Last week I put up five splash pages from the very early Copper Age circa 1980 and got called out for only putting up Marvel. This week I make amends by featuring some DC splash pages from the same era, I even threw in a Charlton and a Whitman (Gold Key).
I found the DC splashes from this era suffered the same bland and faded look as their Marvel counterparts did. The art was great, its just the colours and the washed-out look that takes a bit away from the art.
My favorite splash this week is by Arthur Geroche, its a nice sequence that appears in Elvira’s House of Mystery #1, from January 1986.
Last week commenter Chris noted how much he appreciated the filled-in backgrounds on the Marvel Team-Up #95 splash page, this Curt Swan splash from Superman #381 hives me that same good feeling, the extra details help the page a lot. From March 1983.
Bruce Patterson’s back up Huntress story in Wonder Woman #287 is really good all the way through, I had a few options here but decided to go with his strong splash page, from January 1982.
Mike Clark gives us a nice full page splash in All Star Squadron #54, from February 1986.
I thought I’d throw a Charlton into the mix, John Byrne, Byrne Robotics gives us a nice stylized splash in Doomsday #12, from May 1979.
I also threw in a Whitman. My thoughts are that the word bubbles and the letter fonts are too big on this page, I do like the art scene though. From Flash Gordon #36, artist Al McWilliams, February 1982.
That Elvira’s House of Mystery #1 was full of great splash pages, I thought I’d through in a bonus pin-up I found at the back of the issue. Rob Wagner.
Hey Walt,
That Huntress back-up (from Wonder Woman) was penciled by Joe Staton and inked by Bruce Patterson.
Well, I have to say… I was more impressed with the Marvel splashes…..
Thanks for the correction Bill, I’ll edit the page so it shows correctly.
These were the best of a whole pile of books from that era Gerald, I’m sure there are even better ones that I just didn’t have in the pile. I think I have to swim back to the Golden Age next week and throw up some hammers.
Backgrounds Walt! Love the Superman splash page. Beautiful layout. And both the Elvira pages are great too!
hello
Walter Thanks for the new splashes. I had forgotten about the Doomsday title. I have them all, but you know how the memory is?@?#!#? I guess I would have to go with the John Byrne splash, although the All-Star Squadron comes a close 2nd.
But the last entry, the Elvira bonus was very nice. The layout and focus of it reminds me of the GREAT covers that Creig Flessel did for the early, early Detective covers. He told a story with a minimum of backgrounds that can distract from the main action.
Thanks, jeff
Hey Jeff, thanks for commenting. Flessel was great, those early Detectives are striking and some of my faves.
Elvira’s House of Mystery #1, that’s a fine piece of work. My favorite frim the pieces this week. The artist rang no bells with me, but here’s what came up on Google:
Every Friday, I take a look at the work of one of the almost 200 Filipino artists who illustrated horror, sword-and-sorcery/fantasy, western, sci-fi, and war comics for American publishers during the 1970s and early 1980s. The “Filipino Wave,” as it came to be called, saw the likes of Nestor Redondo, Alfredo Alcala, Alex Niño, Tony DeZuniga, Rudy Nebres, Ernie Chan, and many others pencil and/or ink scores of issues for DC, Marvel, Warren, and other outfits, helping define the look of an era.
This week’s featured artist is Arturo Geroche.
Arturo Geroche rose to prominence in the Filipino komiks scene in the 1970s on the strength of his Tagalog-language comics adaptations of Bible stories and English literature classics for Philippine bookstore chain National Book Store.
Geroche honed his craft under the tutelage of Nestor Redondo, although by the time he started working for DC Comics, he had developed his own style, typified by a naturalistic bent and fine brushwork somewhat reminiscent of the work of artists from Spain’s Selecciones Ilustradas agency such as José González and Esteban Maroto.
Geroche’s American comics career was brief—he illustrated a total of six DC horror anthology stories over a span of seven years, with his best US work perhaps the story below (”A Little Knowledge”) from Ghosts #112 (May 1982):
Here is a link to this site, with more art by Arturo… https://cv-zedricdimalanta.tumblr.com/post/136869005275/filipino-comics-art-fridays-arturo-geroche