Keith Pollard - There's a Reason He Penciled Three Anniversary Issues

Keith Pollard - now here's a guy whose work I always looked forward to. And put that in context. The man followed Ross Andru on Amazing Spider-Man, John Buscema on Thor, and Buscema and George Perez on the Fantastic Four. Many artists might shy from those three assignments, give the stature of the departing artists. But man... Keith Pollard jumped onto all three books and made them his own. It's no wonder the powers-that-be at Marvel Comics had no problem entrusting the man with Amazing Spider-Man #200, Fantastic Four #200, and Thor #300.

As I was winding down on my initial comics buying mania in the late 1970s, it was Pollard who was the guy left minding the store on many of the books I was buying. I've always felt it a shame his career wasn't longer. Truly, I can't say enough good things about how much enjoyment he brought me when I was elementary school and middle-school aged. Fond memories!

Enjoy a sampling of his sketches and original art today. And as always, my gratitude knows no bounds for all the collectors around the interwebs who make these documents available for all of us to enjoy. They retain all ownership; I'm just thankful that I can Ooh and Aah at them!

 

 

 

 

Walter Simonson - Sketches and Line Art from a Nice Guy!

Thanks for finding this on a Friday rather than the customary Thursday. I figured with the holiday, there wouldn't have been much traffic yesterday.

Do you follow Walt Simonson on Twitter? You should. I don't know him personally - I don't think he and I have ever even attended the same cons or shows. But my impression of him is that he's just a genuinely nice man. When I think of him, the image in my mind most closely resembles the photo at right - just a happy guy.

That being said, count me among those who appreciate his art and style, and then follow up such a comment with "it's not always for me". I can't always put my finger on it, but when I can, my "complaints" would usually center around the looseness of his style. I'm more in the "tight realism" crowd - if that's a crowd. At times I've found the switch from one artist to Simonson to be a bit jarring. That being said, however, I've long felt a bit sorry for the guy in that his first run on Thor seemed to ape John Buscema, without a lot of Walt's uniqueness being allowed to shine through. Perhaps some of that was due to the inking of Tony DeZuniga, perhaps it was an editorial mandate. Whatever, we all know the heights to which Thor soared when Simonson gained full control. Many fans of the Thunder God put those years right beside the Lee/Kirby/Colletta run, and maybe rightfully so.

Today enjoy some sketchwork, some original art, and whatever else I've cobbled together for you. And as always, drop me a personal impression of yours in the comments section. Thanks, too, to the many collectors and original art aficionados across the interwebs, who of course retain ownership of the images in today's post.

 

 

John Byrne - Sketches Across the Marvel Universe

Few creators in comics history have been the beneficiaries of an adoration for their work as most collectors hold for John Byrne's run on the X-Men. Following a wonderful run by Dave Cockrum, Byrne (in collaboration with inker Terry Austin) launched Uncanny X-Men into the stratosphere. From that point, Byrne parlayed his success into lengthy runs illustrating the Fantastic Four and then on to DC where he was allowed to revamp the Superman mythos. At times controversial, Byrne never shied from either the spotlight or from speaking his mind (or from creative decisions such as his dismantling of the Vision).

Today I am featuring sketches of Marvel characters (and thanks to the various owners of these pieces for making them available on the Web); perhaps at some future point we'll take a look at some DC characters as rendered by Byrne.

From the standpoint of my own satisfaction, I tended to enjoy Byrne's work most when he had an inker who would exert some degree of positive influence. Whether Joe Sinnott, Austin, Bob Layton, or Dick Giordano, I wanted an inker to add some boldness to Byrne's lines. During his Fantastic Four tenure, and then on into some creator-owned projects like Next Men, I felt that Byrne left to his own devices could produce work that seemed a bit scratchy. My eyes prefer "polished", and that is what Austin, et al. lent to Byrne's pencils. Feel free to disagree with me in the comments below.

Onward!