Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Dale Keown — Mind Games

Incredible Hulk #371, July 1990

Previously, on the blog…

Our 12 Days of Hulk special has featured some great splash paged from the likes of Gabe Hardman, Gary Frank, Ed McGuiness and others.

To change things up a bit, day six features a terrific panel page form Dale Keown, who imaginatively utilizes a variety of panel sizes and “camera angles” to keep things fresh for writer Peter David — and the audience.

I love this page — in addition to the feature listed above, it uses lettering and sound effects to maximum effect. Also, it features some terrific lighting, especially on that first panel of a freaked out Hulk.

Plus, a Defenders reunion.

David’s astonishing 12-year run on the Incredible Hulk title featured great art from the likes of Todd McFarlane, Jeff Purves, Liam Sharp and others, but I confess a certain bias towards Keown’s work on the title. As evidenced here, he has an artistic wit that complemented David’s stories perfectly.

Back here on Tuesday… with Day 7 of “12 Days of Hulk.”

Dale Keown — Hulk Vs… Pitt

Hulk / Pitt #1, December 1996

Concluding our series on Hulk vs.… The Universe.

Hulk vs. Pitt? I love this idea. 

Not so much because it feels like a reasonable balanced match-up. (Although it does, with Pitt likely the tougher combatant.)

More so because Dale Keown made his bones with a terrific version of the Hulk on writer Peter David’s long run in the very early 90s, and then went off and created Pitt as his own character and title for Image Comics.

So Hulk vs. Pitt is actually… Dale Keown vs. Dale Keown. 

On this page, the Hulk and Pitt beat the living daylights out of each other. Knockdown, drag ‘em out close-in battling, executed by a pro. (With lovely detailed finishes by the versatile and talented Dan Panosian.)

I would love to see more regular comics work by Keown, but, based on his total output the last 20 years, I have a feeling that’s not in the cards.

I would love to be wrong.

Dale’s first cover for Incredible Hulk, followed by the published version and original art for Pitt #1.