Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Tag: Butch Guice

Butch Guice — Cartoon Hour

Original Art and The Artists

Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis, #43, August 2006

Butch (Jackson) Guice and Tony DeZuniga could not have possibly drawn a page in 2006 that is more counterintuitive to their specific art styles than this one-of-a-kind opening splash featuring Aquaman as originally seen in the 1967 CBS cartoon. (“Tusky” the walrus is along for the ride.)

It’s part of a yet another revamp of the character that happened mid-stream when Aquaman became Aquaman, Sword of Atlantis a few issues earlier. Without getting too bogged down in the editorial minutiae, this page is self-aware, as it is a flashback for our protagonist recalling the little he knows about the Aquaman character.

September was typically the roughest time of the year for most kids with school days replacing summer break, but the new cartoon season helped salve the wounds — a bit, anyway. (I didn’t care that much about Aquaman, but Filmation managed to sneak some Justice League and Teen Titan cartoons into the show’s mix. And I thought that was the greatest thing since…. well, I was a little kid, so probably since… anything. At least until the next big thing came along.)

Fun Fact: The original art featured an outline for a title page logo that was ultimately not used in the published version.

Left: When The Aquaman cartoon launched in 1967. DC immediately added the tag “The King of the Sea is now the King of TV!” to the Aquaman comics. Right: Brian Bolland pays homage to the character’s classic design with this beautiful cover from the “final” issue of the 2003 Aquaman series prior to its “reboot.”

Butch Guice — Alternate Vision

Original Art and The Artists

Storming Paradise #5, July 2009

General Patton dramatically fires on… Japanese soldiers? 

In this alternate reality version of World War II, anything is possible. America’s atomic test goes horribly wrong in New Mexico, and the US is unable to produce a working A-Bomb. So the only way to attempt to defeat the Japanese forces is to invade.

Created by Chuck Dixon and Jackson “Butch” Guice the series ran into some scheduling and deadline challenges. At a minimum, there was a six-month gap between issues #4 and #5.

Hence, other artists were called in to help out. Some pages — like this one — look 100 percent Guice, and others, less so. Rich Burchett gets credits for pencils this issue but I’m guessing that many pages are rough breakdowns only.

But like I said, that’s a guess.

Guice ‘s art style has changed dramatically over the years. I enjoyed his early superhero work, but I find his contemporary “photo-realistic” style more appealing.

And perfect for a series that features the aforementioned General Patton, Harry Truman, George HW Bush and other recognizable historical figures.

Even if that history actually never happened.