Dark Horse Comics – Page 2 – Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Mark Nelson — Shades Of Godzilla

March 25, 2021 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Godzilla #2, July 1988

Godzilla’s origin generally begins with atomic testing and radioactivity. (You can catch up on all the versions of his origin here.)

So maybe he is getting ready for a nice atomic snack on this great cover by Mark Nelson.

Nelson executed the art on Craftint specialty paper, which used a chemical process to add an amazing level of tone and depth to the art. Artists like Roy Crane, Wallace Wood and Howard Chaykin are among the many who used the paper regularly (and well) to enhance their storytelling.

The paper was readily available to artists in the mid to late 20th century and ultimately discontinued in 2009 with more commercial artists switching to digital.

I believe Kevin Eastman (TMNT) purchased a large supply when he heard the paper was being discontinued. But, like a fine vintage wine, sooner or later, the supply will run out.

A lost art — although you can replicate the effect in Photoshop, and other similar digital programs.

But, unfortunately, at that point, you don’t get a great piece of art to hold in your hands.

*The original (1962) King Kong vs. Godzilla featured a somewhat sketchy version of Kong, especially noticeable in the marketing material, but as a kid, I ate it up anyway.*

David Messina — Godzilla’s Kingdoms

March 23, 2021 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters #9, November 2011

My pal David Messina delivers a terrific cover for one of IDW’s many Godzilla comic series from a few years back. I love the composition and scale here.

Godzilla returns (again) this coming week with the much-hyped Godzilla vs. Kong. In theaters or on HBO Max, as they say.

Godzilla has made a few returns to comics as well. Originally a somewhat goofy series at Marvel during the 70s, Dark Horse picked up the rights to the Big G in the 90s. Ultimately, we published quite a few issues at IDW, and the “modern” film version from Legendary has made it into their own sporadic comics line from time to time.

Meanwhile none of the pre-IDW series are available to purchase as collections (print or digital) because of… well, Toho. I tried to make progress there many times. Many, many times.

Trust me on this.

Geof Darrow — Powerful Line-up

July 23, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Commission, 2015

Welcome back to a month long celebration of the “Independents” — Independent creators and projects that continue to impact the comic book medium.

My love / hate relationship with conventions has often been a topic of professional discussion, whether I like it or not.

Focusing on the “love” part for now, conventions are opportunities to chat with friends far and wide that I don’t otherwise get a chance to see. This includes many creators that I’ve had the pleasure to meet or work with.

At the top of the list (A lot of folks are tied for number one) is Geof Darrow, the talented artist, super nice guy, and a very funny fellow.

Geof is one of many creator highlights for me at San Diego Comic Con. 25 years ago, back when the convention was smaller — and artist alley was bigger, it was a safe haven from the overwhelming din elsewhere in the building. Now of course the din has followed us everywhere.

But I digress.

I love this commission because it highlights Geoff’s key characters and amazing line work in a beautifully-detailed, impactful pin-up.

Hard Boiled (with Frank Miller), Shaolin Cowboy, and of course Big Guy and Rusty the Robot (Also with Miller).

I love Giant Robots. Doesn’t Everyone?

*The Big Guy and Rusty The Robot animated series was a fun adaptation of the comic.*

Sergio Aragonés — Details, Details

July 18, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Sergio Aragonés Groo: Hell On Earth #3, January 2008

Sergio Aragonés sold his first professional work in 1954. Er… uh… 66 years ago.

That was in Mexico, and he was still in high school. In 1962, he immigrated to the United States, did a few odd jobs, and eventually showed up at the door of Bill Gaines and Mad Magazine.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Since then, his work would fill an Encyclopedia. No, scratch that. A library. A very cool and humorous library.

The Comics Journal declared him “one of the most prolific and brilliant cartoonists of his generation” and yet somehow, that remains an understatement.

Groo the Wanderer is essentially a parody of Conan and its ilk. A parody that’s lasted 40 years, thanks to Aragonés’ imaginative storytelling and witty cartooning (with the help of collaborator Mark Evanier) and all those amazing artistic details and flourishes.

Those details are obvious in the printed comic of course, but so much more so in the original art. And not a lot of Groo original art is floating around. Sergio has kept many of his complete issues.

We were fortunate to publish an IDW Artist Edition of Sergio’s Groo work, so I was able to see a few hundred pages of all those glorious details.

And I’m very fortunate to own this splash, purchased from Sergio directly.

Outstanding cartoonist. Outstanding guy.

Another creator that I dearly miss from the 2020 convention circuit.

Damn you, 2020.

*Groo has indeed wandered in 40 years: From Eclipse to Pacific to Epic (Marvel) to Image to Dark Horse. (Plus special edition reprints from Graphitti and IDW.)*

*The very first Groo story, as it appeared in Eclipse’s Destroyer Duck in 1982.*

*One of my favorite Sergio Aragonés pieces of all time. A gazillion characters, even for him.*

Eric Powell — Shmak!

July 16, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Goon, Vol. 2, #4 (Albatross), April 2003

Here’s a great Goon splash page from Eric Powell, cool sound effect included.

We’ve previously discussed a tremendous appreciation for Powell’s art, but I also have tremendous respect for him as entrepreneur.

He’s come pretty much full circle recently as he returned to independent publishing after spending many years under the Dark Horse umbrella.

When Eric launched Goon, he published a handful of issues with Avatar, but, dissatisfied with that arrangement, he ultimately independently published the series after a brief try out at Dark Horse that didn’t result in a Goon publishing offer.

After a few issues, however, Dark Horse realized they had made an error in editorial Judgment, and brought the Goon on board.

That relationship ended in 2018, and Eric once again, turned to the independent route under his own publishing banner, Albatross.

It takes willpower, discipline and much more to hit your creative deadlines while simultaneously working through the labyrinth of publishing details — production, printing, distribution, etc. But as far as I can tell, Mr. Powell is doing just fine, thank you.

If you ever have a chance to hear him give a marketing presentation for Albatross, don’t pass it up.

I’ve seen a few, and they range from “just” very funny — to downright hilarious.

*For economic reasons, the first printing of this Goon story is in grayscale. Later trade collections feature the Goon Albatross stories in color.*

Frank Miller — Wood’s World

July 11, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Dark Horse Presents #100-1, August 1995 and Tales To Offend #1, July 1997

This is a great Frank Miller splash page from a 1995 Lance Blastoff story.

Wait — Who?

If you blinked, you likely missed Blastoff, Miller’s affectionate homage to Wallace (Wally) Wood’s classic EC SF stories. (With a bit of Al Williamson thrown in for good measure.)

The character originally appeared in only two short stories, both in Dark Horse Presents, both in black and white, in the mid 90s.

Ultimately, those stories, along with a few others, were repackaged in a fun one-shot comic book, Tales To Offend. For this reprint, the stories were newly colored.

And in a moment of inspired genius, Miller (or Dark Horse itself) hired Marie Severin — who colored most of the original EC stories — to color the Blastoff stories.

Nothing deep about these Blastoff stories — just some diversionary fun from the noir Sin City stories of the era. (Although the humor here is a definitely the dark kind.)

Dinosaurs. Rockets. Spacegirls. 40 years after EC’s heyday, it was nice to have them back again, even if just for a brief moment.

*A sampling of Wood’s greatest EC SF covers.*

Stan Sakai — Usagi Forever

July 9, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Usagi Yojimbo #124, November 2009

Nearly 36 years of the epic Usagi Yojimbo this year. That’s 36 years of stellar storytelling — and still going strong. A remarkable achievement.

Samurai “funny animals” as if directed by Akira Kurosawa. Japanese arts, folklore and fantasy. Told in clear, well-crafted, and often philosophical episodes.

Genius. Just genius.

Stan is an accomplished talent in all facets of comic book creation: Writing. Penciling. Inking. Painting.

And did I mention his lettering? In addition to lettering his own series, Stan letters Sergio Aragones’ Groo, and for 25 years, he lettered the Spider-Man Sunday comic strip.

This detailed action cover is from the opening chapter of a cool story arc entitled “Town Call Hell”. When it was ultimately collected into a trade, Stan painted a new version. (See below).

Bringing Stan over to IDW was one of my final accomplishments there. It was also one my happiest.

(IDW’s first collection is up for an Eisner award this year.)

*Stan redid his original great cover as yet ANOTHER great cover for the book collection.*

*Usagi in his first appearance, and then his first ongoing series from Fantagraphics.*

John Byrne — Happy 70th!

July 6, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

John Byrne’s Next Men #1, December 2010

Wait… John Byrne is 70 today? How old does that make me? Yikes.

Continuing our celebration of “Independents” month with a bonus entry by Byrne.

John started his Next Men series at Dark Horse in 1991, ultimately stopping in 1994, during an epic industry-wide sales implosion.

In 2010, after some wrangling, John restarted the series at IDW and this beautifully detailed art was used for the announcement at SDCC, along with one of the cover variants.

Happy Birthday, John!

*Published cover and original promo for SDCC.*

*Dark Horse #1 launch issue from 1992 along with Dark Horse Presents #54, featuring the team’s first appearance* *in 1991*.

*Byrne in 2017 at NYCC, his first convention appearance in many years.*

Thomas Gianni — Pulp Glory

June 9, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Shadow Pulp Cover Re-creation (original by Graves Gladney, 1940), 2007

2020 is a double for anniversary for the legendary man of mystery, The Shadow.

The character was first introduced 90 years ago, in 1930 as the mysterious narrator of the radio drama, Detective Story Hour, which tied into the classic pulp magazine, Detective Story Magazine.

(Listeners, however, kept asking their newsstand dealers for “that Shadow detective Magazine”, so by the following year, the management team at Conde Naste smartly fleshed out the character and gave him his own mag, It rapidly became widely popular and successful.

By 1940, with the boom in comic books in full swing, The Shadow and some of his pulp “superhero” compatriots entered the four-color fray with their own comics. So it’s an 80^thanniversary for the character’s appearance in comic books format as well.

Thomas Gianni, who sadly passed away a few months ago, loved pulp characters and the great pulp cover paintings.

Here, he recreates a classic, originally painted by the amazing Graves Gladney in 1940.

A talented artist and a terrific guy, I will miss chatting with Gianni, which was always an enjoyable moment when our paths crossed.

Much more on The Shadow, and the great Shadow artists in the next few weeks of posts, as we celebrate his amazing history.

*Graves Gladney was one of the great pulp cover artists, as evidenced above.*

*The Shadow blasts his way into comic books in 1940.*

*Thomas Gianni’s brother Gary drew a few Shadow series for Dark Horse in the 90s, and created all three pulp-inspired covers for Hell’s Heat Wave.*

Shannon Wheeler — Per Se

June 2, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

New Yorker Cartoon, Unpublished, 2015

Shannon Wheeler:

Terrific cartoonist. Brilliant humorist. Funny guy.

Also, my pal — at least most of the time. (Creators and publishers have differing points of view on occasion.)

I’ve loved his work since I met him and his wacky alternative comic Too Much Coffee Man at the 1993 San Diego Comic Con. (Also, I drink too much coffee.)

One of the many things I will miss about Comic Con in 2020 is rummaging through his originals, printed and unpublished alike. I find many of them funny as hell.

But you can buy some on-line. And they are terrific deals as far as I’m concerned.

I love gags that apply specific word choices as a chief component of the humor. To me, there is absolutely nothing that would make the cartoon funnier than “per se.”

But, maybe that’s just me.

The National Cartoonists Society would be poised for their annual awards event this month if it wasn’t for the COVID pandemic, so it’s a good week to celebrate cartoons.

See you again on Thursday with an example from the late great Gahan Wilson.