Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery
Panels and Pages… Art and Artists… Creators and Conventions… Musings and Memories…
Action #592, September 1987
John Byrne provides a terrific page from about the halfway point in his re-boot run of Superman.
(And no mainstream character was more in need of a reboot in the mid-80s than Superman.)
John of course provided nearly everything here: Story, script, pencils and inks. Keith Williams adds the background inks on buildings and such.
Byrne? Superman in every panel? That’s a keeper.
Superman Commission, 1988
One part Joe Shuster. One part Alex Toth. One part Jack Kirby.
All parts Steve Rude.
And I can’t (or won’t) get flowery about a classic Superman image — from the era when “The Dude” first started working with mainstream publishers. (World’s Finest)
Simply a classic. Period.
See you next week with our continuing summer tribute to the Man of Steel.
Countdown #40, September 2007
Dan Jurgens drawing Superman? Excellent.
Dan Jurgens drawing seven different Supermen on one splash page? Absolutely terrific.
I’ve lost the thread on the DC multiverse. Is it infinite these days or finite? Do all versions exist simultaneously, or at different points in the timeline?
It doesn’t really matter. As a long-ago former CEO of mine would say, this kind of pondering can make you reach for the Excedrin.
(And, trust me on this, he had the largest bottle of Excedrin I’ve have seen to this day. It must have been a special order. But, as always, we digress.)
Fun fact: In Dan’s and inker Norm Rapmund’s original art, the Superman just to the left of “our” Superman, looks a bit like Jimmy Olsen to me. The coloring clearly modified the face in the published version.
Adventures of Superman #7, January 2014
….Happy Independence Day!
DC changed “The American Way” tagline a while ago, and I get that. Superman, more than 80 years after his debut, is an an international icon.
But Superman, like July 4th and summer, will always go together in my mind — I’m pretty sure some silver age Superman comics are the first ones I ever read with the help of my Aunt at the age of five on a July 4th family vacation. And the rest, as they say (ad nauseam, actually), is history.
This iconic Superman image is a “blue-line”: Karl inked the a scan of Chris’ pencils to save some time as deadline rapidly approached. (The print schedule is more powerful than a locomotive OR Superman. Trust me on this.) And I absolutely don’t care. It’s the printed cover, and, like I said, iconic.
More Superman posts during July. Stay tuned.
Recreation, Superman #199 Cover, 2005 (Original By Carmine Infantino, August 1967)
I read, and re-read, a handful of comics over and over again as a little kid. Avengers Annual #1 and #2 both come to mind, as do a few other annuals and specials. The first JLA/JSA crossover I discovered (JLA #56 and #57) was a favorite story, and I remember both Batman #200 and Superman #200 fondly.
But Superman #199? That was definitely my most frequent go-to. It doesn’t hurt that Carmine Infantino’s cover (Murphy Anderson on inks) is definitely my favorite (non-Neal Adams) DC cover of all time.
Fast-forward to about 15 years ago, just when I started getting my toes wet in the original art collector’s market again. My pal, Pete Koch (art collector/dealer/aficionado) and I are about to complete an art swap when I see that he has this stunning cover recreation by Rober Quijano in a stack of pages.
Trade completed.
Thanks, Pete.
Not-so-fun Fact: The scanned image doesn’t do the art justice, because I couldn’t remove the art from the frame without destroying it. Sad!
Bizarro Comics, August 2001
Concluding our 70th celebration of Superman and Batman (Robin, too) teaming up for the first time.
Why so serious?
Why, indeed.
DC has typically been afraid of too much humor in its traditional superhero storytelling. Frightening flashbacks to Batman ’66, in all likelihood.
But somehow, management green lit this great “Bizarro” graphic novel anthology, lovingly edited by my longtime* pal Joey Cavalieri, and featuring alternative interpretations of the world’s greatest superheroes.
I considered it a home run, and obviously others did as well because it’s an Eisner and Harvey winner, and an acknowledged classic. (They had me at the Matt Groening cover.)
Evan Dorkin (Milk and Cheese) wrote a few of the stories, and drew this one as well. I smile every time I look at it.
*Fun Fact: I’ve know Joey 50 years. And if tell you I KNEW he would be a star in the comics and/or animation field way back then, well, you can trust me on this.
Superman / Batman Annual #3, May 2009
Continuing our 70th celebration of Superman and Batman (Robin, too) teaming up for the first time.
Ah, the Composite Superman (Half Superman, half Batman). I’m not sure why I found this character so compelling as a kid, but I did.
I purchased his second appearance (World’s Finest #168) off the racks as a little kid. I was a bit too young for his first, a few years prior. (Both are shown below.)
Years later, what I can’t figure out is why he’s not on the cover in that issue. It’s not like I wouldn’t have flipped through the issue quickly and figured it out before I either gave Mr. Wurman my 12 cents or got tossed from his candy store.
In contemporary times, Chris Batista delivers a terrific page featuring the villain, plus Superman and Batman, and Metallo thrown in for good measure.
The issue also features a rare cover from the late Bernie Wrightson. No surprise, Bernie’s interpretation of the composite character is… intimidating.
Batman: The Dark Knight #3, August 1986
Continuing our 70th celebration of Superman and Batman (Robin, too) teaming up for the first time.
Today’s original art oddity:
Two original pages exist for every page of Frank Miller, Klaus Jansen’s and Lynn Varley’s The Dark Knight Returns.
First of course, are the traditional pen and ink black and white line art pages. Gorgeous, of course.
Next up, are Lynn Varley’s stunning hand-painted color pages. For emphasis: These are NOT color proofs. DC shot acetates of every line art page, and Lynn hand painted each one. (And, the color palate of DKR is of course critical to the storytelling.)
And his stunner is one of those pages. One of only a handful that features Superman, Batman and Robin all on the same page.
Anyone want to sell me the original Miller line work to go with it? I can start working on my line of credit with the bank today.
World’s Finest, “Inventory” Story, 1984
Continuing our 70th celebration of Superman and Batman (Robin, too) teaming up for the first time.
I can’t quite put my finger on it… But I always appreciated George Tuska’s art s at DC more than I did at Marvel.
I think it’s because — in my mind’s eye at least— George’s art seemed much more suited to the Bronze Age DC house style.
Or it could just be my imagination.
Here we have a “inventory” story intended for World’s Finest that appears to have never seen the light of day. Dynamic action featuring both Superman and Batman. What more could you possibly ask for?
Except possibly the published page to go with it.
I never understood DC’s policy regarding inventory and cancelled stories. Once they’re fully inked, and in many cases lettered, it’s really difficult to lose money coloring it and publishing it. The prior sunk cost is already sunk.
Except… as my friends in finance would happily point out, the investment in the story and artwork counts as an asset. If you never actually put it out, you never have to write the whole thing off.
Tricky, very tricky.
I’ve owned pages from quite a few DC cancelled stories. There’s an omnibus in there somewhere. Assuming (big assumption) all the scans and files have survived myriad changes in management over the years, and a few physical moves as well.
Promotional Illustration, Kitchen Sink Press, 1990
Continuing our 70thcelebration of Superman and Batman (Robin, too) teaming up for the first time.
Pete Poplaski’s 1990 promo art of the Dynamic Duo and the Man of Steel makes me happy.
It appears informally modeled after World’s Finest Comics #2, the issue that changed titles from the original World’s Best Comics. (Which, as noted previously, was the successor to World’s Fair Comics. No worries, there’s never a quiz on this material, especially since I’d probably be the first one to mess it up.)
Of course, as we’ve posted previously, all of Pete’s gorgeous retro work makes me happy.
Remnants of a different era, indeed.
