Opinions on Bernie Wrightson’s rare inks on Neal Adams pencils range from “dream team” to “dueling styles.”
Personally, I enjoy the combo, But Neal himself is said to have told Bernie he was better off going his own way. And that, I think, we can all agree upon.
As for this great Green Lantern page from Adams legendary run? The top panel feels more Adams dominant to me, and in the cool final panel I see more of Bernie’s efforts.
Your mileage may vary.
(Pictured below the published Green Lantern comic are a few more examples of the Adams/ Wrightson combo: A terrific Batman cover and the splash page to an El Diablo story from Weird Western #12.)
Neal Adams pencilling and Bernie Wrightson inking? Seems like an impossible combination. First thought, one would overpower the other, or, even worse, combine into some sort of Frankenstein’s monster (pun intended) of comic book art.
Well, not only is it possible, its terrific — at least in this one specific issue of Green Lantern. (Bernie himself said he was extra careful not to dominate Neal’s pencils here.)
And on this great page, you can clearly see the result — both styles complement each other. (The coloring in the printed issue unfortunately diminishes the impact of that last great panel. But heck, it is dark out.)
I’m delighted to own a page from this classic issue — and classic series.
Continuing our 70th celebration of Superman and Batman (Robin, too) teaming up for the first time.
Ah, the Composite Superman (Half Superman, half Batman). I’m not sure why I found this character so compelling as a kid, but I did.
I purchased his second appearance (World’s Finest #168) off the racks as a little kid. I was a bit too young for his first, a few years prior. (Both are shown below.)
Years later, what I can’t figure out is why he’s not on the cover in that issue. It’s not like I wouldn’t have flipped through the issue quickly and figured it out before I either gave Mr. Wurman my 12 cents or got tossed from his candy store.
In contemporary times, Chris Batista delivers a terrific page featuring the villain, plus Superman and Batman, and Metallo thrown in for good measure.
The issue also features a rare cover from the late Bernie Wrightson. No surprise, Bernie’s interpretation of the composite character is… intimidating.
After our last three weeks of Halloween-themed posts, here is an index of monsters and mayhem published for 2019’s Halloween celebration — in case you missed any.
Witching Hour #5, November 1969, “The Sole Survivor”
Today we launch a two-week series celebrating Halloween with the best in monsters, mystery and mayhem.
It’s difficult to attend Baltimore Comic Con without thinking about Bernie Wrightson, who hailed from here, and made his final convention appearance here six months prior to his death in 2017.
Wrightson’s professional comics career began in DC’s mystery anthology titles just six months before this art was published, 50 years ago this month.
This page, therefore, is very early Wrightson, and although it’s still a few years away from his artistic peak, the talent, and signature detail, is already unmistakably there. His art hooked me early on, and I remain hooked.
Those DC mystery and horror comics, many edited by EC legend Joe Orlando, often showcased star artists like Wrightson, Mike Kaluta, Neal Adams, Gil Kane, and others, including occasionally Orlando himself.
Of course, like other anthology comics, you never knew what the line-up was going to be from title to title, issue to issue. These series were indeed like Forrest Gump’s proverbial box of chocolates: You never know what you’re going to get.
So of course they were always the titles I tried to skim through urgently on the candy store spinner racks, before that crusty proprietor Mr. Wurman would inevitably glance my way and say: “You gonna buy those? This is not a library.”
Bernie painted this beautiful cover for the short-lived Web of Horror magazine in the same timeframe as his early DC work — He was 21 years old.
