Frank Miller – Page 2 – Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

David Mazzucchelli — Devil Noir

August 18, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Daredevil #217, April 1984

55 years ago, Wallace Wood emphasized the “devil” in Daredevil with a dramatic costume change for the character in issue #7. The series, which had floundered early on, started to gain some traction with Woody’s work just a few issues prior. Issue #7, featuring Daredevil hopelessly outmatched by the Sub-Mariner, is considered a silver-age classic.

Our next three posts celebrate this anniversary with a look at the “modern” man without fear.

I love classic film noir. Dark streets, shady characters, two-faced femme fatales, dimly lit apartments, et al. All great.

At one point, there was not a sign of comic art in my office — just classic noir posters.

So it’s no surprise that that some of my favorite takes on Daredevil are those same noir tropes applied to comics by outstanding storytellers like David Mazzucchelli.

And great pages like this one, featuring Daredevil in every panel, playing the (blind, but super-powered) detective. Mazzucchelli’s use of cinematic camera angles and shadows and light creates a deeply moody page, especially when seen in its original form.

Mazzucchelli keeps nearly all of his original art, and he both penciled and inked this page, so it’s a fantastic rarity as well. Only a handful of Daredevil pages that he is fully responsible for have appeared for sale on the secondary market.

*Daredevil #217 features a dramatic cover by the amazing Barry Windsor-Smith.*

Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli would collaborate on one of the best loved comic book story arcs of all time: “Born Again.” At IDW, we were fortunate enough to put together an Artist’s Edition of the series with beautiful scans provided from Mazzucchelli himself.

Geof Darrow — Powerful Line-up

July 23, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Commission, 2015

Welcome back to a month long celebration of the “Independents” — Independent creators and projects that continue to impact the comic book medium.

My love / hate relationship with conventions has often been a topic of professional discussion, whether I like it or not.

Focusing on the “love” part for now, conventions are opportunities to chat with friends far and wide that I don’t otherwise get a chance to see. This includes many creators that I’ve had the pleasure to meet or work with.

At the top of the list (A lot of folks are tied for number one) is Geof Darrow, the talented artist, super nice guy, and a very funny fellow.

Geof is one of many creator highlights for me at San Diego Comic Con. 25 years ago, back when the convention was smaller — and artist alley was bigger, it was a safe haven from the overwhelming din elsewhere in the building. Now of course the din has followed us everywhere.

But I digress.

I love this commission because it highlights Geoff’s key characters and amazing line work in a beautifully-detailed, impactful pin-up.

Hard Boiled (with Frank Miller), Shaolin Cowboy, and of course Big Guy and Rusty the Robot (Also with Miller).

I love Giant Robots. Doesn’t Everyone?

*The Big Guy and Rusty The Robot animated series was a fun adaptation of the comic.*

Frank Miller — Wood’s World

July 11, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Dark Horse Presents #100-1, August 1995 and Tales To Offend #1, July 1997

This is a great Frank Miller splash page from a 1995 Lance Blastoff story.

Wait — Who?

If you blinked, you likely missed Blastoff, Miller’s affectionate homage to Wallace (Wally) Wood’s classic EC SF stories. (With a bit of Al Williamson thrown in for good measure.)

The character originally appeared in only two short stories, both in Dark Horse Presents, both in black and white, in the mid 90s.

Ultimately, those stories, along with a few others, were repackaged in a fun one-shot comic book, Tales To Offend. For this reprint, the stories were newly colored.

And in a moment of inspired genius, Miller (or Dark Horse itself) hired Marie Severin — who colored most of the original EC stories — to color the Blastoff stories.

Nothing deep about these Blastoff stories — just some diversionary fun from the noir Sin City stories of the era. (Although the humor here is a definitely the dark kind.)

Dinosaurs. Rockets. Spacegirls. 40 years after EC’s heyday, it was nice to have them back again, even if just for a brief moment.

*A sampling of Wood’s greatest EC SF covers.*

Howard Chaykin — Salute The Flagg

July 4, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

American Flagg #17, February 1985

Happy Independence Day! Welcome back to a month long celebration of the “Independents” — Independent creators and projects that continue to impact the comic book medium.

Remember what is was like to first watch Sopranos or The Wire or some of other great early HBO-produced television shows? You knew it was TV, of course but it was so different… so much better than typical commercial fare, it made you think about what the medium could actually be.

For many fans — myself included — Howard Chaykin’s American Flagg (especially the first dozen issues or so) had a similar impact on comic books in 1983. Part SF, part satire, all adult, Flagg’s dystopia was like nothing else in contemporaneous comic book publishing.

Its inventive storytelling was groundbreaking, an oft-overused word that most definitely applies here. Need validation? Read those first twelve Flagg issues, and then read The Dark Knight Returns, by Howard’s studiomate Frank Miller, which appeared a few years later.

I’ll wait.

Or, just trust me on this.

Flagg came from nascent publisher First, and its editorial plan pursued mature, original comics from talented creators. And Flagg was one of the best of them.

It was obvious that Howard put his heart — and more — into the series.

In fact, I think there are only two reasons why Flagg isn’t frequently discussed in the same breath as other innovative titles like DKR or Watchmen.

First, it’s because of First.

Independent comic book publishers almost entirely relied on the direct market. Their reach wasn’t anywhere near as wide the mass market, and even with some newsstand distribution, a top independent comic book would never have the reach of a poor-selling superhero title from Marvel or DC, let alone a smash hit.

In other words, no chance you were going to score an American Flagg Slurpee at 7-Eleven.

The second reason is more frustrating.

Remarkably, all 50 original issues of Flagg have NEVER been collected. The early issues appear in and out of print from time to time, but it’s a pity that you can’t get the complete series in digital or print, on demand, as they say.

And that’s a conversation I’ve had with Howard many times. Many, many times.

Trust me on that, too.

*Issue #1, and the Hardcover collection of the early issues.*

Kevin Eastman — To Frank, With Love

November 17, 2019 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Batman / TMNT, Unused Variant Cover, 2015

Here’s an original to help us celebrate the 80th anniversary of Batman (I know, we said we were finished with that series… but this time we mean it!) and the 35th anniversary of the Teenage Mutant Turtles, launched in 1984.

Kevin Eastman was inspired to create this Frank Miller Dark Knight Returns homage during the first DC / IDW crossover between Batman and the Teenage Mutant Turtles. No surprise, as Kevin cites Miller and Jack Kirby as inspirations for his and Peter Laird’s original TMNT. The piece wonderfully captures the grittiness and weariness of Miller’s Batman; and Michelangelo as Robin? Mad genius. Everyone at both companies loved it.

But the art was formally submitted for approval a bit late in the game — after all the retailer variants and exclusive covers for that series had been determined and solicited, so it missed series one.

Flash forward to series two and three (2017 and 2019) — and now the DC retailer variant program has been virtually eliminated, and there is no logical place for the piece to appear as a cover. Sigh.

That third series is wrapping up now, and I’m assuming there will be collection of all three in a deluxe format at some point. Maybe this piece will appear as a bonus; I think fans would love to see it, and selfishly, I would love to see a color version.

As for how TMNT came to crossover with Batman in the first place? That’s a great tale, but one for another day.