How did I miss this thread?

I'm a lifelong fan of Mike Grell, which means his entire comics career. I first saw his work in back-up stories, in Action Comics; then, Green Lantern/Green Arrow, Superboy & the Legion of Superheroes, Warlord, Starslayer, Jon Sable, Longbow Hunters, Green Arrow, James Bond: Permission to Die, Shaman's tears, bar Sinister, Maggie the Cat and the Sable prose novel. i watched the disappointing Sable tv series, bought his Donning/Starblaze illustrated edition of Howard Pyle's The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood and, at one point, collected every store he ever drew. If I had to pick one work, it would be Jon Sable, for the depth of writing, the artwork, and the characters. Warlord is an extremely close second, though the art shines more than the writing there (and the writing is good; just under-developed). I have long said the Warlord two-page spreads should have been published as posters. DC would have made a fortune.

After years of wishing, I finally got to meet Mike Grell at a convention in Collinsville, IL (across the river from St Louis). I spent almost the entire day talking to Grell (and Mike Gold and John Ostrander), about everything from Sable and Warlord, to The Vikings (inspiration for Travis Morgan's helmet) and Stewart Granger (King Solomon's Mines also inspired Sable's safari look), to Peter Capstick's big game hunting books (which influenced Sable's hunting background, especially the Africa chapter). The man has a great sense of humor, a ton of stories, and is a link to a transitional period for comics, coming in as part of the post-Silver Age New Wave and continuing into the birth of the Direct Market and the independents, to modern corporate comics. He has seen Hollywood butcher his work and book publishers not promote his novel. He has worked with comic strip legend Dale Messick, failed to sell his own strip, Savage Empire (which became Warlord), and then get the dream job of doing the Tarzan strip. Through it all, his work has just gotten better and better.

As I type this, I am in my computer room/library, where the walls are devoted to swashbuckling adventure images. I have posters of The Adventures of Robin Hood, the Mark of Zorro, and the Richard Lester Three Musketeers (with Oliver Reed and Michael York). On one wall are two images: NC Wyeth's cover to the Scribner's Edition of Treasure Island (one of my favorite adventure novels) and a sketch Grell created for me, of a more historically accurate Robin Hood, knocking an arrow on his bow. There, I can see influence and realization.

Thanks to Arrow, Grell's name is getting bandied about again and he has revealed that Hollywood is looking at Jon Sable, again. Maybe we will soon here his name some more and see some more Sable works. If Warner had any brains, they'd greenlight a Warlord film series.

Too many great choices to pick a favorite amongst his work. But this just happened so figured I'd share. Bought this DC Treasury book on ebay recently, no mention of a Mike Grell autograph, but there she was on the bottom of the title page.

Warlord comes 1st for me due to my adoration of fantasy/ERB/Howard and you add in swords and sorcery mixed with dinosaurs and myth for 133 issues and it is perfection. Second is Sable as here Grell combined story with his skillful artwork creating a series that will endure forever. Third up is the Green Arrow: his writing put GA on the map for years to come and you really see that in the Arrow television series on the CW. His tenure on the Tarzan newspaper strip is simply stunning to behold in all of its black and white glory. Then finally there is his Legion work following Cockrum in providing a sexy future for all of us teens.

Grell himself is such a Renaissance man and truly funny and provocative and a pleasure in person. Spent a bit of time talking with him during the Phoenix Comic-con several years ago and enjoyed hearing his stories and comments about his craft and time with doing comics versus writing books and just living life itself. If you buy any Mike Grell series you are going to find something within to keep you reading whether it is in the art or the writing from Mr. Grell. Do yourself a favor and buy anything from Mike Grell and you will not be disappointed.

Mike Grell Tarzan:

J. Allen St. John Tarzan