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Post by MWGallaher on Sept 28, 2017 7:16:41 GMT -5
Knew I'd go with Phantom Stranger, but Phil Maurice took the first one i thought of. But I like this one better:  This one always impressed me because of how the 5 planes in the composition work together. There's the viewer on plane 2, where we the readers reside, and behind us on plane 1, the dying convict, who we know about only via the distant, shadowed plane 5. Then the witnesses on plane 3, in their varying degrees of discomfort, are our immediate focus, making the electrocution even much more disturbing than if we were watching it directly. Finally, our disturbance is magnified by the impassive Phantom Stranger on plane 4, whose presence is known only to the reader, watching in stone cold judgment. It's not the kind of story a typical comic book cover tells, but it's a powerful one! I can vividly remember when and where I pulled this masterpiece off the stands, and it's always stuck with me. The composition, the emotion, the range of "character actors" in the witness box, the coloring--it's a real masterpiece. |
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Post by MWGallaher on Sept 28, 2017 7:24:35 GMT -5
Not a typical Aparo cover, but sex appeal always wins...  Aparo had had a few stories published at Charlton, and one job he ghosted at Dell for Sal Trapani, but this was his first published cover! |
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Post by MWGallaher on Sept 28, 2017 7:28:31 GMT -5
Conclusion of Goodwin/Simonson Manhunter.  This was the source of the Jim Aparo Batman Black & White statue that DC released a few years ago:  |
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Post by MWGallaher on Sept 28, 2017 7:35:05 GMT -5
Yet another Phantom Stranger cover (lucky for me, my favourite of them wasn't already taken):  This one is my favorite PS cover--that misty effect rising from the ground, the detailed foliage, the way Cassandra Craft's pink outfit pops in the center of the moody composition, the lightning-lit lighting... Jim repeats this composition on the inside pages. It's too powerful not to use again! |
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Post by MWGallaher on Sept 28, 2017 7:43:58 GMT -5
All the covers are awesome so far. Aparo was great, too bad he never drew any Marvel books. I dunno--in the 70s/80s, they probably would've put a "house style" inker on him and killed the spontaneous look of his art. Same as with Robbins. When Aparo was inked by others at DC in his later years, I didn't like it at all. Marvel did head-hunt him, but he was satisfied with how DC treated him. Besides, he was accustomed to working from a full script, and that wasn't the norm at Marvel in the 70's. And since the script was written after the pencilling, we'd not only have probably lost his inks, but almost certainly his lettering, and that was a big part of the Aparo look. Marvel did publish that Captain America sketch in one of their comics, but that's the only time they published any of his work. |
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Post by tarkintino on Sept 28, 2017 8:58:19 GMT -5
Aparo--one of the most underrated of the truly great comic artists. I loved his version of Batman as much as Adams, and along with Irv Novick, brought such an "adult" look to the Batmam titles.
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Post by codystarbuck on Sept 28, 2017 10:11:11 GMT -5
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Post by Nowhere Man on Sept 28, 2017 11:41:09 GMT -5
Man, I had four really great covers I couldn't pick from. Really went back and forth, and I'm still not sure I picked the right one, they are all great. If people don't post them before the contest is over, once voting is done I've got some real gems to share.  Love this cover. It has to be one of the most iconic Batman images ever produced. |
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Post by brianf on Sept 29, 2017 0:27:42 GMT -5
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Post by Icctrombone on Sept 29, 2017 3:21:57 GMT -5
No one ever drew the Spectre better than Aparo.
There I said it.
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Post by pinkfloydsound17 on Sept 29, 2017 6:30:11 GMT -5
^ And I will repeat it!
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Post by String on Sept 29, 2017 15:03:24 GMT -5
Wow, some great Phantom Stranger covers! It's tough picking a favorite Batman cover so I present something different:  |
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Post by berkley on Sept 29, 2017 22:33:38 GMT -5
I dunno--in the 70s/80s, they probably would've put a "house style" inker on him and killed the spontaneous look of his art. Same as with Robbins. When Aparo was inked by others at DC in his later years, I didn't like it at all. Marvel did head-hunt him, but he was satisfied with how DC treated him. Besides, he was accustomed to working from a full script, and that wasn't the norm at Marvel in the 70's. And since the script was written after the pencilling, we'd not only have probably lost his inks, but almost certainly his lettering, and that was a big part of the Aparo look. Marvel did publish that Captain America sketch in one of their comics, but that's the only time they published any of his work. If I had to compare him to a Marvel artist of the same era I might say John Buscema: an attractive, reader-friendly style that almost any comics fan will like to some degree, without being in anyway bland or safe. It would have been interesting to see him on the Avengers, and also of course on one of Marvel's supernatural books (but which one?) |
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Post by Prince Hal on Sept 29, 2017 23:22:22 GMT -5
Marvel did head-hunt him, but he was satisfied with how DC treated him. Besides, he was accustomed to working from a full script, and that wasn't the norm at Marvel in the 70's. And since the script was written after the pencilling, we'd not only have probably lost his inks, but almost certainly his lettering, and that was a big part of the Aparo look. Marvel did publish that Captain America sketch in one of their comics, but that's the only time they published any of his work. If I had to compare him to a Marvel artist of the same era I might say John Buscema: an attractive, reader-friendly style that almost any comics fan will like to some degree, without being in anyway bland or safe. It would have been interesting to see him on the Avengers, and also of course on one of Marvel's supernatural books (but which one?) Dr. Strange? |
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Post by MWGallaher on Sept 30, 2017 8:02:19 GMT -5
Marvel did head-hunt him, but he was satisfied with how DC treated him. Besides, he was accustomed to working from a full script, and that wasn't the norm at Marvel in the 70's. And since the script was written after the pencilling, we'd not only have probably lost his inks, but almost certainly his lettering, and that was a big part of the Aparo look. Marvel did publish that Captain America sketch in one of their comics, but that's the only time they published any of his work. If I had to compare him to a Marvel artist of the same era I might say John Buscema: an attractive, reader-friendly style that almost any comics fan will like to some degree, without being in anyway bland or safe. It would have been interesting to see him on the Avengers, and also of course on one of Marvel's supernatural books (but which one?) I think he could have elevated Marvel's Frankenstein above the lackluster standard it had after Mike Ploog left. That book could have really used the kind of atmosphere that Aparo brought to Phantom Stranger, which John Buscema and Val Mayerik just didn't bring during their stints. I could see him on The Living Mummy for the same reasons, but ideally with less "super-hero-y" stories than appeared in the real world. |
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