Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Tag: Marvel Comics

John Byrne — Spider-Man’s Giant Headache

Original Art and The Artists

Spider-Man: Chapter One #11, September 1999

Concluding the 60th anniversary celebration of Ant-Man/Giant-Man.

John Byrne provides his own spin (that pun was intended) on Spider-Man’s early days with the “maxi-series” Spider-Man: Chapter One. This series created some controversy, as many fans believed the early Stan Lee and Steve Ditko stories did not need a refresh. (Unlike say Byrne’s own Superman revamp years earlier, which was the right reboot at the right time. But… we digress.)

This fun page from issue #11 guest stars Giant-Man and Wasp in a revamping of Spider-Man’s very early Spidey crossover in Tales To Astonish #57. (How early was the original story? It’s the same month as Spider-Man #14, which also featured the Hulk. Spider-Man had a very busy month in the Marvel Universe, as Annual #1, featuring the Sinister Six, was also published at about the same time.)

Bob Layton — Incredible Shrinking Dad

Original Art and The Artists

Marvel Comics Presents #11, January 1989

Continuing the 60th anniversary celebration of Ant-Man.

Bob Layton (pencils and inks) creates a terrific looking title page for a short story featuring the second Ant-Man, Scott Lang. (Of course Lang’s version of the character is the one most familiar to most audiences since he’s the version currently inhabiting the Marvel Universe, played by Paul Rudd.) 

I seem to own a number of pages from these short stories from Marvel Comics Presents and Marvel Fanfare, and none of this material has yet to be collected. I’ve probably said it previously, but it seems easy enough to create collections that are themed around specific characters, etc. 

I hope that actually happens one of these days.

Fun fact: David Michelinie, John Byrne and Layton share co-credit for the creation of the Lang vesrion of the character, who first appeared solo in Marvel Premiere #47(April 1979), a month after he had a guest spot in Avengers #181.

Don Heck — Giants (& Ants) Among Us

Original Art and The Artists

Tales to Astonish # 54, April1964

2022 is the 60th anniversary of Marvel’s shrinking and enlarging superhero Ant-Man (Giant-Man), sometimes hyphenated, sometimes not. Either way, we’ve got a cool page from Dandy Don Heck to lead off a mini-anniversary celebration.

That middle right panel has big (pun actually not intended) appeal to me — it appears that Giant-Man is about to break right through it, as he grows o his larger size.

Plus we have he lovely Janet Van Dyke (Wasp) and the ridiculous villain El Toro to boot.

What’s not to like?

Fun Fact(s): Henry (Hank) Pym invents his shrinking serum in Tales to Astonish #27, cover dated January 1962, but actually appearing on newsstands that previous September. But he doesn’t actually become the Ant-Man character until his second appearance in issue #35. The Wasp appears first in #44, and Pym becomes Giant-Man in #49. Whew.

Mike McKone — Spider-Man: The Hunt Becomes Grim

Original Art and The Artists

Wizard Magazine #223, April 2010

Today we wrap up our month-long celebration of Spider-Man’s upcoming 60th anniversary.

Mike McKone brings his own take to Spidey rising from the grave — with Kraven’s daughter seeking revenge for what happened to dear departed dad. (It’s a bit more complicated than that, but you get the idea.) This Wizard story previews “The Gauntlet” and “Grim Hunt” which are also essentially sequels to Kraven’s Last Hunt.

Mike Zeck spoke about the original cover image in Back Issue #35, from 2009:

“If an issue has a scene with the title hero rising from his own grave, it’s like receiving the number-one gift on your Christmas list! Anyone spending even one second mulling over a cover idea for that issue would have been in the wrong business.” 

McKone’s cover is a clever callback to Zeck’s original and iconic “crawl from the grave” scene 20 years earlier.

Sal Buscema — Spider-Man: Vermin’s Return

Original Art and The Artists

Spectacular Spider-Man #178, July 1991

Continuing our month-long celebration of Spider-Man’s upcoming 60th anniversary.

Here’s a beautiful splash of Spider-Man in full swinging action by Sal Buscema.

It’s another sequel of sorts of Kraven’s Last Hunt, as it features Vermin, who last appeared — and featured prominently — in that storyline.

And spoiler alert, he’s not happy.

Sal Buscema. Spider-Man. Splashy. 

Nuff said.

Mike Zeck — Spider-Man: Dead, Again?

Original Art and The Artists

The Amazing Spider-Man: Soul Of The Hunter, August 1992

With and without the overlay that adds snow to the art.

Ah, the lure of the sequel/prequel/spin-off.

Kraven’s Last Hunt (1987), considered one of the greatest Spidey sagas of all time, saw a follow-up story appear as “Soul of the Hunter” five years later, reuniting the original creative team: JM DeMatteis, Mike Zeck and Bob McLeod.

This page is one of my favorites from the story and one of my favorite Spidey pieces that I own, period, because, thanks to some hallucinogenic help, you have Spider-Man in both traditional and black costume on one page.

Of course, if someone wants to offer me a reasonable fraction of what the very first page featuring a Zeck Spider-man in black costume recently sold for, well under that condition, I would probably part with it:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/books/2022/01/14/spider-man-comic-book-page-sells-record-3-36-million/6524278001/

The original TPB and the more recent collection which includes the sequel story.

Mike Mayhew — Spider-Man: Hero Or Menace?

Original Art and The Artists

Alternate Cover, The Pulse #1, April 2004

Mike Mayhew was this close to wrapping up the final touches on this classic Spider-Man image.

And then he changed his mind.

Mike and I have spoken about this a few times. He doesn’t specifically remember why he started over but, as you can see, it’s very close to the final cover. (He did recall some possible miscommunication over which aspects were going to be handled digitally vs. his actual original art. That was speculation more than fact, since those changes could have been fixed in this version.)

A potential not so fun fact for me:

When I purchased the art from a third party, it was presented to me as the actual published original, with alterations, finishes, colors and effects added digitally.

Er, no.

Fortunately, it’s still cool artwork, and, with the current insane pricing in the original art market, I’m likely about even.

The published piece along with the actual final original.

Gil Kane / Rich Buckler — Spider-Problems, Big & Small

Original Art and The Artists

Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #10 and Web of Spider-Man Annual #6, 1990

Described (tongue in cheek, hopefully) as a “micro-crossover,” Spidey’s Totally Tiny Adventure is a three-part story from 1990, running in the summer annuals. (Amazing Spider-Man Annual #24, The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #10, The Web of Spider-Man Annual #6).

The story, as you might guess, features Spider-Man shrinking down to Ant-Man size and beyond. It’s definitely a bit light-hearted without devolving into straight camp. (Our friends at Pulp and Dagger have a full review here.)

Gil Kane drew chapters one and three, and Rich Buckler tackled chapter two. And a trivia note: Stan Lee scripted both chapters two and three, marking a rare return to the keyboard for the Spidey’s co-creator.

Alex Saviuk — Spider-Man’s Sinister Villains

Original Art and The Artists

Convention Illustration Program, 2013

Continuing our month-long celebration of Spider-Man’s upcoming 60th anniversary.

Alex Saviuk delivers a dynamic action scene of Spider-Man battling the super-villain team, The Sinister Six. (As much as I love Spidey, I’m pretty sure even he’ going to get creamed 10 seconds later.)

Here’s why good notes are important: My pal Alex drew this for a 2013 Comic Book Convention program. The only problem is, he can’t recall which convention.

If any sharp-eyed fans have seen the published piece, and can remember where it’s from, we’d love to hear from you.

Fun Fact: Our friends at Wikipedia have listed 16 numbered versions of the “Sinister Six,” along with additional lineups from alternate realities, etc. This version is close to the original team (except swap Kraven for the Lizard). Or version #10 (the “Superior Six”) from 2013. In that case, you only have to swap the minds of Spidey and Doc Ock.

Ah, comics.

Joe Jusko — Spider-Icon

Original Art and The Artists

Variant Cover, Art of Joe Jusko, 2013

A short history of a beautiful painting:

Joe Jusko originally created this homage to this classic and iconic John Romita Spider-Man cover (#50, 1967) for a project that ultimately didn’t reach fruition.

I was fortunate enough to see the original — and not mull, noodle, or otherwise hesitate before purchasing it — when it was first offered for sale back in 2007. 

As serendipity would have it, a few years later I was at IDW, and we landed Desperado Press as an imprint. Part of that deal included bringing Desperado’s Joe Jusko art book back into print.

Not wanting to miss potential opportunity for Joe or IDW, I asked Marvel if we could license the Spider-Man image for the cover of an exclusive limited edition version of the book. They said yes, told me the fee, and, after some smelling salts revived me, I said yes as well.

We (deliberately) only made 100 copies, and, on a per capita basis, it remains the most expensive licensing deal I have ever made.

But it’s a stunning piece that absolutely deserved to be a cover. (And, importantly, everyone would make a bit of money, so there’s that.)

And what did John Romita himself think about Joe’s painting?

“I had this piece on display at a Baltimore Con one year and who walks by my table and sees it, but John, “ says Jusko. 

“He studied it for a while and then told me how much he liked it. A lot of guys would say that just to be nice, but John never said what he didn’t mean. For the rest of the show I had people coming over to my table saying John sent them over, telling them they had to see the painting. I’ve seldom been more flattered!”