Peerless Power of Comics!

Ever since I can remember I've been fascinated by the process of comics: how they're put together. Pencils, inks, colors, lettering, editing, production. Early on I had an ability to notice alterations in artwork. I was a lad of 10 when Kirby moved to DC and Superman and Jimmy Olsen's redrawn faces stuck out like a sore thumb. Or, at Marvel, Romita faces were sometimes on Kirby's women, or a Marie Severin or Herb Trimpe face or figure would show up in a George Tuska or John Buscema story. I was particularly interested in comparing changes that occured in reprint titles such as Marvel Tales or Marvel Collector's Item Classics . I often took out the originals from my brothers collection and discovered that the entire story was often recolored, or there were sometimes changes in copy. Covers were particularly interesting, since the originals were often restructured in some form, either cropped, images flopped or copy added or deleted. While many covers were new versio

"I've always been interested in people's faces. I've tried to study the types you see in various occupations or in the differences that show up with racial groups. Yes, I reckon the face is the best way to show character, but there's plenty of other things that go along with it. The hands - for example -- the way a man uses his hands shows how his mind is really working.  You can control an expression on the face, but the hands give it away. Then there's the way a character is dressed or his way of posturing."     John Severin interview with John Benson, Graphic Story Magazine # 13, spring 1971 Beginning in 1947, and only ending recently with his passing (February 12th, 2012), John Severin had been drawing comics - and drawing them with distinctive finesse - for over sixty years. Quite an accomplishment by any standard. "Dien Bien Phu", Two Fisted Tales # 40, January 1955.   Severin was an artist who didn't get a lot of attention, perhaps bec

Stan G., as he became popularly known at Marvel in the 1960s, was both proficient and highly skilled, coloring covers and interiors, and inventing the color schemes for the Marvel Super-Heroes, including Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, the Hulk, Thor, X-Men, Daredevil, Iron-Man and Dr. Strange. Goldberg was not only a stunning colorist, but also a solid artist in the teen-humor/romance line, including a long run on  Millie the Model . Goldberg used his limited palette to produce a distinctive look for the Pre-Hero Marvel and Marvel Age line-up. His use of solid colors, gradations and "knock-outs" (a term used to describe the use of a single solid color in a panel) was exceptional, and Editor Lee had a trusted and professional staffer to rely on. The "Knock-Out" from "The Clock Maker" Strange Tales # 96, May 1962, Ditko Art Kid Colt Outlaw # 97, March 1961 - Kirby-Ayers Art. Goldbergs's coloring of the prisoners in the foreground in solid gray, along with w