Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Tag: Marvel Comics

John Buscema — Avengers Melee

Original Art and The Artists

Avengers #44, September 1967

The legendary John Buscema took over the regular art chores on The Avengers a few issues prior to this one, and quickly makes the series his own. 

In this second part of the story that introduces the Red Guardian to the Marvel Universe, we present a terrific action page that pretty much captures the melee madness of the cover.

(Spoiler alert: Turns out the Black widow wasn’t really a widow. But, as always, we digress.)

Welcome to the 60th anniversary (!) of the Avengers, who debuted as a team in 1963. 

To be continued…

Angel Gabriele — Kirby Mash

Original Art and The Artists

Jack Kirby Classic Hulk & Iron Man Mashup, 2012

Here’s a fun mashup of two early Jack Kirby Marvel Silver-Age images: Hulk, from the title splash of Avengers #2, and Iron Man from the cover of Tales of Suspense #39.

About 10-12 years ago, Angel was drawing some Kirby-recreations and original reinterpretations, and offering them online. He included this specific art with some other items I acquired from him, with this inscription. Very lovely, especially since I like to think he was really thanking Jack here, not me.

And I like it better that way.

It’s also the appropriate art to segue into a celebration of the Avengers 60th anniversary, coming in February. 

Stay tuned.

Mike Allred — Nope, Still Not A Robot

Original Art and The Artists

Iron Man vs. Magnus: Robot Fighter, Commission, 2012

Mike Allred tackles the Magnus vs. Iron Man theme with great results, including a fully hand-lettered logo!

I acquired both the Paul Smith IM-Magnus commission and this one at the same time, from the same dealer, so I assume the original owner had moved on from this concept.

If there are any others out there that look as good as these two, I would probably try to obtain them as well. 

You know where to find me.

For a look at some additional Allred Iron Man (classic and modern), click here.

Paul Smith — Er, Not A Robot

Original Art and The Artists

Classic Iron Man vs. Magnus: Robot Fighter, Commission, 2001

Mankind advances more than 2000 years into the future, and the greatest superhero of the era apparently can’t distinguish between a robot and a man in a suit of armor?

No matter, it’s a superb piece of art by the terrific Paul Smith. And a perfect way to honor both characters’ 6oth anniversary.

Bob Layton — Iron Redux

Original Art and The Artists

Iron Fist #1(1975) Re-Imagination, 2005

Continuing our Iron Man 60th anniversary series, here’s another great Bob Layton piece. 

This time, we have a 2005 re-imagination of Gil Kane’s Iron Fist #1 cover(1974).  Bob completely changes the POV of the action, transforming the piece into his own — while still honoring the original.

Since the background equipment is still intact in Bob’s version, lets call it: “One Minute Earlier.”

Bob Layton — Armored Legend

Original Art and The Artists

Iron Man #258.1, July 2013

Iron Man celebrates his 60th anniversary in 2023. (Actually, Tales of Suspense #39 was on the newsstands in December of 1962 with a cover of date of March 1963. But why quibble?)

What better way to honor Shellhead’s anniversary than with a dramatic —and iconic — 2013 title splash from Bob Layton’s (breakdowns by Dave Ross) “variant” story of the Armor Wars sequel. 

Bob, with John Romita Jr. and David Michelinie created the original and memorable Armor Wars I in 1987, and a few years later was scheduled to be the solo writer and on the sequel. But… Valiant comics presented Bob an offer he couldn’t refuse, and he jumped ship at Marvel.  John Byrne stepped in and wrote the already announced sequel, and then 23 years later, Layton — with Michelinie and Ross — had his chance again to do his own take.

Follow all that? 

Don’t worry, if I got anything wrong, Bob will definitely let me know.

Happy Anniversary, Tony Stark.

Darwyn Cooke — Once Upon A Time

Original Art and The Artists

Recreation/ reimagination, undated, both approximately 2008

The late, great Darwyn Cooke would have turned 60 last week. Not sure what I can say that hasn’t already been said here —or more likely elsewhere — but he was arguably the greatest talent of his generation, and the work and the man are missed.

Legend has it that Darwyn and I got into some pretty heated debates during the course of our business relationship, and I confirm that is a fact. But I always knew that those arguments came from his deep passion for the craft, and, as they say, I never took it personally. The last time we saw each other was at the 2015 Comic-Con and we had a fun — but all too brief — chat about Parker, DC superheroes, and a few other odds and ends before we both needed to move on.

Like I said pal, you are missed. Catch you on the other side.

I just discovered that Sandy Jarrell @sandy_jarrell has taken all the great Darwyn recreations he can find and colored them. Love it!

Ron Lim — Maximum Carnage

Original Art and The Artists

Spider-Man Unlimited #1, May 1993

Carnage organizes a group of like-minded maniacs (Shriek, Carrion, etc.) on a murderous spree in the infamous 1993 crossover event from Marvel. In the intro issue, Ron Lim delivers this terrific splash as Spider-Man tackles Doppelganger, an evil near-mindless version of Webhead created during The Infinity War saga.

The “Comics Code” was completely superfluous by now, if not an outright joke. This storyline, which is the basis for a video game, and influenced the second Venom film, features so much bloodshed and violence its pretty much impossible to keep a bodycount.

The Green Goblin is a pussycat compared to these guys.

10 minutes with Ron Lim at a con and I spend the rest of the day grinning ear to ear.

Scott Koblish — Goblin City

Original Art and The Artists

Spider-Man Spectacular #1, August, 2014

The only thing that freaks out Aunt May more than the Green Goblin? Spider-Man, of course.

Scott Koblish provides pencils and inks for this story set early in Spidey’s career. In this drama-filled penultimate action page, The Green Goblin’s glider indeed comes back to him — but not in the way he would like.

Meanwhile, a terrified May Parker figures she’s next since she believes Spidey has already murdered her late husband. Ah, irony.

(Based on the notation in the top margin, the story was originally intended for a French Panini magazine, and ended up in an American one-shot instead. It’s later reprinted in a Brazilian Panini mag, but I’m not sure there ever was a French version.)