Up to this point, Aparo had been doing Phantom Stranger and Brave and the Bold, both bi-monthlies. He was taken off of Phantom Stranger to start up a new “Spectre” feature in Adventure Comics. Here’s his first cover for the series, Adventure Comics #431 (Jan.-Feb. 1974).
I absolutely loved this cover at the time (I was 15) Still do!
Up to this point, Aparo had been doing Phantom Stranger and Brave and the Bold, both bi-monthlies. He was taken off of Phantom Stranger to start up a new “Spectre” feature in Adventure Comics. Here’s his first cover for the series, Adventure Comics #431 (Jan.-Feb. 1974).
I really wish they’d kept him on the Phantom Stranger. His work on that series was so iconic.
On the other hand… I really loved his work on that Spectre series. So I guess I didn't really lose out on anything in this deal.
One of my favorite issues from Aparo (cover and interior pencils and ink) was this tale which retold Aquaman's origin and led up to the death of the son of Arthur Orin Curry and his wife Mera.
An early 2000AD cover by Brian Bolland that's been posted before but I've just used it as the inspiration for a short story in the 2000AD forum writing competition
Did somebody say Kamandi and Brave and the Bold? Or was that another thread? More Aparo from Jul. 1975.
Some non-DC work from Aparo, though not a cover... sorry. He was definitely the House Style man at DC and I grew up on his Batman. This is from Comic Reader #180
More Aparo, this one for Detective Comics #445 (Feb.-Mar. 1975). It’s not as dynamic as it might be, but I like the composition and the way he drew the cops as not-quite-silhouettes which are still easily readable.
A discussion on another thread got me thinking. I’m pretty sure I own more Silver and Bronze Age comics written by Bob Haney than by any other writer. Haney often gets dismissed for the continuity contradictions in his stories, for his sometimes corny vernacular, and his sometimes goofy characters, but, man, are his comics fun to read. I'm not saying they’re all masterpieces, but there’s just a wild inventiveness in most of his stories—a carefree attitude that made his stories much less predictable than most other writers of his day.
Anyway, I thought I’d pay a bit of tribute to Haney here. Seemed fitting as so many of his stories were illustrated by Jim Aparo.
Unfortunately, it’s very difficult to say what he wrote before landing at DC, as he wasn’t credited before that point. We know he wrote for Fawcett, Harvey, Hillman, Standard, and St. John from 1948 into the mid-’50s, but we don’t know much more beyond that. It’s speculated that he wrote Black Cat stories for Harvey, so I'm going to start there. So here’s Black Cat #9 (Jan. 1948), penciled and inked by Lee Elias (who will show up again later), which might include his first comic script, or maybe just his first comic script for Harvey, or which he may not actually have written for.
More Aparo, this one for Detective Comics #445 (Feb.-Mar. 1975). It’s not as dynamic as it might be, but I like the composition and the way he drew the cops as not-quite-silhouettes which are still easily readable.
Bat-Murderer was a five-part story by Len Wein, written in the days when DC rarely had a story run for longer than two issues. I remember coming in during the middle of it. It took years to find the whole thing. One of the best Batman stories of the post-Adams, pre-Miller days.
Also -- I wish the other 100-page spectaculars had used this type of layout for the covers. It's far superior to the "three boxes" design that was more common.
A discussion on another thread got me thinking. I’m pretty sure I own more Silver and Bronze Age comics written by Bob Haney than by any other writer. Haney often gets dismissed for the continuity contradictions in his stories, for his sometimes corny vernacular, and his sometimes goofy characters, but, man, are his comics fun to read. I'm not saying they’re all masterpieces, but there’s just a wild inventiveness in most of his stories—a carefree attitude that made his stories much less predictable than most other writers of his day.
Anyway, I thought I’d pay a bit of tribute to Haney here. Seemed fitting as so many of his stories were illustrated by Jim Aparo.
Unfortunately, it’s very difficult to say what he wrote before landing at DC, as he wasn’t credited before that point. We know he wrote for Fawcett, Harvey, Hillman, Standard, and St. John from 1948 into the mid-’50s, but we don’t know much more beyond that. It’s speculated that he wrote Black Cat stories for Harvey, so I'm going to start there. So here’s Black Cat #9 (Jan. 1948), penciled and inked by Lee Elias (who will show up again later), which might include his first comic script, or maybe just his first comic script for Harvey, or which he may not actually have written for.
That is one great cover! Lee Elias did some Tommy Tomorrow work for DC as well.
Also -- I wish the other 100-page spectaculars had used this type of layout for the covers. It's far superior to the "three boxes" design that was more common.
I agree 100%. While it was nice to get a better idea of what was inside the issue, it really limited what the artist could do and made much less of an impact on the spinner rack.
That is one great cover! Lee Elias did some Tommy Tomorrow work for DC as well.
Black Cat is probably the title Elias is most closely associated with, but he did a fair amount of work for DC over the years. He did several Flash stories in the Golden Age and a variety of features in the late ’50s and ’60s, including one with Haney which I'll get to eventually.
Of all the guys who closely imitated Caniff, Elias was one of the best. Of course, he worked as Caniff’s assistant for a while, but he really captured Caniff’s lush, bold approach to inking, not only in terms of brushstroke, but in how Caniff used it in his lighting.
More Aparo, this one for Detective Comics #445 (Feb.-Mar. 1975). It’s not as dynamic as it might be, but I like the composition and the way he drew the cops as not-quite-silhouettes which are still easily readable.
Continuing with Aparo, my first issue of Brave and the Bold, issue #123 (Dec. 1975), written by Bob Haney, of course. This was probably my first exposure to Plastic Man and Metamorpho, as well—two of my all-time favorite characters.
Did somebody say Kamandi and Brave and the Bold? Or was that another thread? More Aparo from Jul. 1975.
I saw the actual original art for this during a visit to the DC offices in the 70’s, prior to its publication. (I was looking for work, and, no, I didn’t get it.)
A discussion on another thread got me thinking. I’m pretty sure I own more Silver and Bronze Age comics written by Bob Haney than by any other writer. Haney often gets dismissed for the continuity contradictions in his stories, for his sometimes corny vernacular, and his sometimes goofy characters, but, man, are his comics fun to read. I'm not saying they’re all masterpieces, but there’s just a wild inventiveness in most of his stories—a carefree attitude that made his stories much less predictable than most other writers of his day.
I absolutely agree. I was continually annoyed with his avoidance of continuity, but I thoroughly enjoyed his stories just the same. One of my favorite writers from that period.
That is one great cover! Lee Elias did some Tommy Tomorrow work for DC as well.
I generally enjoyed Elias’ work (I remember him going to Marvel during the 70’s, working on Power Man and Daredevil for awhile), with the exception of his run on Adam Strange – and that primarily because he stepped in after Carmine Infantino left the series in order to work on Batman; a hard act to follow in that particular instance.
I think Haney had to avoid continuity, especially Bat-continuity, in order to avoid going insane while writing Brave and the Bold. It's a lot easier to just shove Batman inside the House of Mystery and tell a story than to explain how he recovered so fast from a scorpion bite earlier this month in his own book.
I think Haney had to avoid continuity, especially Bat-continuity, in order to avoid going insane while writing Brave and the Bold. It's a lot easier to just shove Batman inside the House of Mystery and tell a story than to explain how he recovered so fast from a scorpion bite earlier this month in his own book.
Well, he didn’t have to avoid continuity, but it certainly was easier for him to ignore it. I think the main reason he was able to get away with it was that while Batman and Detective were under Julie Schwartz’ editorial control, Brave and the Bold was not, and Julie was not nearly as hard-assed about what other editors did with Batman as Weisinger was with Superman.
Comments
Cover by Warren Louw
On the other hand… I really loved his work on that Spectre series. So I guess I didn't really lose out on anything in this deal.
Marvel Comics
Master of Kung-Fu Annual #1
April 1976
Cover by Rich Buckler
Guest starring Iron Fist
This is from Comic Reader #180
Anyway, I thought I’d pay a bit of tribute to Haney here. Seemed fitting as so many of his stories were illustrated by Jim Aparo.
Unfortunately, it’s very difficult to say what he wrote before landing at DC, as he wasn’t credited before that point. We know he wrote for Fawcett, Harvey, Hillman, Standard, and St. John from 1948 into the mid-’50s, but we don’t know much more beyond that. It’s speculated that he wrote Black Cat stories for Harvey, so I'm going to start there. So here’s Black Cat #9 (Jan. 1948), penciled and inked by Lee Elias (who will show up again later), which might include his first comic script, or maybe just his first comic script for Harvey, or which he may not actually have written for.
Also -- I wish the other 100-page spectaculars had used this type of layout for the covers. It's far superior to the "three boxes" design that was more common.
Of all the guys who closely imitated Caniff, Elias was one of the best. Of course, he worked as Caniff’s assistant for a while, but he really captured Caniff’s lush, bold approach to inking, not only in terms of brushstroke, but in how Caniff used it in his lighting.
:(