SwanShadow Thinks Out Loud

I’m always tickled when a new addition to my Common Elements theme lands on my doorstep. The arrival of today’s featured artwork, however, represented a genuine coup for my signature gallery.

Ramona Fradon, who created the above piece, was one of the first female artists — and one of the relative few, even to this day — to make her mark in the superhero comics genre. She broke into the business in the early 1950s, when the very idea of women working in mainstream comics was practically unheard of. Becoming the regular artist on Aquaman, Ms. Fradon garnered acclaim for her distinctive graceful style.

In the 1960s, after an extended maternity leave, Ms. Fradon returned to comics as the co-creator (with writer Bob Haney) of Metamorpho, the Element Man. (That’s him on the right in today’s drawing.) During the following decade, she worked extensively for DC Comics (on such series as Plastic Man, Freedom Fighters, and the comic for which many know her best today, Super Friends), and on rare occasion for Marvel (most notably, Fantastic Four #133). Then, in 1980, she transitioned into newspaper comics, taking over the art chores on the long-running strip Brenda Starr when creator Dale Messick retired. Ms. Fradon drew the intrepid reporter’s adventures for the next 15 years.

I had the honor of meeting Ms. Fradon four years ago at WonderCon, as she was about to be inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame. Here, she’s being interviewed by cartoonist Scott Shaw! (and yes, he spells it with an exclamation point).

Ramona Fradon is mostly retired these days, but she’s still drawing for her fans, as the commission above attests. And as one can clearly see, her skills remain as sharp as ever, even though the artist is now well into her 80s.

As for the subjects of today’s featured item: Given the chance to commission Ms. Fradon, I wanted her to revisit the character she helped create. Metamorpho, like The Thing of the Fantastic Four, is a hero whose superpowers come at the price of a normal human appearance. Due to exposure to a radioactive meteorite, adventurer Rex Mason’s body gains the ability to transmute into any chemical element. This unique talent enables Rex to change into almost anything he can imagine — think Plastic Man on steroids. Sadly, the one change he can’t effect is making himself fully human. (I’ve never quite understood why, but that’s comics for you.)

Accompanying Metamorpho is another hero named Rex — specifically, Rex “Tick-Tock” Tyler, the original Hourman. As was the case with many superheroes of comics’ Golden Age, Tyler acquired his power from ingesting chemicals; in his case, the vitamin compound Miraclo. A dose of Miraclo gave Tyler superhuman strength and endurance, but only for the 60 minutes the effect lasted — hence the name Hourman. (Frankly, I always thought advertising one’s weakness to the world would be the most foolish move a superhero could make — sort of like Superman calling himself Captain Allergic-to-Kryptonite. If I were a supervillain, I’d figure out a way to keep Hourman confined or occupied for 61 minutes, then I’d beat the stuffing out of him.) Interestingly, as the years progressed, Tyler actually became addicted to Miraclo — one of the first examples of comics dealing with such a powerful health and social issue.

Speaking of time, I’m out of it for now.

So that, friend reader, is your Comic Art Friday.

Today’s Comic Art Friday is dedicated to the Inkwell Awards, the annual honors issued to inkers, those unsung heroes and heroines of the comic art world who transform (often rough) pencil drawings into clear, completely finished art suitable for publication.

The Inkwell Awards are the brainchild of my friend Bob Almond, an enormously talented inker perhaps best known for his lengthy stint on Marvel’s Black Panther, in collaboration with penciler Sal Velluto and writer Christopher Priest. In addition to his always exceptional artistic efforts, Bob is a tireless advocate for practitioners of his chosen craft, spending a great deal of his time and personal resources educating comics fans about the underappreciated, often misconstrued work of inking artists.

Over the years that I’ve been collecting and commissioning original comic art, I’ve learned a wealth of inking lore from Bob. And, thanks to the numerous commissioned projects he’s done for me (more than 40 at last count), my galleries sparkle with his expertly applied inks.

Given the fact that Bob and the rest of the Inkwell Awards team are currently soliciting votes for this year’s honors — an election in which you, friend reader, are cordially invited to participate — I thought this might be an excellent occasion to leap into the Wayback Machine and revisit the very first commission Bob ever inked for me.

Here’s the original pencil art, as Bob received it. If you stopped by here last week, you’ll recognize the distinctive style of Al Rio.

This was a preliminary sketch Al created for a drawing he eventually auctioned off as a benefit for victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami that hit southern Asia on Boxing Day 2004. As the word “preliminary” suggests, and as you can see, this pencil sketch is a nicely drawn but still fairly rough outline of the idea Rio had in mind. (In fact, Al’s finished artwork bears only a passing resemblance to this initial concept. In the final product, Superman was replaced with Batman, and Supergirl gave way to a grieving mother.)

Bob Almond took this sketch and embellished it to a high gloss. He refined the figures, solidified the background elements, and added numerous details that are only hinted at — or in many instances absent altogether — in Al Rio’s pencil rough. When Bob’s work on the piece is complete, it’s no longer just a drawing. It has become a living, breathing example of finished comic art.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the inker’s contribution to the completed work extends far beyond merely tracing the penciler’s lines, as many uneducated comics fans suppose. The inker’s additions are indispensable to the art as the reader expects to experience it.

If you follow this link, you can read Mr. Almond’s own commentary about this commission, including Bob’s detailed description of the techniques and tools he employed.

Every day in the world of comic books, talented men and women practice the fine art of inking. Their toils often go unheralded, especially by comparison with those of their penciling colleagues. Still, for every Jack Kirby who has become a household name through the power of his pencil, there is a Joe Sinnott, a Frank Giacoia, or a Mike Royer inking away in the background, making those pencils look fantastic.

And yes, a Bob Almond too. (Bob’s much too young to have inked Kirby. But he certainly would have done The King proud.)

If you’re a comic art aficionado who values the abilities of inkers both historic and contemporary, please take a moment to surf over to the Inkwell Awards website and vote for your favorites. You’ll be glad you did.

And that’s your Comic Art Friday.

It’s a Comic Art Friday the 13th, but you know what? I’m feeling lucky.

When I feel lucky, I turn to my signature commission theme — Common Elements, in which otherwise unrelated comic book characters who share some… well… common element meet up on the drawing table of a talented artist.

Today, Brazilian superstar Al Rio finds two star-crossed superwomen engaged in a merry chase. Leading the parade at right is Star Sapphire, the long-time nemesis-slash-paramour of Hal Jordan, best known of the numerous heroes who’ve borne the title Green Lantern. In hot pursuit at left is Stargirl, one of the youngest members of the current incarnation of comicdom’s senior superteam, the Justice Society of America.

Star Sapphire, like Carol (Ms. Marvel) Danvers and Dr. Bill (Goliath) Foster, is one of a handful of characters whose civilian identities were well established in comics before they adopted their costumed identities. In this instance, Carol Ferris had been around for three years in Green Lantern’s storyline as both the owner of the company that employed Hal Jordan as a test pilot and as Hal’s on-again, off-again girlfriend. Then, when an alien gemstone endowed Carol with Green Lantern-like powers, she took on the name Star Sapphire. Unfortunately for Hal, the influence of Carol’s power gem also turned her into a villainess — one of his primary adversaries for the rest of his career.

Courtney Whitmore, like many of the JSA’s present-day lineup, is a legacy — that is, she came into the superheroing fraternity by way of a prior connection. In Courtney’s case, her stepfather Pat Dugan enjoyed an adventuring career as Stripesy, the adult sidekick to the adolescent Star-Spangled Kid. Many years later, teenaged Courtney took up the Kid’s costume and nom de guerre. To keep Courtney from getting her inexperienced self killed, the mature Pat donned an Iron Man-like exoskeleton of robotic armor to become his stepdaughter’s partner and guardian, S.T.R.I.P.E. In time, Courtney received the cosmic staff of Jack Knight, the second Starman, and changed her code name to Stargirl in Jack’s honor.

For this Common Elements commission, I offered Al Rio three possible pairings from which he could select. I wasn’t surprised, given Mr. Rio’s predilection for attractive females, that he chose these two scintillating “stars” for his newest creation. I was, however, most pleased by the result. There’s a reason why Al is one of the pencilers most represented in my collection — that reason is on eye-catching display here.

Yes, it’s Friday the 13th, but have no fear — the stars are in alignment.

And that’s your Comic Art Friday.