Amazing Comic Book Pages & Covers
Welcome to the first edition of Amazing Comic Book Pages & Covers . News: We've decided to merge Judging By The Cover and The Amazing Pages Of into one feature. So, off we go! Denny O'Neil writer | Ed Hannigan pencils | John Beatty inks Richmond Lewis colours | John Costanza letters | DC Comics, November 1989 Legends Of The Dark Knight was launched on the heels of the Tim Burton's Batman movie blockbuster. The stories were either out of continuity or non-canon featuring multiple storylines by an impressive selection of brilliant creators. The late, legendary Denny O'Neill got the series off to a great start with Shaman. It's set not long after the events in Batman: Year One . It has Batman facing off again the man who killed one of his (Bruce Wayne's) teachers, Willy Doggett (bounty hunter). More than a decade before Frank Miller 's Dark Knight, O'Neill with superstar artist Neal Adams ( bio ) laid the groundwork for the darker, more mature take on Batman. We've raved about Ed Hannigan 's covers and pages for Spider-Man many times (most recently last year in the tribute to Spider-Man's 60th anniversary ) Hannigan is known for his innovative covers and cinematic style; he often worked with the prolific Bill Mantlo . However, his Batman is...well... amazing too. 2023 will be remembered as the year we gave Marvel Comics another chance. We loved the new Scarlet Witch series, but we overlooked one limited series that took us back to our "golden age" of the 70s and the 80s. Steve Skroce writer/artist | Bryan Valenza colours | Joe Sabino letters Marvel Comics, May 2023 Steve Skroce has drawing comics since the 90s. He's got Jack Kirby 's bombast and Geoff Darrow 's eye for detail. This makes him the perfect artist and writer for Clobberin' Time - the Marvel Two-In-One for our times (a Marvel Team-Up clone The Thing as teaming up with other Marvel characters). Skroce swung for the fences by starting off with Ben Grimm teaming up with his sometimes-adversary The Hulk - and he hit it. Clobberin' Time took us back to our youth when Marvel was event-free and didn't glut the stands (the 70s and 80s). There are many splash pages and two-panel pages that bring these larger than life characters to glorious life. Bryan Valenza gives us a Moebius vibe with his lighter, warm hues. We also gave Marvel's "Distinguished Competition" a shot with The Unstoppable Doom Patrol , Titans , and most recently (October 8th, 2023) Wonder Woman #1 (volume 6). Wonder Woman was the only Big-Two title I put on my sub. The work Tom King , Daniel Sampere , Tomeu Morey , and Clayton Clowes are doing just demand more coverage. I also couldn't resist the perfect variant cover by Chris Samnee . Of DC's trinity, Wonder Woman is the most ferocious and implacable. As we're on the subject of second issues, here's another recently one from another recently-reviewed series. Titan Comics rescued Conan The Barbarian from Marvel (where he had been made an Avenger). Jim Zub and Robert de la Torre have created adventures inspired by creators such as Roy Thomas , John Buscema , Barry Windsor-Smith , and Robert E Howard , but we get the Conan we've known (in comic books) for 50+ years on new, violent (and erotic) adventures. In fact, we did get all Hyborean this year. A month after getting Conan The Barbarian #1 we picked up
