Marvel Comics – Page 16 – Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Carlos Pacheco — Shattered Glass

December 3, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Ultimate Avengers #3, December 2009, and Avengers Assemble Season 2 (Marvel Universe) #4, 2015

Continuing our tribute to Captain America’s 80th anniversary.

Captain America breaks a lot of a glass. In his very first solo appearance in the Silver Age, (Tales of Suspense #59) Jack Kirby has him jumping directly at the reader, shattering a window as he does.

Maybe that shield gives him a sense of security. After all, the super soldier serum made him super strong, but not invulnerable. And Batman and the other “ordinary” (no enhanced super-powers) heroes tend to break a bit less glass.

This great splash page features rouge Captain America doing the glass bit with tremendous drama and detail by the terrific Carlos Pacheco.

And the art is so dynamic that Marvel used again six years later as a cover for an animated series cover.

That’s pretty cool —it could have been used as a cover the first time around, but second time’s the charm apparently.

*The splash becomes a cover a few years later.*

*Stan Lee and Jack Kirby break the glass in Captain America’s very first Silver Age solo appearance.*

Ron Frenz and Bruce Timm — Saluting The Creator

December 1, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Captain America #50, February 2002

Captain America officially turns 80 in a few weeks, and this iconic character is definitely worth an anniversary celebration. (Cap #1, created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, is cover-dated March 1941, but the on-sale date was December 20,1940.)

First up is this great Jack Kirby homage by Ron Frenz and Bruce Timm that appeared as a pin up in Captain America #50 (3^rd series.). This piece, typical of Timm’s other published comic book work, is “inks-only” over a Frenz layout.

The layout itself is an homage to Jack’s Captain America art that appeared on the cover Marvelmania #1 (fan magazine), near the end of his Silver Age run at Marvel. Frenz added the Super-Adaptoid, and Bruce did his magic, creating a classic Kirby look.

*Jack’s original art for this cover was little-seen until it finally appeared in color as the cover to the Jack Kirby Collector (#34, 2002),*

*The Super-Adaptoid was a mid-60s creation appearing early during Cap’s Silver Age revival. Also pictured, Captain America #1 with Cap decking Hitler a full year before the U.S. entered World War II.*

Jack Davis — Rarity

November 21, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Rawhide Kid #35, August 1963

Jack Davis and Stan Lee only worked together a handful of times. Jack drew six Rawhide Kid stories at the dawn of the “Marvel Age,” after Jack Kirby became too busy designing and developing Marvel’s earliest superheroes.

Davis’ cartoony style is unmistakable, and definitely a departure from the typical Marvel western art line-up that included Kirby, Dick Ayers and Larry Lieber, among others.

These Davis Western stories are some of the final color comic book stories to he ever drew. Shortly after their publication, Davis returned to Mad Magazine and became a Mad mainstay for more than 20 years.

And of course, we can’t forget the Time Magazine covers. The TV Guide covers. The film posters. The advertising work. Trading cards for Topps. Etc.

Just a few things to occupy the drawing board of one of America’s most talented and recognizable commercial illustrators.

Too bad Stan couldn’t persuade Davis for a bit more work. I’m not sure how it would have worked out on the traditional superhero stories * but a few short pieces for Not Brand Echh would have been right on the nose.

(*Well, actually I’m certain it would have been jarring to see Jack on “straight” superhero stories…)

Doug Wildey — Reverence

November 19, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Wyatt Earp #28, April 1960

Here’s a dramatic title page by the legendary Doug Wildey from 1960.

My reaction to the page, however, pales in comparison to the one from the story’s co-creator, Stan Lee.

Back in about 2010, we visited Stan in his Beverly Hills office to get some signature plates signed for the first John Romita Spider-Man Artists Edition. Stan’s “people” were kind enough to let us bring some personal items to get signed as well, so I brought a few pages of original art with me.

Stan, who was telling stories and singing while he was signing (Yes, singing, not a typo for signing. Story for another day.) stopped dead in his tracks when he saw this page of art.

He stared at it quietly for a few moments — given the speedy pace of our morning, it seemed like an eternity — and you could see pleasant memories wash over his face. And then the big Stan Lee smile:

“Doug Wildey. Wow. He was great. So terrific. I loved his stuff. I wish we had a chance to do more together.”

He handed the page back to me, still beaming, still examining it up and down as he slowly passed it back. I had seen Stan sign thousands of items; many of them with fond remembrances, but nothing quite like this.

A great page, certainly. But perhaps an even greater memorable moment — for the two of us.

*Stan in the Timely / Atlas / Marvel offices in 1954, just a few years prior to the publication of the Earp story.*

Steve Ditko — Happiness Or Madness?

November 2, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Tales of Suspense #41, May 1963

Happy Birthday to the great Steve Ditko, who would have turned 93 today.

Ditko drew — and possibly wrote (Stan Lee on credits, but that sometimes is overstated) — this neat little science fiction back-up story in the third issue of Iron Man.

These SF and horror stories would soon become rarities as publisher Martin Goodman and Editor Lee replaced them with a new line-up of superheroes, including a certain web-crawler that would bring Ditko more notoriety than anything else he would create.

The Amazing Spiderman #1 had just hit the newsstands. The rest as they say…

*Marvel did a nice job reprinting all of Stan Lee’s and Steve Ditko’s horror and SF stories in this two-volume series.*

Ron Frenz & Sal Buscema — Ragnarok & Roll

October 27, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Thunderstrike # 4, May 2011

FRenz Kirby etc

Ron Frenz goes full on Jack Kirby (with perhaps a dash of John Buscema) with this wonderful Mangog splash from the second Thunderstrike (Thor — sort of) mini-series.

Just because the “Monster Age” at Marvel ended when the superheroes took over the publishing schedule (early 60s), that didn’t mean that Kirby stopped creating great monsters during the era.

In fact, the monsters had to be fiercer, meaner, and smarter — to provide antagonists worthy of our intrepid heroes.

Take Mangog here. His appearance typically means the end — of everything. Hence, Ragnarok. Stan and Jack introduced him in Thor 154 and 155 back in 1968 and he’s created havoc from time to time ever since.

As for Mr. Frenz? Another great looking effort, with terrific inks by Sal Buscema.

Kirby Crackle included, no extra charge.

John Buscema & Tony DeZuniga — Skull On The Seas

October 24, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Savage Sword of Conan #191, October 1991

Roy Thomas returns to Conan for the first time in 10 years, and partners with superstar artist John Buscema, pretty much picking up where the pair left off in terms of innovative and exciting Conan stories.

In addition to astonishing talent, Buscema could be very productive in terms of his total output — in this stretch of Conan he is providing layouts and rough pencils only, freeing him up for other projects. Here Tony DeZuniga provides some nice finishing touches for John. (I think here you can see John’s obvious handiwork, which was not always the case with DeZuniga inks.)

Lots of ink — as it were — has been spilled on who was Buscema’s best embellisher on Conan. See here, here, and here for illustrative discussions.

My opinions have varied over time, and sometimes from issue to issue. The debate itself is fun.

And the talking skull? Spoiler alert: It belongs to King Kull’s arch nemesis Thulsa Doom. (In fairness, Thulsa eventually gives Conan much grief as well.)

Gabriel Hardman — Of Monsters And Magic

October 13, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Savage Hulk #6, January 2015

Doctor Strange battling the Hulk? Seems like a great page to kick off our 2020 Halloween salute. As suggested previously, Gabe Hardman would likely be one of the best known talents in comics — if he were a full-time comic book storyteller. His main gig, though is film storyboard artist, and his many credits include Logan, Spider-Man 3 and The Dark Knight Rises. (And many well known non- “comic book” films as well. But we digress.)

He creates his storyboards digitally, but fortunately, for us, he creates his comic book art using traditional physical methods. Something he does very well.

The story itself is co-written by Gabe and his wife, Corinna Bechko who have collaborated on a number of projects, perhaps most notably the Hugo-nominated SF series Invisible Republic.

Frank Cho — Visiting Steranko

October 8, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Guardians of the Galaxy Annual #1, February 2015

Starlord and the rest of The Guardians of The Galaxy probably never looked as good as they do in this enjoyable one-shot drawn by the incomparable Frank Cho.

When I first saw this original title splash page offered for sale, it immediately brought to mind to Jim Steranko’s iconic cover to Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD (#6, 1968). It is Itself an homage to Wallace Wood’s classic and incomparable EC science fiction covers.

It was only after I had tracked down the actual comic itself that I realized there was even more to it. Not only had Frank subtly referenced that classic cover with this great opening splash, but he had also taken a more direct route later in the issue. (See below)

And for my two cents, that’s a fun move by Cho and writer Brian Michael Bendis.

In the MCU, Guardians and Captain Marvel both present opportunities to expand the cosmic part of the Marvel Universe. Nova? Adam Warlock? Both have been hinted at in the Guardians films, and, based on anecdotal references in Avengers Endgame, Carol Danvers has been universally occupied during the five year “blip” between the Avengers films.

That opens up all sorts of possibilities to look forward to.

*Jim Steranko’s classic 1968 cover alongside Frank Cho’s version — printed page and original art.*

P. Craig Russell And Dan Adkins — Bite Size Action

October 6, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Marvel Feature #7, January 1973

Ah, Hank Pym.

Ant–Man (no costume.) Ant-Man (costume.) Giant-Man. Goliath. Yellowjacket. Hank Pym, scientist, no alter ego.

And here, Ant-Man again.

Hank Pym was definitely having an ongoing identity crisis in his 10 years in the Marvel Universe.

Needless to say, seeing Ant-Man and Wasp as a full-length feature on the newsstands was a surprise. It lasted seven issues of Marvel Feature, before disappearing once again.

Here, P. Craig Russell and Dan Adkins present us with a nice Bronze Age action page. This is some of Russell’s earliest professional work, and his distinctive style has yet to develop.

In fact, since Craig broke in as Adkins assistant, it definitely feels much closer to Dan’s work than Craig’s.

Ina few months, Craig would take over the art chores on Killraven in Amazing adventures, and as “they” say (and I say too much) the rest is history.

As for Hank Pym, the identify crisis would continue. He returns as Yellowjacket, joins the Defenders, then rejoins the Avengers, and then… well, it actually becomes even more complicated.

But of course, Scott Lang eventually takes the role of Ant-Man, and as they say…