DC Comics – Page 15 – Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Howard Chaykin — The Angel

May 11, 2021 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Sgt. Rock Special #2, December 1994

DC salutes the 50th anniversary Battle of the Bulge (the final major German offensive of WW II; spoiler alert —they lost) with this clever 1994 one-shot of short stories.

Howard Chaykin is firing on all cylinders in comics during this period and this story, written by Chuck Dixon, features top-notch draftsmanship and storytelling. Much of the actual Battle of the Bulge is indeed fought in snowy, cold weather, and Chaykin’s use of whiteout over ink is extremely effective, and especially clear in the original art.

It’s extremely cinematic — exactly the way any comic book story about The Battle of the Bulge should be. Or, actually, any World War II story.

Or any war tale, for that matter.

I don’t own many complete stories, but very happy to have acquired the story from Howard himself. For a change, I was in the right place at the right time.

“Howard Chaykin — The Angel.” This kind of headline practically writes itself.

*The entire story, reprinted here for the first time anywhere, I believe. DC, please be kind.*

Ken Barr — Mine Eyes Have Seen…

May 8, 2021 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Star Spangled War Stories #169, April 1973

The late Ken Barr was a terrific painter. I’ve been fond of his work since his eye-popping Marvel Magazine covers jumped out at me from among the two gazillion mag titles at a typical newsstand.

Barr, Scottish, broke in professionally with art in British war comics. I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to find an example of his pen and ink style that appeared in DC’s war stories, before his painted work became his primary focus.

Barr’s Wikipedia entry is sorely lacking, but fan Tim Janson provided a nice overview in his Amazon review of a small book collection of Barr’s paintings:

“Barr got his start in the early 60’s doing covers for British war comics such as Commando before coming over to the United States in 1966. Barr first came to notoriety with his work for Warren Publications on titles such as Creepy and Eerie. Over the next thirty-five plus years Barr would go on to work for both Marvel and DC Comics, do movie posters, book covers, trading card series, and even a collectible plate series for the Danbury Mint.”

You can also find a detailed tribute here, with links to other sources as well.

*Fans loved Barr’s stunning comic, SF, and fantasy paintings. (I must confess that I like the prelim version of both the woman and the Hulk better than the finish.)*

*Some of Barr’s killer (pun intended, of course) cover paintings for the British mag Commando.*

Dick Ayers (w/Joe Kubert) — One-Armed Soldier

May 6, 2021 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Sgt. Rock #348, January 1981

When I acquired this great looking page years back, I remarked (to no one in particular): “Gee, who knew Dick Ayers could draw like Joe Kubert?”

Duh. Thanks to the amazing Grand Comics Database (GCD), and an interview with inker Ron Randall, I find out that there’s an excellent reason for the look and feel of the draftsmanship: Kubert drew some of the art as well. (And Ron is a graduate of the Kubert School.)

Official credits in the printed issue belong Ayers and Randall, inker, but given the many retouches and corrections on the page (and likely throughout the entire story) it should have been a bit more obvious to me that Joe had a hand in the art. From the Randall interview:

“My first comics work was a few short stories in the back of the old Sgt. Rock. Many, many years ago. What I most remember was the rare and priceless opportunity to work one-on-one with Joe Kubert himself as he took me through the steps of layouts, pencils and inks on these short tales. It was getting personal attention from a master. And the lessons I learned from those jobs have shaped my views on comics and storytelling to this day.” — Ron Randall

I’ve seen Ron at quite a few conventions over the years, so when cons come back, I can potentially put the rest of the puzzle pieces of this particular story together. (Like how Dick Ayers actually fits into this.) If Ron remembers, that is.

(I know I seem remember things from 40 years ago. I just can’t remember what I had for lunch yesterday.)

*Ayers was a mainstay on Marvel’s war titles, including a 10-year run on Sgt.Fury.*

Joe Kubert — DC At War

May 4, 2021 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Sgt. Rock #14, July 1991

The legendary Joe Kubert “borrows” from himself to create an iconic cover image; one of the very few to feature both Sgt. Rock and Enemy Ace together.

It’s a beautifully rendered cover, and one my personal favorites.

Kubert’s covers graced so many DC war comics from the 60s through the 90s that occasionally seeing one from another artist is just… incongruous.

And as artist, editor and Publications Director, Kubert’s storytelling insight and eye for talent ensured that many of the interiors were terrific as well.

Ahead of Memorial Day later this month, we’re featuring a number of great pieces of art from DC’s war genre by some truly talented creators.

Stay tuned.

*Revisiting an iconic image to craft a new one, more than 20 years later.* *Check the eyes on both the original cover and the homage.*

*Sgt. Rock and Enemy Ace make their first appearances years apart in The Silver Age, and DC and IDW create two beautiful original art collections 50 years later.*

Steve Rude — Hulk Vs… Superman

April 22, 2021 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Incredible Hulk vs. Superman, July 1999

Steve Rude delivers a terrific action page of Superman vs. Hulk, as we continue to pay tribute to Hulk vs. heroes in other universes this week.

Superman vs. Hulk seems quite a bit more logical than Batman vs. Hulk. Theoretically, Superman would ultimately win, but at least he would be winded.

And come to think of it, Golden Age Superman, as originally conceived by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, might still win, but it would be pretty close to a draw.

Early Silver Age Superman, who could move planets around, not so much.

Rude, who worships at the alter of Jack Kirby, and shows reverence for Shuster’s Superman as well, is the perfect artist to illustrate this pairing.

And Granny’s expression in the middle panel? Nothing like a bit of offbeat humor to lighten the mood of a titanic fight, albeit very briefly.

Rude is perfect for that, as well.

Technology gets better (and less expensive), and fans apply their creativity accordingly.

José García-López — Hulk Vs… Batman

April 20, 2021 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

DC Special Series #27, September 1981

Late April is the time of year when we are typically revved up and ready for the upcoming summer movie blockbuster season.

Definitely not this year. June perhaps? (Fingers crossed, and all that.)

So here at the blog this week, we present the big blockbusters you will never see on the big screen anyway — crossovers featuring the Incredible Hulk with characters from other universes, starting with…

…Hulk vs. Batman.

This was the second character crossover between Marvel and DC, following the successful pairings of Spider-man and Superman a few years prior. At the time Superman was DC”s most important and recognizable character worldwide, so despite the power inequity, that original pairing made commercial sense. Of course, Batman vs. Spider-man is a fairer fight.

And Hulk vs. Superman? That seems fairer — More on that later.

Meanwhile, despite the improbability of the match-up, Jose Garcia Lopez presents a master class in comic book storytelling in 48 pages.

It’s an astonishing piece of work, by an artist’s artist. Both visual imagination and draftsmanship are superb here. Many of the pages are top of class, and very few are anything less than terrific.

I prefer Lopez inking himself, but Giordano does a terrific job, and despite the mismatch of powers, it’s a fun ride.

But seriously, Batman “vs.” Hulk? (Eventually, of course, as illustrated here, they team up.) It may have been a fun ride, but realistically, it should have been a very short one.

Keith Giffen — Beyond The Fourth World

April 17, 2021 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

O.M.A.C. #1, November 2011

We conclude our celebration of Jack Kirby’s legacy at DC Comics with one more look at Jack’s characters and concepts as envisioned by other creators.

Keith Giffen gets an opportunity to play in the DC Kirbyverse with O.M.A.C., based on Jack’s short-lived series at DC about a future that was closer than we realized. Critically acclaimed, it was cancelled after just eight issues. (Coincidentally, Jack’s original series was cancelled after eight issues as well.)

“OMAC was my favorite title of DC’s initial New 52 relaunch, but being based on a Jack Kirby character that’s more obscure than Kamandi and Devil Dinosaur combined probably didn’t help when it came time for DC to trim its first wave of underperforming titles. The fact that it was written by fan rage magnet DiDio made for marketplace kryptonite. You could’ve lined the interior of the book with 20-dollar bills and nobody would’ve bought it.”—Tom Scioli, writer, artist and author of Jack Kirby: The Epic Life Of The King Of Comics.

Giffen, a legendary Kirby fanatic, also wrote and drew a Forever People series and the first issue of the Kamandi Challenge, all with co-conspirator DiDio, who happened to be DC’s publisher at the time.

*Purists will note that some of the characters and titles actually made it onto newsstands before the close of 1970, but the fully integrated series (Jimmy Olsen, Forever People, New Gods, and Mister Miracle) — doesn’t fully materialize until the following year.

Steve Rude — Love Letter To The King

April 15, 2021 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Mister Miracle Special #1, April 1987

We continue to celebrate Jack Kirby’s legacy at DC Comics with a special two-week look at Jack’s characters and concepts as envisioned by other creators. 2021 is the Fiftieth anniversary of the Fourth World storyline. *

Jack Kirby super-fan Steve Rude pens this artistic love letter to Kirby’s Fourth World, in this one-shot from 1987. Along for the tribute are Jack’s best-known collaborators at DC, writer Mark Evanier and inker Mike Royer.

On this inventive and powerful splash page — the best in the issue — Rude cleverly uses a “trapped” Miracle as the backdrop for other Fourth World characters including The Forever People, Lightray of the New Gods, and Big Barda.

Rude and Evanier would reunite again for another Kirby tribute years later with a 1999 Jimmy Olsen story in Legends of the DC Universe # 14. (Inked this time by Bill Reinhold.)

Jim Aparo — Miracle #19

April 13, 2021 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Brave and Bold #112, May 1974

Mister Miracle makes his first appearance outside of the Jack Kirby DC universe in this cool Batman team-up story in the Brave and The Bold, penciled and inked by the legendary bat-artist Jim Aparo.

Ironically, Kirby’s own Mister Miracle title had been cancelled the month previously, effectively ending the Jack’s interconnected Fourth World, a little more than three years after it started.

Think of it as the 19^th Bronze Age issue of Mister Miracle; it would take another three years for an actual issue #19 — without Jack’s involvement — to see the light of day.

(The bat team of writer Bob Haney and artist Aparo effectively weave Mr. Miracle into the greater DC Universe, and the two escape artists will team up again in issue #126 as well.)

The final issue of Mister Miracle (#18) is also the final issue in Jack Kirby’s New Gods saga until he returns to it briefly about 10 years later. But hey, miraculously, our great escape artist shows up right on publication schedule —- albeit as a guest star in a Batman book.

Alex Ross — Mr. Kirby’s Wild Ride

April 10, 2021 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Lithograph, 1999

Alex Ross recreates one of Jack’s best-know splash pages from New Gods in his exquisite photo-realistic painted style for a lithograph and Giclee.

Jack Kirby. Alex Ross. Not much more to add here. Different art styles. Different art mediums. Different generations. Both masters of their respective forms.