Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery
Panels and Pages… Art and Artists… Creators and Conventions… Musings and Memories…
Avengers / JLA #4, May 2004
Captain Marvel fighting alongside… Captain Marvel? Only on this great battle page by the legendary George Perez from the Justice League / Avengers crossover that took more than 20 years to make happen.
And, appropriately, 2024 is the 20th anniversary of its publication. Twenty years ago? How on Earth (1,2, or 616) did that happen?
(Thanks to pal and super collector Michael Lovitz for parting with this one.)
Formerly Known As The Justice League #3, November 2003
Mary Marvel beats the nuclear daylights out of Captain Atom in this innovative, and terrific action page, by Kevin Maguire.
Everything about this page works for me: Storytelling, composition, movement, and the absolute rage on Mary’s face.
She’s pissed.
Of course, since it’s comics, and we know Mary is an otherwise lovely person, she’s clearly under some sort of mind control. Everything will eventually be fine, yes? Well, in this reunion of the classic 80s JLA creative team (Writers J.M. Dematteis and Keith Giffen, Maguire, and inker Joe Rubenstein) who can say?
Or maybe she’s just upset that the collection of this Eisner-winning series is unavailable. That annoys me, too.
Justice League of America #23, November 1963
Mike Sekowsky’s art and 70s pop music have characteristics in common for me:
As a kid, I didn’t like either of it, and now I look back on both with a sentimental warm feeling.
It’s not easy to explain. But I was warned by one of my older colleagues this would happen.
Sekowsky’s art always felt too loose (and blocky) for me. I realized he could draw any character of course, which made him the perfect illustrator for Justice League, but the end result never grabbed me.
Now as time has passed, and I smile when I see it. Possibly a primal nostalgic impulse. It seems like a perfect fit for the DC comics of the era.
This example, a cool Flash-focused page, with Wonder Woman on deep background, showcases some clear and inventive storytelling.
As for the draftsmanship? Like I said — things change. Now, it seems charming to me.
Excuse me a moment while I flip over Abba’s greatest hits on the turntable.
The Atom and Hawkman #45, November 1969
As discussed earlier this year, 1961 is an anniversary for both the Sliver Age versions of Hawkman and The Atom.
Neither character was ultimately commercially viable for his own comic book, so DC tried combining two titles into one.
Unfortunately that didn’t work long either, but as they say, it was fun while it lasted.
Dick Dillin was one of DC”s “B-team” artists who deserves more respect than he typically receives.
Although his draftsmanship may not have been up to the higher levels of some of his peers, his ability to draw with imagination and solid storytelling was pretty on point in my book.
He pretty much drew every issue of Justice League of America for 12 years starting with issue #64 (1968) and ending with his untimely death at #183(1980). Considering all the various JLA crossovers (JSA, Freedom Fighters, etc.), Dillin likely drew hundreds of different heroes and villains during that time.
Just Atom and Hawkman? Piece of cake.
JLA #50, February 2001
I’m not the ideal audience for Zach Snyder’s vision of the DC Universe.
I find it grim and dreary. Pretentious. Soulless.
Ultimately pointless.
These “Elseworlds” versions of the characters are for someone, obviously, just not me.
The four-hour version (“Snyder Cut”) of Justice League isn’t as much as a movie, but a living collection of splash pages, complete with sound effects.
If you’re an art fan, especially, there are indeed some gorgeous images, many conveniently unfolding in slow motion so you can catch all the visual eye candy without pausing the stream.
But, like I said, as a movie, not for me.
Bryan Hitch’s great cover from 20 years ago (!) is the type of iconic image of the team I can embrace. Superman happy. Batman grumpy. Everyone else somewhere in between.
That seems about right.
Fun fact: The JLA has had dozens — if not hundreds — of incarnations during its 60-year run, but here, if you swap Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner version) for Cyborg, you end up with the modern Snyder team.
Superman: The Golden Age, Volume 2, Fall 2016
Michael Cho delivers one of the best images this century of the Golden Age Superman.
Superman. In action. Happy and upbeat.
You’d be happy too if you were the most powerful human on earth — even if you had some serious crime to fight.
I’ve gone on the record that a grim and gritty, introspective (even mopey) Superman is not for me. In other words, most of the modern versions of the character.
Call me old school.
Michael says this early era of Superman is his favorite. It’s certainly among mine as well.
It’s a Superman week here on the blog as we celebrate the 80th anniversary of the debut of the amazing Paramount Fleischer Studios Superman cartoons. Those wonderfully produced animated shorts were the very first time Superman hit the big screen.
In a few days, the most recent filmed version of the character will appear in the re-edited “Snyder cut” of Justice League on HBO.
Don’t take any bets on which version I prefer.
Hawkman #30, September 2004
Greg Land delivers a simple, powerful and striking image of Hawkgirl (“Hawkwoman”*) metaphorically defending Hawkman in front of his Wanted Poster.
Superheroes framed for crimes — or constantly hunted as actual criminals (Spider-man, et al) — is a trope, that for whatever reason, I enjoy. But even if I didn’t, I’d still appreciate this terrific cover.
*Hawkgirl adamantly changes her name to Hawkwoman in issue #272 of World’s Finest (1981) but the moniker doesn’t stick over time. I can’t say I blame her for having a chip on her shoulder. When Hawkman was admitted into the Justice League in 1964, she was denied membership, because, according to League “rules”, only one new member is allowed at a time. Ouch.
Action Comics #857, December 2007
Our ode to Halloween and the creatures that often inhabit the comic book pages continues…
Bizarro Doomsday, at the bidding of Bizarro Lex Luthor, destroys the newly created members of the Bizarro Justice League.
Huh?
Trust me, it’s a wild ride. You just have to read it for yourself. Written by Geoff Johns and Richard Donner (Yes, that Richard Donner), the three-part story unravels (er, unfolds) in graphite, ink and wash-tone in perfect fashion by Eric Powell.
Donuts not included.
Justice League of America #43 (2006 Series), May 2010
Continuing our multi-week celebration of the 80thanniversary of the Justice Society of America. This specific post, featuring the Golden Age Green Lantern (Alan Scott) is an updated version of one of our earliest blogs from August, 2019.
The super-talented Mark Bagley has only spent three years (so far, at least) of his 30-year career at DC. But during that tenure, he worked on the weekly Trinity book as well as JLA/JSA, so he drew many of the DCU’s mainstay characters — some with multiple versions.
On this great splash page, we see Alan Scott, the Green Lantern of Earth 2 having a power surge issue. (With terrific inks by Norm Rapmund, and ultimately, when printed, great colors by Pete Pantazis.) I love the camera angle that Mark chooses here, enhancing the drama.
Earth 2, Earth 3, Earth Prime, Earth 616, whatever. Bring them on. I’ve been fascinated by the multiverse concept ever since I purchased my first JSA/JLA crossover annual event off the racks in the summer of 1967. Even when it gets confusing, I’m still a fan.
And while we are at it, bring back Fringe. Sliders, too.
Atom #36 Re-creation, May 1968 (original), 2010
Continuing our multi-week celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Justice Society of America, with each new post featuring a different classic JSA character.
I’m pretty sure this wasn’t the first meta cover to break the fourth wall, and it is most definitely not the last. But it is definitely my favorite.
My young brain exploded when I first saw this amazing Gil Kane cover at the candy store in 1968. I appreciated its cleverness immediately. That’s one helluva punch.
Ultimately, as I later began to differentiate artists and art styles, I came to recognize this specific punch composition as a Kane trademark. Given Kane’s voluminous published output, there must be dozens, if not hundreds of similar examples. The issue itself features the same composition in its interior, with the Atoms reversed.
As always, Fred captures the spirit of the cover perfectly in his trademark re-do style. He tells me this was the first time he took a stab at this one.
Not sure when/if the Kane original will be offered for sale again, and in all likelihood out of my budget range regardless. So… the Hembeck recreation will do nicely.
