Panel Discussion: Great Penciller / Inker Teams of the Bronze Age!

Redartz: The annals of the Bronze age are filled with comic tales illustrated by immensely talented creators. Many of those creators worked at times as solo artists, laying down pencils and then inking over their own work. Names like John Buscema, Barry Smith, Joe Kubert, John Byrne- all did notable work in this manner. But more often, a penciller was paired up with another artist, an inker; who would enhance  the pencilled art with inked lines in a blending of two individual artistic styles. Some pairings, predictably, were more successful than others. 

Today we will consider  the more effective examples. Which pencillers worked the best with which inkers?  Some teams have become iconic over the course of comics history; but that can be a subjective question. Here are four of my top teams, just to get things started.

Neal Adams / Dick Giordano

Talk about a history-making combination. Adams and Giordano were the hands behind many of DC's best stories and characters, producing truly classic tales of Batman, Deadman, Green Lantern and others. Here's a dramatic opening page from one of the Green Lantern solo back-ups in Flash comics, circa 1974...

Flash 226

John Byrne / Terry Austin

This could be, possibly, the single greatest artistic team in comic art history. In my opinion, it very well may be. Byrne and Austin made magic out of whatever they worked on together. Their art styles were flawlessly matched. Many of my top favorite comic stories came from their drawing boards, including this incredible panel with Kitty Pryde and Wolverine.  

Uncanny X-Men 131

Sal Buscema / Klaus Janson

Sorry about the black/white reproduction, the "Essential Defenders" doesn't feature color. But it does feature some fabulous stories, several of which are by Sal and Klaus. Janson's heavy shadows and detailed linework add solidity to Sal's pencils, and the results are spectacular.

Marvel Treasury Edition 12

Gene Colan / Tom  Palmer

These two have been paired many times, on many books; due doubtlessly to their absolutely perfect melding of styles. Palmer's polish beautifully enhances Gene's cinematic pencils, anytime, anywhere. And this page highlights two characters intimately associated with them...

Dr. Strange 14

Next, here's two examples of rather unusual pairings that  I found appealing...


 Carmine Infantino and Klaus Janson

Infantino seems to channel a bit of his old Silver age Flash skill here, showing off DD's aerial technique. And speaking of technique, you can't beat Janson's moody inks here. A different look, but very solid. 

Daredevil 152

Barry Smith and Frank Brunner

Two excellent artists, known for highly detailed work. One might think they wouldn't quite blend visually, but this page is excellent. You get Smith's design sense and Brunner's finesse. That last  panel close-up is incredible.

Marvel Premiere 4

Each of the above-mentioned artists also did phenomenal work with other artists, and there are dozens of others to add to the list. That's where you come in. What other great combos can you name? How would you rank them? Which pencillers do you feel looked better with their own inks?  Which inkers most effectively meshed with a variety of pencillers? What unorthodox pairings of pencil and ink found approval in your eyes? Sharpen your pencils, open that ink bottle and let's talk art!

Two Questions: Who's on Your Mount Rushmore?



Martinex1: Today we have two questions based on a poll I posted recently on twitter.  Here is the poll and the results.

Because twitter had limitations regarding the number of choices and options, let me pose the question to you a little differently:


QUESTION 1: Who is on your comic book artist Mount Rushmore?  Name four artists that you think should be on the monument.  It is open to any artists from any genre of comics.  Tell us why you chose your selections.   Here are some options (this list is definitely not all inclusive):


Jack Kirby, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, John Byrne, Wally Wood, John Buscema, Frank Miller, Steve Ditko, John Romita Sr., Joe Kubert, Neal Adams, Will Eisner, Jim Steranko, Gil Kane, George Perez, Gene Colan, Jim Starlin, Bill Sienkiewicz, Marie Severin, Mort Drucker, Joe Shuster, Carmine Infantino, Todd McFarlane, Bill Everett, Sal Buscema, Paul Smith, Don Heck, George Tuska, Michael Golden, Carl Barks, Mike Ploog, Jim Aparo, Amanda Connor, Bill Finger, Frank Frazetta, Moebius, Fiona Staples, Walt Simonson, Bob Bolling, Stan Goldberg, Harry Lucey, Ramona Fradon, Bob Montana, Dan DeCarlo, Frank Robbins, Nick Cardy, Bernie Wrightson, etc.

QUESTION 2: Who is on your comic book writer Mount Rushmore?  Name four writers that you would honor in this way.  Again, it can be a writer from any genre of comic book, and again tell us why you made the choice you did.  Consider anybody that has written comics including but not limited to:

Stan Lee, Bob Haney, Chris Claremont, Al Feldstein, Grant Morrison, Jim Shooter, Edmond Hamilton, Art Spiegelman, Doug Moench, Roger Stern, Mark Waid, Otto Binder, Jack Kirby, Bill Mantlo, Roy Thomas, Frank Miller, John Byrne, Ann Nocenti, Bill Mantlo, Alan Moore, Gardner Fox, Joe Gill, J,M, DeMatteis, Gail Simone, Gaiman, Peter David, Denny O'Neil, Jim Starlin, Mark Gruenwald, Kurt Busiek, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Jeph Loeb, Don McGregor, Marv Wolfman, Len Wein, etc.


Cheers all!

c

  

All New, All Different Sunday! Halloween Part 2: Marvel Monsters!

Martinex1:  Today we are bringing you a little treat, rather than a repeat trick, with a new Halloween topic to mull over.  Since we are upsetting the normal Sunday vibe, we will keep it simple - did you read and follow any of the Marvel monster mags of the Bronze Age?  When Frankenstein's Monster, Dracula, and the Werewolf started appearing on the spinner rack were you there?

Artists like Mike Ploog and Gene Colan brought us some wonderfully creepy stories of the classic monsters meshed with an eerie Marvel feel.

 I did not delve into these four color tomes until much later in life, but I have come to appreciate the intricacy and storytelling.  Particularly The Monster of Frankenstein and The Tomb of Dracula were of interest as they generated rather complex tales and emotion, while the art was overall quite good.   Werewolf By Night was a bit more campy and seemed to trip into the superhero realm more than the others; or maybe because the book introduced Moon Knight I am just more sensitive to that theme.

Believe it or not, my initial introduction to these characters was through youthful glimpses at Universal  monster movies.   As a child, my father watched the Abbott and Costello comedies that featured the characters with me.  That may have colored my early perception, but as I said more recently I've begun to enjoy these missed gems.

 Along the way, I also stumbled upon Marvel's Supernatural Thrillers and I was surprised that I enjoyed the Living Mummy issues.

 That title also carried some adaptations of classic horror tales that I found to be well-crafted considering the truncated length and any limits of the medium.  I found that the covers really caught my eye; there was some interesting art throughout.

 So if you were a collector of these classics from the 70s, speak up and share your thoughts!  Comments are welcome this fine October Sunday!   Cheers (and fears) as we celebrate Halloween throughout the month!

Chew the Fat: Spotty Villains!

Martinex1: It has been said that the villain makes the hero.   Could Batman be Batman without the Joker?   Perhaps not.   The better the rogues gallery, the better the adventure.   The bigger the threat, the more challenging the conflict.   I think we can agree that is true to some degree.   Spider-Man has a plethora of crazy and iconic villains from Doc Ock to the Green Goblin.  On the DC side, Flash has a cool collection of baddies with Captain Cold, the Top, Weather Wizard, Heat Wave, Gorilla Grodd and the rest.


But today we are not going to talk about the "good" villains (the villains who you look forward to seeing).  No, today we are going to discuss villains that make you scratch your head - but you like them anyway.  In other words, with new villains created throughout the Silver and Bronze ages there were a lot of dogs.  But some of those "misses" stay near to your heart because of nostalgia or theoretical untapped potential. Who are the third stringers and the D-listed creeps that you have enjoyed over the years?  


Here are a few of my favorites from the past, that almost nobody would include in top tier lists.  I am curious what you have to say about other "enemies" that we should be more welcoming towards.

My first example is the Spot.  He appeared first in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man issue #99.  While I am not always a fan of Al Milgrom's art or writing, I really enjoyed his work here.  The Spot is a scientist who was trying to find a path to Cloak's (of Cloak and Dagger fame) dark dimension.  Things went a bit haywire and  Dr. Jonathan Ohnn emerged with some of the funkiest powers I've ever seen.  The myriad of dark spots on his body are actually holes in and out of another dimension.  The character has a great sense of humor and was a good rival for Spidey.  The first time they met, Spider-Man couldn't control his laughter after hearing the villain's name, but he quickly got his comeuppance as the Spot showed him a thing or two in defense of the Kingpin.  A fun story, a fun character, and there should be a lot more of him in the books.

My second example harkens back to the Silver Age.   Daredevil was modeled somewhat after Batman in terms of his nighttime crime-fighting and athletic skillset.   So who was Daredevil's Joker in the early days?  It was none other than the Jester.  Jonathan Powers was a washed up actor who took on a criminal assassin's role in Daredevil #42.   While not ultra powerful, he was a good foil for the serious Daredevil and really gave him a run for his money.  Much of my liking of the Jester is nostalgic.   Some of the first comics I received were part of the first Jester arc and I particularly liked when he teamed with Cobra and Mr. Hyde in Daredevil #61. The Gene Colan art helped as he portrayed the villain as cagy, wiry, and quirky.   He made a few appearances in "modern" times, but never really caught fire.  There should be room for a deadly swashbuckler loaded with dangerous yo-yos, puns, and yuks. (And that cover with the Statue of Liberty photo is top notch).

Another character I like is Blackout.   He originated as a villain for Nova and has a strange dark dimension origin that is slightly similar to the Spot's (go figure).   He was a lab assistant caught in an accident falling into the void and emerging with light absorbing powers along with the dark force.  He goes a bit mad and is very paranoid.  I really began to admire the strangeness of the character when he was manipulated and controlled by Moonstone in the Avengers' "Under Siege" arc.   In Roger Stern's story, he was essentially used and abused by Zemo and the Masters of Evil and had a truly tragic end at their hands.  Despite the whacky mask and the limited early characterization, I found myself wanting more of Blackout.

On the DC side of things, as a kid I stumbled across an issue of Detective Comics at a school White Elephant sale.  On the cover it looked like Batman was fighting a purple and orange Spider-Man.   In fact the character was the ruthless killer Black Spider who hunts down druglords.   He sees himself as serving a brutal justice to the evildoers who got him addicted and sent his life into turmoil.  Gerry Conway and Ernie Chan created the character.   I think his costume is very sharp looking.  It is interesting that Conway brought a Punisher-type character with a spider motif to DC.  I like how Black Spider's motivations are not that much different than Bruce Wayne's, but Eric Needham (Black Spider) does not share Batman's reluctance to kill.

Those are my picks for underappreciated villains.  Who are your favorites; what is their potential; and why don't others see it like you do?   Villains who never really made the mainstream cut, but remain personal favorites is the theme of today's post.  Cheers!