Nick also took over as the cover artist of Superboy in 1972. While this isn’t really the best cover from that year, I couldn’t resist including Superboy #183 (Mar. 1972).
If my count is right, and I think it is, Nick drew a whopping 101 covers with a 1972 cover date. Carmine Infantino was still laying out a lot of the covers at this point (it was very much a back-and-forth process now), which I’m sure helped, but Nick still had to pencil and ink them all.
And speaking of Superman, we'll leave 1972 with a cover Nick said had “the feel of the ‘Man in the Forest’ scene in Bambi”—Superman #257 (Oct. 1972). I’m not usually a fan of the “cutaway” image, but I like this one. Another nice coloring job helps with the contrast between the tranquility above, and the lurking danger below.
Teen Titans ended with issue #43 (Jan.-Feb. 1973). Nick’s cover for the issue is an interesting circular design with Speedy, Kid Flash, Wonder Girl, and the Moonling demons framing the witch weather vane. His inking for this story would be his last regular interior work.
1973 had several memorable Superman covers, but I'll go with what was probably Nick’s favorite Superman cover of any he drew, Superman #265 (July 1973). Nick was especially happy with how the rain effect came out.
Aargh! So many fun Superboy covers from 1973, but I think I’ll go with Superboy #195 (June 1973). Notice the bold inking on the figures to make them stand out more from the thinly inked tornado. The production department did a great job coloring this one, especially the tornado. The entire image reads very clearly.
Aargh! So many fun Superboy covers from 1973, but I think I’ll go with Superboy #195 (June 1973). Notice the bold inking on the figures to make them stand out more from the thinly inked tornado. The production department did a great job coloring this one, especially the tornado. The entire image reads very clearly.
I wonder was the use of a white cat intentional or a necessity due to the surrounding colors. I guess the later. Who decides in such incidents. The sketcher, the author, the colorist or the editor? :-/
I wonder was the use of a white cat intentional or a necessity due to the surrounding colors. I guess the later. Who decides in such incidents. The sketcher, the author, the colorist or the editor? :-/
Yeah, I'm sure it was to separate the cat from the background. Nick would sometimes give color notes to the production department if there was something specific he had in mind, but that was pretty rare. For the most part it was left up to the production department. Sol Harrison was probably still doing the color separations at this point, but it was around this time that he was promoted to vice president, so it may have been someone else.
Darn it! Now you've forced me to share one of my childhood favorites from 1973...read this thing into dust
And the original...although I never knew this existed or read it until years later. As I recall, a couple of the pages in the original weren't included in the reprint?
There are a number of excellent covers Nick did for other titles in 1973, but we'll end the year with one of his best Batman covers, Detective Comics #436 (Aug.-Sept. 1973). I think this one has made an appearance on this thread before, but it’s worth showing again. And it’s another example of the kind of coloring that’s emotionally very effective but that just isn’t done these days.
Sorry for the lack of posts recently. Deadline crunch was a bear.
Anyway, we'll kick off 1974 with what I think is one of Nick’s best Superman covers, Action Comics #440. Similar to the Detective cover above, the image relies on knocking out the blacks with flat, limited palette—in this case, cyan, magenta, and violet. And as usual, Nick packed a lot of emotion into his figures.
Comments
And speaking of Superman, we'll leave 1972 with a cover Nick said had “the feel of the ‘Man in the Forest’ scene in Bambi”—Superman #257 (Oct. 1972). I’m not usually a fan of the “cutaway” image, but I like this one. Another nice coloring job helps with the contrast between the tranquility above, and the lurking danger below.
I'm pretty sure the moral of this cover is you should avoid being named "Uncle Ben" if you're living in the Marvel Universe.
This one is by Jim Aparo (left), Bob Brown, and Murphy Anderson, per GCD
100-Page issues were "Super Spectaculars"
80-Page issues were "Giants"
:-B
ha! I'll get that right one of these days! (probably not...)
And the original...although I never knew this existed or read it until years later. As I recall, a couple of the pages in the original weren't included in the reprint?
Anyway, we'll kick off 1974 with what I think is one of Nick’s best Superman covers, Action Comics #440. Similar to the Detective cover above, the image relies on knocking out the blacks with flat, limited palette—in this case, cyan, magenta, and violet. And as usual, Nick packed a lot of emotion into his figures.