Wednesday, July 20, 2005
A Lonely Place of Dying
That's one rager up there in the Great Comic-Con in the Sky. I'm really upset. Jim Aparo? Jim Aparo my definitive Catwoman artist. The God who drew the cover (see below) of the FIRST COMIC I ever bought. And I've never shaken his hand, never bought any of his art...I'm getting pretty effing mad at the universe. Stop killing my heroes. And yes, Kirby and Roz are STILL DEAD. This is just crap.
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9 comments:
I confess - I'm a dork, and I'm not sure about the reference either!
I finally posted below re: Eisner recap. Sorry it took me so long to share my congrats! And thank you so much for linking to the therapeutic riding network - hopefully, someone new will tap into it.
Whoa, whoa, WHOA! Jim Aparo is dead?!?
Lonely Place of Dying was actually the first DC paperback I ever bought -- BEFORE A Death in the Family. I know he didn't do all the art in that one -- Perez was the Titans guy and DC star at the time -- but his wa sone of the first artists I could recognize jsut from viewing their work.
Aparo, Perez, Breyfogle -- they were the first Bat artists I learned to recognize.
Peace and comfort and best wishes to his soul and his family...
...and gratitude, as well.
Turn off the signal. He's not coming. :(
MIM
On the Comics Reporter, Tom Spurgeon gives a blow by blow of the Eisner Awards.
From his website:
10:39 -- Maggie Thompson concludes her memorial by reminding us that Jack and Roz are still dead. After the show I will have to explain to two different industry outsiders why this was noted.
No disrespect to the Kirby's, but this is effing funny. That whole Kirby section struck me odd, too. It was a year of tears. Funny no one still mourned Bob Kane. And I agree with Spurgeon that Chris Reeve should have been mentioned.
> Aparo, Perez, Breyfogle -- they were the first Bat artists I learned to recognize.
Mark, I KNOW!!!!! Can you BELIEVE IT? I'm really upset.
Meg and John, no worries...you've got your insider explanation!
OMG -- thta's right, No Reeve mention. ALthough, inf airness, he was never an artist... or writer... or agent... or retailer...
Wait a minute -- his interpretation of the Big Blue is what got a lot of our generation INTO comics, in the freaking first place.
And what IS with the whole Kirby and Roz memoriam in perpetuity, anyway?
MIM
I know, seriously!
They're the Golden Couple, but I thought it was creepy. Not that they shouldn't be mentioned, but HOW they were mentioned, and WHERE, and while she was bawling...and the exclusion of others who are STILL DEAD...
Reeve WAS Superman. Give the poor guy whose career was ruined by the casting a little credit. And I agree, he helped comic sales.
Although I have the greatest respect for his accomplishments, Jim Aparo was never one of my favorites. Yes, his was a recognizable style that seemed to appear whenever I went through my retailer's discount bins. I just never developed an appreciation for the effort he put into his work. That being said, my most vivid memories of his work will always be his loooong run on Batman. His Death in the Family wih writer Jim Starlin was probably responsible for bringing me over to the DCU characters. At a time when gifted artist John Severin is still working in his late eighties, Jim Aparo's retirement and death at 72 years young leaves me sad. His family has my sympathy.
At 36 years old, it's getting harder and harder to watch parts of my childhood die. In the past few years we've lost Christopher Reeve, Mr. Rogers, Chuck Jones, Mel Blanc (roughly fifteen years ago, I know! But still...) and so, so many others. I once saw the late James Doohan at a convention. He looked in frail health at the time. My dad was a huuuuuge Star Trek fan and the character of Scotty used to make me laugh so hard. As I understand, he leaves behind a small child. My sympathy goes out to his family as well.
As far as Jack and Roz Kirby are concerned, I guess I would have to know the context within which Maggie Thompson raised the subject.
Bye for now.
Sadly, Jim Aparo was terribly under received by fan press in his day. His early '70's work is a lot stronger than his later work, that was sketchier. Check out his Brave and Bolds circa #100-120something, and you'll see a strong steady hand with the inking, and solid placement of blacks. We should also remember that his was the art of Michael Fleisher's Spectre series that caused harlan Ellison to call Fleisher "Bug-Fuck Crazy". It was good stuff.
As he got older, Aparo should have been teamed up with a better inker who could have taken the work and kept it tight and strong.
I never met him, but liked the work and wish htat I had. Sad again to lose another one.
CY
Oh yeah, jackie Estrada needs to give up hosting the eisner's. She aged visibly through out the night (but didn't we all).
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