Saturday, April 25, 2009

The Art Of Rick Stasi

When I first started going to comic conventions again in the early 90's, I decided to try and get into collecting original art and sketches as well as comics. One of the first artists I started getting sketches from was local KC artist Rick Stasi. Rick had done work for DC and Marvel in the past but his main gig was as an art school instructor. He did some fantastic pieces for me through the years. I really like his clean style and these are still some of my favorite pieces of art in my collection.







Monday, April 20, 2009

The Great George Tuska



I've always been a fan of George Tuska. I didn't know too much about him growing up but I got exposed to his great work a lot in college. I had always wanted to meet him but I didn't think I'd ever get to so my friend and I ordered commissions from him in 2001. I was blown away by this great Thor piece he did for me. He was in his 80's when he did this and it blew me away how good it was. Fortunately I got to thank him and get another sketch from him at Heroes Con a few years ago. It was a great experience meeting this great legend of the Golden, Silver, and Bronze Ages.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Nick Cardy Teen Titans



When I think of early 70's DC, one of the artists that comes immediatley to mind is the great Nick Cardy. His unique style on titles such as Aquaman and the above Teen Titans proved very popular with the readers of the time. This particular cover from issue #28 cover dated July-August, 1970, is a perfect example of Cardy's brilliance. I was lucky enough to meet him a couple of times and he was extremely nice and I was able to get my two favorite Titans in my sketchbook.





I also bought this cool Titans print from him the second time I met him a few years ago at Heroes Con in Charlotte. I think Wonder Girl looks a lot like Margot Kidder.



Meeting him was a great experience and I'm thrilled to have this beautiful art in my collection.

"Let's Rebuild Len Wein's Comic Book Collection"



As some of you may know, comic legend Len Wein lost many of his possessions in a terrible fire a few weeks ago. Fortunately Len and his family are OK. To help Len rebuild his massive collection of books he wrote through the years, Mark Evanier has organized an effort to get Len some of his work back. For more info click here .

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Peter Rabbit's Easter Parade 1952



I thought I'd wish everyone a Happy Easter with this gem from Avon Publishing. Not much is known about this particular story but it's probably typical humor fare of the time. I like the early Looney Tunesish style of the cover art. I've never really collected humor comics but this one looks like a lot of fun.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Russ Heath Sgt. Rock Sketch



One of my favorite pieces of art is this amazing Russ Heath Sgt. Rock sketch I got a few years ago. I've met Russ a couple of times and he's always been fun to talk too. I love his classic art style on the 1960's DC war books and adventure strips like Sea Devils. I never thought I'd be able to get a sketch from him but was very glad when I did.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

DC Big Eight Ad 1943



I really love this DC house ad that appeared in their July-August, 1943 comics. The military theme was consistent for a lot of the ads of the time. Most of DC's books sold thousands and thousands of copies a month to servicemen overseas. They were a big part of our fighting men's morale during the war. My morale would be pretty good too if I got to read cool books like Action, Detective, and Flash Comics every month. This ad is from Superman #23, which sports my all time favorite cover by the great Jack Burnley.



It's the crown jewel of my comic collection. I wish I could collect more books from the Golden Age but the 70's and 80's are more my financial speed.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Tarzan Through The Years



As I've said before, I've always been a huge fan of DC's Tarzan. I felt that Joe Kubert was the ultimate Tarzan artist but there have been many great interpretations of the Lord Of The Jungle. Marvel got the license after DC and did a pretty good job. John Buscema did several issues and he was perfect for the series. The first issue I remember getting though, was issue #20, from January, 1979. It featured a great Dave Cockrum cover.



Cockrum would have been a fantastic Tarzan artist. However, he didn't do the interior art in this particular issue. That job went to Sal Buscema, who did a great job as well. Marvel's Tarzan didn't last as long as the long running Dell version. The Dell issues featured amazing art from the likes of Russ Manning and Jesse Marsh. It lasted 131 issues from 1948 to 1962. I really dig the cover of the final issue of the series. It's by George Wilson, who did several painted covers for the run.



You can't really go wrong with any of these series if you dig Edgar Rice Burroughs' signature character.

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