Infinite Bronze Master Artists

[sterlingcomics]

OK, greggy's DC report took a life of its own; post your favorite scans and discuss interesting aspects you know of your favorite artists in the Bronze Age.

 

(If you guys want to repost the killer Tomahawk issues in here), that would be a killer start!! (I know many are silver)

[drbanner]

One word for those interested in learning more about the Master Artists of the Bronze Age - Comic Book Marketplace #40.

 

Ok, that's more than one word but this is a must-read issue for the Bronze Age art enthusiast. It spotlights Neal Adams, and I read somewhere where he said it contains his favorite interview. The thing that comes out in it is that while his art is incredible, Neal Adams strove to improve the quality of life for artists and creators, as well as trying to improve the quality of the product delivered to us, the readers and collectors.

 

One example that I vaguely recall (it's been a while since I read this issue) was that at one time DC was using a limited number of base colors in their printing process compared to Marvel, which resulted in Marvels having a wider range of color schemes in their books. Neal changed that, and did lots of other cool stuff that made comics better...especially the late 60's DC's.

 

I'll see if I can't scan a few pages this evening!

[Zonker]

Sterling,

 

Always happy to find an excuse to spread the word about the Goodwin/Simonson Manhunter. Here I'll re-use a couple of pages scanned for an earlier thread and add one more:

 

 

 

 

 

One thing I believe about Walt Simonson is he really benefited from the constraint of working within the 8 to 9 page backup story format. Once he had the freedom to stretch out into 20+ pages (Thor, for instance), I found his storytelling much less dynamic.

 

(By the way, here is the cover to the issue, a nice Jim Aparo job)

[hobbes]

I am picked up the trade for Manhunter a few weeks ago. Great stuff.

[drbanner]

One word for those interested in learning more about the Master Artists of the Bronze Age - Comic Book Marketplace #40.

 

On the left we have the world of DC Before Adams (BA), on the right, the world of DC After Adams (AA). Pretty stark contrast, eh??

 

[drbanner]

One example that I vaguely recall (it's been a while since I read this issue) was that at one time DC was using a limited number of base colors in their printing process compared to Marvel, which resulted in Marvels having a wider range of color schemes in their books.

 

[supapimp]

who was N. Admas inker or did he ink his own stuff?

[namisgr]

who was N. Admas inker or did he ink his own stuff?

 

Often Giordano for the DC stuff, and Tom Palmer at Marvel. Two of the very best.

 

[PovertyRow]

banner, that is a fascinating excerpt. Thanks! Is it from CBM? Kind of has the look.

[supapimp]

 

Often Giordano for the DC stuff

 

thanks for the reply, i thought it was him.

[namisgr]

In addition to the Detective beauty posted by Zonk, Jim Aparo did some terrific, underrated cover work for Adventure, too. This is one of my faves:

 

[drbanner]

who was N. Admas inker or did he ink his own stuff?

 

I'm pretty sure he inked most of his covers and some of his interiors, but Giordano did a lot of his DC's (Wrightson did some as well) and Tom Palmer inked a lot of his Marvel stuff. I'm not sure who inked his later Bronze DC covers, but they're not nearly as fine as his late 60's/early 70's books.

[supapimp]

yes, i never liked jim aparo's artwork in the modern age batman death of robin storyline. but i love his adventure spectre covers.

[drbanner]

banner, that is a fascinating excerpt. Thanks! Is it from CBM? Kind of has the look.

 

Yes, CBM 40 (see my 1st post above) - nearly 50 pages of pictures, interviews, sketches, etc.,. The whole article really is fascinating, and after it came out (1995) I dropped my Marvel Zombie bandages and pursued late silver/early bronze DC's with a vengeance. In part b/c I had just about completed my pre-65 Marvel run and needed a new quest, but mostly because his covers (and interior art) just blew me away!

[Zonker]

yes, i never liked jim aparo's artwork in the modern age batman death of robin storyline. but i love his adventure spectre covers.

 

Yes! They're talking above about the importance of inkers, but Aparo being inked by somebody like Mike Decarlo on Death in the Family is just a waste. Aparo inking Aparo like in most of those Spectre stories, or Brave & Bold or Aquaman, or Phantom Stranger is pretty great.

[PovertyRow]

Yes, CBM 40 (see my 1st post above)

 

Oops! I read your first post but it never stuck you had posted it! Regardless - I think I may have that issue somewhere - must have a look-see this weekend.

[Zonker]

It really is one of the classic issues of CBM, with a striking cover in its own right!

 

(images from the www.nealadams.com website)

 

[Zonker]

I am picked up the trade for Manhunter a few weeks ago. Great stuff.

 

It really is. Was that the 1999 "Special Edition" you got? That's the one with a posthumous Archie Goodwin co-plot recently fleshed out and drawn by Simonson. I think it suffers a bit from being expanded to 20+ pages; the original strip was the exact opposite of the current de-compressed storytelling vogue. But I like the fact it is completely wordless (except for Simonson's trademark sound effects).

 

There was also a 1984 one-shot reprint (what we used to call "Baxter format") that's probably my favorite way to re-read the series.

[hobbes]

Yes. I picked up the 1999 Special Edition. I like it. I was impressed with the number of awards the Manhunter series won. The trade I have lists them inside the front cover. One of the cool things about the trade is the Foreword written by Archie Goodwin dated 1979. He talks about two aspects of the Manhunter story that I thought were very interesting. He comments that because they were backup stories limited to only 8 pages both he and Walt were forced to cram as much as possible into those 8 pages. This forced Walt to do quite a few 10 or 12 panel pages which according to Goodwin was very unusual at the time. Keeping with the artist theme of the thread, Goodwin felt that the work Walt did with such a strong story in so small a space was spectaular. He was seriously impressed with Walts abiltiy to load a page with so many panels and characters and yet still maintain an uncluttered flow (his words). For my part, I feel Walt's work on Manhunter rivals what he accomplished on Thor. The other thing Goodwin points out is the freedom they had to tell a story with a beginning and an end. Manhunter was not a marquee character so the creators were under no restrictions from DC which Goodwin believes was the real reason the story was so impressive.

 

The awards I mentioned:

 

1973 Best Writer of The Year: Archie Goodwin

1973 Best Short Story of The Year: "The Himalayan Incident"

1973 Outstanding New Talent of The Year: Walt Simonson

1974 Best Short Story of The Year: "Cathedral Perilous"

1974 Best Feature Length Story: "Gotterdammerung"

1974 Best Writer of The Year: Archie Goodwin

 

All for a series that lasted only seven episodes!

[Zonker]

The awards I mentioned:

 

1973 Best Writer of The Year: Archie Goodwin

1973 Best Short Story of The Year: "The Himalayan Incident"

1973 Outstanding New Talent of The Year: Walt Simonson

1974 Best Short Story of The Year: "Cathedral Perilous"

1974 Best Feature Length Story: "Gotterdammerung"

1974 Best Writer of The Year: Archie Goodwin

 

All for a series that lasted only seven episodes!

 

Hobbes,

Then you might get a kick out of this post . For a while I was collecting all the books from 1970-74 that won these awards (or were nominated). Conan, Swamp Thing, GL/GA, Manhunter...