Avengers Assemble! John Byrne Commissions

John Byrne has done some amazing commissions over the past few years.  I can't help but be impressed by the following pieces where the classic Avengers Assemble once again...

Rich Cirillo (from ComicArtFans) has not one by two pieces of the Mighty Avengers, with colors provided by Cirillo himself.  A true Avengers fan loves many incarnations of this team, but which one would you select for a commission from your favorite artist?  According to Cirillo, "...this piece is actually two requests on one board: The Avengers circa issue #1 (A tribute to Jack Kirby) and the group of circa issue #28 (A tribute to Don Heck)." I loved both the short lived "Hulk" era (which only lasted 2 issues) plus the new team with those reformed criminals Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver.

The second piece features the Roy Thomas / Steve Englehart eras with the Vision, Mantis, Swordsman, Beast, Yellowjacket, etc.  This actually forms a poster when paired with the first illustration.

Jim Warden (from ComicArtFans)  also went for an Avengers commission from Byrne in a very big way.  This one is titled "Avengers Universe" and according to Warden it features "...a crowd scene of his choice of characters from the Avengers starting with issue 1 and going through his run on the title."  Look at how many versions of Iron Man are here--I counted at least 4!  There is more than one version of Wonder Man and I suspect the Wasp as well.  I love all the little details here: the Lady Liberators in the back, the Super Adaptoid on the right, even Warlock and Captain Marvel are in there.

For more fantastic artwork, click on Cirillo's ComicArtFans gallery for more (including Golden and Hughes) and check out Jim Wardens DOA (Distinctive Original Art) Gallery (Zeck, Chadwick, Davis, etc).  Nuff Said!

George Perez Commissions: Superman, Wonder Woman, and 1970s Avengers

Here are two wonderful recent commissions from George Perez!  First up is this nifty illustration of Superman and Wonder Woman flying together.  They are the royal couple of the DC Universe.

Next is this great pen and ink drawing of the 1970s era Avengers team.  The Vision, Scarlet Witch, Wonder Man, Beast, and Wasp are all represented.  Along with a few characters who made very brief appearances, like the Falcon.  Can’t recall Mockingbird being around at the time, but it’s nice to see her alongside Hawkeye.  Check out the George Perez Facebook Fan Page for more good stuff.  Nuff Said!

Jim Cheung Cover Gallery: Avengers The Children’s Crusade

A fellow F.O.O.M.er (Friend Of Old Marvel) and friend of this blog, Toby Hopper, found these delicious scans of Jim Cheung’s artwork from the current mini-series, Avengers The Children’s Crusade.  One of the few modern Marvel Comics that I am very excited to buy!  I love seeing these illustrations un-maligned by any text.  The above image belonged to issue #2, featuring a dynamic shot of Wolverine getting ready to open up a can of kick-ass.



Writer Allan Heinberg has concocted a pretty good yarn so far, including all the Avengers, Magneto (Wanda’s father), Quicksilver (her brother), and Wanda’s sons, Speed (Thomas) and Wiccan (William), part of the Young Avengers.  The above splash page was also featured in the second issue.  It was nice to see Magneto acting like a bad-ass again, holding off the entire lineup of Avengers single-handedly, even though he was just trying to have a little talk with his grandsons.  Wolverine never gets tired of taking on Magneto, even though his body is lined with adamantium!



The cover to issue #3 highlights all the reasons why I was looking forward to this series.  The crusade by the Young Avengers is a quest to find the Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff), a former Avenger who had a nervous breakdown years ago (Avengers Disassembled and House of M) and wreaked havoc in the Marvel Universe.  But even before that—Wanda was married to my favorite Avenger of all time, The Vision.  While there has been a character around for the past few years called the Vision, that android really isn’t the same as the classic Silver Age character.  I am crossing my fingers that Heinberg finally restores the one and true classic Vision, as well as the Scarlet Witch, to the Marvel Universe.