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Faux Tales
to Astonish #79 Cover
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This
was a unique challenge presented to me by Silver Age fan artist,
Michael Greczek. He had sent me some scans of art he had both
pencilled and inked for my opinion. I was very impressed with
his ability to capture the loose, but energetic art of '60's
Marvel (Kirby and the countless imitators). I'm not stating
that he's another Kirby, but if you recall a young Barry (Windsor)
Smith's early work on Daredevil, X-men and The Avengers, you'll
see what I mean. Michael's 'old school' approach is to lay out
the art loosely in pencil before detailing it in the inking
stage. I like that he considered the logo and type placement
in his layout. |
Pencil breakdown:
Michael Greczek |
| Other pros that
Michael's contacted have favorably compared his inking style
to that of the late George Klein, and I'm in-Kleined to agree,
looking at his faux cover to Avengers Annual #2 here. Michael's
influences cover a nice range of Silver age inkers. Captain
America has a Frank Giacoia look, and The Hulk reminds me of
Mikey Demeo's (Mike Esposito's) finishes over Kirby layouts
in Tales To Astonish. Here. |
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notice that a lot of Silver Age Marvel Comics had bold, heavy
inks, probably to make them stand out amongst their competitors.
It was with that mindset that I proceeded to go full-on brush
ala' Frank Giacoia and Joe Sinnott. Giacoia must've been one
of Stan Lee's favorites, as he punched up many a cover for Stan.
I started with areas that most interested me, where I could
bear down my brush heavily with abandon. Remember, back then,
comic artists weren't slaves to technique or how many lines
they could render a face with. I had fun inking on a cartooning
level, rather than merely tracing lines. What I mean in this
instance about cartooning is slapping down ink without worrying
about a specific light source. Contour lines are indiscriminately
bold or thin, depending on what my hand felt like doing. It
was quite a liberating and joyful experience. The folds below
the knee on the Hulk's pants were inspired from looking at Sinnott,
as were the darkened contours on the left side of his thigh,
to denote mass. There was a shaded area on Thor's, uh, hindquarters,
that wasn't fully blacked in, so I made a Kirby squiggle with
a fade, as Mike Royer might do on Kirby's later work. |
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| Partial Inks: Drew
Geraci |
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Now
comes the REAL fun: Rubble! I drew inspiration (and outright
swiped) Joe Sinnott's technique from, of all places, Rom Spaceknight.
Joe inked Sal Buscema for a year on Rom, and it was a great-looking
book. Again, taking a note from Sinnott, I didn't go lighter
on the background. Sinnott brushed his backgrounds, speedlines,
everything, but it was the distinct language he gave the textures
that separated the foreground from the background. On this step,
however, I goofed and rendered a rocky area what should have
been Thor's hammers' leather strap. Until now, I forgot to mention
that this art was inked via lightbox over Michael's original,
as I preferred my own paper to ink on. |
| Partial Inks: Drew
Geraci |
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| The
completed piece, with corrected hammer strap. As I kept aping
Sinnott's rubble style, I was having so much fun, I almost hated
to finish it. I focused and squared Thor's face more. Looking
back, I made a boo-boo by mistaking The Hulk's missing foot
for Thor's cape! But it doesn't matter-there were gaffs aplenty
in the merry Marvel mags back then. When these mistakes occurred,
the fans would be quick to point them out on the letters' page
in hopes of receiving Stan's famous 'No-prize'-an empty envelope
with Marvel's return address and The Hulk's face and hands,
reading a Marvel mag! Before the internet was even dreamed of,
this was a cherished gift from the comic book gods! However,
in typical Stan fashion, I can explain, True Believer. You see,
the Hulk's foot is hidden behind Thor's cape and leg! So where
did the finished logo and inset of Sub-Mariner come from?.. |
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| Finished Inks: Drew
Geraci |
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NOW,
it's a cover! Michael did such a bang-up job duplicating the
logos and type on the faux Avenger's Annual #2, I requested
he do the same here, and the results give this fanboy chills.
While I was inking this, I was in what I called a 'nostalgia
coma'. I really let go of my preconceptions of inking and went
purely on instinct, and imagined myself in the ol' bullpen with
Marie Severin, Herb Trimpe, et. al. I requested that Michael
use my Gene Colan Sub-Mariner commission to create a split-book
insert typical of the time. If it looks like an oddly-shaped
insert, I suggest you look over those old split-books. You could
tell the second feature was often jammed on the cover as an
afterthought. Also, I wanted our names taken off, because nobody
signed their names back then until Steranko came along and revolutionized
the industry. Our names are still on the original, which is
shown in the previous stage. This was the most fun I've had
in ages, thanks to Michael. And finally... |
Logos & Inserts:
Michael Greczek |
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| ...the
REAL cover that inspired it all! Kirby pencils, but it looks
strangely as if The Hulk was inked by Bill Everett and Hercules
was inked by Vince Colletta! Am I nuts? What do YOU think? Has
a lifetime of studying comics sent me over the edge? If so,
I don't wanna come back! |
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Pencils: Jack Kirby
Inks: ???? |
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Michael
commissioned Tom Mason to color our collaboration! The underwater
effects on the Sub-Mariner inset are a nice touch. Now, if I
could be immodest, THIS is a cover that a Silver Age Marvel
fan would have a hard time passing up! Thanks to Tom for doing
such amazing work! |
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