Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Tag: DC Comics

Bob Brown — Mr. Cipher

Original Art and The Artists

Superboy #150, September 1968

Neal Adams covers were much more thrilling that than Bob Brown’s interiors on Superboy. Those Adams covers drew me in — pun intended — nearly every single time.

Of course, that could be said about pretty much any Adams DC cover vs. interior artist at the time — but we digress.

Still, Brown was a better storyteller than fans give him credit for, and his action pages, like this one, almost always delivered a fair level of drama and interest.

And despite the fact that the villain, “Mr. Cipher” didn’t quite deliver the terrifying promise of the cover’s drama in the interior, it’s yet another example of an issue I remember 50-plus years later, so it’s fun to own a page from it.

Welcome to Day five of the 12 DC Days of DeCember.

Gil Kane — War And Peace

Original Art and The Artists

The Hawk And The Dove #4, March 1969

Gil Kane serves up a fun action page from the original short-lived series of the unusual superhero team, Hawk and Dove. (Created by Steve Skeates and Steve Ditko.)

(Come to think of it, all of the Hawk and Dove series have been short-lived.)

I’m not typically a fan of Sal Trapani’s inks on Gil’s pencils, but credit where credit is due: Sal creates an amazing illusion of shine on that tile floor on the original. I’m not sure I’ve seen anything quite like it.

Separately, on a slightly more critical note, apparently it’s no big deal that Hawk might have destroyed an original masterpiece based on the next few panels… WTH?

Welcome to Day three of the 12 DC Days of DeCember.

When DC finally collected the series in color for the first time, the production department used (effectively) a light touch on the recoloring — it’s a very accurate representation of the original.

Tim Sale — Kryptonite

Original Art and The Artists

Superman Confidential #4, 2007

A lovely page from a novel series:

Darwyn Cooke and Tim Sale, two legends gone much too soon, teamed up on this interesting exploration of the origins of kryptonite and how Superman came to understand his relationship to his home planet.

Welcome to Day two of the 12 DC Days of DeCember.

Darwyn Cooke — Once Upon A Time

Original Art and The Artists

Recreation/ reimagination, undated, both approximately 2008

The late, great Darwyn Cooke would have turned 60 last week. Not sure what I can say that hasn’t already been said here —or more likely elsewhere — but he was arguably the greatest talent of his generation, and the work and the man are missed.

Legend has it that Darwyn and I got into some pretty heated debates during the course of our business relationship, and I confirm that is a fact. But I always knew that those arguments came from his deep passion for the craft, and, as they say, I never took it personally. The last time we saw each other was at the 2015 Comic-Con and we had a fun — but all too brief — chat about Parker, DC superheroes, and a few other odds and ends before we both needed to move on.

Like I said pal, you are missed. Catch you on the other side.

I just discovered that Sandy Jarrell @sandy_jarrell has taken all the great Darwyn recreations he can find and colored them. Love it!

Mike Parobeck — Batman, Forever

Original Art and The Artists

Batman Adventures #7, April 1993

Kevin Conroy THE voice of Batman for millions of bat fans, has passed at at age 66. From Comic Art Fans:

“The Bat-signal will shine a little dimmer over Gotham City tonight as word has come down that Kevin Conroy, iconic voice of Batman for generations in the Bruce Timm-verse of cartoons, has passed at age 66. Just this past he added the credit of comics writer to his resume with a short story in the DC Pride 2022 anthology about how he related his secret life as a gay man in the 80s to the Dark Knight. 

“Kevin was a brilliant actor,” co-star Mark Hamill said in a statement. “For several generations, he has been the definitive Batman. It was one of those perfect scenarios where they got the exact right guy for the exact right part, and the world was better for it. His rhythms and subtleties, tones and delivery — that all also helped inform my performance. He was the ideal partner – it was such a complementary, creative experience. I couldn’t have done it without him. He will always be my Batman.”

 Our deepest condolences to his family, friends, and fans around the world.”

Posting this great Batman Animated page by the great Mike Parobeck, who also passed much too soon, to remind us that, fortunately, the work will always live on.

Dan Jurgens & Bill Sienkiewicz — Doomed, Again

Original Art and The Artists

Superman: Day of Doom #3, January 2003

Marking the 10th anniversary of the Death and Return of Superman, Dan Jurgens and Bill Sienkiewicz tackled a four-issue retrospective mini-series titled, appropriately, Day of Doom.

Bill’s unmistakable inks make the situation even more horrific this second time around. (This is one of the best pages in the series, as it features all four Superman characters who “returned.”)

Happy Halloween indeed — and welcome to the 30th anniversary of the Death of Superman.

How did that happen?

Cam Kennedy — The Wire

Original Art and The Artists

Batman / Judge Dredd: Vendetta in Gotham, January 1994

Earlier this week, we posted a beautiful page from one of two Batman / Punisher crossovers. Today we have a terrific Cam Kennedy action page from the second of four Batman / Judge Dredd prestige format comics by writers Alan Grant and John Wagner.

The complete list as follows, thanks to our friends at the Grand Comic Database — GCD. (This blog would be lost without them.)

Batman / Judge Dredd: Judgment on Gotham (DC, 1991 series);
Batman / Judge Dredd: Vendetta in Gotham (DC, 1993 series);
Batman / Judge Dredd: The Ultimate Riddle (DC, 1995 series);
Batman / Judge Dredd: Die Laughing 1,2 (DC, 1998 series).

Now all we need is Punisher / Judge Dredd crossover and we’d be all set. Unfortunately, Marvel doesn’t do crossovers anymore. Sigh.