Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Tag: Marvel Comics

Gene Colan — The Widow’s Sting

Original Art and The Artists

Daredevil #82, December 1971

By now, we should be in the next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but unfortunately, we have a six-month delay. So, for the first time in a dozen years, no Marvel film to launch the summer movie-going season.

But, we won’t let that delay slow us down here — let’s take a look at some of characters from the next three scheduled films this week.

From the trailer(s) for the Black Widow film, now releasing this November, it appears that many elements from Natasha Romanoff’s 55-year comic book backstory will make into the film. (No surprise, as that has been the Marvel M.O. since day one).

Of course, an exception will be her relationship with Daredevil, which lasted a few years in the original comics. Not sure what the entertainment rights status is for Daredevil and the other Netflix Marvel characters (now since cancelled), but I’d fall right out of my seat if any of them showed up in the cinematic universe in the near future.

This very cool Daredevil page from the great Gene Colan comes from early in the relationship between DD and the Widow; in fact they don’t actually have a relationship at this point in the chronology, but they soon will, and ultimately team-up and move to San Francisco together.

In fact, the comic book changes its cover nameplate to Daredevil and The Black Widow for more than a year.

Let’s see: Matt Murdock suddenly ups and moves to Frisco. Daredevil — suddenly — is now fighting in the Bay Area. No one figures the connection out? Really?

Amazing Spider-Man #86 serves as a “#0” recap and revamp issue (before they had those) for Natasha’s short-lived solo series in Amazing Adventures. Words and pictures by Stan Lee and John Romita.
Black Widow’s first solo series, her first appearance in Daredevil, and a recent collection of her earliest appearances — with a recolored cover drawn by the legendary Bill Everett.

June Brigman And Whilce Portacio — Snik!??

Original Art and The Artists

Alpha Flight #52, November 1987

Concluding — for now — our two-week series celebrating a few important X-Men anniversaries in 2020.

A full-page splash of an iconic superhero… on the phone?

Well yes, why not, if done well?

And here in Alpha Flight it’s done very well, by the talented June Brigman and Whilce Portacio.

I love the look on Logan’s face. And, his coif reminds me of the line from great Warren Zevon song “Werewolves of London:” 

“His hair was perfect.”

Wolverine is not self-quarantining here. I double-checked. He’s just chilling at the moment. Also, note there are two things you won’t see anymore in a Marvel Comic. A phone cord and a cigar; old technology and a bad influence on kids, in the order.

But Snik?!?  Someone apparently forgot the “t” in Snikt? That’s an odd one. Chris Claremont first used “Snikt” way back in X-Men #116. And, apparently it’s become a legit trademark for the sound of Wolverine’ claws.

Fun fact: The story continues — with Wolverine — in Alpha Flight #53 and, while also inked by Whilce, its penciled by none other than Jim Lee, whose very first Marvel work was two issues earlier, in #51. But this time, he draws Wolverine, a sign of things to come.

Fun fact #2: Whilce and I bumped into each other —- both of us with unscheduled visits — on Free Comic Book Day a few years ago. Pretty fun and random coincidence — its not like San Diego is a small county, or only has one comic book store.

Fun fact #3; If for any odd reason you have not read the Power Pack series by Brigman and Louise Simonson, well, stop what you’re doing and get to it. Brilliant. And fun!

More X-men and Wolverine related posts late in the year. Stay tuned.

Claremont and Byrne introduce “Snikt” as Wolverine’s trademark claw sound effects in X-Men #116, December 1978

Paul Pelletier And Ken Lashley (With Mark Morales) — Battle For The Ages

Original Art and The Artists

Commission, 2017

It all started with Hulk vs. Wolverine.

Beginning on the last page of Incredible Hulk # 180 and continuing through the now iconic (and ultra–expensive) Incredible Hulk #181 the introduction of Wolverine foreshadowed the “new” X-men a few short months later.

(FYI, he also appears on the first page of #182, where get’s forced to leave by the Canadian authorities he works for. Remember when it was a big deal that Wolverine was “Canadian?” But I digress…)

Since that moment 46 years ago, Hulk and Wolverine have crossed paths more than a few times. And why not? Feels like a reasonable match-up.

This commission jam piece by Ken Lashley on Wolverine, and Paul Pelletier on Hulk — with Mark Morales on inks — captures he dynamics of this battle perfectly.

The original commissioner had a very specific vision in mind —- and obviously realized it — but then chose to sell / trade it shortly thereafter to a comic art dealer. Apparently, the original collector has MANY pieces featuring Hulk vs. Wolverine.

I don’t normally collect commissions (unless it’s a recreation or re-imagination) with some notable exceptions by comic art veterans, but this one called it out to me, and it ended up in my possession as part as a larger acquisition.

All three artists knocked it out of the park.

Which, based on the scene itself, is about to happen to ether Hulk or Wolverine — or both — in a millisecond.

The commission reminds me of this great cover of World War Hulk by Ed McGuinness — up close and personal.
It all starts here. The Incredible Hulk #180 and #181. The Wolverine definitely strikes MORE than once.
Two different Hulk #181 re-imaginations by John Byrne, and one by Art Adams are among the many versions of this cover in existence.

Tom Grummett / Sean Chen — He’s Dead, Jim

Original Art and The Artists

X-Men Forever #10, December 2009

As noted earlier, John Byrne had returned to X-Men with X-Men: The Hidden Years.

His original collaborator, writer Chris Claremont, returned much later on in 2010 via a more direct route, in X-Men Forever.

Basically picking up after he left off in 1991 — and then immediately diverging — Claremont quickly killed Wolverine and had the remaining X-Men team deal with the ramifications of his death.

Tom Grummett’s character-packed cover deals with the team laying their fallen comrade to rest. Grummett was the many artists on the Forever series, which also included X-men mainstay Paul Smith on this issue, and others.

It’s an interseting choice — and a good one, commercially — to leave Wolverine’s uniform on top of the coffin. Contextually, of course, it makes little sense.

Sean Chen’s variant cover takes a look at an imaginary one moment later — when “zombie” Wolverine breaks out of his coffin(In uniform). This event is not in the series. Wolverine in fact stays dead. This image seems a tribute to the popular (and multiple) Marvel Zombies series.

It’s a clever set-up, and one of the few times a main cover and a variant are done in this manner. Kudos to editor Mark Paniccia — or whoever came up with the imaginative idea.

John Byrne — Unhidden

Original Art and The Artists

X-Men: The Hidden Years # 17, April 2001 & #20, July 2001

John Byrne returned to the X-Men in 1999. Not his beloved X-Men of Wolverine, Storm, Colossus and Phoenix, however. This time it was the “original” X-Men — in the period between their cancellation and rebirth. The “Hidden Years.”

It’s an often overlooked series and shouldn’t be. John brought great energy — and closed some outstanding story loops — in the 22-issue series.

Inks are by the terrific Tom Palmer, which gave the series a classic look, reminiscent of those great original Neal Adams issues, while still keeping it clearly Byrne.

Lots of fun guest appearances in the series as well, including the Fantastic Four — inked in one issue by the legendary Joe Sinnott.

X-Men: Hidden Years #20 is a Byrne homage to Jack Kirby’s Fantastic Four #1. It was the sixth (and final) Marvel-related FF #1 homage that John drew.

Mike Parobeck — Modern Composition

Original Art and The Artists

X-Men: The Early Years #7, November 1994

Sometimes the reprint cover is just better.

Case in point, Mike Parobeck’s cover of X-Men: Early Years #7, which reprints the original X-Men  #7.

Jack’s original cover (below) is overloaded, and a composition mish-mash. Ok, I know it’s by Jack Kirby, and some fans will bristle about anything negative about the King’s work, but sorry, there’s no real comparison between the original and the reprint.

Mike’s cover is strong and focused.

Jack’s original has way too many characters all over the map, with the X-men oddly positioned in the background and The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants voyeuristically up front, awkwardly. Are they watching from a window? Or on a TV screen? A magical portal? Why the heck are they even on this cover? This is a selling point?

Now, just to be clear, this may not be at all Jack’s fault. Maybe Stan Lee art directed it. And overwrote the cover blurbs to death. (Now, the Stan haters can come out of the woodwork.)

As I’ve said on the record many times, I’m a fan of both Stan and Jack, so let’s all calm down. However this original cover developed, it’s simply not a great one. Even legends drop the ball once in a while.

Mike’s solves the problem thirty years later by focusing only on the X-men coordinating — or attempting to — an attack on the Blob.

Simple. Clear. Clean. Powerful.  Typical of Parobeck’s work.

But… On the published version, the trade dress is a bit heavy handed, so some of the art is obscured — and the entire image had to be flipped to accommodate said trade dress. And, to add to this litany, why the monochrome coloring? Ah Hell, who knows.

Anyway, the original art is great and Mike’s Marvel work is pretty rare; he is best known for some great looking art on the Batman Animated comic books. I was also a big fan of his Justice Society run.

He unfortunately passed away MUCH too early at the age of 31 (from Diabetes) in 1996.

His is a talent that is sorely missed.

John Byrne — X-Men Redux

Original Art and The Artists

X-Men #115 Re-Imagination, 2006 (Orig. Nov. 1978)

2020 is a big year for X-Men anniversaries.

It’s the 50th anniversary of the original title’s cancellation (Issue #66). It had struggled to find consistent commercial success or creative direction for much of its original seven-year history.

It’s the 45th anniversary of the X-Men’s “comeback” with the launch of Giant-Size X-Men #1, possibly the greatest rags to riches story in comics’ history. If anyone else can tell me where a book goes from cancelled to a company’s most popular title in less than 10 years, I’m all ears.

And, perhaps more importantly from a broader pop culture perspective, it’s the 20th anniversary of the X-Men film franchise from Fox, which concludes forever in a short while with the release of the problem-plagued New Mutants. (Postponed many times, it was most recently scheduled for an April 3 theatrical release, and has now been indefinitely delayed because of the COVID-19 outbreak.)

The first X-Men film launched 8 years ahead of the MCU, and in my mind, established what a Marvel film could do in terms of both creativity and commercial success. It paved the way for what was to come.

Meanwhile, we have this great commission by John Byrne.

John Byrne. X-Men. Not much to add here except a few details.

This is a Byrne re-imagination (as John calls them, I believe) of the cover of X-Men # 115 featuring the dinosaur villain Sauron. The re-imagination is more dynamic and dramatic than the original, which was only John’s third cover on the book. Dave Cockrum had a few in the can when Byrne took over art duties on issue #108.

Byrne’s commissions can be found easily through a Google search and there a lot of great ones — at sizes up to 30x 40!

Unfortunately, John’s not doing much if any in the way of commissions right now as he is spending time on his X-Men fan fiction (his phrase) but if you want to keep fingers crossed that he will take them up again, you can contact his art representative, Jim Warden.

John’s Commission is closer in spirit to this great original double-page spread from #115.
The X-Men rebirth began here in Giant-Size #1 and X-Men #94, both 1975.
Byrne’s earliest X-Men work: His first issue (#108, cover by Dave Cockrum) preceded by a guest appearance in Marvel Team-Up #53, featuring another great DPS.

Mike Ploog — PS, I Love You

Original Art and The Artists

Spirit # 31, September 2009

Continuing our celebration of the 80th anniversary of The Spirit, with additional creators’ takes on the beloved and influential character.

Perhaps the artist with the most specific style similarities to Will Eisner is Mike Ploog, who worked for Eisner briefly in the early 1970s, on Eisner’s PS Magazine for the military. Ploog credits his initial Eisner influence on the 10 years he himself spent in the Marines reading and copying the magazine.

Ironically, as a kid, Ploog was not a comic book fan, so he had no idea who Eisner was, or the history of the Spirit.

But that obviously changed as Ploog discovered Eisner, The Spirit and comics’ lore in general. On this page from 2007, Ploog, aided by inks from vet Dan Green, captures Eisner’s Spirit — and adds his own taste for a horrific milieu.

Ploog spoke with journalist Jon B. Cooke about the early part of his career in an interview for Comic Book Artist #2 in 1998. Read the full interview here.

CBA: How’d you get the call from Will?
Ploog: I was working for Hanna-Barbera, and the guy in the room with me belonged to the National Cartoonist’s Society. He got a flyer Will had put out, looking for an assistant. He looked at it and said, “Ploog, this looks like your stuff.” I looked at it and said, “It is my stuff.” [laughter]. I called Will, and two days later he was in L.A. and interviewed me…the following week I went to work for him.

CBA: When you first burst upon the scene in comic books, you had a style very reminiscent of Will’s work. Did you start developing that style through osmosis, just being around him?
Ploog: It was very difficult for me, because I hadn’t done that much work. I really didn’t know what a “style” meant. When Will saw my work, he said, “This guy can adapt to what I’m doing easily.” Obviously whatever I had, it was adaptable to him. I could emulate Will right down to a pinpoint on an occasion…I’m sure from working with Will, it developed in that direction…

I love Will; he’s a dear, dear old friend. He’s been an enormous influence on my work both in comics and film.

-Mike Ploog, 1998

Early Ploog Marvel work — he was a breakout star from pretty much the beginning of his comics career, although he ultimately spent more of his professional life working in film.
The Ploog art book is a must have for any fan of Mike’s — or simply for those who like great looking art books.

Giorgio Comolo — Across The Universe

Original Art and The Artists

Thor #168 (September 1969), Cover Re-creation, 2006

Today wraps our special remembrance to Jack Kirby with a third piece by Giorgio Comolo, an Italian artist who worships the King  — and expresses his adoration with unique and lovely homages and recreations.

“It is your understanding I seek — and not your enmity!” —Galactus

Galactus reveals his origin to Thor (and to us) in this story arc, after Thor, at Odin’s insistence, tracks down the planet devourer in the far reaches of the universe.

Kirby is doing some of his wildest Marvel science fiction in these issues — a small hint of what will come just a short time later in his “Fourth World” comic books at DC.

Apparently, Galactus is not a bad guy. Despite the fact that he devours worlds and galaxies, destroys trillions of lives, he’s misunderstood. That’s all.

Uh-huh.

Comolo homages the cool Kirby cover image and fleshes out the background with cosmic details. And again, he employs that very specific neon-like palate. He also makes Thor’s face a bit more visible — a nice touch. (Although he keeps Thor’s somewhat wonky hand from Jack’s original.)

Oh, and he gives Galactus pants and full sleeves. Galactus should always have pants and full sleeves.

No one has (yet) published a book –or even a portfolio — of Comolo’s Kirby homages. I hope that is rectified in the near future.

Or hey, at a minimum, how about celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Fantastic Four next year by doing Kirby cover homages all year long. Who wouldn’t want to contribute to that?

Meanwhile, Thor #168 itself?:

Kirby. Thor. Odin. Galactus. The Watcher. Balder. The Warriors Three. The Thermal Man…

A pretty good deal at 15 cents.

Galactus gets emo… Thor struggles with cosmic ethics… The universe will never be the same.
1971 blacklight posters repurposed existing panels & pages from Marvel comics, adding a rich cosmic feel to the art.

Giorgio Comolo — Clash Of The Titans

Original Art and The Artists

Fantastic Four #73 (April 1968) Re-creation, 2008

We continue to remember Jack Kirby with the help of Giorgio Comolo, an Italian artist who worships the King  — and expresses his adoration with unique and lovely homages and recreations.

Thor vs. Thing? Come on, no contest. The Thing is powerful, but Thor is a GOD, right?

In this one-off issue of Fantastic Four (#73), Thor (with diminished powers) helps Spider-Man, who in turn is helping Daredevil, who recently had a mind transference with Doctor Doom who… never mind. The FF think Daredevil is still Doc Doom. Chaos ensues. Read the comic yourself and catch back up with us later.

Pretty much the entire issue is a battle royale, and Comolo captures the power of this terrific Kirby splash with his own specific style and palate.

Good thing Thor is having power problems… or Thing would be a pile of rocks on the next page.

Also, FYI, in this issue Thing calls Thor “Curly” “Goldilocks” and “Cornball” at various times, and Spider-Man calls him an “Asgardian Hippie.” I know that was Stan’s style, but we are perilously close to Not Brand Echh territory at this point.

Fortunately for us, Galactus and the Silver Surfer return in the next issue. More operatic than comedy.