Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Tag: Gabriel Hardman

Gabe Hardman — The Apes Go “Boom”

Original Art and The Artists

Betrayal Of The Planet Of The Apes #3, January 2012

True Confessions:

When I was at IDW Publishing, we chased the Planet of Thae Apes license hard. And I mean hard. (I’m a super fan.) We had some terrific story ideas, and some talented creators ready to come on board if we acquired it.

The challenge was, that Fox couldn’t provide us with a guarantee that they had proper clearances on the original Marvel material. Reprinting that material would help finance the creative costs on the new series, as well as help fund the licensing fees, so that ended up as a deal breaker for us.

So… Boom swept in and acquired those rights without the reprint guarantee. And did a great job on their new material. And the joke was on us, ultimately, because Boom did end up with at least some of those reprint rights.

Sigh.

That said, we did get to do a super fun Star Trek / Planet of The Apes crossover with Boom, which is mostly a story for another day. But one nugget: Boom asked me to negotiate the “Taylor” (Charlton Heston) likeness rights with the estate, and that was one of the more reasonable and rational Hollywood-style negotiations I have ever had. And even Marvel didn’t originally have those rights. So, there’s that.

Oh, and the great Gabe Hardman did this superb cover for an issue of one the Boom series. Did I neglect to mention that?

Long Beach Comic-Con 2022

Original Art and The Artists

September 3-4. 2022

It’s been a minute (specifically, three years!)… Glad to be back in Long Beach with friends and fans!

Howard Chaykin sketching… Star Wars
Denys Cowan, Michael Stradford, Michael Polis
Scott Koblish
Matthew Clark
Howard and Greg… Together again
Gabe Hardman
Fighting crime is… tiring
With Show Promoter Extraordinaire Martha Donato
With Chris Gossett

Gabriel Hardman — Terror In The Public Domain

Original Art and The Artists

Project Superpowers: Blackcross #6, November 2015

Our third annual Halloween tribute continues now through October 31. 

Gabe Hardman creates an image of The Black Terror, that’s… well… pretty terrifying.

Launched in the Golden Age, the character has since fallen into the public domain, and has appeared in numerous titles and incarnations. This most recent version of The Terror spins out from the Project Superpowers project, the clever Alex Ross-driven series from Dynamic Forces that combines a number of PD characters into one universe.

As noted multiple times previously, I find Hardman’s work among the best in modern comics art.

I just wish for more of it.

The Black Terror’s launch and subsequent iterations from Alex Ross and Alan Moore / Chris Sprouse.

Gabriel Hardman — The True King Of The Monsters

Original Art and The Artists

King Kong, Commission, 2014

Godzilla got most of the attention in the last few posts. But Kong needs some love as well.

So here’s a terrific commission by Gabe Hardman to provide a solution.

Between American and international film releases and re-releases, there is a ton of great movie poster art out in the world. Much of it is quite striking, and my favorites always involve the penultimate scene of Kong fighting the “air force” on top the Empire State Building. (Spoiler alert: he loses and plummets to his death moments later.)

So this piece is a no-brainer for my collection. (Plus, my dad loved King Kong, and he would have seen its original release as an 11-year old, so there’s that reason to own it too.)

And even though Kong “died” in the original classic, he came back 30 years later to fight — and apparently defeat — Godzilla in the original match between those screen titans.

I wonder who wins this time around. I guess we will find out tomorrow.

It took more than 30 years for the original King Kong film to receive a comic adaptation, but it when it did, it was a glorious 64 pages for a quarter. Cover by the incredible George Wilson.
A few interior pages from the end of the Gold Key King Kong adaption , and Marvel’s classic parody cover that somehow manages to combine Kong, The Marvel Universe, and Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In.

Gabriel Hardman — Of Monsters And Magic

Original Art and The Artists

Savage Hulk #6, January 2015

Doctor Strange battling the Hulk? Seems like a great page to kick off our 2020 Halloween salute. As suggested previously, Gabe Hardman would likely be one of the best known talents in comics — if he were a full-time comic book storyteller. His main gig, though is film storyboard artist, and his many credits include Logan, Spider-Man 3 and The Dark Knight Rises. (And many well known non- “comic book” films as well. But we digress.)

He creates his storyboards digitally, but fortunately, for us, he creates his comic book art using traditional physical methods. Something he does very well.

The story itself is co-written by Gabe and his wife, Corinna Bechko who have collaborated on a number of projects, perhaps most notably the Hugo-nominated SF series Invisible Republic.

Gabriel Hardman — Like A Demon

Original Art and The Artists

Cursed Comics Cavalcade #1, October 2018

Continuing a two-week series celebrating Halloween with the best in monsters, mystery and mayhem.

Jack Kirby’s Demon — despite a short-lived original run of 16 issues — endures 47 years after his first appearance in 1972.

Talented creators have reinvigorated, and in some cases outright reinvented, Jack’s supernatural character in the ensuing decades. It’s an all- star list that includes Matt Wagner, John Byrne, Garth Ennis, John McCrea, and many others.

Add to that list Gabriel Hardman, who, on this splash, provides an iconic and frightening image of the classic character. Gabe’s use of deep black inks and the off-setting lightning and breaking glass create a haunting and dramatic page. (I think the art looks more impressive in black and white than in published color, but regular readers of this blog probably already guessed that.)

Hardman’s main professional work is creating storyboards for films, a list that includes Spider-Man, Batman, Logan and much more. He’s terrifically talented, and much sought after in Hollywood, so we don’t get enough of his work in comics, which is a definite pity for comic art aficionados. 

In the meantime, we can likely look forward to yet another artistic interpretation of Kirby’s character sometime in the future. 

After all, we all have our Demons.

An atmospheric storyboard from Logan. Even if Gabe were permitted to part with it, he couldn’t — he does most of his storyboards fully digital.



LBCC 2019 — Pencils and Inks

Original Art and The Artists
Matt Wagner signing on behalf of the Hero Initiative

I spent yesterday at the terrific Long Beach Comic-Con, and have posted photos here.

I realized after the fact that nearly all the creators I spent time with — Scott Kolins, Matt Wagner, Howard Chaykin, Gabriel Hardman , Mike Mayhew, Scott Koblish, Dave Bullock and Christian Gossett —- pretty much pencil and ink their own art, which was an odd coincidence. (Koblish inks others as well, but still…) And… they were all exhibiting within a few feet of each other in an otherwise large artists’ alley. Some sort of artistic serendipity I assume.

A great group of creators, enthusiastic fans, creative cosplay — and a good crowd, as opposed to an impossible one — made for a fun day. Kudos to Martha Donato and her team for more than 10 years of successful conventions In Long Beach and elsewhere!

Gabriel Hardman — Non-Commercial Break

Original Art and The Artists

Our friends at Hero Initiative are running one of their great “100 projects,” this one featuring 100 different artistic interpretations of Captain America done on blank sketch covers. Lots of great original art at auction on EBay right now, including this astounding Cap cover by the amazing Gabe Hardman.

This round ends Tuesday, 9/3; Bid often — it’s for a great cause.

(Gabe along with his wife, the very talented writer Corinna Bechko, will be attending the terrific Long Beach Comic Con this weekend, 8/31-9/1. Hope to see you there.)