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When Heroes Fall

Started by drbanner,

22 posts in this topic

drbanner

drbanner

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Just got this email from one of my childhood heroes...Herb Trimpe, and it's a little depressing. Reminds me of the Simpson's(?) episode where Bart finally gets to meet Crusty, only to find out he's just an old, washed up relic of yesteryear... cry.gif

 

Hi, to the many people on my comix email list.

 

As an update, I'm not going to be doing any more commissions at this point, particularly reproductions of art already done in the past. I can't think of anything more boring or uninteresting to do. Doesn't matter anyway, because even though I got probably a hundred or more requests showing interest and asking for prices, I only got two commissions over the summer. I had ten times that many last spring and summer. It just ain't worth it to me. I'm debating now whether to dump the website altogether.

 

Am I crying in my beer? Hell no, I'd rather play flight simulators on line anyway. Anybody out there do that kind of thing? It's the only flying I do lately. In the future, I might do commissions of things I like to draw, but unfortuneately, nobody is interested . It's mostly the Hulk and other superhero characters that I drew. I hear there's another Hulk movie coming out. Good luck.

 

Lately, besides teaching and writing, I have been drawing for myself and liking it. I've got a book aimed at the young adult market making the rounds, and several agents have been complementary, but no dice except for one who likes the story and is presently looking at the illustrations I sent that will accompany the story. You'll hear from me again in another installment of "Trimpdog Tales." Say your prayers.

 

-Herb

 

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CGCMINT

CGCMINT

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I don't think he's been hired by any of the big 2 comic companies, Marvel or DC, in the last several years. Was he let go by Marvel?

 

Come on Crossgen, hire the guy. He's a good artist, let him draw something other than the Hulk or Wolverine. He's probably tired of drawing the same thing over and over.....

 

John

 

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clobberintime

clobberintime

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I got that too. I had contacted him about doing a few pages for me - some redos of Hulk stuff from the 1970s and was sad to see this. we had a few emails back and forth and was excited to hear from him - I actually did not know he was still alive! But his hulk stuff from about issue 139 to 186 is some of the best Hulk or marvel superhero art in my opinion. He drew great giant muscled monsters and characters and always loved his fight scenes. I think Hulk 171 is about my favorite book as i first bought it when i was 7 and have that record version of it too - but the rhino and Bumble teaming up to fight Hulk? What could be better tahn that. The fifgts with Modok, Juggernaut and Cobalt man and Missing Link in that era were also great. His art looked best when inked by J. Abel who of course did the books whose numbers we can not mention for fear of starting a fight. he must have gotten tired of doing 181 recreations though. And I am sure he has received nothing in royalties for creating the most popular character since Spidey - that could make anyone a little bitter.

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sckao

sckao

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He's just talking about commissions. Mike Zeck says pretty much the same thing on his Website except that he cites boredom as the reason. (People want the same thing over and over.) To combat that, he does variations on his famous covers or will "retire" a cover.

 

Mike Zeck's web page

 

 

 

 

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Darthdiesel

Darthdiesel

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I don't think he's been hired by any of the big 2 comic companies, Marvel or DC, in the last several years. Was he let go by Marvel?

 

He did something for DF on Origin and signed/sketched full body Wolverines and Wolverine heads on the Origin covers...

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AlexH

AlexH

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I don't think he's been hired by any of the big 2 comic companies, Marvel or DC, in the last several years. Was he let go by Marvel?

 

He did something for DF on Origin and signed/sketched full body Wolverines and Wolverine heads on the Origin covers...

 

Or my personal fav...(see attachment)

299878-alex34.jpg.abee7f0a89dc240e57ec8584ea6c55d1.jpg

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drbanner

drbanner

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Thanks for the links guys, good stuff ('cept yours Chrom, that's a little depressing)!

 

Obviously, he was a childhood hero b/c he worked on the Hulk when I was first into comics, and not necessarily b/c I think he's a great artist. His early Hulk work and the stuff around 190-200 isn't all that great IMHO, but as Clobby mentions, his stuff inked by Able is just great! Like most of the better comic book artists, the inker makes or breaks the deal if you ask me...Adams and Kirby come to mind as artists that had some great inkers, and some not so great (including some of their self-inked stuff).

 

The run from around 160-190 is my favorite Hulk period, and contains some of my favorite comic book art. Zzzaaxx...Bi-beast...Wendigo...Harpy...the Monsters on the Lost Island...the Hulkbusters...there were some serious Hulk slug-fests going on here (and good stories too). thumbsup2.gif Big, strong characters and cool, high-tech gadgetry and machinery (second only to the King!) were some of his trademarks during this period.

 

Not being a fan of manufactured collectibles, I think the DF signed/sketched Origin stuff is a little embarassing. He didn't even work on the books, and frankly, those sketches don't look anything like any of his vintage work. But that's just me... confused-smiley-013.gif

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drbanner

drbanner

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Let's do something for Herb...what could we do? 893scratchchin-thumb.gif

 

I don't know, I'd say let's throw some business his way but apparently he doesn't want the commission work anymore!?!? I got on his mailing list by inquiring about commission prices via his website, and he sent me the letter below with his rates. (And boy was I excited - an actual letter from Herb Trimpe! I wrote Stan Lee a letter when I was a kid and he "wrote" me back...I must've spent a week trying to figure out if he really signed the letter, or if it was just a signature stamp?)

 

trimpe.jpg

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