Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Steve Ditko — Beware The Creeper (& DC’s Publishing Strategy)

Original Art and The Artists

Beware The Creeper #3, October 1968

Here’s a great Beware The Creeper page from issue #3. The Creeper (Jack Ryder) in every panel with classic Steve Ditko action and composition.

The Creeper was Ditko’s first superhero work for DC— just ahead of Hawk and Dove —and even as a kid, I recognized its offbeat genius. I had already admired Ditko’s talents from the Spider-Man reprints in Marvel Tales, and also in his Charlton work on Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, and The Question. 

But this quirky title definitely found a sweet spot for me.

In the late 60s, DC didn’t stick with any title that didn’t find an immediate audience — so naturally, it only lasted six issues. 

Sigh. 

Funny thing about this specific art page: If I recall correctly, I almost owned it about a dozen years ago in a purchase/trade that went south at the last minute.

Second time is a charm, I guess. Better late than never. (Two cliches for the price of one!)

As for DC’s publishing strategy:

I’m sure someone has compiled a comprehensive list of all the titles that DC launched in the late 1960s and early 70s and lasted less than a dozen issues.

Without thinking too hard, I came up with these:

The Spectre; Secret Six; Inferior 5; Anthro; Brother Power The Geek; Plastic Man; Hawk and Dove and Angel and The Ape.  (Not to mention Jacky Kirby’s New Gods and Forever People, et al.) And, if you include licensed books, add in Captain Action and Hot Wheels.

That was a lot of work for few, if any, meaningful results.

Good thing the Superman and Batman titles were money machines.

Joe Kubert — Sure Shot

Original Art and The Artists

Our Army At War #145, August 1964

Joe Kubert likely drew more pages of war combat than any other artist in the history of comics.

And you would be hard-pressed to find any of his covers or stories that glorified combat.

Gritty? Yes. Realistic? Absolutely. Action-oriented? Of course. Suspenseful? Nearly every time.

But Kubert’s stories — typically collaborating with writer Bob Kanigher — focused on the horrors and tragedies of war. And his distinctive, roughhewn art, was a perfect fit for the genre.

If anyone created a “War Artists Hall of Fame” the inaugural class would likely feature Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Davis, Wallace Wood, and Russ Heath. 

And Kubert should absolutely be at the top of that list.

Happy Veteran’s Day, 2025. 

Today sees the arrival of a new reprint series: DC Finest — War, The Big Five Arrive, joining others that include the DC War Artist’s Edition a much earlier reprint, America at War. All four volumes of a DC archive collection reprinting Sgt. Rock are long out of print, and naturally, much sought after.

Kyle Baker — Take Hulk Out OF The Ballgame

Original Art and The Artists

Damage Control III, #1, June 1991

Damage Control is such a fun high concept; Someone needs to clean up after a big hero and villain melee lays waste to parts of a city. Why not a murky government agency with an apparently unlimited budget? The idea so good in fact, that it’s been well incorporated into the MCU, albeit with some changes along the away. 

Kyle Baker drew (pencils and inks) the final mini-series of the original three, and his art style was a perfect fit for the quirky, humorous nature of the stories.

And the things you learn from comics: Turns out the Incredible Hulk is a Yankees fan.

The Yankees should sign him up. He’s probably the only one who could consistently give Shohei Ohtani a run for his money as the most extraordinarily dominant player in the Major Leagues.

Then again, maybe not. For all we know, Otani is a mutant. Or an alien. He’s definitely other-worldly.

Fun fact: About 25 years ago, just as realistic “destructible environments” became reality in videogames, TQ Jefferson and I passionately tried to convince our colleagues at Activision that Damage Control would be a perfectly fun way to incorporate as many Marvel characters into one game as possible. 

Alas, executive management thought we were bonkers — a story for another day.

Drew Friedman — Mars Attacks, Live, On Film

Original Art and The Artists

Cover, Mars Attacks #3, 1994 & Trading Card, Mars Attacks Archives, 1994

Wallace Wood. Norm Saunders. Robert Crumb. Basil Wolverton. Jack Davis. Art Spiegelman. Bill Griffith. Gil Kane. Jay Lynch. John Pound. Bob Powell. Tom Sutton. Bhob Stewart.

Topps (staff and freelance alike) artistic line-up of the late 20th century reads like an unbeatable all-star team of talent. (And that’s not even close to a complete list.)

The list of course also includes the incomprable Drew Friedman, who among other assignments, drew the hilarious Toxic High trading card series for Topps, using his trademark stipple effect.

I’ve been looking for a good Friedman original and found this great cover completely by accident browsing in a flat file at Scott Eder’s gallery in New Jersey.  It became a must -have. Scott loves it as well, so it took some heavy duty haggling to pry it away.  But…I published the damn thing, so it must have been fate. Like I said, a “must-have.”

I believe this Mars Attacks cover is the only comic book cover Drew created for us. 

Hey Scott, find out if the Hollywood mogul is based on an actual person. 

I’ll keep it between us.

(Happy Halloween, everyone!)

In addition to the comic book cover, we included Drew’s art on a trading card — part of a series of new images that were included in the 1994 Mars Attacks Archives set.

Jack Davis — Stage Fright

Original Art and The Artists

Tales From The Crypt #27, December 1951

I love dynamic panel pages like this from Tales From The Crypt and EC’s other horror titles: Dark, foreboding, and yes, murderous — but without the gore. More film noir than horror, Jack Davis once again crafts the dramatic scene with a terrific balance of shadows and light.

Since I can remember, the prolific Davis has been one of my favorite artists, and he should absolutely be on any list of best commercial illustrators of the 2nd half of the 20th Century.

Side note: As one of EC’s youngest artists, he hadn’t quite turned 27 years old when he drew this. 

EC’s creators discuss the legendary Jack Davis for his profile in the 1972 EC fan convention. Art by Marie Severin.

New York State Of Mind, 2025 (Part 2 Of 2)

Original Art and The Artists

New York Comic-Con, October 9-12, 2025

Some more fun pics from this year’s NYCC…

Photo of Roy Thomas And Greg L Goldstein at New York Comic-Con, 2025

I didn’t see half the people I wanted to see, But I was very happy to run into (rascally)Roy Thomas who I’ve known as a fan, professional and colleague the last 50 years or so, give or take. Random fun fact: About 30 years ago, Roy, Len Brown, Jim Salicrup and I went in a Topps chauffeured-driven car to grab hot dogs at Nathans in Coney Island.

Another fun fact: Nearly all of the buildings outside the convention center in the pic on the right existed 10 years ago. In some places, that’s an entire city. In New York, it’s a neighborhood.

Seth — Friday Night Frights

Original Art and The Artists

The Funny Pages, The New York Times, October 8, 2006

Here’s a terrific page from the terrific Seth (Gregory Gallant) — and an unlikely source for “indie creators:” The New York Times. 

The Times briefly ran weekly comic strips from Seth and other similar storytellers in its Sunday Magazine nearly twenty years ago.

The serialization of Seth’s strips ultimately led to a complete graphic novel: George Sprott: (1894–1975), a biography of a fictional Canadian TV personality.

The large-format originals that appeared in the Times are in glorious black and white. To flesh the story out for the graphic novel, Seth created some beautiful duo-tone color pages book too, and I’m fortunate to own one of those as well.

I’ve said it before: Seth is one of the most underrated indie artists of his generation. His beautifully clean art and his quiet, methodical storytelling (along with a wry sense of humor) are absolutely delightful.

Pro tip: Seek out the hardcover (left) as opposed to the softcover (both technically out of print, but still plentiful) because the much larger trim size is more effective for Seth’s storytelling style utilizing smaller panels.

Wallace Wood — Creature Feature

Original Art and The Artists

House of Mystery #251, April 1977

Dear DC:

Please collect all the random and misc. (and typically GREAT) stories from the legendary Wallace Wood in one place — omnibus, compendium, DC Finest, whatever. I’m constantly discovering “new” storiesI’ve missed like this one, aptly titled “The Collector.” (Pencils and inks by Woody, blueline breakdowns by Al Sirois.) Reprinted only once, 40 years ago, in a cheapie digest.

Woody deserves better treatment.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Yr. Pal,

Greg

PS That middle panel page is such a great throwback to Woody’s classic EC days, isn’t it? The coloring doesn’t quite do it justice.

Paul Smith — A Bat, A Gargoyle & A Trope

Original Art and The Artists

Batman Commission, 2018

Did Neal Adams create the “Batman perched on a building gargoyle” trope?

In my mind’s eye, I was a positive I had seen a golden age illustration of the caped crusader on a stone carving — but when I scanned through the Batman and Detective covers through the decades, these early bronze age beauties were the first two examples I found: Batman in May 1970, Detective in May 1971, both by Neal. I guess he liked it enough the first time to revisit it exactly a year later.

Of course, since then, it’s been done countless times — including this 2018 commission from the great Paul Smith. (Striking colors below by Frank Cuonzo.) 

And maybe because I’ve seen the image so many different times, I’ve convinced myself it existed earlier. 

If someone has reference on earlier piece of Batman gargoyle art, I’d love to see it.