Ted Adams – Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Gabriel Rodriguez — Supernatural Talent

October 28, 2021 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Locke and Key: Keys To The Kingdom #1, August 2010

Locke and Key has returned with a second season on Netflix this past week, and I’m looking forward to catching up to it shortly. As we wrote about previously, it was a long and tortuous road to get here, and I’m glad that the show performed well enough to get picked up for additional seasons.

Regardless, in this case at least, the graphic novel will never be improved upon by another medium and it remains one of IDW Publishing’s greatest achievements.

This cool page has Bode dealing with his transformation into a character that looks a bit like Calvin from the classic Calvin and Hobbes comic strip. Too much like Calvin in the original pencils, if I recall correctly.

But I digress.

Some of the page was created and edited digitally (see below) so the original art is clean and lean — and captures Gabe’s terrific storytelling and draftsmanship that makes the story so compelling.

Will Eisner — Peak Spirit

March 3, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

The Spirt, Register and Tribune Syndicate, September 12, 1948

2020 marks the 80th Anniversary of the Will Eisner’s Spirit, a comic series that ultimately became a game changer in the medium. This week is also celebrated annually as “Will Eisner Week,” dedicated top one of comics’ most influential legacies. So let’s dive in…

This cool page is from “Cache McStash”, and is from Eisner’s peak period on the Spirit. In fact, it is published just one week after his own personal favorite story, “The Story of Gerhard Shnobble,” perhaps the most perfect film noir ever created for the comics.

And don’t let the misleading credits on the otherwise great Grand Comics Database fool you. This story is all Eisner — script, pencils, inks, and letters — as confirmed by Denis Kitchen.

I was fortunate enough to be asked write the intro for the Spirit story “Sound” featured in the hot-off-the-presses Spirit 80th celebration from Clover Press. No spoilers, but, I love the way Eisner integrated sound effects into his storytelling, and, on this page the simple ticking of the clock enhances tension and movement.

Like everything else he did, he found a way to make his two dimensional comics cinematic in scope.

“I grew up on the movies, that’s what I lived with. The movies always influenced me… Doing the Spirit strip was like making movies. It gave me a chance to be an actor, producer, author and cameraman all at once.”

— Will Eisner, quoted in Jim Steranko’s History of The Comics, Volume 2

*Clover Press has just published an 80th Anniversary celebration of Will Eisner’s Spirit, available directly from the publisher or in comic book stores and other traditional outlets.*

Color me alive — three different color takes of the Spirit’s origin from 1966: The original, possibly colored by Jules Feiffer; The 1975 Warren magazine reprint, possibly colored by Richard Corben; and the brand new Clover Press version, definitely colored by Jeremy Cox.

Gabriel Rodriguez — Unlocked

February 8, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Locke and Key: Crown of Shadows #5, February 2010

The first Locke and Key comic book from IDW Publishing went on sale 12 years ago, and nearly everyone who read it said, “wow, this would make a great television series.”

After a long, winding, often tortuous journey on the entertainment road, here we are. The first season of Locke and Key dropped on Netflix last night. I’m looking forward to binging it.

And I’m looking forward to re-reading the original six graphic novels that comprise the full Locke and Key story. Superb storytelling throughout by Joe Hill and Gabe Rodriguez make this one of the top graphic novel series of the 21st century. Gabe’s art just keeps getting better — and more lavishly detailed — as the series progresses.

I’ve loved nearly all of Gabe’s covers, but he rightfully guessed that this would be one of my favorites, with its emphasis on a classic hero vs. monster fight. (And beautiful detail on the monster.) When we introduced Locke and Key to a wider audience via Free Comic Book Day, we chose this to use cover as well.

It’s a beauty. Thanks Gabe.