Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Mark Bagley — Hulk Vs. Hulk Vs…

Original Art and The Artists

Ultimate End #2, August 2015 and Hulk #15, June 2015

Welcome to the official day one of “12 Days of Hulk.”

Mark Bagley —- with the help of inker Andrew Hennessy — tackles two different Hulk battles in a few short months; Green Hulk vs. Red Hulk and Gray Hulk vs. Green Hulk. Both pages feature Bagley’s dynamic and imaginative storytelling skills.

I’ve seen a ton of Bagley originals during the last 15 years (One reason: he’s definitely prolific) and I have to say Hennessey’s inks are among my favorites, especially on Hulk. His bold strokes and use of blacks definitely add fierceness to the festivities.

And every time I see a page with both Green Hulk and Red Hulk on it, I always want to hum: “Red Hulk, Green Hulk, one, two, three.”

But, I digress.

Back here with day two of our ongoing Hulk tribute on Thursday.

Walter Simonson — 12 Days of Hulk

Original Art and The Artists

Rampaging Hulk Magazine #3, June 1977 and Avengers #28, September 2012

If December makes you think of red and green, then, wow do we have a month for you. (Well, to be fair, mostly green, some red, and a little gray thrown in for good measure.)

It’s “12 days of Hulk” this month — 12 all new art posts devoted to everyone’s favorite rampaging hero, who turns 60 in early 2022.

But first a flashback to the ghost of Christmas past (two years ago, to be exact) with two great Hulk pages by the legendary Walter Simonson. (With help from Alfredo Alcala on the first and Scott Hanna on the second.)

See you back here on Tuesday with a double feature courtesy of Mark Bagley.

SDCC 2021 — Deja Vu, All Over Again

Original Art and The Artists

November 26-28, 2021

The San Diego Comic Con “Special Edition” concluded yesterday, capping a three-day return of the first SDCC since July 2019. 

For me personally, it was the exact* 50th anniversary (!) of attending comic-related conventions. In 1971, a loving Aunt took me to the very first Creation convention at NYC’s New Yorker Hotel in 1971.**

I was only at that show for a few hours, wide-eyed with probably less than $5-$6 in my pocket, but I managed to score my first “key” back issue — an intact, but otherwise beat reading copy of Avengers #1 from 1963.

I nearly sold that comic book earlier this year. Once my sanity returned, I instead decided to let Captain America (and “Sylvie” Loki) keep an eye on it while I took some pictures.

That was a much better idea.

And say, where did those 50 years go?

Photos are available at the convention links here and here.

*When I say exact, I’m not kidding — 1971 has an identical calendar to 2021.

(**We had only accidentally found out about the convention the day prior while browsing through the musty and dusty stacks of assorted periodicals at the once mighty warehouse of Jay Bee Magazines.)

The program cover to the first Creation Convention — 50 years ago — and my former crazy badge collection that (sadly) only scratched the surface of my attendance as a professional.

John Romita Jr. — Does The Costume Make The Hero?

Original Art and The Artists

Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America #3, July 2007

“Classic” Hawkeye (Clint Barton) — briefly takes on the guise of Captain America, while Kate Bishop’s Hawkeye looks on disapprovingly in this terrifically moody page by John Romita Jr. (With the Patriot — Eli Bradley — in the mix for good measure.)

Confused? You might have to catch up to a few storylines to get this point including the first Young Avengers series, as well as the Civil War and Death of Captain America stories and follow-ups. Ultimately, the resolution of this story leads to some additional key plot points in Hawkeye’s modern career.

Given Kate’s star billing in the new Hawkeye series, along with the other character intros we’ve already seen in the MCU, I have a feeling we will be hearing from the entire “Young Avengers” team in the near future.

Trust me on this.

Don Heck — Pow!

Original Art and The Artists

Avengers # 33, October 1966

Hawkeye has his Television debut today, and if the show lives up to its trailer, it should be good fun.

Here we have a terrific Hawkeye page from the Silver Age Avengers, illustrated by his co-creator, Don Heck.  (This is from the period of Avengers where the majority of the team, including Hawkeye, was comprised of reformed villains. I always loved that.) The page is fun combo of action and snarky dialogue, and it completely (and unexpectedly) breaks the fourth wall in the first two panels.

As a bonus, this might be the only page I own where the sound effect is actually then classic word “Pow.” I wonder how many newspaper headlines during the years have used that sound effect as part of a headline discussing any sort of comics-related story. (“Bam! Pow! Comics are not for kids anymore!” Here’s my personal sound effect for those: Ugh.)

Hawkeye’s first appearance —as a villain — in Iron Man, followed later by his reformation and entry into the Avengers.
This 1993 photo pops up in the ether from time to time, and I may have even published it on the blog previously. Don Heck and Walter Simonson look terrific, and I look… about 12. Cool tie though.

Dan DeCarlo — Iconic (Part 3)

Original Art and The Artists

Archie’s Girls Betty and Veronica #58, October 1960, “Happy Hallucination”

Our final Dan DeCarlo entry this week is a story filled with irony, pathos and self-sacrifice… and infused with trademark humor.

Wait — that sounds like I’m in English literature class again. And even 40 years later, I’m pretty sure I’m not ready for that.

So let’s simplify: Here’s a complete DeCarlo story that’s an absolute classic. Don’t take my word for it: The full story here is included below — in original art form, and published version too.

As Rod Serling would have would have intoned in his own hallucinogenic tales on Twilight Zone at at about the same time, this complete tale is officially  “submitted for your approval.”

Happy 80th, Archie. You occasionally look very different, but definitely not much older.

“Happy Hallucination” is also featured IDW’s Dan DeCarlo collection. (Volume 4, specifically — but let’s face it, you need to own them all.)

Dan DeCarlo — Iconic (Part 2)

Original Art and The Artists

Pep #148, August 1961

One of my first DeCarlo pages is sill one of my favorites.

To say Dan infused the storytelling and character personality here with pizazz is an understatement. In fact, this page is a typical DeCarlo classic: Simple, clear, fun — and completely engaging.

The third panel (Archie’s close-up) is a classic summation of the dizzying nature of the character’s life overall, not just in this story.

I like that headshot so much I use the published version as my icon for this blog, as well as in other places too.

Dazed and confused? I’m pretty sure I can relate.

Dan DeCarlo — Iconic (Part 1)

Original Art and The Artists

Archie Giant Series #153, Original Pin-up, reworked for cover, June 1968

Archie and his gang fully hit their stride with the baby boom generation, and no one was more responsible for that than cartoonist Dan DeCarlo.

Bob Montana created the original appearance of the gang, and DeCarlo modernized it — and never stopped tweaking the appearance (he had a very keen eye for fashion) and the personalities of the beloved characters for more than forty years. 

I loved Montana’s work — I even edited a hardcover collection of Montana strips — but DeCarlo’s clear and expressive art fully imprinted on my young reading eyes in the 60s and 70s.

So… to continue Archie’s 80thcelebration, we’ll feature just the tip of the iceberg of Dan’s great work this week.

And we will start with a fun anomaly: A gag that was redesigned — and rewritten — before it morphed from a pin-up page to a full cover.

Which one works better? I think I can come up with pros and cons for each, although from a comics code perspective, it’s possible the published cover might be slightly more acceptable than the original. It’s a bit more open to the imagination as to whether Archie is painting Veronica’s shirt — or her actual body.

In the unpublished version, it’s pretty much a no-brainer.

Gray Morrow — Modern West

Original Art and The Artists

Adventure #422, August 1972

The Golden Age hero The Vigilante (Greg Sanders) returns to his own feature in The Bronze Age — albeit briefly — in a two back-up stories in Adventure Comics in 1972.

Like some other back-up features from that ran in the oversize 25-cent issues and the “supersize” 100 pagers, this material has never been reprinted. (This specific story ended up in a regular size issue after the larger format was eliminated) It’s too bad, because some of it, including this rare Gray Morrow Vigilante art is quality material.

I always thought the great Gray Morrow was stronger at illustration than storytelling but his two DC Vigilante stories showcase his talents across the board.

Vigilante started as a back-up feature in Action Comics #42 (with art by the great Mort Meskin), and finally made a rare cover appearance along with the rest of the Action gang 10 issues later.

Tim Truman — The Weird West

Original Art and The Artists

Lone Ranger and Tonto #2, September 1994

I have three personal favorite series from my days at Topps Comics:

• Dracula by Roy Thomas, Mike Mignola and John Nyberg.

• Jurassic Park by Walter Simonson, Gil Kane and George Perez.

• Lone Ranger and Tonto by Joe Lansdale,Tim Truman and Rich Maygar.

The first two have been discussed previously — here — and here.

The third has never been reprinted by any other publisher— definitely a miss, considering how much fun the series is. 

It’s definitely the Weird West, with odd characters and supernatural elements (along with a refreshing sense of humor) as only Lansdale and Truman (Jonah Hex) can envision it. 

Also, it starts off with Tonto punching Lone Ranger in the face, and revisits the Ranger cannon with a “modern” (1993) approach.

Tim gave me this great page (I guess I have a thing for nervous characters with cigars) many years later, when I casually asked him if he had any left for sale. They rarely seem to pop up. 

In other words, it’s now in the permanent collection. Permanently.

Truman’s great wraparound comer for the Topps TPB collection of the mini-series.