Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Tag: Topps

Shaky Kane — Of Bubblegum & Kings

Original Art and The Artists

Captain America, Jack Kirby Tribute, August 2024

Marvel’s superhero business “blew up” in 1966. A cliché, maybe. But thanks to the Marvel cartoons airing in nationwide syndication that fall, Marvel’s licensing and merchandising business went from pretty much from negligible to ubiquitous, overnight.

I loved those cartoons. I didn’t fully understand that they were pretty much “animating” on the cheap by mostly directly lifting and moving around the actual comic book pages and panels, and at six-years old I didn’t care. (Technically, these cartoons are not much more than primitive motion comics.)

I bought a lot of that merch. The comics of course, were the main thing. But the cards. And the stickers. Dumb gags I admit. But I loved the Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, et al, art in miniature.

So, when I saw Shaky Kane’s original painted tribute to Marvel “bubblegum” cards at the Jack Kirby art exhibit in LA this past summer, it knocked me out, flooding me with (literally) sweet memories.

Unfortunately, it had already sold. This bummed me out of course, until one of my pals with me that day, the brilliant (and extremely logical) designer Stan Madaloni, said to me:  

“Why don’t you reach out to him see if he’ll make another one for you.”

Uh. Duh.

Shaky agreed, and, although I hate to use another cliché, the rest, is in fact, history.

The second one is now fortunately, and gratefully, in my possession.

Both Donruss and Philadelphia Gum (“Swell”) beat Topps to the punch in the Marvel business in 1967, with cards and stickers respectively. Topps found a way in with the odd Marvel Flyers collection (designs from Wally Wood’s studio) and the mini-comics satire “Krazy Little Comics”, with art by Wood, Gil Kane and others. (Scripts by Roy Thomas.)

Final thoughts: If I could go back in time and tell seven-year Greg that he would one day work for both Topps AND Marvel, he’d probably tell me I’m nuts and chase me away.

What a trip.

Jack Kirby & Gil Kane — Titans, Together

Original Art and The Artists

San Diego Comic-Con, July 1993

Jack Kirby, Gil Kane, Jim Salicrup at the Topps booth, 1993 San Diego Comic-Con. Photo by Greg Goldstein

30 years ago, I had the good sense to snap this fantastic photo of Jack Kirby and Gil Kane at the 1993 San Diego Comic-Con. (Jaunty Jim Salicrup, the Topps Comics EIC, is the happy fella in the middle.)

Fantastic, but, as it turned out, bittersweet: This was the final time these two legends had a chance to greet each other. (Jack passed away the following winter.) I’m not sure they were both scheduled at the Topps booth at the same time, so it may have been a very happy coincidence. 

I’ve discussed Topps Comics (and trading cards) numerous times in previous posts — it was a wild ride with many great moments. This was one of my favorites.

And did I say good sense? Hardly. If I did, I would have handed off the disposable camera to someone else and jumped in the photo as well.

Kane and Kirby both delivered for Topps; we launched the “Kirbyverse” with unused and under-utilized concepts from Jack’s files, and Gil Kane drew the Jurassic Park adaptation and prequel. And both provided art for our massive Star Wars Galaxy series, which featured more than 400 cards — with art from nearly that many individual creators.

Odds and Sods — August 2023

Original Art and The Artists

It was my turn to chat with Comic Art Fans (CAF) moderator Bill Cox this past Tuesday. We ended up talking about lots of interesting comic book publishing history… plus some great art. You can watch it directly through the link below:

Greg Goldstein at Phil Seuling New York Comic Book Convention 1975

And speaking of comic book history…

In celebration of 50 years of the creation of the comic book specialty distribution market, Milton Griepp of ICV2 is featuring a series of interviews with early “pioneers” in the business. The day before this past SDCC, my interview (video and print) appeared. If you’ve got some down time (Ok, if you’re bored with pretty much everything else on-line at the moment), please join me down the rabbit hole.

Good timing on the publication of the interviews; I am personally celebrating 40 years of professional contributions to the popular entertainment arts (Topps, IDW Publishing, Activision, et al) in one media format or another.

Teenage Greg (photo is October 1975, at Phil Seuling’s monthly Comic Book Marketplace show in New York City) would be very amused, if not startled.

Long, strange trip indeed.

Back When We Was Fab?

Original Art and The Artists

In celebration of 50 years of the creation comic book specialty distribution market, Milton Griepp of ICV2 is featuring a series of interviews with early “pioneers” in the business. Yesterday, my interview (video and print) appeared. If you’ve got some down time (Ok, if you’re bored with pretty much everything else on-line at the moment), please join me down the rabbit hole.

Good timing on the publication of the interviews; Today is the first day of San Diego Comicon, and although I won’t be behind a table, and it won’t be as musty,I will indeed be celebrating more than 50 years of contributions to the popular entertainment arts (Topps, IDW Publishing, Activision, et al) in one media format or another.

Teenage Greg (photo is October 1975, at Phil Seuling’s monthly Comic Book Marketplace show in New York City) would be very amused, if not startled.

Long, strange trip indeed.

https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/54613/icv2-interview-greg-goldstein

Visible on the table stacks: OMAC #1, Savage Sword of Conan #1, Iron Jaw # 1, all purchased through Seagate Distributors, the pioneering comic book distribution company launched by the legendary Phil Seuling.

SDCC 2023 — See You There?

Original Art and The Artists

I’ll be attending the convention all four (five, really) days this week. As always, feel free to reach out — or track me down primarily in the original art pavilion.

Plus, I’m appearing on two panels:

Games: Pioneers of 1990s Gaming Animation

As advancements in computer animation technology take video game development to ever-more impressive heights, ASIFA-Hollywood will look back at the early days with these pioneers of video game animation. Actor and writer John Omohundro (Bravest Warriors, Tokyo Revengers) will go back in time with Kevin VanHook(Bloodshot, Valiant Comics), Greg L. Goldstein (CEO, Four Color Arts, formerly Activision, Acclaim, IDW Publishing), E. Daniel Arey (Creative Director at Niantic, VisionArey Entertainment), and other animators and game developers to explore the challenges and celebrate the accomplishments of classic video games, such as “Myst” and “Turok: Dinosaur Hunter.”

Friday, 7/21/23, 4:30PM – 5:30PM, Room 24ABC

Nothing Topps Dinosaurs Attack! Cards

In 1988 Topps released a dinosaur-themed card series that sacrificed scientific accuracy for over-the-top action, violence, and gore. Fans of B-movies and dinosaurs were never the same! Series creator Gary Gerani (writer, film historian), Greg Goldstein (IDW Publishing, Topps), and Matt Corrigan (the Launchpad Podcast) discuss their favorite cards from this memorable set while Dr. Ashley Poust (paleontologist for San Diego Natural History Museum) separates fact from fiction. Matt and Greg will also show off original art produced for the series 35 years ago!

Saturday 7/22/23 7:30pm – 8:30pm Room 29CD

Lots of friends and colleagues appearing throughout the convention, but I would like to specifically point out that my pal Beau Smith is a Comic-Con Special Guest this year. His spotlight panel on Sunday, hosted by another pal, Ted Adams, is must-attend event!

https://comiccon2023.sched.com/speaker/beau_smith.25cg2ffi

Dollar Bin Bandits

Original Art and The Artists

I’m the guest on last week’s Friday (2/3) episode of the terrific comic book industry podcast Dollar Bin Bandits, available on your favorite podcast platform — and on YouTube.  (Links below.)

We covered quite a bit of ground: State of the industry, Topps and IDW days, comic book history, gaming and much more.; maybe something for everyone — or at least anyone who cares about these topics.

They picked a “classic” photo for marketing (as seen above — full version on my “About Me” tab), so don’t’ be too surprised if you watch on video, and well, I don’t look exactly the same. (Must have been the lighting.)

Thanks to Oren Phillips and crew for a very enjoyable hour, and an excellent series all around!

https://www.youtube.com/c/DollarBinBandits/videos?app=desktop

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dollar-bin-bandits/id1576289731?i=1000597848080&fbclid=IwAR39RLXRY_ELHVulTHxDd2caqP7VgzwOAdNzzBHj_lSon2Y6HNl22lgvPVQ

Mike Mignola — Happy Anniversary, Topps Comics

Original Art and The Artists

Bram Stoker’s Dracula, #3, December 1992 (& A Topps Gallery, 1992-1995)

Better late than never — Topps Comics actually launched its first title, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, in October, not November of 1992. By mid 1993, we had film adaptions, SF anthologies, Kirby superheroes and dozens more under our belt.

It was a wild ride.

In early 2023, we will have a more extensive look back with some new art, photos, memorabilia, etc. In the meantime, here’s a gallery of previously posted art. (Each piece links to the original post.)

Stay tuned.

Zina Saunders — Vote!

Original Art and The Artists

Mars Attacks #1 Cover Variant, 2012

Vote indeed! (Just not for this guy.)

The terrifically talented Zina Saunders — daughter of legendary Mars Attacks painter Norm Saunders — created this card for our 1994 Topps Mars Attacks “sequel” series. So many good cards were created for that set, including many by Zina, that we ran out of room, and this one went unused…

Until 2012, when we acquired the Mars Attacks comic book license at IDW. Legendary comics marketing guru Dirk Wood had this crazy idea: What if we created 55 variant covers, each featuring one of the original 55 cards? Ha-ha. That’s funny.

Then we went ahead and did it.

And we upped the ante: We added an additional variant cover that you could only get if you bought the complete box set of variant covers.

Honestly, I think we all agreed we were nuts  — until some good orders came in. Collectors actually wanted all the covers. It was a novel way to have a complete “set” of the original Mars Attacks.

Maybe those are unrelated thoughts. We might still be nuts.

But I’m not voting the Martian ticket, regardless. Not this year, anyway.

Wallace Wood — Topps In Class

Original Art and The Artists

Topps Nasty Notes, 1967

Wallace Wood brings his penchant for humor to Topps with this great looking 1967 series of novelties appropriately entitled “Nasty Notes.”

Why call them novelties instead of trading cards? Because they are actually two-sided posters that are designed to resemble the folded notes you might pass around in class.

Woody did a generous amount of work for Topps in the 60s as he became increasingly frustrated with the mainstream comics houses. Also, he was friends with one of Topps creative directors, Len Brown.

In fact, as noted previously, Len helped shape the creative direction of Wood’s T.H.U.N.D.E.R Agents, and. in return, Woody named the civilian identity of Dynamo, the lead character, “Len Brown.”

Some of the greatest and best-known talents of the comics contributed to Topps creative “Non-Sports” projects. It’s an all-star list that includes Jack Davis, Bob Powell, Basil Wolverton, Robert Crumb, Jay Lynch and Art Spiegelmanamong others.

(And of course, well-know pulp cover painter Norm Saunders was responsible for the finished work on Mars Attacks, Batman, Civil War, and others.)

My favorite Topps / Wood project of the era: Krazy Little Comics, 16 different parodies of classic superheroes in the style of EC’s classic Mad Comics . Written by Roy Thomas, with art by Wood and Gil Kane, too. These predate Not Brand Ecch! #1