Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Tag: IDW Publishing

Jordi Bernet — Black And White

Original Art and The Artists

Shadow Commission, Undated

Nearly all writers, amateur or professional, struggle with writers block at some point.

My blog schedule for 2020 is fairly consistent. About 250 -300 words per post, three posts per week. Add in some extra narrative in the captions, and the occasional “bonus” post, and we can generously call it 1000 words per week. 50,000 words per year, give or take.

That’s significantly less than my early newspaper or magazine days, and yet, every once in a while, I stare at the art — and the screen— blankly, trying to get my thoughts together in a semi-coherent fashion.

And then, there’s Walter Gibson, creator of the Shadow. During the height of the character’s popularity in the 30s and 40s, he wrote two novels PER month, each 50-60,000 words. (Using the pen name Maxwell Grant.)

50,000 — 60,000 (or more) words every… two… weeks.

In Gibson’s NY Times obituary, the paper calculated that in some years, his annual output was well over 1.6 million words!

Reading some of these Shadow stories, it’s obvious that although they were genre books, with certain themes and ideas repeated throughout, they were well written, creative and original. Quality novels, twice a month.

How the heck did he pull it off? Astonishing is definitely an understatement.

Turns out he and I were living fairly closely to each other shortly before he passed away in 1985. I wish I knew that (where was the internet when I needed it?), so I could have perhaps expressed my astonished admiration directly. And of course, thank him.

Oh, yes, back to the art: A great commission by the terrific Jordi Bernet. He’s done a bunch of these, so I assume he’s a fan.

I was fortunate enough to meet him — and host him briefly — at the 2011 San Diego Comic–Con. IDW published the first high quality collection of Torpedo stories in English. And although I’m not a huge fan of the stories themselves, I’m a big fan of the art.

That too, is an amazing understatement.

But at least I had an opportunity to tell him that. Even if my Spanish is fairly impotent.

Alex Toth drew the earliest Torpedo stories, but he wasn’t fond of the writing, so he dropped out. His replacement, Jordi Bernet, is a legendary storyteller in his own right.

Shannon Wheeler — Per Se

Original Art and The Artists

New Yorker Cartoon, Unpublished, 2015

Shannon Wheeler:

Terrific cartoonist. Brilliant humorist. Funny guy.

Also, my pal — at least most of the time.  (Creators and publishers have differing points of view on occasion.)

I’ve loved his work since I met him and his wacky alternative comic Too Much Coffee Man at the 1993 San Diego Comic Con. (Also, I drink too much coffee.)

One of the many things I will miss about Comic Con in 2020 is rummaging through his originals, printed and unpublished alike. I find many of them funny as hell.

But you can buy some on-line. And they are terrific deals as far as I’m concerned.

I love gags that apply specific word choices as a chief component of the humor. To me, there is absolutely nothing that would make the cartoon funnier than “per se.”

But, maybe that’s just me.

The National Cartoonists Society would be poised for their annual awards event this month if it wasn’t for the COVID pandemic, so it’s a good week to celebrate cartoons.

See you again on Thursday with an example from the late great Gahan Wilson.

An award winning winning collection of cartoons, plus some very funny illustrations taken direct from the horse’s mouth, so to speak.
The first appearance of Too Much Coffee Man in a mini-comic (1991) and the most recent giant omnibus collection.

Tom Yeates — Cowboys And Dinosaurs

Original Art and The Artists

Jurassic Park #5, 2010

The first series of Jurassic Park comics in nearly 15 years is, unfortunately, nothing to write home about. Or write about here, for that matter. Neither the writing the art (especially) the art were up to snuff of the other licensed books we published at IDW. The less said, the better.

But… the covers were pretty terrific. Frank Miller, Bernie Wrightson and many others contributed to those covers. Included in the group is this one, wonderfully executed by the terrifically talented — and often criminally underrated — Tom Yeates.

Tom channels some Valley of Gwangi with his cowboys vs. dinosaurs scene depicted here.

If you’re not familiar with this film, give it a try. It’s not like we all don’t have a bit of extra time on our hands these days, unfortunately. Might as well dive into classic dinosaur films.

As Ray Bradbury had said, who doesn’t like dinosaurs?

Or great dinosaur art for that matter.

Tom’s cover immediately reminded me of the 1969 film, Valley of the Gwangi, which had its own comic book adaptation. Also pictured above is the original film concept art, which actually reflects the dino to cowboy scale a bit more accurately.

Michael Golden — Monstrous Mayhem

Original Art and The Artists

Jurassic Park Raptors Hijack #1, 1994

Perhaps best known for his work on Micronauts and the Nam, Michael Golden is simply put, a superstar artist.

Perhaps some of his most fascinating art, and possibly least known by anyone other than hardcore Golden fans, are his covers (and portfolios) for Topps’ Jurassic Park series.

Beautifully detailed, wonderful compositions, these covers transcended the JP sequels and side stories that we published at Topps. They are simply stunning. While some are better than others, there’s not a bad one in the bunch.

Michael did 18 different covers, and added two new ones to two separate portfolios. Interestingly, until I looked it up, I didn’t realize that Image actually published the portfolios, which are long out of print and challenging to find on the secondary market place.

(I have no memory of how we were able to swing that with Universal, but I’m glad we did.)

You can see pretty much all of them at this link.

This specific piece? Dinosaurs. Gorillas. Mad scientists. It’s like some crazy Republic serial, gorgeously illustrated.

And for you Golden Micronauts fans? The terrifically talented and tenacious Scott Dunbier has somehow figured out a way to carve out a deal with Golden, Marvel and Hasbro to create an Artist Edition for later in the year.

I can’t imagine it will be anything less than great.

Cover as it originally appeared, and then re-colored for a trade collection 15 years later.
Michael Golden’s portfolios of Jurassic Park art, both of which — especially volume 2 — are very scarce today.

John Byrne — “Gronk”

Original Art and The Artists

Jurassic Park: The Devils in the Desert #1, January 2011

I have no memory of how I acquired a few pieces of art. A chance dealer transaction at a convention perhaps … or possibly a last minute sweetener in a trade? Too much art probably, too many years definitely, and as they say…. hard drive almost full.

But this art’s provenance I remember very well.

NYCC about 5 years ago.  I had heard a lot about John Byrne’s house and all the various art 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 the convention day, Chris Ryall and I trudged our way through monsoon-like rain (no exaggeration) to the train station, missed our connection, but eventually made it up to John’s town. After a nice Chinese meal, we headed back to John’s 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 direct working relationship with John, and in fact had been to his house previously. But I had actually not seen John 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 to his publisher, and he definitely warmed up a bit as we discussed art in detail while I enjoyed the tour.

At the end of the night, He pointed us to his flat files of art and told us to each take something. These file were a potpourri of recent projects, pieces he had yet to give to his art representative Jim Warden 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.

Gabriel Rodriguez — Unlocked

Original Art and The Artists

Locke and Key: Crown of Shadows #5, February 2010

The first Locke and Key comic book from IDW Publishing went on sale 12 years ago, and nearly everyone who read it said, “wow, this would make a great television series.”

After a long, winding, often tortuous journey on the entertainment road, here we are. The first season of Locke and Key dropped on Netflix last night. I’m looking forward to binging it.

And I’m looking forward to re-reading the original six graphic novels that comprise the full Locke and Key story. Superb storytelling throughout by Joe Hill and Gabe Rodriguez make this one of the top graphic novel series of the 21st century. Gabe’s art just keeps getting better — and more lavishly detailed — as the series progresses.

I’ve loved nearly all of Gabe’s covers, but he rightfully guessed that this would be one of my favorites, with its emphasis on a classic hero vs. monster fight. (And beautiful detail on the monster.) When we introduced Locke and Key to a wider audience via Free Comic Book Day, we chose this to use cover as well.

It’s a beauty. Thanks Gabe.

Slight alterations (digitally) from original issue to FCBD version.

Watchmen — Odds and Sods

Original Art and The Artists

Random Thoughts and Observations

Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons early concept art for Watchmen

The Price Of Greatness

  • Each time I consider a purchase of an original Watchmen page, the price becomes too rich for my taste and I get cold feet. And then, each succeeding time, the price is much higher. Lesson learned? Not yet.
  • That said, at IDW, we published a beautiful Watchmen Artifact Edition, so I did get to browse quite a few pages and see some impressive scans.

Archie’s Efforts

  • The MLJ/ Archie superhero universe is fascinating:  Since the 80s there have been multiple attempts to launch and sustain the characters, and none have quite worked. Fingers crossed for the most recent efforts, although I’m not certain any new titles featuring the latest iterations were published last year. It’s also interesting that Archie has licensed them to DC a few times.

DC’s Appetites

  • And speaking of DC, it’s fascinating to me that they would own so many superhero characters, add more, and then license even more. To wit: They purchased the Quality library, the Marvel family, The Charlton superheroes, and Wildstorm. At one point or another, they’ve licensed the Archie superheroes, The T.H.U.N.D.E.R Agents, The Spirit, The Conde Naste pulp characters and Fighting American. And a host of other ones I’m likely overlooking. Whew.

Moore’s Luck

  • Did Alan Moore’s familiarity with the Charlton and Archie characters come from childhood? Or later perhaps when he attends some fan gatherings/ early UK conventions? You could barely find some of those comics in New York, so it’s intriguing (and ultimately fortunate) that they made their way into the UK.

Morisi Gets His Rights

  • Why did Peter Cannon Thunderbolt revert back to creator Pat Morisi? Why was his deal so different than Steve Ditko’s? Or, did he manage to find a copyright loophole later on? Questions, so many questions…

Not Too Desolate:

  • If Bob Dylan receives a royalty for the Desolation Row lyrics included in the Watchmen comics, it’s probably the easiest and most surprising money ever. If his people took a flat fee, all I can say is… oops.

Berkeley Breathed — Heir To The Empire

Original Art and The Artists

Bloom County Sunday Strip, July 1,1984

The Empire rebuilt itself and came back more powerful than ever: The plot of the latest Star Wars Trilogy, or Berkeley Breathed’s prescient look at a well-known mega-corp. 35 years ago?

Star Wars. ATT. Donald Trump. Ruppert Murdoch. Et al. Bloom County may have disappeared for a bit, but many of his frequent satirical topics most definitely did not.

So we might be done with one Empire this week, but the other one is not going anywhere for a while.

The Force is with us indeed. Just a different one than Mr. Lucas imagined.

Fun fact: This strip is the very last one in Volume 2 of the complete Bloom County library

Howard Chaykin — Dark Force Rising

Original Art and The Artists

Star Wars #2, April 2015


Howard Chaykin returns to Star Wars with an imposing cover of Darth Vader in 2015. You don’t want to mess with this version of Vader, even if you’re on his side.

Howard Chaykin. Star Wars. This might be a greater conflict than the empire vs. the rebellion. 

I don’t need to repeat Howard’s many on the record comments about his original artwork on the series (Marvel’s 1977 issues #1-#10, which includes the six-part adaptation of the original film.) You can see more for yourself here, here or here.

Suffice to say, he doesn’t like it. (Reading anything Howard says about his own work — or others, or anything, for that matter — is always highly entertaining, so I recommend taking a deeper dive.)

Objectively, Star Wars is of course, not his best work — not even close. It’s not even as good as his other early comics. He drew three issues (and wrote one) of Marvel Premiere just prior to Star Wars that are excellent, especially for the period. (Howard is generally self-critical of all his earliest work, so I bet he won’t agree. But I digress.) 

Licensed comics are always a challenge, especially with limited reference and insane deadlines. That said, given these constraints, and many others, I think his Star Wars art, especially on the first issue, is definitely better than much of what was coming from the big two companies at the time.  But, ultimately, not so great on the Chaykin Curve. (A new scientific term coined especially for this post.)

Just a few years later (1982) he created the astonishing American Flagg. Groundbreaking, although often overused, barely does that series justice. (Much more on that in a future post). Based on Flagg alone, Mark Chiarello DC’s long-time Art Director has described Chaykin as one of the architects of the modern comic book. 

Unfortunately, Flagg was published by a smallish independent publisher, which means that few casual readers ever saw it. Although knowledgeable long-time fans are well aware of the series, it doesn’t have the legacy it deserves.

Star Wars? Reprinted about a zillion times, in more formats than I can count. And I am one of the guilty parties here, publishing the Star Wars Artifact Edition (IDW), showcasing the original art — in its original (11×17) size. 

Shortly after Flagg, Chaykin went on to other fascinating projects, geared for older readers. Times Squared. Blackhawk. The Shadow. Black Kiss. Etc. Ultimately, after a long stint in Television, he returned with other series that reflected his interests and passions. Mighty Love (feels like a television show and was apparently originally developed for that medium) and City of Tomorrow are two personal favorites.  He’s currently working on Hey Kids! Comics!, a fascinating fictionalized look at the drama, jealousy and scandals in the history of comic book business itself.

His innovative and realistic storytelling is complex, violent, sexual, and political. He left space operas behind a lifetime ago.

So if you were a kid when you saw Star Wars, loved Star Wars, and only had the Star Wars comics to read over and over again, because there was no home video, I get it, you love those comics.

I think that’s cool. Even Howard is probably ok with you remembering those comics through the warm glow of childhood nostalgia.

But if you’re an adult? Just don’t remember HIM for them. 

That’s like remembering Nolan Ryan only for his one World Series appearance for the 1969 “Amazing” Mets. You’ve missed the point.

Chaykin’s first Star Wars art was a promo poster available at SDCC 1976 for a buck, followed by Star Wars #1 in Spring 1977. Howard revisited the Star Wars saga for Star Wars Insider in 2010 with a similar composition to the originals, incorporating iconic imagery from Empire Strikes Back to celebrate its 30th anniversary .
Chaykin’s art from the same early period includes his own Monark Starstalker, and two Solomon Kane (Robert E. Howard) stories co-written by Roy Thomas.

Kevin Eastman — In A New York Minute

Original Art and The Artists

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1, 30th Anniversary Reprint, July 2014 (SDCC)

Continuing a celebration of the TMNT 35th anniversary, with a look back at the 30th.

One Minute Later. 30 Seconds Later. 10 Seconds Later. It doesn’t really matter. If a comic book cover is a snapshot of a moment of time, the idea here was to illustrate what the characters on an iconic cover would be doing just after that moment. Kevin and I spitballed this idea for a few minutes and he ran with it. If the Turtles were ready for action on the original cover, they would be jumping into action a moment later.

They are, after all, the Turtles.

IDW offered two versions of the comic book at SDCC that year. A color version that was penciled by Kevin and inked separately by co-creator Peter Laird on a lightbox copy. (Look carefully to see some subtle but interesting differences.) The second version, more limited, is this one, featuring Kevin’s tight pencils only and printed in black and white. I might be biased, but I think it’s a beauty.

For a look at the all the versions and re-do’s of the original cover, check out this great article. Ironically it omits this specific cover, but hopefully catches all the rest.

Printed Version
Color Version, Inked by Laird
Issue #1, 1984, art by Eastman