One year ago today, Stan Lee headed off into the greater cosmos. I like to think he’s bugging the Watchers, endlessly and enthusiastically reviewing his many adventures on Planet Earth with them. Like this:
“Hey fellas, remember that time I saved everyone form the Martian invasion? Remember? Fellas?”
Fortunately for us, in case we forget, Joe Jusko captures the moment perfectly with this premium trading card and litho for Stan’s own Los Angeles comic book convention in 2013.
Stan Lee and Topps Mars Attacks. It’s perfect reflection of my misspent youth, and well beyond. I knew the moment I saw the painting I had to have it. Hell, Joe probably knew I would need to have it when he took the assignment. (We’ve known each other a long time.)
We miss ya Stan. I hope Jack and Steve are taking you on a wild ride through the multiverse — just like the good old days.
DC’s war comic books, taking inspiration from EC’s titles years prior, featured some of the best stories published in any genre. They often dealt directly with the human toll and sacrifice of war, and rarely emphasized a false “glory of battle.” In the 1970s, Editor Joe Kubert quietly added in the widget “Make War No More” at the end of many of those stories. (Seen in the published page below as the paste-up in the original is missing.)
The brilliant John Severin (1922-2012), who drew some of the best of those original EC masterpieces, returns here to illustrate Robert Kanigher’s haunting Sgt. Rock tale “The Bloody Flag.” Rock’s dialogue, and his expression in panel three, sum up much more than just the story itself.
Today we honor John, and millions of other veterans of the armed forces, past and present. Thank you for your service!
Part five of a multi-part series celebrating Batman’s 80th birthday.
Booster Gold goes back in time to save Barbara Gordon (Batgirl) from being crippled as depicted in Alan Moore’s classic Killing Joke. Of course it doesn’t work, and of course, this being a Booster Gold comic, things go from bad to worse. Batman (at this point in the timeline, Dick Grayson) is none too happy.
Jurgens wrote much of this Booster Gold series, and he plays to his own specific artistic skills and interests. I enjoy the storytelling here, as well as the expression on Booster’s face, a combination of dismay and disappointment as he explains his failure to Batman. And extending Batman’s “ears” into the upper panel is a clever and splashy touch.
The New 52 reboot ended this series a few years later, which was unfortunate. It combined action and wit (and mind-bending time paradoxes) avoiding outright camp or satire while providing a joyful and thoughtful ride through the DC time stream.
Batman Animated remains a timeless version of the character more than 25 years after its debut. That’s a well-known fact. Lesser well known perhaps is that the comic books published to support the award-winning TV series are pretty terrific in their own right.
Similar to the series itself, DC assembled an all-star group of creators to support these tie-ins including Burchett, Templeton, Joe Staton, and the late Mike Parobeck among many others.
Stories were typically self- contained, and the writing style was “all-ages,” sophisticated enough for adults, but not too complex for kids.
On this absolutely great opening splash page by the Templeton/Burchett team, the artists dramatically illustrate how Batman can get very, very animated indeed. Cartoon or not, this version of Batman is a deadly serious guy.
Part three of a multi-part series celebrating Batman’s 80thbirthday.
I missed this story, published nearly 30 years ago, the first time around. I don’t care much for 3D in media — comics, film, etc. And this cover didn’t do anything for me. I probably never even noticed that it contained a new story by Byrne, since his credit is poorly noted at the bottom. I’m guessing I thought it was a straight reprint collection at the time.
Well, the joke is on me. This is great Byrne Batman art, a fact that’s pretty obvious when examining the original pages.
The story itself is fine and, in support of plot, Byrne brings in Two-Face, Joker, Penguin, and of course, the Riddler. Art-wise though, the 52-page story is gem, featuring many catchy and dynamic pages. Byrne may have created the story to take advantage of 3D effects, but it works perfectly well in traditional form, as evidenced by its recent black and white reprinting in the DC Universe by John Byrne Omnibus (2017).
But… Black and White? No budget for color? Batman? John Byrne? Really?
Hey DC — how about coloring it for its 30thanniversary next year and issuing it in deluxe format one-shot?
Batman of Arkham #1 (Elseworlds one-shot), June, 2000
When you think of homages — or outright swipes — to classic comic book covers, a few classic and obvious issues come to mind:
Action #1
Fantastic Four #1
X-men #141
But there’s an issue slightly less obvious that may be the record holder with the most homages, especially with the same character:
Detective #31 (1939) by Bob Kane is just the third Batman cover ever, and a great one. It inspired Neal Adams to create his own version about thirty years later, and at that point, the floodgates opened. See below for as near a complete gallery as I could assemble. (Some are looser than others, but they all aim to capture the spirit of original cover.)
Meanwhile, on this gorgeous original cover by Alcatena (why isn’t he doing more comic book work?!) third time was a charm for me. I was under-bidder when it came up at auction. Shortly thereafter, when a major art dealer had it for sale, I missed it, and it sold again.
But that owner only had the cover a short while before he sold (or traded) it back to the same dealer, and this time I quickly managed to stake my claim on this beautifully detailed cover.
It’s November 1, and we’re still discussing Halloween?
Of course — we are talking about Batman: The Long Halloween, one of the greatest long-form (13 issues) Batman stories ever created. Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale craft an inventive and gorgeous story that takes place early in Batman’s career, centered on a serial killer who only kills on holidays.
The story also features the Calendar Man, once a silver age joke, who taunts the caped crusader in the manner of Hannibal Lechter. He knows who the murderer is, but will only provide tantalizing and taunting clues, not the killer’s actual identity.
On this great action page, Catwoman attacks Poison Ivy in an attempt to break her spell over Bruce Wayne, but the somewhat hypnotized Bruce breaks Catwoman herself from the attack.
Mrrow indeed!
(And happy anniversary Mr. Wayne. Our next few posts are in honor of your 80th year as the Caped Crusader.)
Happy Halloween! Today we wrap up our two-week series celebrating the best in monsters, mystery and mayhem.
Here’s a sweet page from Roy Thomas and Mike Mignola’s adaption of Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 film, Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
Fun Fact: All the pages in this adaption are “sweet.” There’s not a miss in the bunch. In fact it’s one of the best looking of any film adaptations ever done in comics. (Top of mind, only Archie Goodwin and Walter Simonson’s Alien graphic novel is in the same league.)
It’s also fair to say that while the film itself is fine (mixed reviews when it was released), the comics adaption itself is actually better.
Fun Fact: Coppola liked Mike’s art so much he hired him to provide illustrative material for the film itself, and Mike’s work is credited in the movie.
Fun Fact: The title was the launch project for Topps Comics, and was in development prior to the hiring of an actual Editor-In- Chief. (Jim Salicrup.)
Fun Fact: John Nyberg inked the series in spectacular fashion— it’s astonishing how anyone but Mike could make it so “Mignola-like,” but John nails it. The brilliantly effective coloring is by Mark Chiarello, who later colors the first full Hellboy series, Seed of Destruction. (Hellboy himself appears for the first time just a few months after Dracula concludes in an SDCC giveaway comic book.)
Fun Fact: For many years, Dracula was a lost classic — one of the few major Mignola projects not in print — for more than 20 years. I personally chased those reprint rights for 10 of those 20. Sometimes, insane tenacity pays off.
Fun Fact: It’s the first comic book I ever worked on professionally, and its reprint was one of the final projects published prior to my departure from IDW. (I will have to figure out a way to bring another version to my next publishing home. Ha.)
Fun Fact: Despite one of the best looking comic book series ever, it’s unlikely there will ever be an “artists edition” style book. The originals are scattered to the wind, and only occasionally offered for sale. I consider myself fortunate to own this one.
First story appearance of Hellboy, SDCC comic, July 1993
First color appearance of Hellboy, script by John Byrne, December 1993
Satan’s Six #1, Original Cover Production Art, Kirby File Copy, 1978 / 1993
Continuing a two-week series celebrating Halloween with the best in monsters, mystery and mayhem.
Here’s an oddity about an odd Jack Kirby comic featuring a bunch of oddballs.
Kirby’s Satan’s Six was developed as part on an unrealized “Kirby Line” of comics in 1978, shortly after Jack’s final tenure at Marvel had ended.
Jack drew a cover and eight story pages, plus a character concept and design page. Mike Royer was hired to ink some of those pages as samples, but when the concept for a “Kirby Line” dissipated, the pages sat in a drawer unused for nearly 15 years.
Enter Topps Comics, the fledging publishing line from the trading card and confectionary giant. Topps signed a deal with Jack in 1992 to produce comic books based on new, and (primarily) previously unused concepts. It was essentially a second chance for a “Kirby Line.” With the King in declining health, however, others would have to create content around Jack’s ideas.
Topps editor Jim Salicrup called his old friend Todd McFarlane and asked Todd if he would like to have a chance to work on a Kirby project. I’m pretty sure Todd said yes before Jim finished the question.
Of course, Todd was busy with his own series, a small Image title called Spawn, so Todd could only commit to inking a cover. And the only Jack-penciled cover was issue #1, previously inked by Royer, but on photocopies or overlays. So Todd re-inked the cover. You can read Todd’s own recollection about that here.
And now, this production art has re-surfaced, complete with the original “Marvel style” trade dress, and Royer’s original inks, just in time for Halloween.
What became of Satan’s Six? Tony Isabella’s stories based on Jack’s high concept of a lovable group of misfits too mischievous for Heaven but not evil enough for Hell seemed wackily appropriate enough, but the art definitely was a challenge from issue one.
Especially issue one.
Kirby’s eight original pages are scattered throughout the full story with the rest of the art from John Cleary, making for a dizzying juxtaposition of styles.
And Cleary’s “contemporary” (1993) art here, and through the remaining three issues, was simply not enticing enough to sustain interest. The book was cancelled with issue #4. You can read a complete illustrated overview of the series here.
Satan’s Six has yet to return to comics. They remain in… Limbo.
Continuing a two-week series celebrating Halloween with the best in monsters, mystery and mayhem.
Jack Kirby’s Demon — despite a short-lived original run of 16 issues — endures 47 years after his first appearance in 1972.
Talented creators have reinvigorated, and in some cases outright reinvented, Jack’s supernatural character in the ensuing decades. It’s an all- star list that includes Matt Wagner, John Byrne, Garth Ennis, John McCrea, and many others.
Add to that list Gabriel Hardman, who, on this splash, provides an iconic and frightening image of the classic character. Gabe’s use of deep black inks and the off-setting lightning and breaking glass create a haunting and dramatic page. (I think the art looks more impressive in black and white than in published color, but regular readers of this blog probably already guessed that.)
Hardman’s main professional work is creating storyboards for films, a list that includes Spider-Man, Batman, Logan and much more. He’s terrifically talented, and much sought after in Hollywood, so we don’t get enough of his work in comics, which is a definite pity for comic art aficionados.
In the meantime, we can likely look forward to yet another artistic interpretation of Kirby’s character sometime in the future.
After all, we all have our Demons.
An atmospheric storyboard from Logan. Even if Gabe were permitted to part with it, he couldn’t — he does most of his storyboards fully digital.
