James Sherman's Legion of Super-Heroes

I dig me some James Sherman Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes art! At the time I was like "What the...?!" when Mike Grell left the book to take over the Green Lantern/Green Arrow feature. But it didn't take long to see the man's many merits. Don't believe me? Head on over to his website where you can check out some swell Legion color art as well as black and white versions of the Legionnaires and their powers, as depicted in the second Legion treasury. Great stuff!

Enjoy a sampling of Sherman's Legion work today. Most of it was inked by Jack Abel. I especially love the lighting features these two created, and the general depth of each illustration.

As usual, a hearty "thank you!" to all those folks around the WWW who make such things available for us commoners to ogle. Those people of course retain all ownership rights.

 

 

 

Jim Starlin - Cosmically Aware...

Longtime readers of my musings will recall that my writing partner, Karen, is far more attuned to the work of Jim Starlin than am I. Relatively speaking, I'm a newcomer to appreciating Starlin's cosmic sagas in the Marvel Universe.

I think it must have been budgetary concerns (hey, a kid only has so many quarters!) in my youth that caused me to skip the Captain Marvel and Warlock comics of the early-mid Bronze Age. I'd wager that my only exposure to Starlin's art as a child were a few issues he did on Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes and of course the immortal Avengers Annual #7 (but even then, I didn't read Marvel Two-In-One Annual #2 until years and years later!). I have since made up for this transgression against one of the all-time greats, acquiring numerous trade paperbacks and hardcover collections that reprint his work. I have especially enjoyed the massive Avengers vs. Thanos tpb, which made a nice tutorial ahead of the latter Marvel Cinematic Universe films.

Starlin also had a turn at DC, but my encounters with him across the 1980s often saw him in the writer's chair.

Enjoy today's sampling of his characters and his line art. And as always, I make no claim to any of these images, but am appreciative to those friends around the Internet who make them available so that we all might enjoy.

 

 

 

 

Mike Grell Lives in my 1970s Memories

I recall digging Mike Grell's work the moment I laid eyes on it. I'm certain it was in a Legion of Super-Heroes mag, most likely Superboy/Legion #210. But I was also aware of his art on Aquaman and the Green Lantern/Green Arrow mag. Much later, I perused his creator-owned Shaman's Tears. I was never - and don't ask why, because I don't have a valid excuse - a reader of Warlord.

Some have called Grell a Neal Adams knock-off. I'm not sure that's an insult, because let's face it - mimicking Adams wouldn't be the worst thing a person could do. But I think we can all agree that Grell's figurework bears some uniqueness. You may say "stock poses"... I'll say "distinctly Grell".

Have a feast for the eyes today, kids. And don't hesitate to use that comment feature down at the end of the post. Thanks in advance to you, and to all the fine folks across the World Wide Web who claim ownership of the images I've included in today's retrospective.

 

 

Happy Birthday to Me - Please Allow the Indulgence!

The big 5-3 today (if that's a commemorative birthday, which I think it is not).

I thought today I'd just give myself the present of some art by some of my favorite artists - black & white or otherwise. So I hope you'll allow me to entertain you with some stuff that entertains me. Enjoy!

Neal Adams draws the best of two worlds (for the background on the nifty piece, check out Dan Greenfield's blog, 13th Dimension):

John Buscema Conan sketch. Funny thing is, I used to own this and sold it a few years ago. I found this image laying around the Web! Guess someone else liked it, too!

John Byrne does the Avengers - nuff said!

John Romita's Spider-Man cast - absolutely nothing NOT to love here.

Curt Swan's Superman - the way I "see" the Man of Steel in my mind's eye.

Dave Cockrum drew the X-Men and the Legion of Super-Heroes, launching them to renewed stardom and immediately preceding memorable runs by John Byrne and Mike Grell, respectively.

 

And to round things out today, how about a little Gene Colan Daredevil - with some assorted nasties, no less?