DC Comics – Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Jack Kirby & Mike Royer— Ragnarök at the North Pole

December 25, 2025 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

The Best of DC #22, March 1982 (Intended for Sandman #7, —Unpublished — 1975)

When Jack Kirby wanted to make an entrance, he didn’t tiptoe — he detonated. This Sandman title page kicks down the door, grabs you by the collar, and announces, “Strap in — things are about to get very weird.”

Only he could take a story called The Seal Men’s War on Santa Claus and treat it like Ragnarök at the North Pole. The floating spheres, extra moons, and cosmic backdrop all calmly insist, “Relax — this is exactly how dreams are supposed to look.”

Down on the ground, Sandman is carving a path through a crowd of angry Seal Men, cape swirling, fists flying, looking every bit like someone who rescues Santa on an annual basis. Jed is right beside him, doing his best with a staff that’s taller than he is, while poor Santa watches from the background, wrapped up like he’s on the world’s least festive gift list.

Mike Royer’s inks give the whole scene its crisp, confident snap — bold lines, clear action, and just enough shadow to keep the mayhem grounded.

It’s light, it’s wild, and it is unmistakably DC Kirby — a dream-world dust-up where everyone seems to believe in the moment.

Even Santa.

Has any comic story ever been cancelled twice? Jack Kirby holds a lot of comic-book records, but this one might be the strangest.

Sandman #7 was fully finished when DC pulled the plug on the series after issue #6 in 1975. The completed story went into limbo — filed away, forgotten, probably wondering what it did wrong. A few years later, DC tried again, planning to incorporate it narratively (don’t ask) in Kamandi #61… and then the infamous “DC Implosion” hit. Kamandi was cancelled too.

It finally escaped publishing purgatory in Best of DC #22, a digest-sized Christmas special from late 1981 — because if you’re going to rescue a lost Kirby comic, why not do it as a bite-sized stocking stuffer?

Sigh.

It arrived late, sure — but fortunately, Kirby pages age better than most publishing plans.

(And now, fortunately, you can find a full-size version collected in The Kirby DC Bronze Age Omnibus. The perfect Christmas present to give yourself.)

Curt Swan & George Klein — Feats of Strength

November 26, 2025 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Action Comics #304, September 1963

If you ever need proof that George Klein was Curt Swan’s best inker on the Superman books, just pull out this page from Action Comics #304. No explanations required—the art does the bragging for you.

From the first panel, Swan gives Superman that clean, honest pose only he could draw, and Klein locks it down with lines that are confident without showing off. Superman looks strong, sure—but also human. That balance? Classic Klein.

Jump to the big panel—Superman wrangling those hilariously oversized javelins—and you see the Swan/Klein team firing on all cylinders. Klein never wrestles for control; he boosts Swan, picking exactly the right details and politely ignoring the ones that don’t matter.

Across the page, the “S” shield is crisp, the cape moves like actual fabric, and the crowd reads clearly without becoming a visual traffic jam. It’s the kind of clean storytelling that looks effortless—until you see someone else try it.

And that bottom tier—Lana’s concern, Superman’s sheepish dignity—Klein hits it perfectly. Just enough warmth to make the moment feel lived-in.

Look, I love Murphy Anderson on Swan. (And pretty much everywhere else.) But the truth is simple:

George Klein doesn’t just ink Swan. He completes him.

I had my eye on this page for a while before I finally pulled the trigger — and I’m certainly glad I did.

*Fun Fact: The story itself is a reworking of an earlier Golden Age story, published seven years earlier in Action #220.*

*It’s Thanksgiving Day tomorrow, which means it’s time for the annual Macy’s NYC parade. I think it’s about time we get a new Superman balloon: From L-R: Superman in the 80s, 60s and 40s.*

Steve Ditko — Beware The Creeper (& DC’s Publishing Strategy)

November 19, 2025 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Beware The Creeper #3, October 1968

Here’s a great Beware The Creeper page from issue #3. The Creeper (Jack Ryder) in every panel with classic Steve Ditko action and composition.

The Creeper was Ditko’s first superhero work for DC— just ahead of Hawk and Dove —and even as a kid, I recognized its offbeat genius. I had already admired Ditko’s talents from the Spider-Man reprints in Marvel Tales, and also in his Charlton work on Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, and The Question.

But this quirky title definitely found a sweet spot for me.

In the late 60s, DC didn’t stick with any title that didn’t find an immediate audience — so naturally, it only lasted six issues.

Sigh.

Funny thing about this specific art page: If I recall correctly, I almost owned it about a dozen years ago in a purchase/trade that went south at the last minute.

Second time is a charm, I guess. Better late than never. (Two cliches for the price of one!)

As for DC’s publishing strategy:

I’m sure someone has compiled a comprehensive list of all the titles that DC launched in the late 1960s and early 70s and lasted less than a dozen issues.

Without thinking too hard, I came up with these:

The Spectre; Secret Six; Inferior 5; Anthro; Brother Power The Geek; Plastic Man; Hawk and Dove and Angel and The Ape. (Not to mention Jacky Kirby’s New Gods and Forever People, et al.) And, if you include licensed books, add in Captain Action and Hot Wheels.

That was a lot of work for few, if any, meaningful results.

Good thing the Superman and Batman titles were money machines.

Joe Kubert — Sure Shot

November 11, 2025 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Our Army At War #145, August 1964

Joe Kubert likely drew more pages of war combat than any other artist in the history of comics.

And you would be hard-pressed to find any of his covers or stories that glorified combat.

Gritty? Yes. Realistic? Absolutely. Action-oriented? Of course. Suspenseful? Nearly every time.

But Kubert’s stories — typically collaborating with writer Bob Kanigher — focused on the horrors and tragedies of war. And his distinctive, roughhewn art, was a perfect fit for the genre.

If anyone created a “War Artists Hall of Fame” the inaugural class would likely feature Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Davis, Wallace Wood, and Russ Heath.

And Kubert should absolutely be at the top of that list.

Happy Veteran’s Day, 2025.

Today sees the arrival of a new reprint series: DC Finest — War, The Big Five Arrive, joining others that include the DC War Artist’s Edition a much earlier reprint, America at War. All four volumes of a DC archive collection reprinting Sgt. Rock are long out of print, and naturally, much sought after.

Russ Heath — The Bat, The Cat & The Endless Tease

September 23, 2025 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight # 48, August 1993

Will they… or won’t they?

Doug Moench and the legendary Russ Heath have some fun with that question in this well-done four-part tale entitled “Heat” from Legends of The Dark Knight in 1993. The page itself is one of the best from this third part of the story, in which the frenemies team up to stop a serial killer.

Did Batman become permanently romantically entangled with Catwoman? No spoilers from me, but since the Bat and the Cat didn’t get engaged until more than 25 years later, that might provide a clue in itself.

The real question? When are these and other stories from LOTDK going to be collected? Many great talents contributed to this series, and very, very few have been reprinted. It’s a lot of material, but a series of compendiums could do the trick.

As for the history of their on and off again romance, this DC blog entry offers an insightful —if not incomplete — look at 85 years of will they or won’t they:

https://www.dc.com/blog/2022/03/03/the-forbidden-love-of-batman-and-catwoman

The story of Earth-2’s (successful) romance between Bruce and Selina is told in The Brave and the Bold #197, from 1983.

Jim Aparo — Past Is Prologue

September 17, 2025 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

The Brave and The Bold #174, May 1981

Here’s a great page from Jim Aparo featuring Batman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Black Canary and the Guardians of the Universe! It’s the concluding page of a flashback to the historic Denny Oneil and Neal Adams Green Lantern / Green Arrow run, 10 years prior.

I always loved Jim Aparo’s Batman and especially enjoyed his amazing 100-issue run on Brave and Bold where he had the opportunity to have fun with nearly all of the key characters in the DCU.

But confession time: I missed most of the last third of his B&B output the first time around. College — both logistics and budgetary concerns — kept my acquisitions in the late 70s and early 80s limited.

Which is likely why I missed the very cool two-part story that provides some follow-up to the specific Guardian of the Universe (“Old Timer”) who travelled around with Green Lantern and Green Arrow back in the day.

Excellent, clever writing from Gerry Conway, and to repeat the obvious, great art by Aparo.

Superman & The Fantastic Four — Double Feature

July 23, 2025 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Superman & Fantastic Four Art Pages, Various

Who would’ve thought that Superman — the true beginning of the DC Universe, and the ignition for the fire that became the world of modern superheroes— AND The Fantastic Four — the first superheroes in the modern Marvel Universe — would hit the silver screen with major reboots at the same time? Definitely an unlikely coincidence.

So…

Here are all the Superman posts on the blog the last five years…

https://greggoldsteincomicartgallery.com/?s=superman

…and here are all the Fantastic Four posts from the same period.

https://greggoldsteincomicartgallery.com/?s=%22fantastic+four%22

Enjoy! I’m off to SDCC; let the madness begin!

Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster — Superman & The Bandit Robots

July 8, 2025 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Superman Sunday Strip, (Syndicate Proof Sheet), December 15, 1940

Jerry Siegel personal proof of Superman Sunday strip, 12/15/1940 from the collection of Greg Goldstein

Not quite original art, this is a syndicate proof sheet for the Superman Sunday comic strip, from December 15, 1940. The proof sheets are printed on higher quality paper, and the colors are extremely vivid — which you can see even though I photographed this example under glass.

(For an amplification of how this proofing process worked, see the new edition of Jack Kirby’s Sky Masters Sunday strips, which explains the process in some detail.)

I enjoy these early strips — Shuster’s art here often seems more polished than the comic books, where some of the art suffers from inconsistency. That’s of course not shocking: Superman’s explosive —and nearly instantaneous —popularity meant that Shuster, with the help of assistants and other artists, had to keep up with a prodigious amount of publishing.

This proof came from co-creator Jerry Siegel’s personal collection , and I was fortunate enough to snag one with a giant robot. (Plus, it is signed!)

Superman, Lois AND a giant robot. Seems like a hat trick to me.

***A tear sheet from the Houston Chronicle features the strip in a classic half page format.***

***Superman fought the “Bandit Robots” a few months later on the cover of Action #36 (great art by Fred Ray.) But… there’s no matching story on the inside!***

The Man of Steel fights similar (albeit not quite identical) robots in 1941’s “Superman and the Mechanical Monsters,” the classic episode of the wonderful Fleischer animated series of cartoon shorts.

Jim Silke — A Great Century

February 27, 2025 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

American Century #21, February 2003

RIP Jim Silke, the multi-talented artist / art director/ writer who died last week at the age of 93. A great century (ok, nearly) indeed.

One of my favorite facts from Silke’s career is that he essentially started his “new” career as a comic book artist / writer in his early 60s.

Repeat: He started in his early 60s.

I acquired this wonderful painted cover late last year, part of a series he created for Vertigo’s American Century title.

A retro classic.

And readers of this blog, especially any who visited me at the late Liberty Station IDW Publishing offices, know I definitely have a thing for old newsstands. (FYI, that’s Action Comics #183 from 1953, bottom right.)

One of Silke’s four Grammy-nominated album covers. He actually won for a Judy Garland cover, but frankly this is a personal favorite of mine, because I don’t think I have ever looked as relaxed as Sinatra does here. I consider it aspirational.

Gil Kane & Wallace Wood — In Brightest Day…

February 18, 2025 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Green Lantern #69, June 1969

Another checked box on the art bucket list: Green Lantern, pencils by Gil Kane and Inks by Wallace Wood, from the only GL issue (#69) they worked on together.

This dynamic page, created during the latter part of Kane’s run on the series, nicely showcases the artistic chops of both Kane and Wood. Although Woody was often known for completely overshadowing his pencilers, this issue’s collaboration is excellent — Wood adding his sleek polish to Kane’s imaginative storytelling and skillful figure work.

Green Lantern was all over the map during this period — story and art teams were always in flux, and it’s clear the book couldn’t find its footing. Ultimately, that editorial challenge proved to be a boon to comics and DC specifically, when a half year later, Denny O’neil and Neal Adams took over, added Green Arrow and revamped it all. At that point, what did they have to lose?

The rest, as they say, is history…