Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Walter Simonson — Cover Me

Original Art and The Artists

Walter Simonson’s The Mighty Thor: Artist’s Edition HC, Original Art Cover

Editor/Original Art expert Scott Dunbier brought his Artist’s Edition idea to IDW Publishing, and the rest as they say, is history. In 2011, Walter Simonson’s groundbreaking Thor run became the very first of the many Marvel Artist’s Editions in this extraordinary series. (And the second IDW Artist’s Edition overall, following Dave Stevens’ Rocketeer the year prior.)

Scott also had the wild idea to do actual original art covers of these original art reprint books on a super-limited basis, and Walter went along with it. These are not “sketch” covers, but rather very nicely detailed individual pencil and ink full-figure drawings of Thor done on blank cover variants. Walter only did about 10 of these — 15 at the most.

The only drawback — I can’t think of any way to frame it. (It’s also the heaviest piece of original art I own. Artist’s Editions are not light, but that is definitely the textbook definition of a first world problem…)

John Buscema — Going Underground

Original Art and The Artists

Fantastic Four 128, November 1972

This cool page is from a two-part story that features most of the “underground” characters from the Marvel Universe at that time in a super-villain soap opera (seriously): Mole Man, Tyrannus and Kala, Queen of the Netherworld — her only previous appearance was Tales of Suspense 43! 

Here we get The Mole Man and his villainous accomplices defeating the full FF — all the characters are on this page.

I have a soft spot for ‘ol Moley since he was the first Marvel “villain” (FF #1) but, face it, overall he’s pretty lame, and his appearances were relatively limited at this point. As the Marvel Universe became more expansive, the subterranean “inner space” characters logically took a backseat to the far more interesting cosmic entities that reside in the MU.

I also have a soft spot for the six-panel page where the panels are vertical, rather than square. Overall, it’s a much more dramatic look, and much less common than other layouts. (At least at that point.) All in all, a nice Buscema FF page from his great run, and once again, terrific inks by Joe Sinnott.

John Buscema — Keep the Lights On!

Original Art and The Artists

Thor # 238, August 1975

John Buscema is famously quoted as saying that when Jack Kirby left Marvel in 1970, he was surprised they didn’t close the doors.

You can quote me —

John Buscema is one of the top artistic reasons they didn’t have to. 

Taking over, nearly seamlessly, for Jack on both Thor and Fantastic Four for about seven years on the former, three years on the latter (with just a few gaps) Buscema kept Jack’s cosmic spirit alive on those series. He didn’t draw like Kirby — he didn’t have to. He had his own artistic voice, which had by then defined the Marvel “House Style.” And this from a guy who also famously didn’t like superheroes!

This Thor “chapter page” has everything you would want: Badass Buscema action and Thor in every panel, with inks by the legendary Joe Sinnott.

Thoom on!

Mark Bagley — Green Energy = Clean Energy?

Original Art and The Artists

Justice League of America #43 (2006 Series), May 2010

The super-talented Mark Bagley has only spent three years (so far, at least) of his 30-year career at DC. But during that tenure, he worked on the weekly Trinity book as well as JLA/JSA, so he drew many of the DCU’s mainstay characters — some with multiple versions. On this great splash page, we see Alan Scott, the Green Lantern of Earth 2 having a power surge issue. (With terrific inks by Norm Rapmund, and ultimately when printed, great colors by Pete Pantazis.) I love the “camera angle” that Mark chose, enhancing the drama.

Earth 2, Earth 3, Earth Prime, Earth 616, whatever. Bring them on. I’ve been fascinated by the multiverse concept ever since I purchased my first JSA/JLA crossover annual event off the racks in the summer of 1967. Even when it gets confusing, I’m still a fan.

And while we are at it, bring back Fringe, too.

  • This started my journey down the rabbit hole…
  • …and I’m still down there…

Kevin Altieri — Happy New Year!

Original Art and The Artists

Batman Adventures Holiday Special #1, January 1995

This is a terrific three-page Batman / Joker sequence from the amazing Batman Animated team: Story by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm, art by Kevin Altieri. Kevin is primarily known for his role as an award-winning director and storyboard artist for Batman and other animated series. As such, Kevin’s done little actual comic book work. As this sequence clearly illustrates, that’s a shame.

Kevin Altieri:

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0022828/

Charlie Adlard — The Truth is…

Original Art and The Artists
X-Files #12, Topps Comics, January 1996

Sometimes, you like a page… just because.

Because of the theme? Because of the composition? Because of the way the artist uses design to contrast light and darkness? Because you have a special fondness for the comic book series? All of that? Something completely different?

I think this X-files page appeals to me for all of the reasons above and more. Obviously not what collectors typically think of when they think of a cool splash page. (Among its many quirks, you can’t see the characters’ faces.) But for me, something about this just works.

I’ve always loved science fiction and unexplained phenomena and the X-Files was a great combination of the two   And I consider myself fortunate to have published the franchise twice: Once at Topps Comics during the show’s first-run heyday, and then 20 years later at IDW Publishing, where I remain convinced that our comics drove the renewed interest in the franchise.

The truth about Charlie Adlard? Charlie helped make the Walking Dead into one of the most important comics of the last 20 years. And Walking Dead, in turn, helped Charlie achieve the star status he deserves as a brilliant artist and storyteller. And I couldn’t be more pleased (and not at all surprised) about his success.

Mike Allred — We’ll Always Have Paris!

Original Art and The Artists
X-Statix 24 Unpublished Cover
X-Statix 24 Published Cover

Dissecting unpublished vs. published covers is a fun activity, especially if you can’t find someone who knows specifically why a change was made, which leads to amusing speculation. (And I have forgotten to ask Mike on two different occasions. Sigh.)

In the case of these Allred X-Statix covers, logic dictates that the main reason to change here was necessary to match Iron Man’s costume in the series. That said, it’s interesting that quite a bit more was also changed in the final version. The IM figure in the published cover is much more prominent in the foreground of course, and, changing the Paris landmark from Arc de Triomphe to The Eiffel Tower fascinates me.

I acquired these covers separately, and a few years apart, but I remember the first time I saw the unpublished version at a quick glance I assumed the Arch was actually the well known Washington Square Arch in New York City which, although much smaller, is actually based on the Arc de Triomphe. (This piece of information has sent me down the Wikipedia rabbit hole — but I digress.) 

Avengers… New York…. Makes sense, right? Except when I actually had the piece in hand, I realized that not only is the Arc de Triomphe very nicely photo referenced, it includes tiny-silhouetted figures for some scale. Definitely Paris.

But that couldn’t be the reason for the additional change? Could it? No one said, “The Eiffel Tower is more recognizable as Paris” did they?…. Would they?…

Regardless, I like some elements’ of both covers, but if I had my pick, I prefer the unpublished version. That might be the “wrong” Iron Man costume, but the retro feel is cooler, especially in Allred’s distinctive style. And overall, the inks are more appealing to me in the unpublished version.

Oh well  — c’est la vie!

Mike Allred — Assemble!

Original Art and The Artists

X-Statix 21 (June 2004)

X-Statix #21, 2004

Mike’s unique take on Peter Milligan’s X-Statix series was quirky and great fun — as you would expect it be. Late in the series — but before anyone could even conceive of a cinematic “MCU” — he added his version of the classic Avengers into the mix. In this iconic splash page (It’s now available as a poster) if you replace Scarlet Witch with either Black Widow or Hulk, you pretty much have the main cast of Endgame. Assembled indeed! 

  • Published Page
  • Published Poster

Neal Adams — Chonk!

Original Art and The Artists

Deadman in Strange Adventures #210

Art pages from the short-lived (but amazingly wonderful) Deadman series in Strange Adventures are often at odds with more traditional superhero series. Deadman — aka Boston Brand — is given the power to possess any living being in order to track down his killer. Which means Adams (and others) needed to draw many pages of Deadman “inhabiting” the body of an unwitting civilian. Therefore the character is often at the heart of the action sans costume.

This is one of those pages, and it’s a great one. Four dynamic panels —each a slightly different size — of a straight out slugfest. (Deadman is typically identified with a little aura around his civilian host —he’s the short-haired fellow without the moustache, getting his face smashed the first panel. And wow, when Deadman exits, that fellow is going to wake up very confused…)