Scintillating Selfies From Seasons Past!

While there are a number of self-portraits of comics artists, it seems a lost art when the artist would surround his image with those comics characters he or she was best known for. The first time I became aware of such portraits was when Marvelmania--Marvel's licensing arm in California which absorbed the old M.M.M.S. and sold fans a variety of memorabilia in the early '70s--grouped together a number of such portraits and advertised them for sale in books published circa 1971:

In those early days of my Marvel Comics acclimation, I was thrilled to see portfolios of those artists whose work I was just getting to know. (Jack Kirby, of course, had departed Marvel by that time, but I was starting to devour reprint titles featuring his art.) I remember being a little disappointed by John Buscema's offering, which featured only a sampling of his work from a single title, Silver Surfer:

Yet there later appeared an offering from him that showed what might have been in a more comprehensive rendering, while other outlets have adapted his pose to create their own portrait of the artist and the many characters which benefited from his style.

Buscema's brother, Sal, who also has a rich portfolio of work at Marvel, was a little more difficult to track down in this respect, but one such drawing turned up:

Though given the sheer number of characters Buscema has brought his style to, the artist himself might have been a bit lost in the crowd if they had been included.  What we see here is quite satisfactory--and Buscema's positioning of himself is an interesting choice in comparison with other such portraits.

I would have expected a similar throng of characters in a George Perez portrait, but the drawings which turned up were surprisingly reserved.

There are no Daredevil images in Wally Wood's selfie, but perhaps a takeaway panel from one of his stories explains why (though the breadth of Wood's work with other subject matter would be more extensive than the pigeon-hole he establishes for himself here).

Several of Gil Kane's offerings focused on his work at DC, though at least one of them included some of his renderings of Marvel characters:

Finally, the portraits of John Romita and Herb Trimpe round out this assortment nicely.

(If you can identify the character posed in front of the Glob in Trimpe's portrait, there's a free Trimpe-rendered Incredible Hulk comic in it for you! (Well, more like my sincere thanks, instead!)


I was surprised at the dearth of such character-based portraits for Rich Buckler, Neal Adams, Jim Starlin, Barry Smith, Bill Everett, George Tuska, Don Heck, and other notables, all of whom had a hand in building Marvel into the brand it became. If you're curious to see other self-portraits not featured here, do check out the PPC's prior posts on the subject, where you'll find those of Jack Kirby, Marie Severin, et al.

BONUS!

Renditions of the ideal Marvel Bullpen, as conceived by Marie Severin and Bob Camp.

The Marvelous Legacy of Joe Sinnott

Around the time the Juggernaut was looking for a rematch with Thor, a juggernaut of comics art was wrapping up his affairs at Marvel and preparing for a well-deserved retirement from the medium--Joltin' Joe Sinnott, who just over a month ago turned 90 years young. Sinnott, who would have been in his mid-'60s at the time of his farewell, went on to ink the Sunday Spider-Man comic strip (pencilled by Paul Ryan) for King Features for the next three years, and would keep his hand in afterward by doing cover recreations and finishes.

Sinnott's career spanned many, many comics titles and several companies, including Marvel's predecessor, Timely Comics. As I understand it, he first made his mark at Marvel when he took a job for Stan Lee inking Fantastic Four #5, the classic issue which introduced Doctor Doom to the world, and followed up with work on Journey Into Mystery #83 which featured the debut of the mighty Thor (as well as inking five subsequent JIM issues); but it wasn't until the mid-1960s when he would return to and work for Marvel exclusively, beginning with X-Men #13, in a continued story which presented the first appearance of (appropriately enough) the Juggernaut.

I was reminded of Sinnott's contributions to the industry while researching the PPC's prior post and came across the well-wishes of penciller Ron Frenz, who enjoyed a long run with Sinnott's polished style on the Thor title before Sinnott turned in his final work on the book.

If I were to list Mr. Sinnott's well-earned accolades, from his fellow professionals in the comics medium to his many admirers who have followed his work over the decades, we'd be here all day, and it would probably be well worth the time spent. Suffice to say that I strongly echo Mr. Frenz's ardent sentiments with my own. Joe Sinnott's artistry will always be a strong part of Marvel Comics' rise to success and beyond, and his work remains a reason why I enjoy looking back on the company's line of books with such admiration.

Man Without Peer

A little over a year ago, we lost one of the true greats of comics art:

Gene Colan
1926 - 2011

Have a look at some of this artist's memorable work and style.

The Avengers

Daredevil

Tomb of Dracula

Iron Man

Dr. Strange

And a personal favorite: the definitive image of
The Watcher

A "Marvel" of the Marvel Age

One of the hardest working talents in Marvel's stable of artists during the Silver Age of comics was also one of its most unsung--Marie Severin, a stalwart who mainly drew Sub-Mariner and the Hulk (the latter both before and after he segued to his own title), but also notably Dr. Strange, as well as Iron Man, Spider-Man (don't ask me why Spider-Man got a hyphen and Iron Man didn't), Daredevil, et al. The image you see here comes from near the end of the original Tales To Astonish, a title which the Hulk and Sub-Mariner shared in back-to-back stories and which Severin had drawn for many issues. The two characters finally met in battle (thanks to the Puppet Master) before the series ended, with Severin continuing to draw the Hulk as Tales To Astonish was subsequently renamed The Incredible Hulk.

Interestingly, Namor decides to seek out the Hulk because of this reasoning:

"In the undersea realm, none are more powerful than I! And, upon the accursed surface world, the green-skinned Hulk is mightiest of all! Together, we will be invincible!"

What seems to slip Namor's mind is that they didn't prove so invincible (or so congenial) a pairing in Avengers #3, published four years prior, when they joined forces against that team. They bickered throughout the fight, with Namor at the end thinking the Hulk deserted and betrayed him. In fact, this little scene from that story should sum things up, which took place shortly after their alliance was formed:

Not an encounter, or an experience, that Namor was likely to forget. Yet in this newer story, it's like he's meeting the Hulk for the first time.  Talk about bygones.

Severin's art was always a little too stiff for my taste--and the smaller the panels, the more warped in appearance her characters seemed to become. Yet she was definitely the go-to person you wanted when you needed to get the work out. In contrast to other artists, she was less subtle. Her images got right to the point--lots of reaction expressions and poses, and quickly setting the pace for the story which probably made it very easy for the writer to step in and script. With characters like Namor and the Hulk, who never did a whole lot of deliberation before charging off to battle, her style was naturally suited to them.

During her time as an artist (she retired around 2005), I never read of any of her peers who didn't have the highest opinion of her talent. And by all accounts, she's one of the most wonderful people you could know. She was there when Marvel was just coming into its own--and her work always brings back good memories for me.

Here's a look at Marie Severin's expressive self-portrait.

Wellsprings of the Bullpen

Here's a little piece of comics history for you:

John Byrne's self-portrait from when he drew for Marvel, from its original publishing in 1982.

As it turned out, Byrne's work was more historic than he probably realized at the time, perhaps because these self-portraits by Marvel's mainstream artists began and seemingly ended when the company was still promoting the concept of the Marvel "bullpen." I don't recall seeing this work from Keith Pollard, or Dave Cockrum, or Walt Simonson, or Rich Buckler, or Ron Frenz, or any of a dozen other prolific artists I could name--all certainly worthy of their own collage of work hovering around their self-image. The only ones I'm aware of are:

• Jack Kirby
• John Romita Sr., Herb Trimpe, John Buscema, Gil Kane
  
• Gene Colan
  
• Marie Severin

In fact, I think Byrne's is the last such representation that I recall seeing, where Marvel is concerned. And I'm sorry to see these portraits end, since in a way they represent to me what was fun about reading comics back then. When Byrne's portrait appeared, the "bullpen" feeling that used to permeate Marvel, and certainly its readers, was already on its way to becoming a faded memory--so as well-done as it is, Byrne's representation just didn't evoke the same feeling of enthusiasm about this company that could at one time be found in any Marvel reader.

World's Greatest Workhorse

A comic book title (series of 12 issues) that I got a kick out of was a series that came out in 2001 entitled "The World's Greatest Comic Magazine," a sort of retro look at the Fantastic Four and the stories that might have taken place right before Jack Kirby left the book.

It wasn't a bad effort, being written and drawn in the style of Stan Lee and Kirby, respectively. But Kirby's attention to detail is sadly missing, and many panels look rushed. Still, I enjoyed it for its homage to inexpensive books that churned out classic stories and characters, one after the other.

Artist Joe Kubert passing away recently had me thinking a little about his parallel history in comics with Kirby--both having long and distinguished careers, both learning the business from the ground up, and each known for their unique style. Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott were the penciller/inker combination that defined the Silver Age "Fantastic Four" for me. I never took well to Kirby's writing whenever I'd pick up other books that featured it. I think he focused on writing for the "kid in all of us," not realizing that readers don't want to be treated like kids. Contemporary comics were read with more active imaginations and discerning eyes. Kirby, instead, took a character like the Black Panther and mired him in a crazy collector's hunt for an antique frog. That aside, his creativity on the drawing board was unparalleled.

He was also a workhorse. I couldn't begin to tally the number of heroes (and villains!) that he dreamed up on a regular basis. If memory serves, he worked on three monthly books simultaneously--Fantastic Four, The Mighty Thor, and Captain America--and launched successful titles like The Avengers, The Incredible Hulk, and X-Men, as well as countless covers and fill-ins for other books. The man was all over the place.

If you're curious about Kirby's work, you can read a lot of interviews with his peers as well as sample some unpublished work in The Jack Kirby Collector, which analyzes his work in depth. An interesting collection of interviews and essays examining his life and work (and tons of artwork samples), as well as Kirby's split from Marvel, can also be found in the Jack Kirby retrospective from The Comics Journal Library.

Well done, old man. They broke the mold with you.

Jack Kirby: Self-Portrait