Dagwood / Adam

 

Prince Street News: The Great Unseen Batman Artists of the '70s

The new BACK ISSUE Magazine (#150) is a look at the (slightly) lesser-known Batman creators of the Bronze Age (mostly meaning everyone aside from Denny O'Neil, Neal Adams, and Jim Aparo!). It's a must-have for any fan of the Darknight Detective BEFORE Frank Miller (who's also in this issue, albeit focusing on his first Batman story) turned him into the Dark Knight. 

This issue's PRINCE STREET NEWS was super fun to do: "The Great Unseen Batman Artists of the '70s" imagines what the character might've looked like as rendered by some of the few cartoonists and illustrators who DIDN'T ever draw Batman (and believe me, it's not easy to find a lot of them)! So you've got Harvey Comics' Ernie Colón, Gahan Wilson, Jules Feiffer, DOONESBURY's Garry Trudeau, Cathy Guisewite of CATHY, Marvel's John Romita, Arnold Roth, underground cartoonist, Skip Williamson, PEANUTS' Charles M. Schulz, B. Kliban, MAD Magazine's Dave Berg, and graphic designer Milton Glaser. Below the full strip are detail on a few of the pieces. 

It's been a LONG time since I've posted anything here... part of it is a lack of productivity, but also, I gotta say, nobody ever looks at blogs anymore. The Tough Guy Instagram page is primarily where I'm posting stuff these days. This page will remain as basically an online portfolio, but man, it sure feels like a lot of work anymore. 

Prince Street News: Superheroes Are Dumb.

The new BACK ISSUE (#148) is a "DC Super Stars of Space" issue, for which my strip (again) has nothing to do with the theme! "Superheroes Are Dumb" sounds like a trolling title, and maybe it is a little bit, but I hope my thesis comes across... One of the things that I bemoan about modern superhero comic books is how goddamn seriously most of them treat the genre. Not to say that there's not room for mature storytelling in a superhero milieu, but not everything works in a realistic context. For example, I cannot deal with silly characters like Plastic Man shoehorned into something like the Justice League. Similarly, I think the SHAZAM! family works better in its own unique context (or, on its own world in the multiverse) than as a part of the larger whole. 

Having said that, in terms of film and TV adaptations, I've likewise grown tired of the snarky sensibilities of Taika Waititi and James Gunn, who are constantly elbowing the audience and saying, "Hah? Hah? See how silly this stuff is? I'm taking the piss out of it!" It's a conundrum. Fingers crossed Mr. Gunn pulls it back a bit as the Feige of the DCU. We shall see. 

Cover Redux International!

 Some foreign comic book cover recreations, done as a commission for a friend! 

'60s Ditko Mashup!

 This commission was a fun mashup of DC and Marvel, two Steve Ditko characters, the Creeper and the Vulture, battling each other over the skyline of... which city? I guess Gotham City, since the Creeper gets the masthead! 

Spider-Man Cover Redux Again!

More Spidey cover commissions,  AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #72 and #130... I finished these two pieces shortly before the original artist, the great John Romita (Sr.) passed away on June 12 at the age of 93. If you ask me, Romita's name needs to be spoken in the same breath as Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko as one of the architects of Marvel Comics. 

 

Barcade Monday Night Multiball

Poster done for Barcade Los Angeles' bi-weekly pinball tournament... for the rejected original version and more, click on over to Tough Guy II... 

 

Prince Street News: Neal Adams 1941-2022

 The new BACK ISSUE (#143) is a special issue paying tribute to comic book artist Neal Adams, who passed in 2022 from complications due to sepsis. To say Adams played an important in my life is putting it mildly. He was my first favorite artist, he fought to get Warner Communications to give credit and compensation to Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, he battled for creators' rights, and just made comics a much better medium. Here's my tribute (one of many).... 

New Work Dump

 Rather than do a different post for each of these (especially since some of them are new versions of pieces I've already done), here's a quick dump of some new stuff (most of this slated for an as-yet scheduled show with some friends).... 

Pop Rocks Wrapper Redux

 Not sure what came over me here.... 

Candy Wrappers Redux

 If this packaging takes you back, then you are, like myself, not young. 

PRINCE STREET NEWS: More Characters Go SUPER!

 The new BACK ISSUE is a "Super Issue," focusing on the bronze age adventures of Superboy (the first of which was my very first comic book, so I have a fondness for this topic). Other features include pieces on Frank Thorne's super-rare promotional comic book, The Far-Out Super Green, interviews with the syndicated ADVENTURES OF SUPERBOY stars Gerard Christopher and Stacy Haiduk, and articles on superhero versions of Richie Rich, Dagwood, and Goofy. Plus more! Including me! 

This installment of PSN was really fun to do, and it's hard to figure out comic book / strip characters who WEREN'T turned into a superhero at least for one story or gag (and some of these indeed have been, notably the Harvey girls). 

A few of these are "inside fanboy" gags ("Super Slam" is Slam Bradley, a detective created by Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, so he looks just like their far more famous creation). The Phantom Stranger (a character I love) bit is a nod to a brief period in the 1960s when Marvel Comics gave Doctor Strange a more superhero-ey costume. 

Next issue: A tribute to Neal Adams. This one was personal. Stay tuned. 

STAR WARS Series 3 R2-D2 Wrapper Redux