Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Tag: DC War Comics

Russ Heath — Watch It!

Original Art and The Artists

Battlefront #17, March 1954

Here’s a terrific early and rare Atlas war page form the legendary artist, Russ Heath.

This page’s great dogfight reminds me of some of Russ’ later DC work, including the classic “Aces Wild” in All-American Men of War #89, otherwise known as Roy Lichtenstein’s favorite comic book. Lichtenstein, the renowned pop art pioneer, “appropriated” (swiped / repurposed / purloined — take your pick) two Heath panels from that story, as well as others in that issue. (See below.)

Those paintings are worth millions of dollars. Multi-millions.

The best 12¢ anyone ever spent.

Happy Veterans Day to all who served!

Fun Fact: Russ, a veteran, used himself as reference for the role of Major Leo Grabeski (also below) in this extremely multi-cultural group of airmen.

Two Heath panels from the same page from “Aces Wild” story (All-American Men of War #89, 1962) became the basis for two well-known Roy Lichtenstein war paintings: “Brattata” and “Blam.”.

A panel from an Irv Novick’s story in the same issue was the basis for Lichtenstein’s “Whaam.”

Butch Guice — Alternate Vision

Original Art and The Artists

Storming Paradise #5, July 2009

General Patton dramatically fires on… Japanese soldiers? 

In this alternate reality version of World War II, anything is possible. America’s atomic test goes horribly wrong in New Mexico, and the US is unable to produce a working A-Bomb. So the only way to attempt to defeat the Japanese forces is to invade.

Created by Chuck Dixon and Jackson “Butch” Guice the series ran into some scheduling and deadline challenges. At a minimum, there was a six-month gap between issues #4 and #5.

Hence, other artists were called in to help out. Some pages — like this one — look 100 percent Guice, and others, less so. Rich Burchett gets credits for pencils this issue but I’m guessing that many pages are rough breakdowns only.

But like I said, that’s a guess.

Guice ‘s art style has changed dramatically over the years. I enjoyed his early superhero work, but I find his contemporary “photo-realistic” style more appealing.

And perfect for a series that features the aforementioned General Patton, Harry Truman, George HW Bush and other recognizable historical figures.

Even if that history actually never happened.

Alex Toth — Illuminating

Original Art and The Artists

Weird War Tales #6, August 1972

One picture is worth a thousand words.  At least, that’s what they say. (“They” say a lot.)

In the case of this beautiful Alex Toth war page, I will eliminate 999 of them.

All we need to really say is: Astonishing.

Every single time I examine the page, I marvel at how Toth created those lighting effects using only India ink and negative space.

Every. Single. Time.

The art tricks the brain into seeing the illumination as three dimensional as if it were celluloid in a darkened theater. Hell, most cinematography fails to capture lighting as brilliantly as this.

Oh, and the storytelling and camera angles are terrific, too. And of course, the sound effects in the trademark Toth style, add to the drama.

Astonishing.

The five-page Toth story (written by Bob Haney) serves as a “framing device” for the other stories in the issue.

    Dan Spiegle — The Last P.O.W.

    Original Art and The Artists

    Sgt. Rock #382, November 1983

    We’ve used the phrase artist’s artist here a few times. Simply put, it’s an artist that other members of the craft more than admire and appreciate; they are often awestruck by the talent.

    Dan Spiegle was one of those artists. 

    Talented, speedy, and reliable. Did I say talented again?  It’s worth repeating.  He did a lot of terrific work for Gold Key (Space Family Robinson, Doctor Spector, Korak, etc.) and a ton of licensed material including a well-regarded run on Maverick (James Garner’s TV series), only occasionally finding time for DC and Marvel.

    So I’m fortunate that he did manage a few DC war stories, including this one from 1983. It’s a typical example of Spiegle’s talents —creative storytelling and great spatial arrangements, inventive camera angles, and, of course, detailed and clean draftsmanship.

    From a fan perspective, his lack of consistent work on “mainstream” titles often meant less recognition than he deserved: An underrated talent if there ever was one  — except by the people that knew his work.

    John Severin — The Bloody Flag

    Original Art and The Artists

    Our Army At War #272, September 1974

    The single greatest compliment I ever heard abut John Severin’s art — and there were many others — came from Jack Kirby, via Mark Evanier:

    “Jack used to say that when he had to research some historical costume or weapon for a story, it was just as good to use a John Severin drawing as it was to find a photo of the real thing.”

    Severin’s lavish attention to detail caught my eye early. The line-work was so precise and polished. It was amazing stuff, especially considering that those details needed to reproduce on cheap, pulpy newsprint running on industrial web presses.

    As a kid, especially remember his pitch-perfect inking on Herb Trimpe’s pencils for The Incredible Hulk. I also loved John’s pairing with sister Marie Severin on some of the earliest issues of Kull. John’s had one weakness was that occasionally his realistic line work could come off as stiff and inking Marie’s more dynamic layouts solved that issue.

    Severin was best known for three non-superhero genres:  Westerns, humor, and war. He was a pro at all three, and everything else he touched as well.

    As Evanier wrote, “They don’t make ’em like that anymore.” 

    Indeed they don’t.

    (These two pages, along with others, were especially selected for the exhibit “War No More” at the Words & Pictures Museum in Northampton, Mass. in 1993.)

    John Severin’s first published war story appeared in EC’s Two Fisted Tales; inks by Will Elder and layouts by Harvey Kurtzman.
    Early issues of Kull The Conqueror featured pencils (& colors) by Marie Severin and inks by brother John.

    Russ Heath — The Devil For Dinner

    Original Art and The Artists

    G.I. Combat #131, September 1968

    Roy Lichtenstein never met a DC war stories artist he didn’t like — including Russ Heath.

    More accurately, Lichtenstein probably never met a comic book artist he didn’t like.

    Lichtenstein, the legendary “Pop” modern artist of the 60s referenced much of his work from contemporaneous romance and war stories. The critics raved, and art fans swooned, but hardly anyone paid much attention to the original source material.

    That changed, but only (and slowly) over time. To this day, there’s never been an official Lichtenstein catalog that identifies all the source comics. In many cases, the works are only occasionally acknowledged.

    There is a great website about all this, although the author is reluctant to share the specific issues and dates. Still with all the examples visually presented, it is pretty mind blowing. It’s nearly impossible to find an original Lichtenstein without a corresponding comic book reference.

    But as always, we digress.

    Behind Joe Kubert, Russ Heath is probably the single artist most identified with DC’s classy war books of the silver and bronze age. 

    He was a terrific artist, who could accomplish inventive storytelling, polished lines and wonderful detail. 

    And he was quite the character too. But those are stories I will save for another day… Except…

    When Russ was dealing with some health and financial issues the Hero Initiative stepped in and provided some much needed support. In return, Russ created this special strip below to pay tribute to that support.

    Sounds good. Except…

    Heath choses to reference Lichtenstein’s “Whaam” a DC war panel that was actually created by Irv Novick. Russ’ art is the inspiration for “Blam” an equally powerful, but lesser known painting. (Both are originally from the same issue of Men of War.)

    That is an odd one.

    Despite the autobiographical strip’s premise, Russ created the inspiration for “Blam” above, not “Whaam”, below. Whaam, Blam… this stuff writes itself, sometimes.

    Sam Glanzman — A Crew Divided

    Original Art and The Artists

    G.I. Combat #163, August 1973

    Sam Glanzman tackles Archie Goodwin’s story set in the Yugoslavia during World War II with a scene that inspired the cover of the issue.

    The “split-screen vibe” of the page artfully deals with the Yugoslav civil war, which quickly became a confusing round robin of divided loyalties and shifting allegiances. There were far too many examples of the “enemy of my enemy is my friend ” adage not working out very well. 

    Fascists. Communists. Nationalists. Separatists. It was an indeed an extra challenging situation for the allies to sort out.

    Like many artists of his generation, Glanzman, a stellar member of DC’s war stories crew, was also a veteran of WWII. Later on, he created a graphic novel memoir about his experience on the USS Stevens, entitled A Sailor’s Story.

    One of the few WW II films to deal with the conflict in Yugoslavia, Force 10 From Navarone is a guilty pleasure of mine. It features a great cast and talented director (Guy Hamilton) exceeding the limitations of a so-so script and some goofy and groan-worthy cheesy moments.
     
    Spoiler alert — the commandos accomplish their mission, but film has a terrific coda that is surprisingly witty and unexpected. 
     
    Robert Shaw supplies the dialogue for the film’s pitch-perfect postscript.  And I would have listened to Robert Shaw recite a technical manual with rapt attention.

    José García-López — Fear No Evil

    Original Art and The Artists

    Weird War Tales #44, February 1976

    Weird War Tales wasn’t in my wheelhouse as a kid. I liked most of the DC war books, but I especially enjoyed the realistic stories, many, if not most, imbued with an anti-war spirit. 

    Weird War, with its robots, ghouls and goblins, just didn’t do it for me.

    Come to think of it, I wasn’t a Haunted Tank guy either. Like I said, realism was more my cup of tea in the war books. (Meanwhile I was a big fan of DC’s “conventional” horror titles like House of Secrets and House of Mystery. Go figure. And, as always I digress.)

    But… as I became more fascinated by the visual aspects of comic book storytelling, I realized I had missed a few things, including some great art in that title.

    Here’s a nice example from José García-López on a page that clearly inspired Joe Kubert’s cover. (And not too weird at this point in the story, yet.)

    José García-López is just great in any genre.

    Ric Estrada — Of Blood And Roses

    Original Art and The Artists

    Unknown Soldier #220, October 1978

    Ric Estrada channels legendary artist Alex Toth in this short story about the Boer War. 

    Estrada had previously worked with, and channeled Toth on a short-lived Hot Wheels series from DC in 1970. In fact, his style was so similar, that an original page from one of those stories was misidentified as Toth at least twice.

    So no surprise that this story also feels like a “Toth.” The lettering (un-credited) definitely adds to the style.

    Estrada, of course, was a talent in his own right (and under-appreciated by many) and an excellent storyteller.  He didn’t enjoy drawing super hero stories, and that may have impacted his “brand.” 

    When he did draw capes and tights, his storytelling was typically creative and dynamic. His layouts are a terrific fit with Wood Inks on All-Star Squadron. His layout choices appear more inventive and less stiff than Woody’s. 

    What? Heresy you say? Read those AS issues again and compare pages — Wood’s layouts vs. Estrada’s. 

    I’ll wait.

    (Author’s note — Wood is one of the all time greats, and one of my absolute personal favorites. In this specific case, I’m just calling it the way I see it.)

    The published title page for the story, and an unpublished pin-up tribute to Toth.

    Howard Chaykin — The Angel

    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.