Dynamite – Page 2 – Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Matt Wagner — High Flyin’

June 23, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

The Shadow Year One, #7, January 2014

Continuing our ongoing series celebrating multiple anniversaries for the classic pulp character, The Shadow.

Here is another great Matt Wagner cover, from the same terrific Shadow “origin” series as the last one.

So great, it ended up as the cover of the collection of the entire series as well.

So, I think we should, and will in fact, let this superb cover stand on its own without additional dissection.

For more on Matt and his interest in the character and other legends of the pulp era, click here.

Also definitely worth checking out are the exhaustive Shadow Chronology, available at a very reasonable price from Amazon, and Walter Gibson’s (out of print, unfortunately) Shadow Scrapbook, a nice first person history.

Tim Bradstreet — Weapons Upgrade

June 20, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

The Shadow Now #4 January 2014, Alternative Cover

Tim Bradstreet delivers a great Shadow cover that was, ultimately, unused.

Why are some comic book covers re-worked?

Subjective question. Subjective answers.

If it’s a licensed title, as in the case of The Shadow, maybe the licensor doesn’t like it.

Editorial decision, perhaps? Certainly a logical answer in many cases. Possibly not a strong enough image to “sell” the issue. Or perhaps the content doesn’t quite match the interior content.

And, in some cases, the artist himself finishes the piece and decides he doesn’t like it. Both Jim Steranko and Neal Adams have told me they’ve finished covers, changed their minds, and started from scratch.

That seems reasonable, even if time consuming. If your signature is going on the piece, you might re-think something you personally don’t like. Especially if you’re going to have to look at it — forever.

And in a pre-digital age, physical covers were lost occasionally. Trust me, it happened.

Whatever happened here –– definitely not the final possibility, of course — I think the unpublished version is cool. The puzzle pieces, skull included, are a nice touch. The published cover drops them in favor of a larger, more dramatic Shadow pose.

Bradstreet, of course, is a great choice for Shadow covers. Can’t go wrong, and for my two cents, I don’t think there’s anything wrong at all here.

Matt Wagner — Pistol Packing

June 11, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Shadow Year One #6, October 2013

Matt Wagner delivers a dynamic two-gun version of The Shadow for his much lauded Shadow origin series in 2015.

The Shadow routinely carried two .45 guns. That said, he wasn’t opposed to a rifle or machine gun, now and then.

Matt wrote this excellent series, and illustrated most of the covers, each one a frame-worthy rendition of the classic pulp character.

When DC brought back The Shadow after a long absence from comics in 1973, Mike Kaluta drew the now genre-defining early issues, and ultimately illustrated a beautiful graphic novel for Marvel years later.

Mike is also a big fan of the double-barreled look as well.

*Color version and the more dramatic black and white version as a variant cover.*

*Who knows what evil…? Mike Kaluta knows.*

*The Shadow is acknowledged as the inspiration for Batman, and when DC acquired the rights to the character in 1973, they “crossed-over” twice.*

Eric Powell — That’s Gotta Hurt

March 15, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Will Eisner’s The Spirit # 11, 2016

Concluding our celebration of the 80th anniversary of The Spirit, with additional creators’ takes on the beloved and influential character.

Looks like the Spirit forgot to beware the Ides of March.

Matt Wagner brought the Spirit back to life for Dynamite in 2015 with an ongoing series. Although Matt drew the cover for the first issue, the amazing Eric Powell created many of the rest of the main covers, including this terrific one.

I first discovered The Spirit via the over-sized, black & white reprints from Warren Publications in the mid 70s. I was bowled over by Eisner’s artistry and sophisticated use of sequential narrative but also by the enormous emotional punch these stories seemed to pack into a brief seven pages. Whether it was humor, romance, pathos or irony, I found a depth of character and resonance that seemed to be missing from the mainstream comics of the day. I can honestly say The Spirit changed my perceptions of a comics creator and made me consciously aware of the artistry involved in rendering these tales. I’m a comics artist and writer today because of Will Eisner and The Spirit.

— Matt Wagner, quoted in the Westfield Comics Blog