Here are three of them for your enjoyment:
Issue 101: Jim Aparo drawing ...
...the Original Captain Marvel! Jim probably wouldn't have been the ideal choice for the series' artist, but DC had updated the Shazam Family to a more realistic look around that time, and if this sample is any indication, Jim would have been just as good a choice as Don Newton, who was assigned the task (he was the "New Artist on Captain Marvel!" mentioned on the cover, not Jim Aparo). And as we've seen in the Bikini Luv pages previously, Jim could have retained some whimsical cartoony touches that might have eased the shock of transition for some readers.
Issue 113: This might have been prepared...
...as part of a newspaper strip proposal Jim did for a science-fiction series called--don't laugh--"Zip Tyro". Or maybe it was just a tease he whipped up for the magazine...I don't know. But it's a nice job, reminiscent of the EC science fiction covers. Jim was a big SF fan in real life; it's too bad he didn't get to do more of this kind of work!
Issue 130: Familiar territory for Aparo...
...Batman and some of his most notable enemies. It's not that special, but it's a nice rendition, with the trademark Aparo Angle on the horizon.
I consider that cover to Comic Reader #113 a classic-look at the cross hatching in the clouds, the zip-a-tone, the sick-looking spidery planet in the distance, the thick vertical lines on the side of the rocks....nice cover, MW.
ReplyDeleteI can't argue with those sentiments, Dan! Aparo obviously put a lot of work into this one, which is one reason I wonder if it might have been a part of his pitch for a sci-fi newspaper strip. He definitely put his best effort into those attempts...just wait 'til you see his proposal for a detective strip called "Condor"! Great stuff, trust me!
ReplyDeleteI miss TCR as well. When I got that issue in the mail I assumed Aparo was the new CM artist. That would have been interesting to see.
ReplyDeleteI believe TCR ended sometime in the late 1980s.
Nick Caputo
Wow...I remember buying that "APARO CAPT. MARVEL" COMIC READER issue, when it first came out, at the infamous "SUPERSNIPE" Comic Book store on 2nd ave. & 83rd st. in NYC, in the 70's...
ReplyDeleteThe 70's had some of the best fan-made zines for collectors, & art fans...Especially with specially done covers by the greatest talents...