Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Tag: Will Conrad

Will Conrad — A Spirited Tribute

Original Art and The Artists

Spirit Commission, Tribute to Will Eisner, 2003

Celebrating “Will Eisner Week” and the 85th anniversary of The Spirit, with a repost of an early blog (2020). I finally framed this gorgeous piece a few weeks ago — and it’s even more stunning.

The very talented (and underrated) Brazilian artist Will Conrad is a self-professed Will Eisner geek. When he heard that Eisner would be attending a local convention, he labored over an over-sized Spirit piece to show Will, who was flattered and supportive.

Will held on to the piece for some time and tweaked it a bit to the point where he considered it “finished.” He knew how much I loved it, and after some unusual patience on my part, he ultimately let it go. (Thanks, Will!) 

“Sometimes Eisner used an empty street as part of the story. When he drew fog, the page was damp.

And the rain, always the rain, dripping off everything including the Spirit logo. He lingered over environments until you could almost smell the cheap hotel rooms, taste the tension, or feel on your flesh the chilly pall of a rain swept street.”

— Jim Steranko, History of The Comics, Volume 2

Raining on his parade — Eisner’s Spirit page from 1996 and Darwyn Cooke’s cover from 2009.

Will Conrad — Drowned in Thunder

Original Art and The Artists

Cover, Spider-Man Novel, Brazilian Edition (Novo Seculo), 2014

Ah, superheroes on a rooftop. Perched on a gargoyle… or other ornamental edifice. At night. In the rain. Or snow. I promise an entire post on the subject in the future.

In the meantime, we have this great cover by Will Conrad, who most definitely has a penchant for rain-soaked superheroes. Terrific mood and detail, some of which is obscured by the coloring of the published cover. (See below.)

Someone get that man a towel.

Will Conrad — Beneath 150 Billion Tons (?!)

Original Art and The Artists

Secret Wars Novel, Novo Seculo Brazilian Edition (“Guerras Secretas”), 2015

The Hulk saves his fellow superheroes by holding up a … mountain.

And no, you can’t make this up. It’s Will Conrad’s very dramatic rendering of the original Secret Wars story (Issue #4, 1985) for a contemporary Brazilian edition of a Secret Wars novelization.

How did Jim Shooter come up with 150 Billion Tons? I’m really going to have to ask him that one of these days. All I know is there are some pretty powerful heroes counting on ‘Ol Greenskin, no matter how much those rocks weigh.

Will has done a number of these Brazilian novelization covers and they are all fabulous, but this is my favorite.

Another version of Hulk holding the mountain, from Spider-man and the Secret Wars #1(2010.)

Will Conrad — Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall

Original Art and The Artists

Spirit Commission, 2003

Continuing our celebration of “Will Eisner Week” and the 80th anniversary of The Spirit, with additional creators’ takes on the beloved and influential character.

The very talented (and underrated) Brazilian artist Will Conrad is a self-professed Will Eisner nerd. When he heard that Eisner would be attending a Brazilian comic book convention, he labored over this oversized Spirit piece to show Will, who was nothing but flattered and supportive.

Will held on to the piece for many years, but he knew how much I loved it, and after some atypical patience on my part, he ultimately let it go. (Thanks Will!)

“Sometimes Eisner used an empty street as part of the story. When he drew fog, the page was damp.

And the rain, always the rain, dripping off everything including the Spirit logo. He lingered over environments until you could almost smell the cheap hotel rooms, taste the tension, or feel on your flesh the chilly pall of a rain swept street.”

— Jim Steranko, History of The Comics, Volume 2

Raining on his parade — Eisner’s Spirit page from 1996 and Darwyn Cooke’s cover from 2009.
The original Spirit series is collected in its entirety in an impressive 26-volume archive series from DC, and select stories in the original large art format (Artist’s Editions) are available in two gorgeous volumes from IDW.