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Because my seven-issue run on Captain Marvel will soon be reprinted as part of a Marvel Masterworks edition, I pulled out the original art I’d received for having written those issues. I don’t recall the full details of what share of the finished art the penciller and inker received, but I ended up with two pages per book. And sometimes the backs of those pages are as interesting as the fronts.
On the flip side of page 10 from issue #49—the first issue I wrote—is a rough pencil sketch of the villain The Cheetah.
I assume the sketch is by Al Milgrom, the penciller for that issue. Here’s what the character looks like inked and in color, as seen from his introduction on the cover of Captain Marvel #48, which is the previous issue.
The supervillain only appeared in a few panels of Captain Marvel #49, and not in any pose similar to the above sketch.
I don’t know why Al (if indeed it was Al) roughed out that sketch, but comic book artists used to do this kind of thing all the time, either to loosen up before drawing the actual assignment, or to test out a pose, or create a costume reference, or simply to doodle. (John Buscema’s back-of-the-page sketches were amazing.)
I’m surprised there isn’t already a site out there collecting all known examples of this. Since I can’t find any such site by Googling, if you happen to spot one, point it out to me, OK?
And if you don’t spot one—why not start one?
Apologies for my grammatical errors above. Self-editing is not my long suit, and I may have a little bit of free-floating dyslexia.
It was probably Kirby that made me want to become a comic book artist. But I spent a lot of hours with that book by Stan and John. The covers fell off. I tried to absorb as much as I could, the stick figures and the head. Finally, shortly before I gave up and just enlisted, I drew a story fragment where Howard the Duck was walking down the street with Adam Warlock. I don’t remember why! I was going for a Gene Colan, Dr. Stange type of vibe. I was trying to become a little bit more of a minimalist, although before you can suggest or imply a figure or an image, you actually have to do learn how to draw it correctly in the first place!
Also, drawing Manhattan is HARD. I’m from the Midwest. How come there weren’t any superheroes in Nebraska?
mlpost
Albert Bigley’s site recently posted some of John Buscema’s warm up sketches, maybe you saw that post.
Funny thing, I spent a couple quite a few years as a kid and even a teenager in the ’80’s wanting to be a comic book artist, studying the greats, often aping them, drawing pages and pages on my drawing board. I even went so far as to request info (and receiving it) from Joe Kubert’s school. In the end, I lost my nerve and enlisted in the army, and then life, being what it is, led me to other places.
But I still enjoy the art, and seeing John Buscema’s warm-up drawings puzzle me a bit, because it didn’t look like he needed to warm-up!
I guess it was just something he maybe liked to do, like many of us like having a cup of coffee thing first in the morning.
Buscema was obviously one of the guys I studied, along with his brother Sal, Gene Colan, Starlin, Jack Kirby, obviously, and many others.
But that John Buscema seemed to make it look so effortless, somehow!