Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery
Panels and Pages… Art and Artists… Creators and Conventions… Musings and Memories…
Amazing Spider-Man #412, June 1996
Continuing our month long celebration of Spider-Man’s upcoming 60th Anniversary.
Mark Bagley. Spider-Man. All action.
Great storyteller. Terrific guy.
Nuff said.
(Except, possibly, the simple question: How did this page become 25 years-old already? Ouch.)
Ultimate End #2, August 2015 and Hulk #15, June 2015
Welcome to the official day one of “12 Days of Hulk.”
Mark Bagley —- with the help of inker Andrew Hennessy — tackles two different Hulk battles in a few short months; Green Hulk vs. Red Hulk and Gray Hulk vs. Green Hulk. Both pages feature Bagley’s dynamic and imaginative storytelling skills.
I’ve seen a ton of Bagley originals during the last 15 years (One reason: he’s definitely prolific) and I have to say Hennessey’s inks are among my favorites, especially on Hulk. His bold strokes and use of blacks definitely add fierceness to the festivities.
And every time I see a page with both Green Hulk and Red Hulk on it, I always want to hum: “Red Hulk, Green Hulk, one, two, three.”
But, I digress.
Back here with day two of our ongoing Hulk tribute on Thursday.
Hawkworld #1, August 1989
What happens when you reboot a reboot? What happens when you change some continuity, but not all of it? What happens later when you er… change your mind?
What happens is you get DC superhero continuity for the last 35 years or so, post “Crisis on Infinite Earths.”
This is not a knock, per se, just an observation. Along with these many changes have been some great series and story arcs. Just enjoy the ride while it lasts, because a new one is probably around the corner.
Hawkworld is an early “prestige” re-do of the post-crisis Hawk backstory, nicely told by Tim Truman. It led to an ongoing series, and then later on… more retconning.
I like this page because it uses the art “camera” to heighten drama and increase tension, as opposed to more traditional character action. Coincidentally, I also own a Mark Bagley page that’s similarly cinematic in approach to similar subject matter. (I don’t think it’s an homage or swipe, just a classic case of great minds thinking alike — 25 years apart.)
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.
Original Sin #3.1, August 2014
Continuing our ongoing celebration of Marvel’s 80thAnniversary.
Tony Stark is forced to relive The Hulk’s origin — and his own potential culpability in the fateful gamma blast — in Original Sin, a clever 2014 crossover event by Mark Waid that introduces some new retcon elements into the Marvel Universe.
Re-imagining a classic scene is an interesting challenge for an artist, and Mark Bagley delivers on Bruce Banner’s transformation with inventive (and concise) storytelling and solid draftsmanship. Andrew Hennessy’s inking on Bagley’s pencils adds some nice polish.
The basics of Hulk’s origin haven’t changed much in the nearly 60 years of his existence, but the nuances have been modified many times. In the early days of the Silver and Bronze ages, a number of artists did different takes, as evidenced below.
Where did I first see the Hulk’s origin? On TV, of course, in the 1966 Marvel Super-Heroes Cartoons. (Courtesy of Jack Kirby’s art.)
Sing along to the theme song if you will:
(Lyrics by Jacques Urbont)
Doc Bruce Banner,
Belted by gamma rays,
Turned into the Hulk.
Ain’t he unglamor-ous!
Wreckin’ the town
With the power of a bull,
Ain’t no monster clown
Who is as lovable.
As ever-lovin’ Hulk! HULK!! HULK!!
Justice League of America #43 (2006 Series), May 2010
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 chose, 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, too.
