tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26663968499560776272011-11-02T04:55:51.893-05:00A look at the career of comics artist Jim Aparo.M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.comBlogger621100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-88833466088329455042010-04-08T08:18:00.002-05:002010-04-08T08:30:53.666-05:00

Check out this wild blog from Ross:http://braveandboldlost.blogspot.com/Starting with scans of classic (mostly) Aparo covers (from Brave and the Bold as well as other series), Ross produces imaginative glimpses of team-ups that never were...and, in many cases, never could have been! The digital surgery is much more neatly done than most of the Photoshopped work one often finds on the web, with

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-67714568221574514392009-10-28T07:56:00.005-05:002010-03-29T13:41:49.444-05:00

At The Bronze Age of Blogs, Pete Doree treats us today to "The Wrath of the Spectre". Pete offers up some well-deserved praise for the Orlando/Fleischer/Aparo/Carley run from the 1970's in Adventure Comics, and serves up scans of the first installment for your reading pleasure. I was struck by this comment of Pete's: [Aparo's] art also had the 'cool' factor, something indefinable that only Gil

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-65943522410508420132009-10-22T12:50:00.006-05:002010-03-29T13:41:43.311-05:00

Here's a look at one of the few comics missing from my own Jim Aparo collection, the cover to Charlton's Grand Prix #31, from 1970. Nearing the end of his stint at Charlton, Jim supplied this smashing piece of art. To the best of my knowledge, it was Jim's only contribution to the racing comics genre (Charlton, I believe, was the only publisher of American color comics still exploiting the

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-31109633773443496372009-09-20T19:57:00.004-05:002010-03-29T13:41:36.521-05:00

Here's a sketch Jim did in his retirement years for a commision job of Sherlock Holmes! Well, he was a DC comics character, I suppose, appearing in one issue of his own comic as well as in Batman and in The Brave and The Bold Special (in an issue with a Jim Aparo cover)! But Jim never got to draw any of those issues. Click it to see it big!Holmes underwent a surge in popularity in the early 70's,

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-6610018203997565562009-09-04T13:20:00.010-05:002010-03-29T13:41:28.682-05:00

Our friend rob! at the Phantom Stranger blog has posted a 2006 trading card featuring the Phantom Stranger today. That reminded me of this little gem (which I do believe rob! has missed; I'll have to mention this to him!):Here we see the front and back of a 1993 card released by Skybox, with pencils and inks by Jim Aparo. I'm not sure what set this is from, but it's #118 out of 150. This

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-41112792001146819132009-08-25T10:28:00.005-05:002010-03-29T13:41:23.745-05:00

Steven "Booksteve" Thompson spotlights Jim Aparo's Zip Tyro strips in a new post at his Hooray for Wally Wood blog. Like many comic book artists of his day, Jim longed to break in to the newspaper adventure strips, and "Zip Tyro" was one of a few of his attempts to do so. ZT was a traditional outer space science fiction adventure, with rockets and space stations and dashing astronauts, and it

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-40909032174828088932009-08-24T20:39:00.004-05:002010-03-29T13:41:14.989-05:00

Back when I was producing the print version of the Jim Aparo Fan Club Newsletter, Jim sent me an exclusive heads-up that he was about to take over the art on Green Arrow as of issue #81. It was (to me, anyway) an unexpected reassignment, but it wasn't one that I objected to. Jim had done some good work on the character in Brave & Bold, and had done one of the few Green Arrow solo covers during

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-1377408580625079122009-07-21T05:41:00.003-05:002010-03-29T13:41:09.053-05:00

From 1965 issues of Popular Science magazine comes a bigger selection of these ads from Jim Aparo's pre-comics career (long-time Fan Club readers will recall the first post on this blog was one of these Savograns ads, courtesy of Red Oak Kid!).Well, R.O.K. was thoughtful enough to point out an online source for reading these magazines in their entirety! And there's lots of fun stuff besides these

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-81723482790000923642009-07-19T21:45:00.007-05:002010-03-29T13:41:01.904-05:00

...where the Groovy Agent has posted the debut installment of Wander, the Western/science fiction/comedy that Jim Aparo drew for Charlton's Cheyenne Kid comic book back in the late 60's. If you've never seen this one, trust me, don't miss it! Jim was a really good artist for westerns! He didn't do many western comics besides the first several installments of this one: a few other jobs for other

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-44711813201952079922009-07-13T04:31:00.002-05:002010-03-29T13:40:57.333-05:00

If you're like me, and I know I am, you've been following the Phantom Stranger blog where rob! has been leading us through every single appearance of the Phantom Stranger, from his first comic book in the 50's up to, presumably, the current day. The blog holds obvious interest for any Aparo fan, since Jim made such a mark on the character--many would say he owned the character! Despite following

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-50942716814528420042009-06-18T16:53:00.015-05:002010-03-29T13:40:51.012-05:00

Indulge me--I'm an Egyptian buff. I've been studying learning how to read Middle Egyptian (the language of the familiar hieroglyphs) for a couple of years now, and it's been a fun hobby to pursue. So it occurred to me that it might be fun to visit the occasions that Jim had to evoke the land of the Pharaohs. Four covers came immediately to mind:The Phantom #32:Our friend Scott has warned us about

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-39959954340433144002009-06-16T16:32:00.005-05:002010-03-29T13:40:44.375-05:00

Our pal, the Groovy Agent, has tallied the results of his poll for Favorite Groovy Age Cover Artist, and the winner is...JIM APARO!(Not much of a surprise, is it?)GA's spotlighting a few of his favorites over there at his highly-recommended blog. In celebration, I'm posting one of my favorites, the relatively unknown cover of DC's Weird Mystery Tales #4:This one appeals to me not just because of

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-86788990238572862572009-05-31T19:00:00.004-05:002010-03-29T13:40:37.657-05:00

Here's a lovely Charlton cover that they reused a time or two. One thing interesting about Jim's Charlton covers is that they often had him do the lettering, too, while at DC, they generally did not. This is Jim's lettering (well, below the logo, anyway), and I've always felt that his lettering was integral to his style, making this cover all the better. The lightning-streaked sky is something he

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-30443119351209715392009-05-22T19:59:00.003-05:002010-03-29T13:40:30.462-05:00

This was a poster I saw in a comics shop in Memphis in the early 80's: a Jim Aparo Flash. The dealer didn't know anything about it, but he had it up on the wall and sold it to me. I still haven't tracked down its complete explanation, but I know it was one of a series of four promotional posters of DC characters. One of those might have been an Aparo Aquaman.As far as I can determine, the art

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-58325443320248320282009-05-22T07:45:00.005-05:002010-03-29T13:40:22.813-05:00

Allan Harvey at Gorilla Daze highlights a classic Aparo panel from Aquaman #50, in which Jim integrated the names of several of his peers in the panelologic profession into the background. One name--"Pike"--is listed twice, by accident. In demonstration of Jim's characteristic loyalty to his employer, the writers, artists, and editors are all folks known for their DC work. Jim had plenty of

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-75849986953823116562009-05-02T13:08:00.005-05:002010-03-29T13:40:14.147-05:00

Before we dive into a look at Jim Aparo's evolving signatures, let's take a quick look at a couple of examples where he got a little playful with the way he signed his covers.First, here's The Brave and the Bold #152, starring Batman and The Atom: Now look a little closer at the signature, down there to the right of the UPC box:Cute, hunh?And next, let's turn to Weird War Tales #53:War comics

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-64794206910055359052009-04-24T23:43:00.004-05:002010-03-29T13:40:07.366-05:00

In those early days of his career at Charlton Comics, Aparo did many stories for their spooky comics, including The Many Ghosts of Dr. Graves. Here's the first page from his story in issue 17. What I find interesting about this page is how Aparo seems to be working hard to maintain artist Pat Boyette's interpretation of the title character, so much so that a quick glimpse at a thumbnail might

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-59280529458688086552009-04-23T12:50:00.002-05:002010-03-29T13:40:01.251-05:00

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-47024149953844755412009-04-23T08:57:00.004-05:002010-03-29T13:39:53.182-05:00

Easily overlooked among the multitude of Batman specials published throughout the 1990's and20 00's, here's a pinup from one of them--sorry, but I can't even remember which one--with Brian Stelfreeze rendering Jim's pencils in ink. DC tried a few different ways to update the look of Aparo's work to appeal to the newer aesthetics, and I think this was one of the more successful attempts.

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-16812819888023696992009-04-10T08:35:00.004-05:002010-03-29T13:39:46.560-05:00

Welcome to any and all who've visited JAFC from Brian Cronin's Comic Book Legends Revealedhttp://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2009/04/09/comic-book-legends-revealed-202/This week, Brian's spotlighting the rescripted Aparo Aquaman story that I showcased here a while back. I'm delighted that Brian found this tale worth sharing. I read Comic Book Legends Revealed every Friday, and you should,

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-24800124870433630662009-03-26T10:51:00.005-05:002010-03-29T13:39:35.558-05:00

Our pal the Groovy Agent has posted scans of the one and only installment of "The Prankster", an Aparo-drawn backup feature from an issue of Charlton's Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt. http://diversionsofthegroovykind.blogspot.com/2009/03/if-you-blinked-you-missed-charlton.htmlThis wacky sci-fi superhero is fondly remembered by those who have read this (unfortunately) never-continued debut. Jim was a

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-39851753491903538612009-03-17T21:45:00.004-05:002010-03-29T13:39:28.974-05:00

In 1994, DC teamed with Skybox to release yet another set of "collectible" cards, this time featuring scenes from the Batman story "A Death In The Family", the infamous story that documented what turned out to be, thanks to the final votes in a telephone tally, the murder of the second Robin, Jason Todd, at the hands of The Joker. Jim Aparo was the artist on the comic book version of that story,

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-48205843867328259072009-03-13T11:37:00.005-05:002010-03-29T13:39:21.978-05:00

Jim Aparo fans will want to rush to their local comics shops this week and pick up a copy of Alter Ego #84, Roy Thomas's fine comics fanzine. The cover features what is purported to be Jim's final drawing of some of his signature characters, Aquaman, Mera and Aqualad, fronting a terrific interview with Jim's frequent collaborator in the 60's and 70's, Steve Skeates. The article includes several

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-26450935328346229412009-03-12T10:28:00.009-05:002010-03-29T13:39:14.950-05:00

As promised, here's my other example of excellent but unpublished cover art. From Detective Comics, scheduled for issue 481:Why was this one never used? In this case, it's fairly easy to deduce DC's decision. With issue 481, 'Tec was suddenly merged with the recently-cancelled Batman Family, expanding from a then-standard 50 cent format to a jumbo "Dollar Comic". The merged series featured

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-55725929817041039662009-03-09T10:49:00.007-05:002010-03-29T13:39:06.702-05:00

Here's an unused cover from Cancelled Comics Cavalcade. This was originally intended for Dynamic Classics, a reprint anthology that was cancelled in the infamous "DC Implosion". That comic, which was cancelled after a single issue, was scheduled to reprint the entire Archie Goodwin/Walt Simonson "Manhunter" in individual installments, with different lead features in each issue. This issue would

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-53559477190675749922009-03-06T21:26:00.007-06:002010-03-29T13:38:58.484-05:00

POGS! I don't honestly have much to say about these. To my thinking, pogs were one of the stupidest "collectibles" ever perpetrated on the gullible kids of the early 90s. In case you missed the craze, pogs originated as a sort of prize available under the caps of a brand of mixed fruit juice (hence the acronymic name, from the words 'passion fruit', 'orange', and 'guava') popular, I believe, in

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-56722783553860933682009-02-21T11:42:00.004-06:002010-03-29T13:38:50.627-05:00

At the convention in Chicago, July 5, 1992, Chris Khalaf, Jim Aparo, and Mike Gallaher meet for the first time. We must have spent about 16 hours chatting with Jim over the course of the convention, gathering all sorts of great stories, seeing his artwork in progress, introducing him to Grass Green for the first time, man, just so many great memories of hanging out with our favorite artist and

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-78432418629685821082009-02-20T16:38:00.005-06:002010-03-29T13:38:37.989-05:00

After only three 2-page stories in their pop music magazine Teen Tunes, Charlton apparently lost the license for official Monkees comics to Dell, who were about to begin a short run of four-color Monkees comic books with art by, I believe, Jose Delbo. Charlton saved the best for last, though, as Jim Aparo was teamed with Steve Skeates, writer, to produce this mini-masterpiece. In Skeates' only

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-82811338569923412142009-02-14T07:06:00.005-06:002010-03-29T13:38:25.040-05:00

And another not yet now in my collection: Jim's cover for Charlton's Texas Rangers #72. Jim didn't contribute any interior art for this one. What's interesting here is that Charlton's now letting Jim do the lettering on the cover. He didn't have that latitude at DC, but Charlton let him do quite a lot of cover blurbs. Jim was an ace letterer, and the effect usually worked quite well when he was

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-14452314509746715752009-02-13T20:45:00.004-06:002010-03-29T13:38:17.130-05:00

Here's an Aparo job so rare that it's not in my collection...yet! Career Girl Romances #40 has an Aparo cover and an 8-page story illustrated by Jim.Our cover girl here strikes me as very reminiscent of the girls that John Romita used to draw when he was one of DC's primary romance artists...and, for that matter, when he was drawing groovy chicks like Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane Watson on Spider-Man

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-23734970367023354442009-02-12T18:21:00.008-06:002010-03-29T13:38:08.919-05:00

I posted Jim's cover art for the Revell reissue of the Robin model kit a while back. Here's a glimpse at the box for the Batman kit, also featuring Jim Aparo's work.Since he was constrained by the pose of the actual model (which was sculpted back in the 1960's), it takes a keen eye to detect Aparo's hand in the art. The scan here (snagged from the web; unfortunately, I don't have the cardboard to

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-36466612966648813232009-02-09T20:16:00.005-06:002010-03-29T13:38:01.565-05:00

Don Maitz is a fantasy artist of significant renown, perhaps most famous for illustrating the pirate on Captain Morgan rum.Chris Khalaf told me back in 1991 that Maitz had supposedly done work as an assistant to Jim Aparo in the 70s. When Chris and I met Jim for the first time in 1992, we asked him about this rumor. Jim confirmed that he knew Maitz, and that Maitz had visited his studio when

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-21702676744043100622009-02-08T15:51:00.005-06:002010-03-29T13:37:41.941-05:00

Here's a bit of Aparo work that's not especially easy to come by. The History of the DC Universe was a two-issue prestige format miniseries published after Crisis on Infinite Earths, laying out the post-Crisis history of, well, the DC Universe. The miniseries was compiled into a hardback--back when it was exceedingly unusual for DC to publish hardbacks--and the hardback added a "jam" poster

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-50847746229227165262009-02-07T16:44:00.004-06:002010-03-29T13:37:32.263-05:00

Mike Middleton (a.k.a. Aparofan) has posted some commisioned drawings that Jim did for him, including Batman, Spectre, Phantom Stranger, Green Arrow, and Aquaman. Check them out here, and visit Mike's blog frequently; there's always good stuff to see there!

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-86189205237839661012009-02-07T14:58:00.007-06:002010-03-29T13:37:24.262-05:00

This page was pencilled by Sal Amendola, who did a few stories for DC back in the 70's, and inked by Jim Aparo. It's from "Heroes Against Hunger", DC's contribution to the African hunger fundraising effort of the 80's. I think Jim and Sal were a pretty compatible pair, but Sal did very little work, and is largely forgotten. It's worth another look, anyway. Kinda weird to see eyes in an Aparo

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-2324898972645863662009-02-07T14:51:00.004-06:002010-03-29T13:37:16.330-05:00

Back in 2007, I included the following question on a trivia quiz on the comicbookresources.com classic comics forum:7. Jim Aparo drew many covers for DC. Mark “yes” or “no” indicating whether he did or did not draw at least one cover for each of these series:a. Flashb. Weird War Talesc. Weird Mystery Talesd. Legion of Super-Heroese. Showcasef. Secrets of Haunted Houseg. Metal Meni. Robin IIk.

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-42748899435561037152009-02-05T21:46:00.004-06:002010-03-29T13:37:09.330-05:00

For those who are curious about the name, it is, in fact, Italian. A lot of Italian-Americans rose to prominence in the comic book business in the 50's and 60's: Dick Giordano, Joe Giella, Frank Giacoia, Vince Colletta, Mike Esposito, Tony Tallarico, Art Capello, Frank Chiaramonte, Rocke Mastroserio...it's a long list! Aparo's certainly a worthy fellow to these many fine contributors to the comic

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-46153422256732804602009-01-31T16:13:00.004-06:002010-03-29T13:37:02.369-05:00

Jim did a lot of covers for DC, but was drafted to do only one cover for The Flash--issue 311, shown here. It's not the best Flash cover ever, but he was constrained by having to depict the Flash, err, constrained. But I like the little slices of history, and the trademark "anxiety rays" emanating from Barry's head! (Actually, a lot of comics artists used this effect, but I've noticed many

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-84108860630509381852009-01-30T09:03:00.007-06:002010-03-29T13:36:54.144-05:00

Your first stop should be http://www.theartistschoice.com/aparo.htmThat's the site of Spencer Beck, Jim's long-time art agent. The pages Spencer has for sale--and there are many!--are sold on behalf of Jim's estate, so, although they may be of more recent vintage, profits are going to his wife Julieann instead of just to a dealer. There's a great variety of pages available at prices as low as $20

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-68257180054955010212009-01-30T08:54:00.004-06:002010-03-29T13:36:44.335-05:00

Now on display at the highly-recommended blog "Diversions of the Groovy Kind" are scans of both installments that Aparo drew for "The Adventurers' Club, an interesting short-run feature during an experimental phase of Adventure Comics in the early 1970s:http://diversionsofthegroovykind.blogspot.com/2009/01/if-you-blinked-you-missedthe.htmlJim was, in my opinion, at the peak of his skills around

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-20827625594337549732009-01-28T15:11:00.006-06:002010-03-29T13:36:35.939-05:00

As promised, here's the Monkees story from the very rare Teen Tunes #4. These are from Jim Aparo's personal collection, which he shared with me to make copies from back in 1992. Steve Skeates was the writer for this two-pager which appeared in a black and white music magazine from Charlton back in 1967. More great caricature work from Jim in his humor mode! The writer for this installment is

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-91173455273798785672009-01-23T18:52:00.011-06:002010-03-29T13:36:28.913-05:00

From Dave Karlen's Original Art Blog:How many artists do you know that would draw a daily strip for free just to get the publicity? Well that is exactly what illustrator Jim Aparo did for The Hartford Times back in March of 1963.Dave proceeds to give a brief rundown of the short run of Aparo's newspaper strip Stern Wheeler. The strip's definitely a rarity, since it was only published in a

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-46055874659014894232009-01-20T16:41:00.004-06:002010-03-29T13:36:19.704-05:00

Obviously, from the sites and blogs I've linked to previously, I'm not the first to devote webspace to the works of Jim Aparo. Here are some other tributes to Jim that have appeared online in the past:Comics Should Be Good! posted a tribute to Jim on the 2nd anniversary of his death. This article also links to a nice tribute, with some good images, from Eric Weems here.

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-24436640595474647032009-01-19T16:57:00.004-06:002010-03-29T13:36:10.171-05:00

Jim Aparo's Phantom covered on the sensational, but now-defunct www.dialbforblog. This has been a favorite blog for a long time, with nearly 500 installments for you to enjoy, but this one, a focus on Jim's work on Charlton's The Phantom comic, is of particular interest. I'll be sharing some of my thoughts on this series one of these days, but for now, check out what Robby thinks!

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-29978906774838941322009-01-16T23:48:00.005-06:002010-03-29T13:35:59.197-05:00

As you might expect, you'll find more than a few Aparo-related posts at iamthephantomstranger.blogspot.com, a site specializing in the comic book appearances of The Phantom Stranger, a classic character on whom Jim Aparo left his very distinct mark. Your host "rob!" offers up a hefty dose of art samples from the Stranger's catalog, and with Aparo having done more PS work than anyone else, you'll

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-68184602984893917342009-01-15T17:37:00.005-06:002010-03-29T13:35:50.013-05:00

Hey, how could I resist a blog called aparofan.blogspot.com, a.k.a. Aparofan's World of Comics ?The focus is wider than this blog, as blogger Mike Middleton covers lots and lots of comics greats, but he has many posts devoted to the work of Jim Aparo scattered throughout the archives. Treat yourself to a look around there, whydontcha?

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-30892470601646530912009-01-13T19:48:00.007-06:002010-03-29T13:35:40.141-05:00

...found during some web surfing. It's by an artist named "Bira", on a blog that appears to be in Portuguese--I don't know if the artist is Brazilian or Portuguese or, perhaps, some other nationality (although the text of the cartoon is in English, so maybe the drawing originated somewhere else?). It seems to have been posted just after Jim's death in 2005.Jim Aparo at ilustrasite.blogspot.com

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-61931868668572729402009-01-12T21:48:00.004-06:002010-03-29T13:35:30.481-05:00

Another cover from The Comic Reader (issue 180), this time a back cover. Aparo does Bond.Back in the 70's, there was a bit of a stir with rumors that James Bond was coming to American comics (I don't count the "Doctor No" issue of Showcase, which reprinted a British Classics Illustrated. That was a really awful comic book, with none of the panache of the 60's film series.) If there had been a

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-56637307741605808522009-01-12T12:01:00.007-06:002010-03-29T13:35:19.837-05:00

Yes, in Teen Tunes #3, Miss Bikini Luv was replaced by The Monkees in the 2-page black & white comics section of Charlton's pop music magazine! While this is obviously an officially-licensed appearance, Charlton didn't hold on to the rights for long. After three 2-page stories in this and the following couple of issues, The Monkees moved on to a new comic book from a different publisher: Dell

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-20830425302565750902009-01-11T17:38:00.006-06:002010-03-29T13:35:07.923-05:00

Here's an interesting cover with Jim Aparo art that's easily overlooked: Legion of Super-Heroes #300. Easily overlooked because it's a "jam cover": different artists contributed different characters to the picture. Aparo was a curious choice to participate, since he couldn't really be considered one of the classic Legion artists; he had illustrated two earlier covers for the series, and he was

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-35667583036167298162009-01-09T14:21:00.007-06:002010-03-29T13:34:44.322-05:00

And here's the story from the second issue of Teen Tunes. Miss Bikini Luv returns for her final spotlight in the pop music magazine, before being replaced by a surprise feature, coming soon to this blog! But for now, enjoy Jim Aparo at his cartoony best (click to view each page!):

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-23156107668133810552009-01-08T08:21:00.005-06:002010-03-29T13:34:35.039-05:00

The infamous "DC Implosion" was a cancellation of several mid-70's DC Comics series shortly after a highly-publicized expansion (officially called the "DC Explosion") of both page count and number of published comics. One of these cancellation victims was DC's recently-revived Showcase, which had been scheduled to launch a single-issue Deadman solo spotlight in issue 105.Unfortunately for Aparo

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-17763257844989066882009-01-07T09:10:00.013-06:002010-03-29T13:34:25.611-05:00

Jim Aparo contributed several covers (and at least one back cover) to The Comic Reader, a much-beloved--and much-missed!--comics fandom-oriented publication published in the 70's and 80's (and maybe the early 90's? I can't remember when it finally ended).Here are three of them for your enjoyment:Issue 101: Jim Aparo drawing ... ...the Original Captain Marvel! Jim probably wouldn't have been the

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-36212383306386815762009-01-05T21:32:00.005-06:002010-03-29T13:34:16.475-05:00

Here's an interesting page. Click and have a look at this scene from Adventure Comics #441. Can you guess what's unusual about it?There's probably not much chance that you guessed, unless you've recently read the published comic. Here's the story:Back when I was first assembling the complete Jim Aparo Checklist in the early 90's, I forwarded a copy to my pal Chris Khalaf for corrections and

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-35471710457187874112009-01-02T18:00:00.004-06:002010-03-29T13:34:05.378-05:00

In 1992, Jim Aparo surprised me by loaning me (by mail) his personal file copies of Teen Tunes issues 1-5. This was a pop music magazine published by Charlton. It featured the typical profiles of popular musical groups, with pinups, lyrics, etc. It also featured, in each of the five issues, a 2-page comics section, pencilled, inked, and lettered by Jim Aparo. In the first two installments, the

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-69160084223653117782008-12-31T16:40:00.002-06:002010-03-29T13:33:51.964-05:00

Aparo fans should check for a back issue copy of Image's Big Bang Comics #20, featuring Chris's tribute to the legendary Haney/Aparo team with "The Free and the Brave", teaming up the Knight Watchmen and the Blitz!Chris wrote and drew this Brave and Bold homage in an impressively authentic Aparo style, as well as lots of Haney hallmarks in the script and plot. (Chris happens to be a really

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-91902583195211976962008-12-31T16:20:00.003-06:002010-03-29T13:33:43.513-05:00

Back in 1992, when Chris Khalaf and I first revived the Jim Aparo Fan Club and began publishing our Newsletter, Chris lamented that he wished he had bought a "young readers" Batman book that featured art by Jim Aparo inked by Joe Orlando (his old Phantom Stranger and Spectre editor!). Chris couldn't remember the details of the book, which is surprising given his astounding skills at recall in the

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-9899945026645776102008-12-30T11:45:00.003-06:002010-03-29T13:33:35.206-05:00

Recent discussion of Aparo on the Classic Comics Forum at www.comicbookresources.com reflects a reasonably popular opinion that Jim Aparo's work on The Spectre (in Adventure Comics #431-440) was his best work. The opinion certainly has its merits, but one should note that this run of issues is not actually pure Aparo art. In two episodes, a couple of unexpected fill-in artists provide pencil art

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-81926715163660724422008-12-29T17:46:00.003-06:002010-03-29T13:33:20.871-05:00

At a "certain time", Aparo was more or less forcibly retired from doing ongoing series at DC. But the nice guys at National did continue to feed him some lucrative assignments, including the box illustrations for the last round of reissues of the Aurora DC Superhero model kits. First released in the mid-60's, these classics got another go-around decades later, and it was Jim Aparo who provided

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-90965430983094625222008-12-29T17:03:00.003-06:002010-03-29T13:33:12.488-05:00

Back in the early 90's, Jim sent me a note updating me on his assignments. One of them was an inventory issue of Detective Comics, featuring Batman and Robin, during the period when the "real" Batman was out of commission (Aparo noted that his story featured the legit Bruce Wayne). The story was never published. In fact, it may never even have been inked. But here's a page of Jim's pencils (back

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-50795694718037556612008-12-29T16:51:00.002-06:002010-03-29T13:33:03.509-05:00

seductionoftheindifferent.blogspot.com directs us to Fred Hembeck's posting of the Charlton classic "The Best of All Possible Worlds" on Fred Hembeck's site. This remarkable metatextual story made its first unlikely appearance in an issue of Many Ghosts of Dr. Graves, and was written by Aparo's frequent late-60's collaborator Steve Skeates. There's never been anything like this printed in

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666396849956077627.post-3401998025127736102008-12-29T16:45:00.003-06:002010-03-29T13:32:50.692-05:00

My pal Mac, a.k.a. Comic Book Resources forum member Red Oak Kid forwards this treasure from Jim Aparo's early career in advertising: a spot from an 1965 issue of Popular Science:Trained eyes will recognize that even then, Jim was doing his own lettering. You might recognize the cartoony style from Aparo's first published comic book work, Miss Bikini Luv in Charlton's Go-Go comic book. He had few

M W Gallahernoreply@blogger.com0