Continuing our 70thcelebration of Superman and Batman (Robin, too) teaming up for the first time.
Pete Poplaski’s 1990 promo art of the Dynamic Duo and the Man of Steel makes me happy.
It appears informally modeled after World’s Finest Comics #2, the issue that changed titles from the original World’s Best Comics. (Which, as noted previously, was the successor to World’s Fair Comics. No worries, there’s never a quiz on this material, especially since I’d probably be the first one to mess it up.)
Of course, as we’ve posted previously, all of Pete’s gorgeous retro work makes me happy.
Remnants of a different era, indeed.
Poplaski’s great covers for the original DC strip reprints from Kitchen SinkSuperman and Batman finally get together in 1952… and Lois runs off with Robin. Thats wrong, for a lot of reasons.
Nostalgic collectible tin advertising signs became all the rage in the 1990s.
At first, “reprints” of authentic signs started popping up at flea markets and street fairs. Many were classic brands and logos, some long defunct.
Shortly thereafter, inventive entrepreneurs created new signs designed to emulate the retro look and feel of the classics. You can still find many of these at shops and vendors that specialize in nostalgic candy, soda, etc.
Kitchen Sink, publisher at the time of the Superman and Batman newspaper strip reprint collections, issued two very cool Superman “advertising” tins designed and illustrated by the amazing Pete Poplaski. (This one is marked #3, but I’ve only seen two, so I’m assuming at least one design was tabled.)
As with nearly all of Pete’s illustrations, everything you see, including the lettering, is fully hand drawn. (The line detail on the buildings alone is astonishing.)
And no one captures classic comic art styles like Pete. (Well, maybe the equally amazing Paul Mavrides, but that’s a tale for another day.)
As mentioned previously, when we picked the DC strip reprint rights at IDW in 2013, Pete was our first choice to create all the cover material.
And, as always, he knocked it out of the park.
Celebrating the 80th anniversary of the original Superman cartoons, created by the incredible Fleischer Studios for Paramount Pictures.
Paul Mavrides, Pete’s only real “competition” in recreating other artist styles, illustrated the Comic Book Confidential film poster art back in 1988, mimicking the art style of each individual artist. (Paul and the original art provide a funny intro to the film itself.)
Dropsie Avenue is the third (and final) graphic novel in the Contract With God Trilogy.
As noted previously All Contract With God did was change the face of comic book storytelling and popularize the concept, and phrase, “graphic novel.”
Eisner’s career remains fascinating. He had all but given up on comic book work after he discontinued the Spirit in 1952, but the growth of comics’ fandom convinced him to return in the 70s. He did indeed revisit The Spirit, but more importantly, he realized his personal literary aspiration of creating something completely unique and personal with COG, its sequels, and other graphic novels he produced until his death in 2005.
Dropsie Avenue (1995) tells the evolution of a fictional street and its residents in New York’s Bronx Borough — spanning more than 100 years, beginning about 1870 One of the many reasons I enjoy this page is that it features a street pole with the name of the street, and hence the title of the graphic novel.
Eisner owned outright nearly all the comic book material he created in his lifetime. He had great foresight to retain his intellectual property, and remain a true independent until his passing.
Batman: The Silver Age Newspaper Comics Vol. 3 (1969-1972), November 2016
Pete Poplaski has been called an “artist’s artist” by many creators. His name might not be known as well as other artists, but his talent is unquestionable.
Pete, who broke into comics in the 70s underground community, ultimately became Kitchen Sink Press’ art director, and among many accomplishments helped give some of Robert Crumb’s projects just the right design touch.
Kitchen had the rights to reprint the DC Batman and Superman comic strips in the early 1990s, and Pete created brand new covers that evoked the classic style of those strips.
When we acquired those reprint rights at IDW in 2012, we went back to Pete to see if he would be interested in picking up where he left off, and fortunately he was.
Wayne Boring. Dick Sprang. Al Plastino. Carmine Infantino. You name a classic artist, and Pete can replicate the style.
And perhaps most astonishing of all is this giant wraparound cover for Batman Silver Age Volume 3. Featured on these covers are nearly everyone in the Bat family from that era. Good guys and villains alike. All the type is hand lettered.
And when I say giant, I’m not kidding. When combined, the two pieces are nearly four-feet wide.
I’ve never seen another piece of comic art quite like it.
September 19 is “Batman Day,” so we’re going to ride the Bat-train for a few weeks and post some additional theme-appropriate art. No “Bam or “Pow” included.
Poplaski creates color guides by photocopying the original and, if too big, taping the pages together.
Will Eisner’s Quarterly #2, Spring 1984 and A Life Force, 1988
We continue with our month long celebration of the “Independents” — Independent creators and projects that continue to impact the comic book medium.
A Life Force is the second graphic novel in the Contract With God Trilogy.
Contract with God? All that did was change the face of comic book storytelling and popularize the concept, and phrase, “graphic novel.”
Autobiographical and journalistic. Sometimes harsh, sometimes uplifting. Mature, and in places, unflinching. Eisner described his narrative, an “exercise in personal agony,” a way of dealing with the death of his daughter Alice (from Leukemia) years earlier.
Eisner’s career is fascinating. He had all but given up on comic book work after he discontinued the Spirit in 1952, but the growth of comics’ fandom convinced him to return in the 70s. He did indeed revisit The Spirit, but more importantly, he realized his personal literary aspiration of creating something completely unique and personal with COG, its sequels, and other graphic novels he produced until his death in 2005.
A Life Force was first serialized in Will Eisner’s Quarterly starting in 1984. The innovative storytelling and artistic detail on this page (i.e the classic line cross-hatching) makes it a keeper.
Eisner owned outright nearly all the comic book material he created in his lifetime. He had great foresight to retain his intellectual property, and remain a true independent until his passing.
