the peak period of the his and Chuck Dixon’ Batman run in the early 90s. This is of course the same dynamic duo that brought us the supervillain Bane a year earlier.

(I still break into a cold sweat from that page where Bane breaks Batman’s back. But I digress.)

I’m fascinated that 100 percent horizontal panel layouts took such a long time to become more commonplace, especially given the frequent storytelling relationship between comic books and film. Although Hollywood introduced widescreen in the 50s (a marketing ploy primarily to lure audiences away from their TV sets) the square format panel was standard for many years.

Now of course the horizontal panel layout is ubiquitous, but even in 1993 it stood out among the crowd. And this one specifically is a dynamic example of how it can enhance the action.

(All The Batman books had “Zero” issues as part of the broader Zero Hour DC crossover event.)

Fun fact #1: 

The first bar I ever (illegally) hung out at as a kid in my Long Island hometown was built by Graham’s grandfather — who had sold it by then. (Pub still there, by the way, hopefully it will survive Covid.)

Fun fact #2:

My pal Joey Cavalieri and I both had an English HS teacher who was a classic barfly at said bar. (Good teacher though).

But these are stories for another day.

Neal Adams — Jailbreak

Original Art and The Artists

Brave and Bold #81, January 1969

Here’s a splashy Neal Adams page from his fourth overall Batman story. 

As always, Neal’s facial emotions are spot on. I love Bork’s smug face, Commissioner Gordon’s shocked expression, and Batman’s frustration with the entire situation. The body language on all the characters on the page also adds drama to the storytelling.

Vince Colletta was the first inker on the story, and Neal wasn’t happy with the results so he and Dick Giordano re-inked some of it. You can see some corrections on this page, and others in the story, when viewing scans of the original art.

Neal Adams Batman from the Silver Age — Definitely pleased to own this one. 

A little whiteout never hurt anyone.