Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Tag: Zorro

Esteban Maroto — Lovely and Deadly

Original Art and The Artists

Lady Rawhide #5, June 1997

Lady Rawhide was introduced in the pages of Zorro as a “good girl/ bad girl” supporting character. After all, we had to keep with Vampirella, Dawn, Shi, Lady Death, et al, no?

She ended up with two of her own min-series, this second one with art by the legendary Esteban Maroto.

Unfortunately, as the series launched, it was becoming apparent that Topps’ passion to stick around in the comic book business was waning. The comic book sales implosion that followed the early 90s explosion was brutal.

I had left the company prior to the series solicitation, and EIC Jim Salicrup left prior to its conclusion. And, seeing the handwriting on the wall, Topps management published the final two issues of this series without coloring them to save money.

But, as always, we digress.

Topps comics may have concluded its run, but Lady Rawhide lived on at Dynamite Entertainment — at least for a while. (And they added a Lady Zorro for good measure.)

Tom Yeates — Dracula vs. Zorro?

Original Art and The Artists

Dracula Versus Zorro #2, November 1993

Dracula vs. Zorro.? For about a millisecond, this one sounds a bit odd, and then you say, wait a minute…

In the hands of writer Don McGregor and artist Tom Yeates (inks by Rick Magyar), you get a fun Topps Publishing two-parter, with Don’s smart writing and Tom’s magnificent storytelling — on giant art boards, no less.

A few notes:

• ˜The book came out just shy of 30 years ago.

• Dracula (The Francis Ford Coppola adaption kind) was Topps very first comic book; Dracula vs Zorro appears just before the launch of Topps’ Zorro solo series, also featuring stories by McGregor. (The crossover wasn’t originally planned as the character’s introduction— it just sort of happened, following the smash success of the Drac adaptation…)

• It’s only two monthly issues but features a whopping 61 pages of content — which leads me to believe we may have originally intended the story to total three issues. Perhaps we scaled back after the numbers came in for issue #1. Although we collected it in a prestige format comic in 1994, there are definitely not enough pages for a full trade collection. That was an era when we didn’t always plan for collections.

Mike Mayhew — Inside Job

Original Art and The Artists

Green Arrow #7, February 2011

Green Arrow is back on the air (CW) for its eighth and final season, so before the emerald archer fades into the TV sunset, we’re focusing a few posts on Green Arrow originals.

Here’s a great panel page example by the phenomenal Mike Mayhew. 

Mike’s earliest regular work was at Topps, excelling at dynamic storytelling on Zorro (yes, Zorro) in the traditional pen and ink medium. After the comic book implosion of the mid- 90’s left many talented artists out of a job, Mike tried his hand at painting for a book cover assignment. The result? Mike quickly transformed from talented story artist to a premier cover painter.

These days, Mike’ schedule only occasionally allows for fully illustrated interior stories. Here he demonstrates his tonal skills on Green Arrow — creating a lush, haunting page. (GA is dealing with the apparent ghost of his dead mother, hence the haunting.)

When Mike introduces me to a third party, he often says I was his “first boss.” Technically, that would have been Jim Salicrup, who edited Topps comics during its brief heyday, from 1992-97. But I was the Director of Publishing… so why quibble? Mike’s a great talent and a friend. I’ll take it.