Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Tag: Bob Brown

Bob Brown & Wally Wood — Hidden Treasure

Original Art and The Artists

Superboy #160, October 1969

Bob Brown’s Superboy stories were the Superboy stories I read as a kid. 

Wally Wood inks? A very happy bonus. 

Even though the stories rarely matched the intensity of the typically featured Neal Adams covers, I’d likely buy a collection of this material on the spot if it ever becomes available. Nostalgia is a powerful thing. (It’s shocking how much DC silver age superhero material remains to be printed. But that’s a story for another day.)

Bob Brown — Mr. Cipher

Original Art and The Artists

Superboy #150, September 1968

Neal Adams covers were much more thrilling that than Bob Brown’s interiors on Superboy. Those Adams covers drew me in — pun intended — nearly every single time.

Of course, that could be said about pretty much any Adams DC cover vs. interior artist at the time — but we digress.

Still, Brown was a better storyteller than fans give him credit for, and his action pages, like this one, almost always delivered a fair level of drama and interest.

And despite the fact that the villain, “Mr. Cipher” didn’t quite deliver the terrifying promise of the cover’s drama in the interior, it’s yet another example of an issue I remember 50-plus years later, so it’s fun to own a page from it.

Welcome to Day five of the 12 DC Days of DeCember.

Bob Brown & Nick Cardy — Circles

Original Art and The Artists

The Brave And The Bold #99, January 1972

As a kid, my first thought on any Flash team-ups was this: He needs to join forces with someone with actual super powers, otherwise he will end up running circles around his partner.

Sure enough, on this page, he proves the point showing off his super speed to the worlds greatest, but definitely not fastest, detective. (I assume Batman is — wait for it — a speed-reader.)

Bob Brown pencils (pretty much layouts only) the action here, and Nick Cardy provides the inks, which means the art looks like… Nick Cardy. 

This of course is consistent with his very specific embellishment style. Almost anything he inked looked like he had penciled it as well. Which, considering he was a terrific penciller, is ok with me.

Fun Fact: Jim Aparo takes over as permanent artist for The Brave and Bold series with the following issue (#100) and pretty much draws the next 100 issues. Whew.