The Joker by Brian Bolland from 1988

 This is an illustration by Brian Bolland from 1988 for USA Magazine. This would have been the same year that The Killing Joke was published.

Thanks to Colin Smith for sharing this image!

Brian Bolland's Detective Comics 1000 cover

In a few weeks we will see the publication of Detective Comics 1000. With dozens of variant covers, per usual!

Brian Bolland's variant cover features a colorful look at Batman's rogues gallery. Bolland hasn't done much work lately, he's pretty much retired, but his skill is still tremendous. Does this cover seem somewhat familiar to you? It should.

It is based on an ad that Bolland did for Forbidden Planet, decades ago. It is quite a great store, I visited in London a few years ago.

The black and white version of this image was mocked up to resemble the ad.

The full image in black and white glory. Nuff Said!

The Joker by Brian Bolland

A nice illustration of The Joker, circa 1985, by Brian Bolland...

He did it for Joe Orlando. What a great piece of classic Batman art to own! Nuff Said.

Superman Unchained variant covers celebrating Silver / Bronze ages

I recently picked up the Superman Unchained: Deluxe Edition hardcover, featuring Scott Snyder and Jim Lee's epic 9 issue tale. I found the main storyline to be pretty good, the best I read yet in the New 52 incarnation of Superman. It cannot compare to the best Bronze Age / post-Bronze age stories, of course, but it raised some interesting thoughts about Superman and how the U.S. military would view his role on Earth.

The 180+ page story isn't the reason to buy this volume, no, the real motivation are the backup extras! Each issue of this series had at least 8 variant covers celebrating all eras of Superman: Golden Age, Silver Age, Modern Age, New 52, etc. I had a great time looking at all of these and taking a trip down memory lane. Here are a few of my favorites.

1930s Era Superman (Triangle-S chest emblem)

Francis Manapul: this is a glorious composition, with the bi-plane above Metropolis and Superman's wonderful pose as he takes it down.

Howard Chaykin: featuring the original version of Luthor with red hair!

Silver Age Superman

Brian Bolland: glad they corralled Bolland into doing a cover for the Silver Age, his sense of humor fits right in there.

Yanick Paquette: bringing out the best in the Lois Lane drama.

Frazier Irving: The classic version of Braniac looms large in this illustration.

Bronze Age Superman

Jim Starlin: who can forget that Starlin gave Superman another worthy foe to battle.

Superman Reborn

Jon Bogdanove: featuring his creation, Steel! Looking very much like a Simonson illustration here, ironic considering that he worked with Louise Simonson.

Tom Grummett: featuring the new version of Superboy with the leather jacket and sunglasses! I can't help but miss this version and even the one that Geoff Johns did with the t-shirt and jeans (which apparently now Superman will wear).

New 52 Superman

Jim Lee: a classic Superman pose as he sheds his Clark Kent clothes to reveal the Superman costume underneath. I think it looks brilliant in black and white, lucky guys who went to ComicCon that year could buy it. How does he hide that raised collar under his shirt? :-)  Nuff Said!

Brian Bolland Superman Illustrations

Brian Bolland superhero illustrations are becoming rarer to find than bald eagles...yet I found these two illustrations featuring Superman!

This one was from a Superman Annual in 1983 for the overseas market, featuring Mongul, Supergirl, J'onn J'onzz and the Spectre.  Quite a variety there!

I like this one a bit less...1990 Mullet Superman!  This was from a 1990 calendar, sold in the UK as I was led to believe.  Mullet Superman, I even had a statue with that haircut.  Sheesh!  Nuff Said.

The Spirit by Brian Bolland

The Spirit is one of my favorite characters and I love seeing different artists do their take on the character.  A while back, I showed a cool Neal Adams illustration, but here is another one by Brian Bolland that captures the essence of Eisner.  Denny Colt is captured, bound, but he isn’t treated too badly by his femme fatale captor, P’Gell.

I saved this scan back in 2002, when it first appeared as the cover to Kitchen Sink’s Will Eisner Spirit, The New Adventures #3.  This series allowed other creators to write/draw the Spirit, including Alan Moore, who did a wonderful story in both the first and third issues.  Nuff Said!

Brian Bolland Wonder Woman cover from Amazing Heroes 197

Following up yesterday’s Flash covers by Bolland with this classic portrait of Wonder Woman, which was originally featured on Amazing Heroes #197 from 1991. 



I was thinking of Wonder Woman because of Rich Johnston’s story on Bleeding Cool about David Kelley’s pilot script for the TV pilot.  This show will either by an Ally Beal sized hit or a great disaster, we will have to see.  Any TV show would have to change Wonder Woman’s story somewhat—the comic series itself has never been consistent in giving her a private life and supporting cast of characters.  The biggest thing I find troubling in Kelley’s script is this bullet point from Johnston’s article:

Long ago, government man Steve Trevor crashed onto Wonder Woman’s island and brought her back to New York, but now they’ve split up. She still loves him, though, and it’s obvious that their relationship is going to be a focus.

Very troubling.  Wonder Woman should be about independence and self-reliance, not pining away after Steve Trevor, who hasn’t been featured at all in the comics for over a decade.  Nuff Said!

The Flash covers by Brian Bolland

In releasing those DC Comics wallpapers for the Sony & Amazon readers, I realized that I had these great Flash cover scans by Brian Bolland.  I had saved the versions sans any cover copy and I think they all look spectacular.  The one above is Bolland’s re-take on the classic Showcase #4 cover, the first appearance of the Silver Age Flash.  This cover was on the The Return of Barry Allen trade paperback.

Flash 177 from 2008 asked the question, Can Even the Flash Outrun a Black Hole?  This concept just gave Bolland a license to do his trippy magic here.  The design is just great, with the black and white background making the Flash pop out even more in the foreground.

Flash 178 featured the return of Gorilla Grodd, who mounted an amazing attack on the Flash in his own city.

Flash 186 featured Bolland’s re-take on the classic statue The Thinker by Rodin, while The Rogues look on in terror as he merges his super-fast mind with an artificial intelligence to save Keystone and Central City.

There are many more Bolland Flash covers, which ones are your favorites?  Nuff Said!

Brian Bolland Leads the British Invasion in 1984!

DC Comics brought in a number of great creators from the United Kingdom, starting in 1984, and if you had read any imported comics like 2000 A.D. or Warrior magazine, you were eagerly anticipating their work on mainstream DC heroes.  If it was not obvious what was happening, this cover by Brian Bolland on Amazing Heroes #52 made it very clear.  Judge Dredd, the character who had cracked the American market with superb artwork by Bolland and others, had opened the door for other creators from the UK.

Bolland was almost finished with Camelot 3000 by the time that Amazing Heroes cover was published.  Eleven stellar issues had been published—though we would have to wait about a year for the final issue (#12) to finally appear in 1985.

Dave Gibbons became the regular artist on Green Lantern in 1984, joining writer Len Wein for a series of stories that would see John Stewart take over as Earth’s Green Lantern for a while.

Alan Moore’s first issue of Swamp Thing was cover dated January 1984, meaning that it probably appeared in stores around Oct-Nov 1983.  I remember picking up this issue, without having read any of Moore’s previous work, but willing to give him a chance.  I thought it was a very good story and showed a lot of promise.  My jaw would drop to the ground when I read the next issue (#21) which contained The Anatomy Lesson.  That one prompted me to buy anything and everything written by Moore, including the Warrior magazines with the Marvelman & V for Vendetta stories.

Alan Davis joined a bit later, in 1985, when his stint began on Batman & The Outsiders.  I enjoyed his work on this title, although when I re-read these issues now, his style was a bit rough and his storytelling was yet as “epic” as it would become in later years.

Later in 1988, we got a second wave of creators from the UK.  Jamie Delano started on Hellblazer #1, along with John Ridgway.  Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean’s Black Orchid mini-series was also published in 1988.  It was a revolutionary period for comics fans!  Nuff Said.

Brian Bolland Zatanna DC Comics Variant Covers 1-4

The new Zatanna series by Paul Dini has had some good solid stories featuring the mistress of magic.  What's even more magical are these variant covers by Brian Bolland.  I've seen these issues selling for $10 or more at comic book stores.  Here are the first four covers published so far...



Zatanna #1 re-introduces the character with the old pulling a rabbit out of a hat trick.  Instead of rabbit, it's the nightmare imp Fuseli.  It's a great little gag by Bolland, who used to tease us with Judge Dredd covers in the 80s.  The look of disgust on the demon's face is wicked.

Notice one thing here about Zatanna: no hat!  I think she looks better without one.



Zatanna is tormented by twisted visions of Catwoman, Dr. Light, and Batman on issue #2 cover, but this is just Fuseli tormenting her dreams. Perhaps Ms. Zatara should get a prescription for Ambien.

The tophat is back!  But it is almost falling off to one side.



Issue #3's cover is the least effective of this set.  Zatanna is in disguise, perhaps running away from a fight?  No, she's going in the backdoor of her stage show.  This issue featured the ghostly return of her father, Zatara, which longtime DC readers will remember.  The joker on the deck is Brother Night, the villain she's been fighting in the first story arc.

Tophat is back, fully on, just hiding that luscious hair perm Zatanna conjured up.



Issue #4 has Zatanna vs the Royal Flush Gang while she's in Las Vegas.  Brian Bolland can take any goofy villain and wring something out of them, and the Flush gang is pretty laughable, travelling around on flying cards.  The Queen of Hearts can't wait to knock that silly tophot off Zatanna's head.

If only DC could get Bolland to draw an actual Zatanna story, that would truly be a feat of magic.  Nuff Said!

Black Canary by Brian Bolland

Brian Bolland drew the best Black Canary cover in 1988, for Action Comics #609!  This was during the period when DC had booted Superman out of the title and made it an anthology starring various characters that did not have their own series.

 

Bolland's cover is just wicked.  Black Canary gives a mischievous smile to the viewer as she burns her 1980s Justice League era outfit.  Bolland is giving a gift to the fans: the return to the classic costume and fishnets!  I was happy to see the Black Canary's original outfit--I always think she should be drawn in this one.

Here is the original art for Action Comics 609.  It looks just as good, if not better, in black and white.  This piece is owned by Joseph Melchior, see his gallery at Comic Art Fans.  Nuff said.

Two New Brian Bolland Covers in May 2009

Just saw two new covers by Brian Bolland in the May Previews.  Both of them are recreations.

Bolland recreates Curt Swan's classic cover to Action Comics #583, the concluding chapter of "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow".  This will be the cover to a deluxe hardcover of the same name, which will also include two other Moore stories: "For the Man Who Has Everything" and the Superman-Swamp Thing team-up from DC Comics Presents.

I have to admit I am tempted to buy that collection.  DC is trying to get product into the market that will appeal to Moore fans still on a Watchman-movie high.

Bolland riffs on his work for this cover to "The Last Days of Animal Man".  This cover is inspired by Animal Man #1, the series that made Grant Morrison famous here in the USA.  I'm excited to learn that Gerry Conway is writing this mini-series!  Conway is one of my favorite Silver Age writers of all time, he stopped working in comics during the 80s and transitioned to TV/Film writing.

I'm excited and scared at the same time.  I really want Conway to knock this one out of the park and get back into comics.  He's inspired a gazillion comics/TV writers, wouldn't it be great if he could reap the rewards that the industry can offer now?  Nuff said.

Superman #400 Pin-Up Gallery: Bolland, Wrightson, Kirby, Byrne, Chaykin

On July 4th, I posted a Steranko page from Superman #400.  There were a number of great artists that editor Julie Schwartz snagged for drawing pin-ups in this landmark 1984 issue.  Here are just a few of them...

Howard Chaykin painted a wonderful cover with all the classic elements of Superman's origin.

Here's probably my favorite and most off-beat pinup, by Berni Wrightson.  I always wanted to see Wrightson tackle Superman.  I think he did a wonderful job by focusing on Kal-El's face here.

Jack Kirby provided a nice Superman illustration--inked by Terry Austin.

Brian Bolland's pinup freeze frame's another famous Superman motif--taking off his business man uniform to reveal the S emblem.

John Byrne, a Marvel creator, was even allowed to draw this pinup of his favorite character.  This was a portent of things to come--Byrne would take over Superman just two years later in 1986 with the Man of Steel limited series!

You can see a few more pinups on my Flickr Superman set.  You can also read the story behind Superman 400, plus a number of full story pages, at superman.nu.  I am amazed at how many websites/blogs actually repost full scans of every single page of comics.  Nuff said.