Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Tag: Acclaim Entertainment

SDCC 2023 — See You There?

Original Art and The Artists

I’ll be attending the convention all four (five, really) days this week. As always, feel free to reach out — or track me down primarily in the original art pavilion.

Plus, I’m appearing on two panels:

Games: Pioneers of 1990s Gaming Animation

As advancements in computer animation technology take video game development to ever-more impressive heights, ASIFA-Hollywood will look back at the early days with these pioneers of video game animation. Actor and writer John Omohundro (Bravest Warriors, Tokyo Revengers) will go back in time with Kevin VanHook(Bloodshot, Valiant Comics), Greg L. Goldstein (CEO, Four Color Arts, formerly Activision, Acclaim, IDW Publishing), E. Daniel Arey (Creative Director at Niantic, VisionArey Entertainment), and other animators and game developers to explore the challenges and celebrate the accomplishments of classic video games, such as “Myst” and “Turok: Dinosaur Hunter.”

Friday, 7/21/23, 4:30PM – 5:30PM, Room 24ABC

Nothing Topps Dinosaurs Attack! Cards

In 1988 Topps released a dinosaur-themed card series that sacrificed scientific accuracy for over-the-top action, violence, and gore. Fans of B-movies and dinosaurs were never the same! Series creator Gary Gerani (writer, film historian), Greg Goldstein (IDW Publishing, Topps), and Matt Corrigan (the Launchpad Podcast) discuss their favorite cards from this memorable set while Dr. Ashley Poust (paleontologist for San Diego Natural History Museum) separates fact from fiction. Matt and Greg will also show off original art produced for the series 35 years ago!

Saturday 7/22/23 7:30pm – 8:30pm Room 29CD

Lots of friends and colleagues appearing throughout the convention, but I would like to specifically point out that my pal Beau Smith is a Comic-Con Special Guest this year. His spotlight panel on Sunday, hosted by another pal, Ted Adams, is must-attend event!

https://comiccon2023.sched.com/speaker/beau_smith.25cg2ffi

Bob Hall — Bat Noir

Original Art and The Artists

Batman: DOA, December 1999

September 18 was DC’s annual  “Batman Day.” Although not exactly a national holiday, DC and Warner have used the occasion to commemorate the caped crusader and launch and market new products around the event.

So, as in the past two years, we continue to honor the celebration with the rest of the month’s posts devoted to The Dark Knight….

Bob Hall launches the new Millennium with a pretty cool Batman graphic Novel, Batman DOA.

Infected with a lethal virus unleashed by the deadly trio of Joker, Penguin and Two-Face, the rapidly deteriorating Batman has only 24 hours left to live… precious little time (as they say) to find a cure andrescue a kidnapped little girl whose life is on the same timetable.  Its over-arching plotline (and title) is borrowed from the classic 1950 film noir “DOA” — albeit (spoiler alert) with a much happier ending.

Bob had already delved into a Frank Miller Sin City art style in the late 90s with his own creation Armed and Dangerous for Acclaim / Valiant/ Armada Comics. Although it was occasionally a bit too derivative for my own tastes, it was definitely evolving, and I would have liked to see more material in this vein. He ultimately did a few more comics before he mostly retired from the industry to focus on playwriting and theatre directing.

Bob Hall’s noir creation Armed and Dangerous borrowed generously from Frank Miller’s Sin City.
Edmond O’Brien in the absolute classic film noir DOA (1950).

Eduardo Risso — The Man I Love

Original Art and The Artists

Spirit #6, November 2010

Continuing our celebration of “Will Eisner Week,” with other creators’ takes on the beloved and influential character, The Spirit.

Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso follow-up their astonishing 100 Bullets Vertigo series with a fun short story featuring the Spirit.

Not all creators understand Eisner’s subtle and delicate balance between noir and (often dark) humor, but despite the strictly hard-boiled nature of 100 Bullets, the team captures Eisner’s spirit nicely.

(I know, we use that pun a lot. It will probably show up next year, too.)

Fun fact: Back in 2002 and 2003, I engineered the deal between DC Comics and Acclaim Entertainment leading to the development of a 100 Bullets video game. Acclaim was in financial trouble when the contract was signed, so unsurprisingly, the game never made into final production. (Acclaim ended up declaring bankruptcy and folding in 2004.)

It’s too bad — the development team was passionate and fully engaged on the project. Some early footage can be found on-line here.