Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Tag: DC War Comics

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.

Ken Barr — Mine Eyes Have Seen…

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

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

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.