All Star Superman

 I still consider this a "newer" comic book series - even though we are rapidly approaching its 20th anniversary!  This series was an instant classic and won multiple Eisner awards including Best New Series.  Written by Grant Morrison, with art by Frank Quitely, the series harkened back to Superman's Golden Age.  There was an overarching story arc, but each issue was distinctly different and a lot of fun.  I bought a page early on - right after it was published (see here), but sold it way too soon.  I was so happy to finally find a replacement (wasn't happy about the new prices!).  Anyway, this is a great page and it features just about the entire cast - Superman, Lois, Jimmy Olson, Perry, Cat Grant, and blowhard Steve Lombard.  Unlike most comic books, these pages were done in pencil only by Quitely.  It's really hard to scan these but the art is just amazing!  (click for larger image)

The Dark Knight Returns - Color!

 

(click for larger image). Way back in 1986 (I remember it well!), Frank Miller published The Dark Knight Returns - a 4 issue mini-series that turned the comic book world on its head.  Why was it so great?  Well, it was gritty, it was "real" (a relative term in comics), and it was a whole lot of fun.  It also did something that had never been done before; it gave us the end - the final chapter in the life of The Batman.  But the story wasn't only groundbreaking because of the subject matter.  The storytelling was brilliant - often told through snippets of news reports and through the lens of the various characters - each thoroughly fleshed out and unique.  It also gave us the first female Robin - a teenaged Carrie Kelley.  The series captures Miller at the height of his powers - cutting edge, daring, and wielding his expert cartooning skills.  Miller's artwork on the series is gorgeous, thanks to the contributions of master inker Klaus Janson (well on two issues at least - see my other Dark Knight post for more about that).  Janson had worked on Daredevil with Miller, and achieved great success, but I think they reached their zenith together on DKR.  Rounding out this talented team was Miller's then girlfriend Lynn Varley.  She colored the book beautifully, using a very muted color palate that was a lot more sophisticated than most mainstream comic books at the time.  The way she achieved this was also unusual.  The inked pages were reproduced at a smaller size onto a clear film overlay.  Another copy was printed on a board in "blue line" - a process that renders the lines "invisible" to the camera.  Using the overlay as a reference, Varley then painted directly on the blue line board.  The final colored piece, with the black film overlay, became camera ready art - it was shot directly to produce the printed page.

This is one of my favorite pages from the series.  Not only because it's from issue one, but it's a classic page that I could recite from memory ("The other -- HURTS!").  But is it really a "page"?  Well, there is an inked original out there somewhere, so it is an oddity.  Some people call these "color guides" which is not at all accurate.  Color guides were typically 8 1/2 x 11 photocopies (often of not great quality), that were colored with magic markers (or sometimes watercolor).  The colorist would then mark it up in pencil - indicating the name of the color to be used in the final printing.  These guides were used to create the final printing plates for production.  No color guide was ever photographed or reproduced - it was just a GUIDE (to see an actual color guide, click HERE).  So what Varley did here is quite different.  I've seen this process done on a handful of books including Mike Mignola's Ironwolf, and David Lloyd's V for Vendetta (colors by Siobhan Dodds).  Interestingly, the cover for The Dark Knight Returns, issue one, recently sold at auction for 2.4 million dollars.  There was a lot of discussion about how much of that piece was Miller and how much was Varley (it was mostly Varley!).

Parker - The Score

(click for larger image) Well, for the first time in my 16 years of blogging, I didn't post for the entire year (2022).  A lot has happened since I last posted (besides Covid).  The biggest change was that after living in San Diego for 20+ years, we're back in San Francisco.  So yes, we've been busy...!  Did you miss me???

Here's a beauty to get things rolling.  A great page from Parker, by Darwyn Cooke.  Sadly, Cooke passed away in 2016 (can't believe it's been 6 years already!) at the young-ish age of 53.  A real shame.  For the Parker series, which he adapted from the great Donald Westlake novels, Cooke used a 1950's advertising art style.  It was a great choice because it really fits the mood and setting of the novels (the first was published in 1962).  Cooke handled the writing and art chores on the series, and really distilled the best parts of Parker from the novels to the comic book medium.  Parker's world is gritty, and the character is a no-nonsense badass who usually lets his knuckles or a gun do the talking.  If you haven't read Parker (either the comic adaptation or the actual novels) you are really missing out.

Alan Davis Fantastic Four

I've been a big fan of Alan Davis for many years, and I buy every comic he draws.  He's always been one of my favorite comic book artists, and over time, he has become one of the best to ever work in the industry.  I think he reached a high point with two different series.  The first was Justice League of America: The Nail, which he wrote and drew.  There was also a terrific follow up several years later (and he was that much better as an artist) called Another Nail. The other series was Fantastic Four: The End.  Davis wrote and drew this as well, and I think it's a great series.  I don't think it's a coincidence that his best artwork was also on the books he wrote himself.  He was clearly more invested in these series and it shows in the art.  And the storytelling is as good or better than any mainstream writer in comics.  He's that good.  I'd always hoped to add a Davis piece to my collection but never found the right one.  I hit upon some good luck recently and was able to acquire a few pieces from Fantastic Four: The End.  I'm posting one of the better pages here, an epic battle between the FF and their longtime foe, Dr. Doom!  I'll let the art speak for itself, but I would be remiss not to mention Mark Farmer who has inked nearly everything Alan has ever drawn.  He's an insanely talented inker, and he really brings the pencils to life.  (click for larger image)

John Byrne Superman 5 Page

(click for larger image)  Really excited about this one!  Back in 1986 John Byrne was the king of comics.  He had just completed a successful stint on the Fantastic Four over at Marvel Comics, his long-time employer.  He had written and drawn a whopping 60+ consecutive issues on the title!  Not only that, but he also launched his own series, Alpha Flight, through Marvel and both wrote and drew that title as well.  Just as Byrne was finishing up the Fantastic Four, the big brains at DC approached and said they had an idea to "re-boot" their most iconic character - Superman.

Byrne was given a lot of leeway, and like his previous books at Marvel, he would both write and draw the new series.  First up was "Man of Steel", a six-issue limited series that would retell the origin of Krypton's most famous son, as well as "clean up" some of his complex history.  It was a smash success, and slated for follow up were the newly minted Superman book (starting with issue # 1), and a run on the Action Comics title - the birth place of Superman way back in issue # 1 in 1938.  This re-launch met with a lot of "hoopla" and it was all over the news and press at the time.  In 1988, Byrne would even illustrate the Man of Steel for the cover of Time Magazine.

Anyone who has ever read my blog will know of my high regard for both the Fantastic Four series and the Alpha Flight series.  My sole desire as a new collector of original comic art was to acquire a nice example from the Fantastic Four.  I have chronicled my pursuit of these pages both in my blog and in articles during my tenure as a contributor to the CFA-APA (links on right ->).  In the back of my mind, I had also wanted to get a nice Superman example, and actually owned some minor pages which I eventually parted with.

After re-reading Byrne's Superman work recently, I was compelled to finally pick up a nice example.  I don't think I could have done much better than this page.  Not only does it have Clark Kent changing into Superman and flying up from the Daily Planet, but it has a last panel that could be a poster or comic book cover.  Very iconic!  You might be scratching your head and wondering why the stubble - older readers will recall the popularity of the t.v. series Miami Vice.  Everybody had stubble in the late 80's!  The other thing I really like about this page is the inks.  Byrne inking himself is my favorite and I own no other examples.  The only inker who, in my mind, comes close to making Byrne's pencils look the way they are supposed to look is Karl Kesel.  He did a great job on this series.

Byrne Fantastic Four 248 Pages

(click for larger image - pencils and inks by John Byrne)  My first love in comic art has always been John Byrne Fantastic Four art.  I've been lucky to have found some great pieces over the years, and I was stoked to find another couple of great pages recently.  I actually saw these a couple of years ago at a convention in San Jose, CA.  I wish I had bought them then because they were quite a bit cheaper!  At any rate, I decided to grab them anyway - I've been hunting down stuff like this for the last 10 years and if there's one thing I've learned - you only regret the stuff you DON'T buy!

Alpha Flight 12, Page 32

I parted with a great three page sequence from this issue a while back, so I am glad to add this page to my collection.  Lots of good action and a great image of Guardian!  (click for larger image)

Alpha Flight 6, pages 6 and 7

Earlier this year, I sold a great three page sequence from Alpha Flight 12 (click here to view) that I had for many years.  It was a great sequence leading up to the death of Guardian (or Vindicator as he is sometimes called), but didn't actually have Guardian on any of the pages.  So I was thrilled to find these pages which do feature him.  Page six with him in flight is my favorite, but it's always fun to have sequential pages.  (click for larger image)

Fantastic Four 235, p 05

Another one for my Byrne obsession… (click for larger image) As a collector of original comic book art, few things are higher up on my want list than originals from John Byrne's run on Fantastic Four. Once I discovered you could actually buy this stuff, I thought "I want some Byrne FF!" It's what started me down that long, terrible road of addiction. I've been looking for great examples for almost ten years, and when I see something special, I do my best to acquire it. I have some pages that I really like, but this one is exceptional. I think if I had been able to find a page of this quality from the start, I might not have looked so hard for others. This one has it all - some great action, a good self-contained page, and all four members of the team. It's also from the early part of the run (only Byrne's fourth issue of his 61 issue run!), which features traditional inking tools (i.e., pen and brush rather than magic marker - a trademark of later issues). These early pages tend to have tighter inks and more detail, and this one has some really cool detail. In this particular story, the FF go up against Ego - "The Living Planet!" The last panel shows some really cool "Daliesque" (as Byrne puts it) details of the surface of this massive monster!

Alpha Flight 12, Page 28

(click for larger image or click HERE for triptych)

SOLD!! 2013

Back in the 1980's, I became a full-fledged comic book addict. I just loved the stuff and couldn't get enough. I would buy any title that caught my interest, in hopes that it would be worth my while. Some stuff was great, and some stuff not so great. I soon found that the current monthly books were not enough, and began backtracking to find previously published issues of things I liked, or other titles that I'd never heard of. If memory serves, the first John Byrne comic book I purchased off the newsstand was Fantastic Four 272. I was instantly smitten. I loved both the writing, and especially, the artwork (Byrne was doing both). It wasn't long before I was tracking down back-issues to get up to speed on what I'd missed (he began his run with issue 232). I was also happy to discover another title that Byrne was writing and drawing at the same time - his own creation, the Canadian super-team, Alpha Flight.

Alpha Flight wasn't as "cosmic" as the Fantastic Four, and it certainly didn't have the history (having been created in 1961 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby). It was also not a favorite of Byrne himself as he has stated repeatedly in interviews. Nonetheless, I loved it simply because it was Byrne. The book may not have been Byrne's personal favorite, but it did have a strong fan following. Byrne only ended up doing the first 28 issues, but some might argue that his initial run climaxed with issue 12 - the death of Guardian. Fans were shocked and devastated. If most fans were like me, they were probably thinking "he'll be back". Surely it was just some stunt or trick to boost sales? But, unlike today's superhero comics, he was dead. Really dead. Forever.

When I got introduced to the world of original comic art, my first thought was to obtain some nice Byrne Fantastic Four art. It turned out that that wouldn't be so easy (as chronicled in my CFA-APA article for issue 62 link HERE). So in conjunction with my search for Fantastic Four pages, I happily added Alpha Flight pages to my collection. And not just any Alpha Flight pages, but pages from the famed issue 12! Here is the first one I obtained. I've posted it on this blog before, but always in a group with the other two pages in the sequence (see them together HERE). I thought these pages deserved their own post, so here is the last. (Pencils and inks by John Byrne. Click for larger image.)

Alpha Flight 12, Page 27

(click for larger image or click HERE for triptych)

SOLD!! 2013

Back in the 1980's, I became a full-fledged comic book addict. I just loved the stuff and couldn't get enough. I would buy any title that caught my interest, in hopes that it would be worth my while. Some stuff was great, and some stuff not so great. I soon found that the current monthly books were not enough, and began backtracking to find previously published issues of things I liked, or other titles that I'd never heard of. If memory serves, the first John Byrne comic book I purchased off the newsstand was Fantastic Four 272. I was instantly smitten. I loved both the writing, and especially, the artwork (Byrne was doing both). It wasn't long before I was tracking down back-issues to get up to speed on what I'd missed (he began his run with issue 232). I was also happy to discover another title that Byrne was writing and drawing at the same time - his own creation, the Canadian super-team, Alpha Flight.

Alpha Flight wasn't as "cosmic" as the Fantastic Four, and it certainly didn't have the history (having been created in 1961 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby). It was also not a favorite of Byrne himself as he has stated repeatedly in interviews. Nonetheless, I loved it simply because it was Byrne. The book may not have been Byrne's personal favorite, but it did have a strong fan following. Byrne only ended up doing the first 28 issues, but some might argue that his initial run climaxed with issue 12 - the death of Guardian. Fans were shocked and devastated. If most fans were like me, they were probably thinking "he'll be back". Surely it was just some stunt or trick to boost sales? But, unlike today's superhero comics, he was dead. Really dead. Forever.

When I got introduced to the world of original comic art, my first thought was to obtain some nice Byrne Fantastic Four art. It turned out that that wouldn't be so easy (as chronicled in my CFA-APA article for issue 62 link HERE). So in conjunction with my search for Fantastic Four pages, I happily added Alpha Flight pages to my collection. And not just any Alpha Flight pages, but pages from the famed issue 12! Here is the first one I obtained. I've posted it on this blog before, but always in a group with the other two pages in the sequence (see them together HERE). I thought these pages deserved their own post, so here is the second. (Pencils and inks by John Byrne. Click for larger image.)

Alpha Flight 12, Page 26

(click for larger image or click HERE for triptych)


SOLD!! 2013

Back in the 1980's, I became a full-fledged comic book addict. I just loved the stuff and couldn't get enough. I would buy any title that caught my interest, in hopes that it would be worth my while. Some stuff was great, and some stuff not so great. I soon found that the current monthly books were not enough, and began backtracking to find previously published issues of things I liked, or other titles that I'd never heard of. If memory serves, the first John Byrne comic book I purchased off the newsstand was Fantastic Four 272. I was instantly smitten. I loved both the writing, and especially, the artwork (Byrne was doing both). It wasn't long before I was tracking down back-issues to get up to speed on what I'd missed (he began his run with issue 232). I was also happy to discover another title that Byrne was writing and drawing at the same time - his own creation, the Canadian super-team, Alpha Flight.

Alpha Flight wasn't as "cosmic" as the Fantastic Four, and it certainly didn't have the history (having been created in 1961 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby). It was also not a favorite of Byrne himself as he has stated repeatedly in interviews. Nonetheless, I loved it simply because it was Byrne. The book may not have been Byrne's personal favorite, but it did have a strong fan following. Byrne only ended up doing the first 28 issues, but some might argue that his initial run climaxed with issue 12 - the death of Guardian. Fans were shocked and devastated. If most fans were like me, they were probably thinking "he'll be back". Surely it was just some stunt or trick to boost sales? But, unlike today's superhero comics, he was dead. Really dead. Forever.

When I got introduced to the world of original comic art, my first thought was to obtain some nice Byrne Fantastic Four art. It turned out that that wouldn't be so easy (as chronicled in my CFA-APA article for issue 62 link HERE). So in conjunction with my search for Fantastic Four pages, I happily added Alpha Flight pages to my collection. And not just any Alpha Flight pages, but pages from the famed issue 12! Here is the first one I obtained. I've posted it on this blog before, but always in a group with the other two pages in the sequence (see them together HERE). I thought these pages deserved their own post, so here is the first. (Pencils and inks by John Byrne. Click for larger image.)

Daredevil 233, Pages 03 and 04

Here's a great sequence from possibly the best Daredevil story ever written - Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli's Born Again (originally published in Daredevil 226-233). This was a favorite of mine from back in the 80's, and still holds up very well all these years later. I've owned page 4 for years, and knew the whereabouts of page 3 for almost as long. I don't know why I put off obtaining it for so long. I'm glad it was still available once I finally decided to do something about it. I always enjoy having pairs of pages since comics are a sequential medium and it really helps relay the impact of the story. (click for larger image)

Fantastic Four 253, Page 20

UPDATE: SOLD IN 2012!

I had nearly the entire issue of this book, but never planned to keep it. I sold all but this page. For years I had hunted down Byrne FF art, and I especially wanted a nice early page featuring inks done using "traditional" inking tools (i.e., pen and brush - all the later stuff was done with magic marker). I was finally able to buy an example, but had to buy all the pages together. That shows you how rare this stuff is. Ironically, after I purchased the near-complete book, early pages began hitting the market after all. Go figure. Anyway, great inking on this page - very detailed. Compare this to the later pages I have from the 260's and you'll see the difference. (click for larger image)

You can read about my hunt for John Byrne Fantastic Four art in some of my CFA-APA articles (click for link)

Fantastic Four 253, Page 10

UPDATE: SOLD IN 2012!

Here's another great page from FF 253 featuring Mr. Fantastic. This page dates to just around the time when John Byrne switched from traditional inking tools (pen and brush), to magic marker. These earlier pen and brush pages have much crisper inking. (click for larger image)

Dark Knight Returns Production Page

I've been seeing some of these production pages on ebay lately, and thought I'd pick one up. Not exactly sure of their origins, but they appear to be printers proofs of some kind, and may have been distributed with anniversary copies of the DKR TPB. They consist of two layers; one is the color art (computer printout), and the other is a clear overlay containing the black and white line art. I took some time and created another overlay that contains the lettering so you can actually read the page (click for larger image). Coincidentally, this page immediately follows the original page that I own from the book.

Fantastic Four 253 2 Page Sequence

UPDATE: SOLD IN 2011!

Another killer couple of pages from FF 253. Featuring all four of the FF, a "Flame On!", Sue using her powers, and some really cool aliens. Love the inking on these pages! Classic stuff!! (click for larger image)

Fantastic Four 260

Sometimes you see a great piece of art but don't buy it. That was the case with this piece - it had been for sale for a long time with no takers. I knew that if it had sold, I'd have regretted not buying it. So after about 2 years, I finally made it happen. Great decision on my part - it's now one of my favorite John Byrne pieces in my collection! (pencils and inks by John Byrne. click for larger image)

World's Finest 258 Page

UPDATE: SOLD IN 2010!!

More nostalgia from my early days of comic reading (1979). This was one of the few stories that stood out to me from way back then - likely due to the fact that it was scripted by the great Denny O'Neill. It features two of my favorite DC artists of that time - Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (pencils), and Dick Giordano (inks), and the cover is a classic done by Neal Adams, which depicts the action in panel one (click for larger image)

Fantastic Four 264, pages 13 and 14

More greatness from John Byrne - vintage Fantastic Four pages from 1984!! These pages are from Byrne's "marker" period, which I used to look down on slightly. Recently, I've begun to have a change of heart. I really think this might be some of his best work. The earlier "pen and ink" FF pages certainly have a great line quality to them - they are very tight and crisp, but these later pages have a great energy to them. They're a bit looser, but I think Byrne's storytelling, anatomy, and layouts are better. I guess each period has it's own appeal - I'm glad to have examples of both. (click for larger image)