Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

John Byrne — Riddle Me This

Original Art and The Artists

Batman 3D Graphic Novel, May 1990

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?

If that doesn’t make a few nickels, nothing will.

Enrique Alcatena — Haunting Homage

Original Art and The Artists

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.

  • Original homage by Adams
  • Neal adams homage to… Neal Adams
  • Matt Wagner
  • Tony Harris
  • Klaus Janson
  • Freddie Williams III
  • Michael Cho
  • Joe DeVito
  • Frank Quietly
  • Recreation by Murphy Anderson
  • Brian Stelfreeze
  • Commission — Unpublished
    by Marc Hempel
  • Commission — Unpublished
    by Sheldon Moldoff
  • Commission — Unpublished
    by Kelly Jones
  • Commission — Unpublished
    by Dave Devries
  • Anniversary Litho by Tim Doyle

And a few from non-Batman titles…

Tim Sale — “Mrrow!”

Original Art and The Artists

Batman: The Long Halloween, #6, June 1997 

Wait.

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.)

Mike Mignola — On The Road To Hellboy

Original Art and The Artists

Bram Stoker’s Dracula, #3, December 1992


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
  • First full issue of Hellboy,
    March 1994

Jack Kirby — The Devil You Say

Original Art and The Artists

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.

Gabriel Hardman — Like A Demon

Original Art and The Artists

Cursed Comics Cavalcade #1, October 2018

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.



Greg Hildebrandt — “Monsters, Girls and Rockets”

Original Art and The Artists

War of the Worlds Poster, Preliminary Concept, 2019

Continuing a two-week series celebrating Halloween with the best in monsters, mystery and mayhem.

Greg Hildebrandt turned 80-years old this year, and from his creative output, enthusiasm, and energy, you would absolutely not know it. He can run circles around many creators half his age. 

Any age, actually.

Greg’s striking painted covers for Marvel Comics, and his retro-but-contemporary American Beauties pin-up series are just a few examples among the many recent works that prove the point – with an exclamation mark. One of the world’s best-known and accomplished fantasy artists continues to dazzle.

Among the many, many projects he is developing involves film posters. Greg is taking horror and SF movie classics he loves, and reimagining their posters as if he had painted them in the first place. War of the Worlds (1953) is one of those, and this piece is one rough concept (color pencils) for his painted version, date TBD.

And of course, Greg knows a few things about movie posters. He and his late brother Tim painted one of the most iconic posters in movie history — The “B” Poster for Star Wars. (Greg reimagined that poster solo last year.) More on that next month.

I had the good fortune to spend time with Greg at NYCC and Baltimore Comic Con this year and he anecdotally summed up his amazing career: 

“As an eight-year old, I loved to draw monsters, girls and rockets — and I still do.”

Sing along with Warren Zevon’s “Lawyers, Guns and Money” and swap out the words.  You may never get that earworm out of your head.

  • !953 Original Poster
  • 1954 Original Poster
  • Hildebrandt Reimagination

Footnote: Ok, so I know that the reimagining of a classic film poster is not actually original comic book art, but War of The Worlds has a solid legacy in comics ...

Footnote Extra: War of The Worlds will be forever linked with Halloween — On October 31,1938 Orson Welles broadcast a live radio dramatization, treating the HG Wells classic as a breaking news story out of New Jersey. It scared the daylights out of radio listeners, especially New York metro area residents. Fake news for real.

Greg Goldstein, Greg Hildebrandt, Bob Budiansky, Jean Scrocco at New York Comic Con

Baltimore 2019 — Quite A Run

Original Art and The Artists

Baltimore Comic-Con wrapped Sunday, and once again I’m reminded why I enjoy this show so much: The focus is nearly 100 percent on comics and directly related product. Fans are enthusiastic, cosplay is imaginative. Crowds are manageable, even at peak times. Top creators who don’t do many conventions can often be found at this one, engaging with their fans — and each other. Staff is friendly and organized. It’s old school done well.

(Even with the Baltimore Marathon creating some logistical havoc on Saturday, as far as I could see, everything ran as smoothly as possible.)

I’ve posted some photo highlights below, and the entire group of pics can be found on the BCC page here. It’s an all-star line-up of accomplished creators and some clever cosplay.

See you in 2020!

Gene Colan & Tom Palmer — Shadows and Light

Original Art and The Artists

Tomb of Dracula #54, March 1976

Continuing a two-week series celebrating Halloween with the best in monsters, mystery and mayhem.

The monsters returned to Marvel in 1972. 

But this time, the giant behemoths were mostly relegated to reprint titles. Thanks to a loosening of guidelines by the dreaded Comics Code Authority, new comics featured creatures of the night like werewolves, zombies and of course, vampires.

Marvel’s Tomb of Dracula, written by Marv Wolfman (you can’t make that up) and drawn exquisitely by Gene Colan for 70 issues, is a masterpiece of that era. And, it’s not only a legendary horror series, but also one of the great comic book runs, period.

Colan, the “painter with a pencil, “ made his bones at Marvel on classic superheroes like Iron Man, Captain America, and most notably Daredevil. When Marvel expanded into the horror genre, though, no artist could have been more suited to bring life to the undead Dracula. 

The stylist who had mastered the art of shadows and light, was now illustrating the character who hid in those very same shadows.

This moody and dynamic action page is typical of the series. Tom Palmer, who inked all but a handful of early issues, is one of the few who could ink Colan without diminishing — or (ahem) burying altogether — Gene’s pencils.

Colan’s unique style can be polarizing. His fans (and I obviously count myself among them) can be passionate to a fault about Gene’s inventive and atmospheric storytelling. Gene’s singular artistic approach made no attempt to mimic the styles of Marvel’s other star artists, and that represented a challenge to some readers, especially on superhero stories.

But to us, it didn’t detract, or distract, from what Kirby, Romita and Buscema brought to the party. Hell, they were the party. Stan Lee understood from the beginning that Gene’s art would stand on its own. And we appreciated that.

It’s like being an obsessive devotee of art impressionism, and also an enthusiast of Picasso’s cubism. It’s not a contradiction to enjoy both — is it?

Eric Powell — Monster Mash

Original Art and The Artists

Marvel Monsters: Where Monsters Dwell #1, December, 2005

Continuing a two-week series celebrating Halloween with the best in monsters, mystery and mayhem.

Marvel Comics has only recently fully embraced its monstrous heritage; giant creature stories that dominated its publishing line just prior to the “Marvel Age of Comics.” 

When it came to oversized behemoths (home grown or alien) terrorizing Earth’s inhabitants, no one could hold a candle to these giant-size oddballs from 1959 -1963. 

And I do mean odd: Oog, Orrgo, Ulvar, Rombu, Rorrg, Goom —and his offspring Googam (I kid you not) — are only a few of the dozens of beasts, lizards, robots, and aliens that walked the earth. (And of course, our pal Groot from Guardians Galaxy was originally a planet-wrecking alien conqueror way back in 1960.)

Obviously inspired by the pop culture of the day (Godzilla, et al) Stan Lee, along with co- creators Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Dick Ayers Larry Lieber and others, took a monster-sized football and ran with it. 

Eric Powell created all four covers for this series of modern one-shots in 2005, plus he provided interior art for the Devil Dinosaur issue. I’ve shared my thoughts about Eric previously. The creator of the Goon is a terrific talent, and his art style blends reverence and satire perfectly on these covers.

The Where Monsters Dwell issue specifically features three main characters: Bombu, Monstrollo and Manoo. The covers of their original appearances, along with Eric’s three other covers, are shown below.