Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Tag: Archie Goodwin

Gil Kane — The Star Wars Effect

Original Art and The Artists

Star Hawks, Sunday Strip, August 12, 1979

Here is a nice (Sunday) example of Ron Goulart’s and Gil Kane’s Star Hawks, the short-lived SF adventure strip which ran from 1977-1981. (Extra nice in that it includes both the strip header and the color proof.)

“Inspired – as so many things were in the late 70s – by the tremendous success of Star Wars, the newspaper feature syndicate NEA (Newspaper Enterprise Association) got it into their heads that a space opera comic strip that evoked the cosmic high adventure and swashbuckling derring-do of George Lucas’ movie might be a popular addition to the nation’s comics pages.” — Christopher Mills

Perhaps most interesting thing about the strip was the that the initial dailies were double tier as well as the Sunday’s — a risky gambit that allowed Kane to showcase his strengths in storytelling and layout. Unfortunately, newspapers weren’t in love with devoting that much real estate to the quirky SF adventure, and it ultimately dropped to the traditional one-tier.

Goulart ultimately left the strip and Kane enlisted frequent collaborator Archie Goodwin, who wrote the one above. He also left after a few arcs, and Roger Mackenzie wrapped things up.

All of the series is available in a three-volume set from The Library of American Comics and IDW Publishing.

Worth every penny, but of course, I’m biased.

Continuing our month long celebration of the great adventure comic strips:
Week 1: Superheroes
Week 2: Detectives
Week 3: SF
Week 4: Comic Book Giants

Sam Glanzman — A Crew Divided

Original Art and The Artists

G.I. Combat #163, August 1973

Sam Glanzman tackles Archie Goodwin’s story set in the Yugoslavia during World War II with a scene that inspired the cover of the issue.

The “split-screen vibe” of the page artfully deals with the Yugoslav civil war, which quickly became a confusing round robin of divided loyalties and shifting allegiances. There were far too many examples of the “enemy of my enemy is my friend ” adage not working out very well. 

Fascists. Communists. Nationalists. Separatists. It was an indeed an extra challenging situation for the allies to sort out.

Like many artists of his generation, Glanzman, a stellar member of DC’s war stories crew, was also a veteran of WWII. Later on, he created a graphic novel memoir about his experience on the USS Stevens, entitled A Sailor’s Story.

One of the few WW II films to deal with the conflict in Yugoslavia, Force 10 From Navarone is a guilty pleasure of mine. It features a great cast and talented director (Guy Hamilton) exceeding the limitations of a so-so script and some goofy and groan-worthy cheesy moments.
 
Spoiler alert — the commandos accomplish their mission, but film has a terrific coda that is surprisingly witty and unexpected. 
 
Robert Shaw supplies the dialogue for the film’s pitch-perfect postscript.  And I would have listened to Robert Shaw recite a technical manual with rapt attention.

Jim Mahfood — Alien Visions

Original Art and The Artists

Alien (1979) Book Commission, 2015, Unpublished

Alien remains one of the all time great films in two genres — horror and SF — an opinion that reinforces itself on every viewing. I rewatched it a few days ago, and wow, does it hold up. It’s brilliant on so many different levels, and virtually a one-film marketing campaign for why modern CGI is more often a detriment than not to quality filmmaking.

It’s also a great summer film. Like space itself, it’s often cold and dark. If it doesn’t give you more than a few chills to cool down your evening, perhaps nothing will.

Summer movies? It doesn’t feel like summer without them. This will be the first May I haven’t been to a theater since at least 1977, when I repeatedly drove from Atlantic Beach to Mann’s in Hicksville (not kidding) Long Island, on a freshly minted driver’s license, to see Star Wars multiple times.

I’ve also seen Alien and its first sequel (Aliens), many times. As for the others in the franchise, I’ve yet to see one I’ve liked well enough to watch more than once. I’m downright hostile to the opening of Alien 3, and most of the rest of it, too.

Jim Mahfood has fun with Sigourney Weaver and her “conquest” in this great unpublished piece for a book featuring multiple Alien “visions” subsequently cancelled (or on INDEFINITE hold) from publisher Udon.

I’m a big fan of Mahfood’s uniquely imaginative takes. We were fortunate to publish three books of his art at IDW, and a few more of his originals will likely pop up on the blog in the near future.

Alien premiered in the US on May 25, 1979.

The original 1978/79 posters promoted the intrigue more than anything else, but by the time of the 15th anniversary (far right), the creature was out of the egg, so to speak.
The Alien graphic novel , by Goodwin and Simonson, remains one of the gold standards of film to comics adaptations.
Jim Mahfood’s artcollections from IDW publishing.

Al Williamson — This Date in History

Original Art and The Artists

X-9: Secret Agent Corrigan Volume 5, 2013

Truly one of the most talented comic artists ever, the late Al Williamson spent 13 years illustrating Secret Agent Corrigan as a daily strip. (With writing by the late, also great, Archie Goodwin.) Here from 1977, is the 8/29 strip, with Corrigan dealing with one of those startling revelations that happened… well… quite regularly back in the day.

It matters not.  Archie was a terrific writer of course, but Al Williamson could have illustrated a guide to Windows XP, and I would have devoured it anyway.

I miss Al’s work. I also miss newspaper adventure strips, but that’s a lament for another day.

The complete five-volume collection of Williamson’s Corrigan (Also referred to as X-9) is one of my favorite series form the Library of American of Comics, and one of my favorite projects at IDW Publishing. Yes, that makes me biased. So?