Original Art and The Artists – Page 9 – Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Berni Wrightson — Batman Redo, Aliens Too

September 17, 2024 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Batman / Aliens #1, March 1997

Swamp Thing #7 is one my favorite single issues, ever.

Don’t get me wrong: I loved all of Wrightson’s Swamp Thing through the first six issues, each of which I bought directly from the candy store or newsstand. (And #8-10 are just as good.)

But Batman?! Drawn by Berni? Wow. That Cape. Those ears. Just… wow.

I knew we would likely never see Wrightson on a conventional superhero title, so this was one special book. Flash forward nearly 25 years, and Berni revisits Batman once again with this cool Aliens crossover. It’s not Berni circa 1973 of course, but still great. I’m delighted that I stumbled onto this large art page last year.

And that half splash bottom panel? I knew that Batman pose looked familiar…

Jock — Bat-Joker

September 10, 2024 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

The Batman Who Laughs #2, March 2019

“A Batman who laughs is a Batman who always wins.”

I don’t try to acquire too many modern pages.

Especially story pages.

I miss the ballons lettered directly on the art boards. The modern pages look “incomplete” to me. (And often exacerbated by backgrounds that are digitally added later as well.)

And great modern pages (like this one) are often priced a bit expensively by the artist — or the artist’s rep. For similar prices, you can often find some great vintage art.

But… I’m definitely a fan of Jock’s art, and this page was much too cool to pass up. It’s from the Dark Universe spinoff, “The Batman Who Laughs.” One part Batman. one part Joker. Bat-Joker indeed.

And of course, it’s a fight page — without the dialog, you still get the basic idea.

Brian Stelfreeze — Zero Hour, Plus 30

September 4, 2024 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #31, September 1994

Brian Stelfreeze provides this amazing “Golden Age” style cover for a Batman story in the 1994 Zero Hour event. The “original” portly Alfred suddenly reappears (from another timeline) — and, spoiler alert — disappears at the end of the story.

No matter: Stelfreeze’s cover painting is terrific, and Brian purposely added all the stains and scratches to give it an aged look.

Bonus: I can cover up his signature and no one realizes Brian painted it; it’s (obviously) nothing like his traditional painting style.

Zero Hour — The first large-scale crossover event at DC since Crisis on Infinite Earths, is celebrating its 30^thanniversary. It’s a timeline event, designed primarily to clean up some continuity holes left behind by “Crisis.” Some get fixed, some don’t, but it’s a fun crossover, regardless. (And of course I’m biased, because pal Dan Jurgens wrote and drew the original mini-series. A brand new 30^th anniversary special featuring a new story by Dan and Ron Marz landed on shelves last week.)

***Alfred makes his first appearance in Batman #16; He loses weight a year or so later when a thinner actor is cast in the role in the first Batman movie serial.***

John Cassaday — Masked Legends

August 27, 2024 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

The Shadow / Green Hornet: Dark Nights #1, July 2013

Nice to see two of my favorite classic characters, The Shadow and The Green Hornet together in one series, with a fantastic cover by the terrifically talented John Cassaday.

Pulps and comics — like peanut butter and jelly, yes? My dad connected many of the dots between the pulp, comics, radio and serial adventure characters for me at an early age.

I credit Jim Steranko (History of The Comics) and the nostalgia boom of the 60s and 70s for amplifying those connections.

And how about some contemporary credit to Nick Barrucci and the other talented folks at Dynamite Entertainment for (at least briefly) creating a cool “shared universe” with some of these unforgettable icons?

Fun books all around, and I know from personal experience it wasn’t easy securing all those licensing rights to make these kinds of mash-ups possible.

***Steranko’s History Of The Comics (Volume One) is probably the first place The Shadow and The Green Hornet appeared on cover — along with an amazing collection of other heroes and villains.***

***Both the Shadow and Green Hornet appeared in Movie serials. (The Hornet actually appears in two.)***

Matt Wagner — Legacy Of The Hornet

August 20, 2024 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Green Hornet Year One #7, December 2010

I had a nice selection of Matt Wagner Green Hornet covers to choose from when Matt offered them for sale. I picked this one because it featured the Hornet, Kato AND Black Beauty. (The automobile’s name for those not familiar with The Hornet’s world.)

This comic series deals with the original iteration of the Green Hornet, so the car is a 1937 Lincoln Zephyr, not a 1966 Chrysler Imperial as featured in the TV series that I adored as a kid.

But it still works for me.

***The Golden Age Green Hornet and the Silver Age Hornet — a comic book version of the short-lived TV series that only lasted three issues.***

***Possibly my favorite Hornet illustration of all time: Jim Steranko’s painted cover for the 1989 comics version for Now Comics.***

Peter Kuper — Underground Heatwave

August 15, 2024 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

The Dib, July 2022

Peter Kuper original cartoon art paying homage to Robert Crumb. From the collection of Greg Goldstein.

Peter Kuper creates a pitch perfect homage to Robert Crumb’s “Stoned Agin,” with his “Stunned Agin”, a commentary on increasingly intense heatwaves — as opposed to drug (over) use.

Kuper’s brilliant cartooning appears in the New Yorker, The New York Times, Charlie Hebdo and countless other publications. He has illustrated Mad’s “Spy vs. Spy” strip for more than 20 years. Other notable works include “Sticks and Stones,” “The System,” and his adaptation of Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis.”

“Stoned” is among Crumb’s most famous cartoons; it was a ridiculously ubiquitous poster in the 70s, and continues to be in print today, at such “alternative outlets” as Wal-mart.com. The times, they have a-changed. (Or, if as I suspect, he’s not getting his fair share of royalties, maybe they haven’t changed all that much.)