Guest Post - Who's the Best... Bronze Age Batman Artist?

Doug: Thomas F. has a way with connecting the Friday's to the Monday's at the BAB. Today he's asking you about a topic near and dear to all our hearts: artists. And Batman -- we like that, too. Monday I'll be reviewing the Batman one-shot "Mad Love" featuring the animated versions of the Joker and Harley Quinn. Enjoy today's conversation -- I'm looking forward to it.

Thomas F.: Presented here in all their glory are ten Batman covers illustrated by ten different Batman artists from—yep, you guessed it—the Bronze Age. (Regret is expressed for any fan favorites I’ve missed). Of these virtuosos, which do you think is best, and why? Which are your favorites?

COVERS SELECTED: 

Batman #234 (Neal Adams)

The Brave and the Bold #124 (Jim Aparo)

Detective Comics #432 (Nick Cardy)

Detective Comics #461 (Ernie Chan)

Detective Comics #510 (Gene Colan)

Batman #321 (José Luis Garcia-López)

Detective Comics #457 (Dick Giordano)

Detective Comics #526 (Don Newton)

Detective Comics #475 (Marshall Rogers)

Batman #366 (Walt Simonson)

These Seventies artists built upon the creations of the legends who preceded them and paved the way—Bob Kane, Dick Sprang, Jerry Robinson, Irv Novack, Carmine Infantino, et al. Granted, some of these Seventies Batman artists had their start in the Silver Age or even the Golden Age, and some are still producing artwork even today. Nevertheless, the selections of artwork I chose are all from Bronze Age; i.e. 1970 to 1983. (Some feel the Bronze Age extends to 1984 or even 1985, and I will not dispute this).

The legion of talented pencilers who came afterward—Alan Davis, David Mazzucchelli, Mike Mignola, Norm Breyfogle, Jim Lee, Brian Bolland, Kelley Jones, Tim Sale, Frank Quitely, Greg Capullo, and Paul Pope, just to list a handful—were undoubtedly inspired by many of these Bronze Age Michaelangelos.

BAB Firsts - BAB Book Review: Sal Buscema, Comics' Fast and Furious Artist

 

This post was originally published on April 2 2010

Doug: Last December Karen and I showed some things on our Christmas wish lists. On March 19 I finally got one of my wants -- TwoMorrows' Sal Buscema: Comics' Fast and Furious Artist, by Jim Amash with Eric Nolen-Weathington. I received the standard trade paperback edition, which retails for $26.95. You can order it here (at a slightly discounted price). It was worth all of the publishing delays...

As I usually do with TwoMorrows' books and magazines, I took a quick thumb-through upon unpacking it. I'm not sure they could have crammed any more art into this volume! If you wanted samples of Sal's work, then you'll get it here (Disclaimer -- the illustrations I've included with this post are examples of original artwork that was for sale on eBay when I wrote this post; these art pages are not in the TwoMorrows book). In fact, the last 64 pages are a B&W and color art gallery featuring sketches, commissions, and tons of published covers and art pages. All of that is in addition to literally hundreds of exhibits from Sal's career shown throughout the book. The format of the text is one long interview between Jim Amash (best known as one of the major contributors to Roy Thomas' Alter Ego magazine) and Sal. To say it's an exhaustive interview might be an understatement. Amash covers all of the points of not only Sal's career, but his life. I had the one-time pleasure of visiting all-too-briefly with Sal at the Chicago Comicon (in the late 1990's), and his gentlemanly manner certainly shines through in Amash's interview.

Fans of Sal's big brother John (eight years Sal's senior) will be extremely excited to read all of the anecdotes about John's career, as well as the interaction between the two. I at first wondered at the directness of interviewer Amash's questions in regard to John -- in a book about Sal, it seemed as if Amash jumped right in about the impact of John's career on the family, on Sal, about the two being compared, etc. Sal's love for his brother just shone through, and any discomfort I had was quickly laid to rest. In a market that is all too thin on the life and work of John Buscema, this biography of Sal dovetails nicely with Vanguard's The John Buscema Sketchbook, Pearl Press's John Buscema: A Life in Sketches, and the out-of-print SQ Productions The Art of John Buscema. Whereas the first and last books feature interviews with John, this latest Buscema book features comments from Sal himself on John's career. Of particular note is Sal's clearing up once and for all the matter of John hating comics. Sal affirms that John didn't hate comics; John hated drawing buildings! John wanted to draw people, and particularly loved drawing Conan and Tarzan because there were no rules -- the fantasy settings allowed John's imagination to run wild and he could draw whatever he wanted!

One of the most interesting series of quotes in this book concerns Sal's remarks about inkers who have embellished his work over the course of his career. While he admits that he holds no one in disdain and would never deny a man his livlihood, he does have negative words for Mike Esposito, Joe Staton, and Ernie Chan. He says that although he liked Joe Sinnott inking over his pencils, John strongly disliked Sinnott's inks -- not Sinnott the man, but the impact Sinnott had on John's pencils. Sal remarks that while Sinnott is certainly considered one of the best inkers in the business, when Joe inks a penciller, it's Joe you see. I'd argue that Sinnott is what gave the Fantastic Four its visual identity over 2+ decades, but I understand what is being said. Oh, one other nugget -- Sal reveals that John loved Dan Adkins inks on the Silver Surfer. What the...?! I have many a'time commented that I think Adkins was even heavier than Sinnott over Big John. I was shocked to read this!

Sal also discusses his collaborators through the years. Of all of the writers he has worked with, he praises Len Wein and Steve Englehart above all others. Wein was his longtime scribe on The Incredible Hulk (I did not realize that Sal handled the art chores on that title longer than Herb Trimpe), and Sal raves how they just clicked -- Sal knew exactly what Len wanted him to draw, and Len often couldn't believe how Sal returned pages with ideas drawn just as he'd envisioned them. Sal gives the reader further insight to the oft-discussed "Marvel method", and takes a shot at current writers and their too-constricting plot synopses. In Sal's opinion, artists of today are confined. As for Englehart, Sal places him just below Wein, yet raves about their tenure on Captain America. Sal does hold some reservation, though, for the climax of the Secret Empire storyline, and further questions Steve Rogers becoming Nomad. To Sal, Rogers and Captain America cannot exist apart. Sal also discusses his relationship with Jim Shooter. At first amicable, they parted under less-than-friendly circumstances due to Shooter's alleged micro-managing of Sal's art on Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21: the wedding issue. This was detailed in Back Issue #23. It's those little stories that make this book a really fun, nostalgiac, insightful, and so much more-kind of read.

The table of contents is --

Introduction by Walter Simonson

1. Inspiration All Around

2. A Heroic Departure

3. How to Break In the Marvel Way

4. The Workhorse Hits His Stride

5. A New Start With a Different Company

6. The Craft of Creating Comic Book Art

Art Gallery

(pssst... an Index would have been a nice addition!)


You can find a chronological listing of Sal's work by clicking here.

Who's the Best... Inker on John Buscema?

Doug:  Given my love affair with the artwork of Big John Buscema, and given our love-in over his work on Avengers #56 just yesterday, and also given that in September I intend to showcase his first two issues on the monthly Conan the Barbarian, I thought it would be fun if we discussed the many men (and women?  I don't know, other than his grandaughter, Stephanie) who've put brush over his pencils.  Who did you think was a great match, who wasn't, what were some memorable jobs, and so forth.  I know this one should be lively, weekend aside.  Just in preview of those Conan reviews next month, issue #25 is inked by Sal Buscema and John Severin, and #26 by Ernie Chan.  The two books side-by-side could not look more different...

Doug:  For those of you curious or without that trained eye, the Avengers cover was inked by Tom Palmer, the Thor page by Tony DeZuniga, and the King Conan splash by Ernie Chan.

Spotlight On: The Filipino Masters

Doug:  You know these guys, some of whom have been featured in the past on the BAB.  Nestor Redondo.  Tony DeZuniga. Rudy Nebres.  Alex Nino. Romeo Tanghal. Ernie Chan. Alfredo Alcala. E.R. Cruz.  More recently, in the modern age -- Whilce Portacio.  Rafael Kayanan. Leinil Francis Yu.  Whether you love 'em or hate 'em, this group of talented illustrators was seemingly everywhere in the Bronze Age.  Most notably, their work was featured in Marvel's stable of black and white magazines, but guys like Ernie Chan (Chua) had lengthy runs either penciling or inking such titles as Conan the Barbarian, the Incredible Hulk, and the Batman mags.  Lovers of the Teen Titans will recognize Romeo Tanghal's name from the Baxter paper era, and anyone drawn to Rima the Jungle Girl by Joe Kubert's covers would have found the work of Nestor Redondo between the covers.

Doug:  Today let's hear some reminiscences, preferences, pans -- whatever you got.  There's plenty to discuss under this Spotlight.

Nestor Redondo

Inks by Alfredo Alcala

Romeo Tanghal

Red Sonja: She-Devil With a Chain Mail Bikini

Marvel Feature #1 (November 1975)

"Red Sonja"

Roy Thomas-Esteban Maroto/Neal Adams/Ernie Chan

Doug:   Since female fashion was among the lead conversations of our nominating process for our currently-winding-down Bracketology: Dressed for Success polls, I thought we'd check in on a couple of the ladies who were at the forefront of the discussion.  Today, and scattered in the coming weeks, I'll be checking out (well, you know...) the she-devil with a sword, Red Sonja, and the Earth-2 Supergirl known as Power Girl.  I'll actually give Red Sonja two reviews, as we don't see the penciler most associated with her, Frank Thorne, until Marvel Feature #2.  So shall we get on with it?

Doug:  Marvel Feature #1 contains two Red Sonja stories, each about 10 pages long.  Since Karen and I are working on quite a few comics reviews for the coming weeks, I'm going to cheat you out of one of those stories today and review only the first one -- by Roy Thomas and Esteban Maroto, with Neal Adams and Ernie Chan on the inks.  You're so deprived...  By the way, the second tale was produced by Roy Thomas, Dick Giordano, and Terry Austin, with the title "The Temple of Abomination!"  I'm using Dynamite Entertainment's The Adventures of Red Sonja, Volume 1 tpb as my resource; you'll notice that it's been recolored, similarly to the content in Dark Horse's Chronicles of Conan series of trades.  Due to the panel lay-outs of the story (which was originally presented in the B&W mag The Savage Sword of Conan #1 -- Red Sonja's fourth overall appearance), I'll be providing a few full-page samples for your viewing pleasure!

Doug:  We pick it up with Red Sonja on mount, leaving the gates of a city.  As she rides slowly by, two guards try to draw her attention; but she's in no mood to converse -- instead her mind drifts back to her arrival in the town of Pah-Dishah, and a meeting with its king, Ghannif.  King Ghannif was served by an albino strongman, Trolus, ever by his side.  Red Sonja was charged with going to the sister-city of Makkalet and stealing a serpent-tiara, that had been part of Ghannif's daughter's dowry.  Ghannif charges her to bring it back -- and she'll get the richest reward he can bestow.  Ever the mercenary, Sonja accepts the offer.  She rode with other mercenaries, and arrived to Makkalet as if she was its protector.  However, meeting a northerner named Conan, she tricked him into burglarizing the city's treasure tower -- here we get a recap of "The Song of Red Sonja", complete with images of Red Sonja in the full chain-mail shirt.  As others have commented during our Bracketology series on Bronze Age costumes, this is a much more practical look.

Doug:  Once the tiara was in her hands, and not without much trouble, she rode back to see King Ghannif and collect the fee owed her.  Unfortunately (for someone, you know), Ghannif orders his guards to seize Sonja.  Her prize will be to become a member of Ghannif's harem!  And to show that he has a heart of gold, Ghannif offers Sonja's "services" to Trolus, after the king has had his own way.  Trolus seems somewhat reluctant...  Ghannif orders Sonja to be taken away, to be cleaned and prepared.  Once with the handmaidens of the court, Sonja still displays her fire, but soon decides to go along with it all -- for now.

 

Doug:  Brought back to the royal chambers, it's a new Red Sonja who begins to cuddle with King Ghannif.  She questions why Trolus remains in the chambers, but is told that he is never out of Ghannif's sight, nor vice versa.  Sonja rolls with it and begins to press up against the king.  There is much innuendo in this portion of the script, and I was surprised at how steamy it was getting, given that this was on sale in a standard four-color comic -- it certainly played as if it was created for the B&W line (which, as I said above, it was).  Sonja asks about a "small dagger" tucked in Ghannif's mid-section -- he tells that he only uses it for "certain ceremonial purposes".  She draws it, and jumps away.  He reacts, but she asks why one appointed by the gods should need fear such a small knife.  The next thing Ghannif knows, that small knife is embedded in his throat and he breathes his last.

Doug:  Trolus comes near, screaming at Sonja for her actions.  He is furious, not so much for Ghannif's death, but because of his death he fears he'll lose his place of privilege.  He fights as if possessed.  Sonja steals a broadsword from a guard, guts him, and engages Trolus.  The albino slave really never had a chance.  While he rails against her, saying he'll die now a toothless beggar, Sonja says she'll spare him a long life -- and crashes her sword against the back of Trolus' waist.  After leaving the royal bedchambers, she locates and changes into her own "clothes", then mounts her horse and rides through the city gates -- where this tale began.

 

Doug:  This was a nice story -- nothing out of the ordinary for a Marvel sword-and-sorcery mag.  I was a little disappointed that the plot never twisted -- I thought it was pretty predictable all the way through.  I think it would have been a good entry point for readers who'd missed Red Sonja's earlier appearances in Conan the Barbarian and Savage Sword... -- it's all here:  her seductive looks, the bit about no man being allowed to touch her lest he best her in combat first, etc.  The art was very good; this is Esteban Maroto's first work to be discussed on our blog -- further research shows that he began his career with Warren's magazines before moving to the Marvel line around 1973.  I'd almost have rather seen him inked by someone other than Neal Adams -- I see so much Adams, it's difficult to tell anything about Maroto.  I'd solicit some help from our readers in finding any presence by Ernie Chan on the inks -- I just don't see him.  However, it's possible that he only inked the backgrounds while Adams did the figures.  That was not uncommon as practice back in the Bronze Age.  At any rate, I'll be back in two weeks with a look at Red Sonja's second solo outing, this time under the penciler most associated with her.

Post script (Thursday evening, 9:30 PM) -- I just purchased a used copy of The Chronicles of Conan, volume 4 (on bookbyte.com) after a week of searching both online and through a couple of LCSs in the Chicago southland.  While I have a B&W reprint of "Red Nails", I'd wanted the color version -- and this book also contains "The Song of Red Sonja" -- be looking for a review of that story in the coming months!

Really? Purple Pants ALL OF THE TIME?

The Incredible Hulk #212 (June 1977)
"Crushed by the Constrictor!"
Len Wein-Sal Buscema/Ernie Chan

Doug: Back to the Bronze Age lot for a double dose of Hulk done-in-ones. Yep, tune back in one week from today when we'll actually bring you the succeeding issue. I only got three Hulks in the eBay victory, and this next week will polish those off. So, without further ado...

Doug: We open with Jim Wilson on the streets of New York City. While pondering a huge wanted poster of the Hulk, a thug emerges from the shadows. As the attack commences, Wilson at first thinks it's a mugging. But we soon find out that there's a hit on Wilson's life, and this tough with the blackjack is the assassin. But Jim's no slouch and evades the initial onslaught. Clinging to an oh-so-conveniently-passing-by box truck, Jim makes his way far away. The thug, fearful now what will happen to him since he's failed, begins to run. However, a long silver cord snaps out and begins to reel our hood in -- by his neck. As he begs for mercy, the "boss" steps into view -- it's a super-baddie (or so the snake-themed longjohns would lead us to believe) calling himself the Constrictor. And he wants Jim Wilson real bad.

Doug: Scene shift then to a boarding house where we spy on Bruce Banner, frustrated because he's bored but looking nonetheless fetching in purple twill pants. Next to him sits a magician's top hat; I can only wonder. Suddenly in walks his landlady, April Sommers. Now I was never a Hulk reader, so I'm totally tabula rasa on this development in Banner's love life. Oops -- apparently she's not a love interest. The scene plays like something right out of the Hulk TV show, with Banner only just now -- after months of living in the apartment -- revealing his last name. Even then, he refuses to tell her anything more about his past. I had to laugh at this mag written over a generation before the Internet -- Banner gives his real name, and April doesn't even react. You just know nowadays she'd run back to her own apartment and Google the fool!

Doug: We next check in on one Betty Ross Talbot, on the lam from Gamma Base. Apparently last issue she'd run away to "find herself". She's evidently on the West coast somewhere, as we're told she's several thousand miles away from NYC. Betty basically reinvents herself in this several-panel vignette -- and runs up quite a hefty credit card bill! All the while she laments the influence, and indeed pressure, of the men in her life -- most notable her father, General "Thunderbolt" Ross. And hey, is it just me or are Sal's women evoking the voluptuous figures usually associated with his brother John?

Doug: Cut back to Jim Wilson, who's landed at a pay phone (this is so cool! Man, I miss these days!). Jim tries to 411 Bruce Banner, but no dice. So he asks for "Bruce Roberts", reaching for any alias Banner might have used. Luck is on his side, and he's patched through. Of course Banner is home, and they make arrangements to meet. But as they agree on a site, there's a commotion, and Jim's end of the line goes dead. Banner rushes out of the boarding house -- and you just know that pulse is starting to race...

Doug: Scene shift again, to the sea, where a SHIELD tanker has hauled a gamma-irradiated cylinder from the ocean floor. The scientist on board, a hipster named Sidney E. Levine, radios Col. Nick Fury who tells him to contact Gamma Base. More on that later, I'll assume.

Doug: Back to Jim Wilson, we're dropped in actually a few seconds before his conversation with Banner ended. We find out that the noise was one of the Constrictor's coils smashing the phone booth. Jim is stunned, and a second lash nearly cuts him. But as the phone booth has basically dissolved, Wilson makes tracks. But he's not match for our villain, who catches up to Jim outside of an abandoned building. As Jim emerges he's snared and dragged to a waiting car. At about that same time, Banner is on the scene. Stepping out of a cab, Banner sees the busted up phone booth and then the getaway car. Banner calls out, but the car bears down on him. And you know what's coming next -- Hulk time!

Doug: The Constrictor gets out of the car (using his snake-like speed) just as it hits the Hulk. This Constrictor fellow must be a bit dim, as he says he's "heard of" the Hulk -- must live on Planet X or something. Anyway, as Hulk is about to end this four pages early he hears noise coming from inside the smashed vehicle. Stooping low to peer inside, he sees Jim. Hulk tears the roof off the car and frees Jim -- Jim in turn fills the Hulk in on this little contract thing. The book ends with a few pages of smash 'em up action as the Hulk makes relatively short work of the Constrictor. There's a little luck involved, as the assassin meets his end by whipping his coils into an electrical box on a lamp post -- bad feedback, for sure. But all's well that ends well, and a monster and his "little buddy" are reunited, to walk off together into the sunset.

Doug: Again, as a very casual reader of the Hulk, I got what I would have expected from this story. The villain could have been whupped by Daredevil, so I wasn't kept in any real suspense as to the outcome. Sal's pencils were wonderfully reliable as usual and Ernie Chan was a welcome sight -- not overpowering Sal, but enhancing him along the way. Len Wein seemed to have everyone's voice down pretty well. So aside from the almost-constant scene changing, this was a fun little use of 20 minutes. And as I said above, the anchors to the late 1970's can't be beat!

It's a Fine Line: Batman in the Bronze Age

Doug: You may have noticed a bit more Batman around these parts lately, and Neal Adams' work is always a welcome topic on this blog. So what say we just combine 'em, throw in some Marshall Rogers and a little Jim Aparo and see what we get? All of the picture references for today's post come from the wonderful World Wide Web, as my Batman collection over the years has dwindled.

Bob Brown --

Doug: We're currently looking at Bob Brown's work on the Avengers/Zodiac story, and some time ago we checked in on his Daredevil and the Black Widow. Brown actually drew quite a few issues of Batman and Detective Comics, and as I've said, he was always pretty solid if not spectacular. I know he's not for everyone's taste, however.

Karen: I don't think I've ever seen a Bob Brown Batman comic. But then my Batman collection is limited. This looks serviceable but that's about all.





Dick Dillin --

Doug: Dillin is of course best known for his long tenure on Justice League of America, but he, like Brown, showed up from time to time on Batman's solo adventures. I think one thing that most everyone will notice is the style of the cowl and the bat insignia. This panel definitely comes from the very early Bronze Age, when the comics still mimicked the 1966 television show. The ears were short, man!

Karen: I've always liked Dillin. But you're right, this has a heavy TV influence. I'm just waiting for Aunt Harriet to pop up.

Doug: Ha! We laugh about that, but let's face it -- how many Bronze Agers owe their entry into this hobby/interest to that TV show?

Dick Giordano --

Doug: Giordano's spot in Bronze Age history is, for most folks, as the sidekick to Neal Adams on Batman and the Green Lantern/Green Arrow run. However, his was a varied career, and every now and then he did his own pencilling. Many criticize (or laud, depending on your point of view, I guess) him for aping Adams when he pencilled. There are worse sins than aping Neal Adams.

Karen: No kidding, very much looks like Adams.



Don Newton --

Doug: I know Newton has many fans, and I am certainly no detractor. However, I don't think I know enough about his body of work to even foster an intelligent comment here.

Karen: Newton's another one of those guys that I've thought was serviceable but never got me excited about the art.







Ernie Chan --

Doug: I like this panel, because it's just through-and-through Ernie Chan. Many of you will recognize his work on Conan the Barbarian, either on his own or for his extensive run as the inker for John Buscema. But in the mid- to late-'70's he was the lead artist on the Dark Knight, in both magazines.

Karen: Chan is just not my cup of tea, regardless of who he's drawing.

Doug: I thought he was OK on the Batman books that I owned. I always resented him, however, for exerting too much influence over Buscema's pencils on the Conan run.

Frank Robbins --

Doug: We've never covered the Invaders on this blog, and I suppose at some point we need to. But one look to the left will tell you why I would not be partial to such a strategy. Robbins did quite a bit of writing on the Bat-books, but only a few times was he called on to pencil. Thank goodness...

Karen: I'm not going to say anything. I'm trying to keep my reputation as a nice person.

Doug: Mom always said...





Irv Novick --

Doug: Novick's one of the '70's artists readily recognized as one of Batman's prominent artists. As I commented above, you can tell which part of the decade this panel hails from. But that's OK -- it's still pretty powerful. There's quite a bit of action and emotion in this single panel. But it's kind of funny (not Hahaha) to me that it just seems like a panel from a DC and not from a Marvel. Thoughts?

Karen: It has me intrigued. I'd like to see more of his work.







Jim Aparo --

Doug: If anyone out there doesn't like Jim Aparo, I would like to know why. This guy wrapped the best of a whole bunch of artists, Adams and Novick included, into his own style. One of the stalwarts of the Caped Crusader's stable of pencillers, Aparo lasted well into the 1980's and illustrated several important stories.

Karen: This is 'Mr. Batman' to me. Aparo was drawing Batman when I first started reading it. I've always loved the tall, lean look he gave the Dark Knight. He had a very strong style, good story teller, and very dynamic too. He's the guy to whom I compare all other Batman artists.

Doug: I agree with you. While not an Aquaman fan (lordy, the King of the Seven Seas has surfaced (ha!) on this blog twice now in the past week!), Aparo's work on that title was great as well.

John Calnan --

Doug: You know, this isn't a name I ever would have come up with. When doing research and art collection for this post, I noticed that he pencilled many of the issues that I actually had at one time. Wow -- seriously, never would have named this guy. The panel at left is good -- no problems. But I had a hard time finding anything significant in color to pass along. So I guess I'll just have to plead "no memory" on this fellow.

Karen: No idea who he is, but the art reminds me of the old Hostess Cupcakes/Twinkies/Pies ads. That's not really a good thing.

Doug: Another slice of Bronze Age life, those ads were...



Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez --

Doug: You'll all identify this as a model sheet, which it most certainly is. And if you run across some of the others that Garcia-Lopez drew, they are all just as beautiful. Garcia-Lopez was the "house artist" for many of DC's mass marketed items, like licensed items that became toy packaging, etc. While I didn't find a good sequential example of his work, I'm sure you've run across his stuff on New Teen Titans, etc. Solid, solid artist.

Karen: Always liked Garcia-Lopez. Very distinctive look, clean, and as you say, solid artist all the way around. His stuff worked with pretty much any character you could think of. His Batman looks great.

Marshall Rogers --

Doug: We're also in the midst of a little 3-Saturday series from the Englehart/Rogers collaboration from Detective Comics, and I don't know about you, but I'm really enjoying it. I've seen it said elsewhere on the 'net that no one drew Batman's cape like Rogers, and I'm not so sure that I wouldn't echo that. I think his "real people" are finely rendered, and his fight scenes are well-choreographed. And then there's Silver St. Cloud...

Karen: Great stuff. He and Terry Austin made a terrific team. Of course, I think Austin is one of those inkers that makes anyone look better. But Rogers was an excellent penciller.





Mike Grell --

Doug: I was surprised to see Grell's name on several of the credits in these books. When I think of Mike Grell, like you, I'm probably seeing his work on the Legion and on Green Lantern/Green Arrow. But this is a nice sample at left. I know some of our readers were detractors of Grell when Karen ran the Grell-Cockrum Face-Off a couple of weeks ago. But for me he's always been a fine draftsman. Not without his faults, mind you -- but you could do a heckuva lot worse.

Karen: I don't see anything wrong with the sample. But then, I do like Mike Grell's work. He reminds me a bit of Aparo here, with that lean look to the Batman which I favor.




Neal Adams --

Doug: I have no further comment. None needed.

Karen: I have one comment: beautiful.













Rich Buckler --

Doug: We've discussed Rich Buckler around these parts many times. I'll stand by former comments that he's just a well-rounded artist. The panel at left looks like his style -- not flashy, but strongly straightforward. And I appreciate the backgrounds in the first panel. Not all artists take the time to fill in the mood of a scene, but this first panel is nice.

Karen: I have no complaints about Buckler's work here or pretty much anywhere else. He's a very solid artist.

Doug: There were a few other artists worth mentioning for their body of work in the 1970's, but I didn't notice that they did much in the way of interiors. The two most prolific artists I'm thinking of would be Michael Kaluta and Nick Cardy -- both did extensive cover work on both Batman and Detective Comics.