Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Ric Estrada — Of Blood And Roses

Original Art and The Artists

Unknown Soldier #220, October 1978

Ric Estrada channels legendary artist Alex Toth in this short story about the Boer War. 

Estrada had previously worked with, and channeled Toth on a short-lived Hot Wheels series from DC in 1970. In fact, his style was so similar, that an original page from one of those stories was misidentified as Toth at least twice.

So no surprise that this story also feels like a “Toth.” The lettering (un-credited) definitely adds to the style.

Estrada, of course, was a talent in his own right (and under-appreciated by many) and an excellent storyteller.  He didn’t enjoy drawing super hero stories, and that may have impacted his “brand.” 

When he did draw capes and tights, his storytelling was typically creative and dynamic. His layouts are a terrific fit with Wood Inks on All-Star Squadron. His layout choices appear more inventive and less stiff than Woody’s. 

What? Heresy you say? Read those AS issues again and compare pages — Wood’s layouts vs. Estrada’s. 

I’ll wait.

(Author’s note — Wood is one of the all time greats, and one of my absolute personal favorites. In this specific case, I’m just calling it the way I see it.)

The published title page for the story, and an unpublished pin-up tribute to Toth.

Howard Chaykin — The Angel

Original Art and The Artists

Sgt. Rock Special #2, December 1994

DC salutes the 50th anniversary Battle of the Bulge (the final major German offensive of WW II; spoiler alert —they lost) with this clever 1994 one-shot of short stories.

Howard Chaykin is firing on all cylinders in comics during this period and this story, written by Chuck Dixon, features top-notch draftsmanship and storytelling. Much of the actual Battle of the Bulge is indeed fought in snowy, cold weather, and Chaykin’s use of whiteout over ink is extremely effective, and especially clear in the original art.

It’s extremely cinematic — exactly the way any comic book story about The Battle of the Bulge should be. Or, actually, any World War II story. 

Or any war tale, for that matter.

I don’t own many complete stories, but very happy to have acquired the story from Howard himself. For a change, I was in the right place at the right time.

“Howard Chaykin — The Angel.”  This kind of headline practically writes itself.

The entire story, reprinted here for the first time anywhere, I believe. DC, please be kind.

Ken Barr — Mine Eyes Have Seen…

Original Art and The Artists

Star Spangled War Stories #169, April 1973

The late Ken Barr was a terrific painter. I’ve been fond of his work since his eye-popping Marvel Magazine covers jumped out at me from among the two gazillion mag titles at a typical newsstand.

Barr, Scottish, broke in professionally with art in British war comics. I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to find an example of his pen and ink style that appeared in DC’s war stories, before his painted work became his primary focus.

Barr’s Wikipedia entry is sorely lacking, but fan Tim Janson provided a nice overview in his Amazon review of a small book collection of Barr’s paintings:

“Barr got his start in the early 60’s doing covers for British war comics such as Commando before coming over to the United States in 1966. Barr first came to notoriety with his work for Warren Publications on titles such as Creepy and Eerie. Over the next thirty-five plus years Barr would go on to work for both Marvel and DC Comics, do movie posters, book covers, trading card series, and even a collectible plate series for the Danbury Mint.”

You can also find a detailed tribute here, with links to other sources as well.

Fans loved Barr’s stunning comic, SF, and fantasy paintings. (I must confess that I like the prelim version of both the woman and the Hulk better than the finish.)
Some of Barr’s killer (pun intended, of course) cover paintings for the British mag Commando.

Dick Ayers (w/Joe Kubert) — One-Armed Soldier

Original Art and The Artists

Sgt. Rock #348, January 1981

When I acquired this great looking page years back, I remarked (to no one in particular): “Gee, who knew Dick Ayers could draw like Joe Kubert?”

Duh. Thanks to the amazing Grand Comics Database (GCD), and an interview with inker Ron Randall, I find out that there’s an excellent reason for the look and feel of the draftsmanship: Kubert drew some of the art as well. (And Ron is a graduate of the Kubert School.)

Official credits in the printed issue belong Ayers and Randall, inker, but given the many retouches and corrections on the page (and likely throughout the entire story) it should have been a bit more obvious to me that Joe had a hand in the art. From the Randall interview:

“My first comics work was a few short stories in the back of the old Sgt. Rock. Many, many years ago. What I most remember was the rare and priceless opportunity to work one-on-one with Joe Kubert himself as he took me through the steps of layouts, pencils and inks on these short tales. It was getting personal attention from a master. And the lessons I learned from those jobs have shaped my views on comics and storytelling to this day.” — Ron Randall

I’ve seen Ron at quite a few conventions over the years, so when cons come back, I can potentially put the rest of the puzzle pieces of this particular story together. (Like how Dick Ayers actually fits into this.) If Ron remembers, that is. 

(I know I seem remember things from 40 years ago. I just can’t remember what I had for lunch yesterday.)

Ayers was a mainstay on Marvel’s war titles, including a 10-year run on Sgt.Fury.

Joe Kubert — DC At War

Original Art and The Artists

Sgt. Rock #14, July 1991

The legendary Joe Kubert “borrows” from himself to create an iconic cover image; one of the very few to feature both Sgt. Rock and Enemy Ace together.

It’s a beautifully rendered cover, and one my personal favorites.

Kubert’s covers graced so many DC war comics from the 60s through the 90s that occasionally seeing one from another artist is just… incongruous.

And as artist, editor and Publications Director, Kubert’s storytelling insight and eye for talent ensured that many of the interiors were terrific as well.

Ahead of Memorial Day later this month, we’re featuring a number of great pieces of art from DC’s war genre by some truly talented creators.

Stay tuned.

Revisiting an iconic image to craft a new one, more than 20 years later. Check the eyes on both the original cover and the homage.
Sgt. Rock and Enemy Ace make their first appearances years apart in The Silver Age, and DC and IDW create two beautiful original art collections 50 years later.

John Byrne — WandaVision

Original Art and The Artists

West Coast Avengers #42, March 1989

John Byrne takes over The West Coast Avengers with a storyline entitled “Vision Quest.” The Vision is missing — the government is secretly reverse engineering him — and when it’s all done, we witness the introduction of the “White Vision.”

Sound familiar? Many of these ideas and threads (and of course many, many others) appear in Disney’s WandaVision.

Byrne makes the visual most of an exposition page here. (The dreaded “talking heads” scenario.) Nearly all of the Avengers are represented, and John uses multiple angles (medium vs. close-up shots) and characters’ points of view to keep the page visually interseting.

Nice detailed inks from Mike Machlan, who used a very fine line — much easier to discern in the original art than in the printed page.

I don’t recall how often we caught a glimpse of the full exterior of the West Coast headquarters, but it reminds me of a Santa Monica luxury hotel. 

California Dreamin,’ indeed.

Yes, there’s a Damn problem!
Can’t imagine that the entire comics-loving’ world hasn’t already seen this, but just in case…

George Perez — Infinity… And Beyond

Original Art and The Artists

Infinity Gauntlet #3, September 1991

George Perez delivers what George Perez does best: Multiple characters with terrific detail, and imaginative “camera angles” on this great page from the original Infinity Gauntlet mini-series.

It’s almost impossible to believe that this week marks the 2-year anniversary of Avengers Endgame, which wrapped up the Gauntlet saga, and the “early” phases of the MCU. Except for the December 2019 Spider-Man: Far from Home flick (which although in the greater MCU, is a SONY production) no Marvel films in two years just seems… wrong. Thanks, pandemic.

The good news is that we’ve had two quality TV series in recent months, with another one launching in a month.  And if my math is correct, because of delays and rescheduling, there are four Marvel films to debut this year, and four more scheduled for next year.

Whew.

The bad news — if there is any — is that Marvel is setting up so many potential storylines at this point that we are going to have to keep a character encyclopedia and Gantt chart with us at all times.

Dark Avengers?

Thunderbolts?

Young Avengers?

House of M?

Kree Skrull War?

Secret Invasion?

A Multiverse thread in both Spider-Man and Doctor Strange, at a minimum.

Plus, Kang as the next “big bad?”

Like I said… whew.

It’s one thing to accomplish all of this in 80 or so monthly comic books. It’s another to do it in filmed media. But if anyone can, I think Marvel and Disney might pull it off.

Fasten your seat belts…

Despite the comics inclusion of many characters that are not in the MCU version of Infinity Gauntlet / Endgame, this Perez page does highlight three of the films’ most important heroes: Iron Man, Captain America and Spider-Man.

Dale Keown — Hulk Vs… Pitt

Original Art and The Artists

Hulk / Pitt #1, December 1996

Concluding our series on Hulk vs.… The Universe.

Hulk vs. Pitt? I love this idea. 

Not so much because it feels like a reasonable balanced match-up. (Although it does, with Pitt likely the tougher combatant.)

More so because Dale Keown made his bones with a terrific version of the Hulk on writer Peter David’s long run in the very early 90s, and then went off and created Pitt as his own character and title for Image Comics.

So Hulk vs. Pitt is actually… Dale Keown vs. Dale Keown. 

On this page, the Hulk and Pitt beat the living daylights out of each other. Knockdown, drag ‘em out close-in battling, executed by a pro. (With lovely detailed finishes by the versatile and talented Dan Panosian.)

I would love to see more regular comics work by Keown, but, based on his total output the last 20 years, I have a feeling that’s not in the cards.

I would love to be wrong.

Dale’s first cover for Incredible Hulk, followed by the published version and original art for Pitt #1.

Steve Rude — Hulk Vs… Superman

Original Art and The Artists

Incredible Hulk vs. Superman, July 1999

Steve Rude delivers a terrific action page of Superman vs. Hulk, as we continue to pay tribute to Hulk vs. heroes in other universes this week.

Superman vs. Hulk seems quite a bit more logical than Batman vs. Hulk.  Theoretically, Superman would ultimately win, but at least he would be winded.

And come to think of it, Golden Age Superman, as originally conceived by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, might still win, but it would be pretty close to a draw.

Early Silver Age Superman, who could move planets around, not so much.

Rude, who worships at the alter of Jack Kirby, and shows reverence for Shuster’s Superman as well, is the perfect artist to illustrate this pairing.

And Granny’s expression in the middle panel? Nothing like a bit of offbeat humor to lighten the mood of a titanic fight, albeit very briefly.

Rude is perfect for that, as well.

Technology gets better (and less expensive), and fans apply their creativity accordingly.

José García-López — Hulk Vs… Batman

Original Art and The Artists

DC Special Series #27, September 1981

Late April is the time of year when we are typically revved up and ready for the upcoming summer movie blockbuster season. 

Definitely not this year. June perhaps? (Fingers crossed, and all that.)

So here at the blog this week, we present the big blockbusters you will never see on the big screen anyway — crossovers featuring the Incredible Hulk with characters from other universes, starting with…

…Hulk vs. Batman. 

This was the second character crossover between Marvel and DC, following the successful pairings of Spider-man and Superman a few years prior. At the time Superman was DC”s most important and recognizable character worldwide, so despite the power inequity, that original pairing made commercial sense. Of course, Batman vs. Spider-man is a fairer fight.

And Hulk vs. Superman? That seems fairer — More on that later.

Meanwhile, despite the improbability of the match-up, Jose Garcia Lopez presents a master class in comic book storytelling in 48 pages.

It’s an astonishing piece of work, by an artist’s artist. Both visual imagination and draftsmanship are superb here. Many of the pages are top of class, and very few are anything less than terrific.

I prefer Lopez inking himself, but Giordano does a terrific job, and despite the mismatch of powers, it’s a fun ride. 

But seriously, Batman “vs.” Hulk? (Eventually, of course, as illustrated here, they team up.) It may have been a fun ride, but realistically, it should have been a very short one.