Monday, March 30, 2015

Man-Thing Vs. The Spectre



Jim Aparo could draw just about anything, but he really shined on characters and stories that emphasized his excellent use of light and shadow as well as his knack for dramatic pacing.  In addition to the moody work he produced for heroes like Aquaman, Batman The Phantom Stranger and The Spectre, I would enjoy the occasional morality tale that he would illustrate for one of DC's horror comics. It would have been great to have seen him take on some of Marvel's more macabre characters like Man-Thing.

7 comments:

  1. This has to be one of my favorite covers you've done. The overall design is great! It probably helps that green is my favorite color, and that I've always been a Man-Thing fan.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I LOVE Aparo's Batman. That's my Batman. I liked that he was a lean fighting machine and not the overly-muscled semi-Hulk as he's been drawn elsewhere. Brave and the Bold was my favorite title back in the day.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I agree with everyone, this is a great cover, love the green color and Jim Aparo! I read a couple of his Spectre stories, couldn't make sense of it at the time, but man that was great art and story telling! Brave and Bold still stands as my favorite of the time!
    Also, I like the combination and, as usual, am interested in what happens!

    ReplyDelete
  4. How would the Spectre punish the Man-Thing? Restore Ted Sallis' intellectual awareness so he could be consciously scared of the Wrathful Wraith...and therefore spontaneously self-combust?

    ReplyDelete
  5. The Brave & The Bold of Mike W. Barr and Jim Aparo (extra treat ıf Dick Giordano was inking) ın the early to mıd-1980s were my favorıte comics of the perıod, more than DC Comics Presents whıch I never brought wıth much enthusıasm. I have come to realise ın lıfe that somethıngs sımply cannot be recaptured. It was a magic of the time period. Even if they rebooted B&tB, I doubt ıt would be lıke ıt was.

    ReplyDelete
  6. My idea of what Batman looks like comes from Aparo, just as Curt Swan defined my idea of what Superman looks like.

    ReplyDelete
  7. As it's impossible to add anything fresh to the justifiably high praise, for Mr. Aparo's art, I will simply ask one question.

    Wouldn't the Spectre first have to restore Ted Sallis' mind in order to "punish" the Man-Thing by making him self-combust out of sentient fear of the Spectre?

    ReplyDelete