Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Tag: Marvel Comics

Jack Kirby — Fantastic 4Ever

Original Art and The Artists

Fantastic Four #100, July 1970

A few days ago marked the 65th publication anniversary of Fantastic Four #1, which hit the stands in August 1961. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby went on to produce 102 consecutive issues together, plus annuals — arguably the greatest sustained superhero family soap opera in comics history.

My first Fantastic Four off the stands was #63. After that, thanks to the usual childhood complications of schedules, availability and, mostly, money, I bought the book intermittently until somewhere around #98. From there, I don’t think I missed an issue for about 20 years.

And yes, I eventually went back and completed the run, as quickly as budget would allow.

Of course I did.

Fantastic Four #100 was also the first big Marvel anniversary issue I ever bought new, soon followed by Amazing Spider-Man #100 and Avengers #100. Triple-digit issue numbers felt like very serious business when you were a kid.

Which brings me to this page of original art.

I missed it the first time it came up for sale and figured I had blown it. Then, through an odd twist of fate, it became available again.

Couldn’t believe my luck.

Kirby pencils. Joe Sinnott inks. The whole team is here, along with Crystal, plus “Kang.”

Well, technically an android pretending to be Kang.

But I digress.

I also remember looking at the cover of #100 in 1970 and pretty much guessing the premise before I even read it.

Which tells me that, even at that age, I was already reading way too many damn comic books.

The original cover — plus the Fred Hembeck cover I commissioned some years back, with recent coloring by Frank Cuonzo.

Jack Kirby — The Marvel Age Of Monsters

Original Art and The Artists

“Sserpo,” Amazing Adventures #6, November 1961

Jack Kirby would have turned 109 this month, which seems like the perfect excuse to celebrate one of his wonderfully ridiculous pre-Marvel monsters.

Meet Sserpo: a big, dumb creature with an even dumber spelling, brought to you by Kirby and Stan Lee in the first week of August 1961.

And what a great Kirby page this is.

Scientists shouting. Jets firing uselessly. Sserpo stomping across Canada. And then that enormous final panel, with Kirby pushing the monster so far into the foreground that he practically takes over the page.

Big, bold, absurd—and completely irresistible.

But Sserpo is more than just another giant monster.

Because one week later, Stan and Jack would unleash another one. Only this time, they brought along the Fantastic Four to fight him.

And just like that, everything changed.

One week separated the fading days of Marvel’s monster era from the beginning of the Marvel Universe—and, ultimately, the rebirth of an entire industry.

Of course, no one knew it at the time.

Not Stan. Not Jack. And certainly not the thousands of readers who had been happily gobbling up these stories for the previous four years.

To them, Sserpo was just another monster at the newsstand.

A week later, it was a whole new ballgame.

Sserpo seems to have changed his look from Part One to Part Two.
If you want to see evrything Marvel produced in August 1961, grab a copy of this omnibus. Its a snapshot of the comic book world just priorate the “Marvel Age of Comics. ” That appears to be SSerpo in the top left.

Dave Johnson — Spider-Bonus

Original Art and The Artists

Spider-Man DVD Special Edition, Bonus Art Gallery, 2002

With Great DVDs Come Great Bonus Features:

Remember when DVDs tried really hard?

Okay, so maybe you don’t remember DVDs at all. Sadly, in the age of streaming, that’s entirely possible.

The 2002 Spider-Man Special Edition included the usual commentaries, documentaries and deleted material—but it also featured a gallery of original Spider-Man artwork by 19 different comic artists.

And it’s an impressive group: Chris Bachalo, Jae Lee, David Mack, John Cassaday, Kevin Nowlan, Sean Phillips and plenty more. There’s a complete checklist below.

This piece by Dave Johnson is one of my favorites. Interestingly, when an artist supplied a piece in black and white, the DVD left it that way—so for original-art fans, that’s a bonus on top of a bonus. The coloring shown here was created this year by the very talented Frank Cuonzo.

Did the casual movie fan have any idea what they were looking at? That’s pretty much a rhetorical question.

These pieces were commissioned exclusively for the DVD, which means somebody had to contact the artists, negotiate fees, collect the artwork, scan everything—and then hide it several menus deep on the second disc.

That’s a lot of effort for something many viewers probably clicked through once, if at all.

Still, I love that they did it.

The feature connected the movie back to the comics and gave a wonderfully eclectic group of artists a chance to interpret Spider-Man in their own way.

Wasteful? Possibly.

But compared with today’s nearly bonus-free streaming releases, it also feels pretty terrific.

Color by Frank Cuonzo — it’s Black and White in the DVD.

I couldn’t find a checklist of all the DVD “Bonus” Comic Art Images, so I created one. (It’s an all-star list, in order of how they appear when you click through the gallery):

Note: “Color” denotes the only pieces presented in color in the DVD gallery.

Spider-Man DVD Comic Art Gallery

ArtistFeatured Character(s)Format
Michael DavisGreen Goblin—
Denys CowanSpider-Man—
Chris BachaloSpider-Man & Green GoblinColor
Jae LeeSpider-Man—
Mike AllredSpider-ManColor
David MackSpider-ManColor
Duncan FegredoSpider-Man & Green GoblinColor
J. G. JonesSpider-Man & Green Goblin—
Dave JohnsonSpider-Man—
Frank QuitelySpider-Man—
Terry DodsonSpider-Man—
John CassadaySpider-Man—
Sam KiethSpider-ManColor
Sean PhillipsSpider-ManColor
Michael Avon OemingSpider-Man—
Paul ChadwickSpider-ManColor
Alex MaleevSpider-Man—
Kevin NowlanSpider-Man—
Kevin MaguireSpider-Man & Mary Jane—

Samplings of some of the other DVD art pieces

Sean Chen — Into The Spider-Verse

Original Art and The Artists

FCBD Regional Specaility Print, 2023

Here is a great Spider-Man original from my pal Sean Chen, featuring Miles Morales front and center, with Spider-Gwen—Ghost-Spider—right behind him.

Peter Parker gets a more casual nod through the classic Spidey image on the side of the building, and “Peter Porker” makes an appearance the same way, just for good measure.

It’s a terrific composition—and whenever Sean draws buildings, the level of detail is outstanding.

Sean originally created the piece for a regional Free Comic Book Day print in 2023, and he also brings a version with him to conventions.

Fun, somewhat tangential fact: Someone started a rumor—at least locally here in California—that the first comic-book team-up of Miles, Gwen and Peter may have appeared in our Marvel Action: Spider-Man series from IDW Publishing.

I have no idea whether that is actually true.

I did see speculators buying copies in bulk at a local show around the time the last Spider-Verse animated film was released, but I don’t think they succeeded in cornering the market. You can still find the books pretty readily at cover price or just slightly higher.

I’m not crazy about the coloring on the published print. It obscures too much of Sean’s terrific detail, and while the palette might seem appropriate for the animated film series it doesn’t feel especially “Spider-Verse” here.
But hey—everyone’s a critic, right?

Steve Rude — Spider-Man ‘s Fireworks (Part 2)

Original Art and The Artists

Speciality Piece, 2001

Steve Rude takes on a classic John Romita Spider-Man cover here, and gives it just enough of his own “spin” to make it interesting.

I really like it.

But… I still prefer Romita’s original. His Spidey is more prominent — and, hey, it is Spidey’s book. Torch also gets a little more room to breathe on the published cover.

Plus — nostalgia.

That said, I think Rude’s Torch pose feels more in the moment, especially reacting to Spidey’s webbing — which is fireproof now?

Handy.

Rude also has some fun with the dock setting. The crates, pylons, broken boards, and extra bits make the action feel more like an actual waterfront brawl.

But Romita still wins.

Still, I could afford the Rude reinterpretation. If the Romita ever comes up for sale, I don’t exactly have an extra $250K–$500K lying around.

Which, naturally, is a pity — although I’d probably use that kind of cash for something else.

Unless, of course, I win one of those mega-jackpots with eight figures or more.

In that case, all bets are off.

Pat Olliffe — Spider-Man’s Fireworks (Part 1)

Original Art and The Artists

Untold Tales of Spider-Man #6, February 1996

The Human Torch and Spider-Man: peanut butter and chocolate? Or oil and water?

Maybe both.

I’ve always had a soft spot for the pairing of Marvel’s two original teenage superheroes. Peter Parker and Johnny Storm should probably understand each other better than anyone else in the Marvel Universe.

Naturally, they mostly annoy the hell out of each other.

Which is why I enjoy it.

This terrific Pat Olliffe / Al Vey cover comes from Untold Tales of Spider-Man, a modern retro gem of a series that filled in the gaps between Spidey’s earliest Lee/Ditko adventures. The Kurt Busiek-penned book had the tricky job of feeling new without stepping on sacred ground, and typically it pulled it off.

This cover does the same thing.

It feels classic without being phony-retro — just a clean, punchy Marvel image with Spidey and Torch doing what they do best: racing straight into trouble.

And that’s the fun of them together. Torch is all swagger, Spidey is all wisecracks, and they’re usually over their heads before the story even has a chance to get warmed up.

Pun intended.

Fun fact: It’s a “modern” series only if you’re an old-timer. It’s about 30 years old now, which means it’s roughly as far from us as the original Ditko stories were from it.

Sigh.

John & Sal Buscema — Soaring

Original Art and The Artists

Silver Surfer #7, August 1969

Silver Surfer #7, original art by John & Sal Buscema, from the collection of Greg Goldstein

In the 1995 film Crimson Tide, there’s a loud argument between two sailors that escalates into a fight—written by Quentin Tarantino—about whether Jack Kirby’s Silver Surfer is better than Moebius’s.

It’s kind of a ludicrous debate. Not just heated—ludicrous. Because in the real world, no one ever really had that argument.

Moebius—brilliant as he was—did one relatively small graphic novel featuring the Surfer. It’s beautiful. No question. But is it influential enough to spark a barroom brawl? Probably not.

Now, a real debate? Kirby vs. John Buscema.

Buscema gave us 17 unforgettable issues of the Surfer’s original solo series. That’s a body of work you can actually argue about.

I’m not picking sides—I like both for different reasons. But here’s something that’s not up for debate:

John’s version, inked by his brother Sal Buscema, featuring the Surfer and his evil doppelgänger?

That’s pretty close to perfection.

And the Moebius reference? I still don’t quite get it.

Maybe “Buscema” was just harder to pronounce. 

Or maybe the French cinema market would appreciate the reference.

Gene Colan — I’m up on a tight wire…

Original Art and The Artists

Daredevil #31, August 1967

Fun facts about this great Daredevil half-splash from Gene Colan:

• This is one of the earliest issues (#31) of Daredevil I remember pulling off the rack as a kid. Before this, I can only clearly recall issues #27 and #30, plus Annual #1—which came out around the same time. Marvel had so few superhero books in spring/summer ’67 that you could realistically sample just about everything and figure out what clicked…and what didn’t.

• One thing I did figure out: I didn’t always love Daredevil (face it—some of those villains were rough… Leap-Frog?), but I absolutely latched onto Gene Colan’s art—both here and in Iron Man. That style just hit different, and I dug it.

Later on, I realized that wasn’t exactly a universal opinion. In a world dominated by Kirby, Romita, and the Marvel house style, Colan’s moody, off-kilter approach wasn’t for everyone.

Me? I couldn’t get enough of it—the wild poses, the strange angles, the sense that anything could happen panel to panel… even if you couldn’t always swear you knew what was happening.

I managed to acquire a Colan Daredevil half-splash and an Iron Man one (future post) within a few months of each other. Painful at the time, price-wise—but also pretty lucky in hindsight.

• Bonus realization: I was today years old when I noticed Electro was both a charter member of the “Sinister Six” (Spider-Man Annual #1) and leader of the “Emissaries of Evil” (Daredevil Annual #1). Guy clearly had a passion for group projects.

Or was a glutton for punishment.

Or both.

That Electro guy really liked his after-school groups, didn’t he?

Gil Kane — Conan The Triumphant

Original Art and The Artists

Conan #18, September 1972

I’m guessing that if Roy Thomas had a mulligan, he might swap the opening art direction of Conan #17 and #18.

Conan the Barbarian #17 opens with a wild Gil Kane action splash — pure velocity. Limbs and weapons whipping across the page. Classic Kane. I’d frame it in a second.

But coming straight off sixteen issues of Barry Windsor-Smith — all that delicacy and atmosphere— it’s an abrupt shift. Not wrong. Just abrupt. (Especially after #16’s beautiful “Frost Giant’s Daughter.”)

The splash in #18 lands softer, more transitional. Kane pulls back: more ceremony, more posture, more air. The composition settles instead of punches.

Dan Adkins helps. Having inked both Smith and Kane, he gets the difference — and keeps the line refined enough that the book doesn’t feel like it wandered into another genre.

Seventeen announces the change. Loudly.
Eighteen eases you in.

Flip the order and the handoff might’ve felt less jarring.

Don’t get me wrong — I love plenty of Gil’s work. Still, I was relieved when Barry came back for a short stretch before bowing out for good.

Erik Larsen, Paul Ryan & Al Milgrom — Fantastic Encore

Original Art and The Artists

Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Comics Magazine #2, March 2001

Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Comics Magazine isn’t like a sequel to Lee and Kirby’s original run—it is one. Same premise, same mission: pick up the world’s greatest comic right after issue #100 and keep the engine humming.

This mini-series exists because a generation of creators grew up fluent in Kirby’s visual language and wanted to continue it, not reinterpret it. No grim updating. No clever winks. Just more Fantastic Four.

This page nails that idea perfectly. Erik Larsen provides the layouts, setting up classic, confident storytelling. Paul Ryan delivers clean, readable draftsmanship. Al Milgrom locks it all together with classic Marvel authority. You get the full team, Crystal, and Namor battling the Sentry—all in one terrific page of original art.

Across the series, the creative roster reads like a roll call of die-hard Kirby believers. Other contributors included Bruce Timm, Ron Frenz, Keith Giffen, and Rick Veitch—artists who didn’t just admire Kirby, they revered him and understood what made the Fantastic Four tick.

What makes World’s Greatest Comics Magazine special is its confidence. It doesn’t explain itself. It assumes the Fantastic Four never stopped being the future. In that sense, it isn’t nostalgia—it’s continuity of imagination. And that’s about as Fantastic Four as it gets.