Superman — Atomic Age Sundays Volume 3, December 2017
As described in a earlier post, Pete provided all the terrific covers for our DC superhero strip reprints for The Library of American Comics.
Pictured is a typical great example where Pete emulates legendary artist Wayne Boring — with some Curt Swan thrown in for good measure.
Oversized — and beautiful.
Fun Facts: (From the marketing copy):
Written by Alvin Schwartz and Bill FInger and Illustrated by Wayne Boring
The Man of Steel stars in thirteen classic adventures as the 1950s “Atomic Age” comes to a close. Some of the stories are original to the newspaper strip, while others were alternate versions of tales that were simultaneously published in the regular comic books. One of the featured adaptations is “Superman Versus the Futuremen,” written by Batman co-creator Bill Finger, which retells Superman’s origin. This concluding volume of Superman’s Atomic Age Sundays reprints all strips July 1, 1956 to October 11, 1959.
Pete hand colors copies of his original art, and those color guides are then handed off to the digital colorist who completes the work for publication.Meanwhile, over in the comics, Superman reminds us to read all his adventures.
Jurassic Park: The Devils in the Desert#1, January 2011
NYCC, about six years ago: I had previously heard a lot about John Byrne’s house and all the various art and collectibles that made up some of the décor, but hadn’t had a chance to get up to the wilds of Connecticut to check it out.
This time I was determined.
So, one rainy day at the end of convention hours Chris Ryall and I trudged our way through monsoon-like rain (seriously, no exaggeration) to Grand Central Station, and headed up north.
After one missed connection (rain again), we eventually made it up to Byrne’s town.
We dried off during a nice meal with John at a local Chinese restaurant, and headed back to his house.
It was everything as described. Great collectibles and memorabilia, and some great art hanging in his studio by comic book legends John admired. (No surprise, lots of Jack Kirby.)
Chris had already a working relationship with John, and in fact had been to his house previously. But I had actually not seen Byrne since the early 90s, and he had no memory of our meeting, nor should he.
As many colleagues can share, John can be reserved at times. Regardless, he was gracious, and he definitely warmed up a bit as we discussed art in detail while I enjoyed the tour. (Or, he was just being polite to his publisher. Ha.)
At the end of the night, he pointed us to his flat files of art and told us to each take something. These files were a potpourri of recent projects, pieces he had yet to give to his art representative to sell for him.
Chris found a page from DC’s OMAC series that John was especially proud of. I was a bit more interested in something that we had published at IDW, and after some deep digging, I came up with this great Jurassic Park double-page spread from the mini-series John created for us.
He was delighted that I admired it, and I, of course, was delighted with his generosity. It is a great piece, and to date, I walk past it every day and smile.
Permanent collection, for certain.
Getting it back to California from New York wasn’t easy, but that’s a story for another day.
Thanks again, JB!
I love the way the covers link up, especially issues #1 and #2.
Thor Artist’s Edition, Original Art Cover “Remarque” Limited Variant, 2011/2012& Sketch, 2012
Here are two terrific Walter Simonson Thor pieces with equally terrific “origin” stories.
First up: IDW Artist’s Edition Editor Scott Dunbier developed a unique concept with one of his earliest volumes — A blank cover that the artist could then draw on, making a limited amount of copies of the book true originals.
A challenge for the printer, but mission accomplished, at least with this volume.
Walter and Scott agreed on a price, and Walter drew approximately a dozen of these covers. I say approximately, because of some confusion about whether it was going to be 10 or 15 of them, and Scott ultimately chose to offer them privately to some well-known original art collectors in a addition to a handful of IDW’s senior management team. I have no recollection how many were actually ultimately created. And I’m not positive all the completed drawings were scanned.
(Yes, that is the way comics works sometimes, folks.)
In addition to the piece I own, I’ve seen about four others, and like this one, they are all terrific. The only challenge is figuring out a creative way to display one properly and safely. If anyone has solved that puzzle, feel free to chime in.
The second Walter piece is looser, but extra special. Walter generously drew it in my office after SDCC while I was tied up in a meeting elsewhere, with the plan to personalize my “regular” edition of the Artist’s Edition.
It was only after the art was completed that I noticed it was the book was damaged printer’s proof version, instead of my actual personal copy.
A bummer, certainly, but a solution presented itself with the help of a handy X-Acto blade. I removed the page, trimmed it to a more precise 11×17 size, and framed it.
Voila. Now I can view it all the time, instead of just upon opening the book.
As they say, it’s in the permanent collection.
It’s Thor’s 60th anniversary this year, so we have a few more posts lined up to celebrate Marvel’s God of Thunder. (Of course, technically, the Thor legend is eon’s old, but, as always, we digress.)
A few days late… and definitely a few dollars short. (Parts 2 and 3 coming tomorrow and Thursday.) So nice to be at conventions again, and you can quote me.
Much of “The Batman” is brilliant. It’s not necessarily my personal cup of Joe, but Matt Reeves has delivered an inventive and occasionally extraordinary film that incorporates elements of some great “contemporary” Batman comic book story lines and motifs. (Batman Year One, The Long Halloween, Cooke and Brubraker’s Catwoman, et al.)
It’s nice to see the world’s greatest detective actually detecting again.
The cast is superb. Robert Pattinson as Batman was excellent. I didn’t much care for his emo version of Bruce Wayne, but we hardly see him in the Bruce persona anyway. (He also wins for best bat-jawline). Zoe Kravitz and Paul Dano are also excellent, and Colin Farrell as the Robert DeNiro/Al Capone (Untouchables) version of the Penguin was good fun. He definitely has enthusiasms.
Jeffrey Wright as “Lt. Gordon” also great.
As for the story — I didn’t think it would be possible to incorporate Catwoman, Riddler and Penguin into one film without creating a bit of a mess; but the filmmakers made it work, and it worked pretty well.
And of course, developing the Riddler character as a serial killer is amazingly effective. Those real-life maniacs are always writing letters and taunting law enforcement so it was more than a logical character choice. Much of the first act of the film channels David Fincher’s Se7en and Zodiac. (Later on, it throws in elements of LA Confidential and Chinatown for good measure.)
As for the scarred side of the Two-Face coin?:
Upping the ante on Gotham as a modern Sodom and Gomorrah is wearying, even when done well. Why does anyone with more than 50 cents to their name live there? What the hell is the draw? It rains all the damn time, the nights last 16 hours or more, and it apparently has the most ineffective police force in urban history. It’s clearly the most dangerous and corrupt city in the USA, and it makes NYC in the 70s seem like a gleaming paradise. It’s becoming its own cliché.
(I’m beginning to think Ra’s al Ghul was right. Wipe Gotham off the map and start over.)
And riddle me this? Why are the non-“rouges gallery” villains always portrayed as one-dimensional cartoon characters? From Burton to Nolan to Reeves: The mobsters in these films are mostly not believable as mobsters. (Not to mention the cops, especially “senior management.” Also cartoons.)
And the bodies… just keep piling up… and up… and up. Maybe someone should call the state police. Or the FBI. Or… anyone.
As for the length of the film…
“I’m sorry I wrote you such a long letter. I didn’t have time to write you a short one.” – Blaise Pascal.
Seriously… it needed to be 20-30 minutes shorter. Do that and I think you not only have a terrific “superhero film”, but also a much more effective film, period. (No offense, it’s not the Godfather, which clocks in at about the same length.) And I would have watched the “extended” version on HBO a year from now anyway.
One final thought. A few film critics and fans have called this movie a “film noir.”
Nope.
Does it contain some of the tropes? Of course it does. So do a lot of films. (The whole dark and rainy thing again.) But, In actuality, you could argue the Batman’s arc in this film is the complete opposite of a film noir.
If it really was a noir, Batman would have completely fallen for Catwoman, done something really stupid because of his infatuation, and ended up floating face down in Wayne Manor’s swimming pool or dying in a hail of bullets.
Or, conversely, Bats would have done something “heroic” on Catwoman’s behalf that ultimately causes her to end up in a pool of her own blood.
And, spoiler alert (ok, I fibbed) they’re both alive at the end of the film.
Joe Jusko originally created this homage to this classic and iconic John Romita Spider-Man cover (#50, 1967) for a project that ultimately didn’t reach fruition.
I was fortunate enough to see the original — and not mull, noodle, or otherwise hesitate before purchasing it — when it was first offered for sale back in 2007.
As serendipity would have it, a few years later I was at IDW, and we landed Desperado Press as an imprint. Part of that deal included bringing Desperado’s Joe Jusko art book back into print.
Not wanting to miss potential opportunity for Joe or IDW, I asked Marvel if we could license the Spider-Man image for the cover of an exclusive limited edition version of the book. They said yes, told me the fee, and, after some smelling salts revived me, I said yes as well.
We (deliberately) only made 100 copies, and, on a per capita basis, it remains the most expensive licensing deal I have ever made.
But it’s a stunning piece that absolutely deserved to be a cover. (And, importantly, everyone would make a bit of money, so there’s that.)
And what did John Romita himself think about Joe’s painting?
“I had this piece on display at a Baltimore Con one year and who walks by my table and sees it, but John, “ says Jusko.
“He studied it for a while and then told me how much he liked it. A lot of guys would say that just to be nice, but John never said what he didn’t mean. For the rest of the show I had people coming over to my table saying John sent them over, telling them they had to see the painting. I’ve seldom been more flattered!”
2022 is the 110th anniversary of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ jungle icon, Tarzan.
This year has at least two-other important Tarzan-related anniversaries:
The first is 1932, the release year of the first Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan feature film. Tarzan existed on screen prior to the Weissmuller film, of course, but his 12 features likely did more to enshrine the character in the popular imagination than any other media representation.
The second is 1972, the year DC took over the comic book license from Gold Key and re-established Tarzan as a savage lord of the Jungle. Joe Kubert’s comic art work on the character was the first that took the sheen of the character and returned him to his literary roots.
Long before “reboot” became part of the pop culture vocabulary, Kubert’s Tarzan was a stunning new look for comic book readers.
DC, as part its licensing deal, had to provide all the original art to the Burroughs estate. It’s still there in the archives, in excellent condition, and we used it to create three beautiful Artist’s Editions volume at IDW.
Ultimately, thought, this means that Kubert Tarzan pages are among the rarest of the last 50 years. With the exception of a handful, none of them have ever been offered on the open market.
Joe originally gifted this splash, part of a DPS, to a friend.
I happened to see it the day it the day it came up for sale, and despite a lofty price, I acquired it then and there.
I knew I wouldn’t likely see another one.
Typically, Kubert’s full double-page spreads from this period could be broken up without ruining the art.
Three different Tarzan anniversaries in 2022: DC’s Tarzan celebrates its 50th, Weissmuller’s film series celebrates its 90th, and the character himself celebrates his 110th.
The final issue of Gold Key’s Tarzan series is almost as far from Kubert’s interpretation as The Batman 1966 TV series is from Christopher Nolan’s. Coincidentally, that issue also featured an adaptation of “Tarzan and the lion man.”
Freakonomics is one of my favorite podcast series. It’s devoted to, as they say, the hidden side of economics.
Last month, the show featured a three-part series discussing the commercial aspects of the art market. Specifically, the show’s journalists examine the fine art market, but there are many, many similarities to any aspect of art collecting, including comic art. Someof the topics — such as purchasing at auctions vs. dealers vs. directly from the artist — will ring familiar to anyone who owns more than one or two pieces of original art.
Admittedly, this could have been a two-parter (they spend an inordinate amount of time discussing the fine art career of Alice Neel and the increase in value of her works in recent years), but as always, the pod episodes are interesting and valuable.
If you buy art, or have ever considered it, it’s definitely a worthwhile listen.
See you back here next Tuesday, January 11 with the start of our salute to the 70th anniversary of Mad.
