Bring on the back ups - Deadman by Neal Adams- Aquaman #50, 51, & 52

As the dark nights draw closer as we await the arrival of Winter I thought I would take the opportunity to check up on some of my old mystery/horror comics - in this case "Aquaman" issues 50- 52 from 1970. Although Aquaman is not a horror /mystery character the back up feature "Deadman" ticks that box for me. These 3 Aquaman comics contain some of the best art of any comic book at this time with all issues featuring a striking Nick Cardy cover with Jim Aparo on the main Aquaman strip, and the legendary Neal Adams on the back up Deadman tale - how lucky were we back inthe day? Below are some sample pages from the 3 issue Deadman tale - enjoy:

Above: the cover to Aquaman #50 which featured the first part of the 3 issue Deadman tale. I only purchased this issue a few weeks ago in Glasgow as part of my recent back issue binge.

Above: The cover to Aquaman #51 - This issue was one of the very first back issue purchases which I bought back in 1981/2 from AKA books and comics in Glasgow.

In a nice twist, the last part of this story links up to the then current Aquaman tale which featured Jim Aparo's art on some panels.

Above: The cover to Aquaman issue 52 (purchased around 1983 in AKA ) - Despite the excellent art and stories (and covers) amazingly the "Aquaman" title would only last for another 4 issues before it was cancelled.

Top Tens: Jim Aparo

From the first time I saw Jim Aparo’s art in the pages of DCs “The Brave and the Bold” #100 he has remained one of my favourite comic book artists of all time. His style was both realistic and yet at the same time cartoony which only added to the appeal of his storytelling. For many comic book fans Aparo’s Batman is the definitive version of the character, although that accolade for myself rests with the equally legendary Neal Adams, Jim Aparo will always be the artist that defined both Aquaman and the Spectre for me. Below are a few of my favourite covers by the great man:

Jim Aparo began his artistic career working in advertising at a Connecticut ad agency, but his true passion as a lifelong comic book fan was to become a comic book artist. In his pursuit of that goal he gained his first professional work with Charlton comics where he worked with the companies then editor Dick Giordano, providing art on (among other strips) “Nightshade” a female super-hero back-up feature that appeared in Captain Atom, and most notably on Charlton comics version of Lee Falk’s “The Phantom”.

When Dick Giordano moved to DC Comics, he took Jim Aparo with him where he worked on Aquaman and the Phantom Stranger. After seeing his excellent art on the Phantom Stranger, editor Murray Boltinoff asked Aparo to work on a Batman/Phantom Stranger team-up for “The Brave and the Bold” #98 - The rest is the stuff off comic book legend and Jim Aparo stayed on this title for almost every issue until the final 200th issue.

The mystery skier in the above cover was "Two Face"

I have shown Jim Aparo's covers for his excellent run on the Spectre when it appeared in "Adventure comics" . I couldn't leave out showing an Aparo Spectre cover and recenlty came across this issue of "Ghosts" #97 which features a great Aparo Spectre cover (sadly he didn't draw the actual strip).

Jim Aparo passed away in 2005 at the age of 72. His final work for DC during his life, was the cover of the trade edition of “Batman in the Eighties” published in 2004. To this day everytime I see one of his great covers, it always makes me smile.

Bring on the back ups. Ramona Fradon RIP

I was sad to read that Ramona Fradon passed away on 24 February. For todays comic book fans Ramona’s name may not be that well-known, but she was a pretty big deal in the 1950’s /1960’s where she worked for many years on DC’s Aquaman (in “Adventure” and Worlds Finest comics) before co-creating one of DCs strangest (and coolest) characters Metamorpho with Bob Haney. In 1965, Ramona left comics to raise her family before returning to the field again in the 1970’s working on DC titles including “Plastic Man”, “Super Friends” and “Freedom Fighters”, she even drew a fill in issue of Marvels “Fantastic Four” (#133). However, it was her work on DC’s mystery/horror titles like “House of Mystery “ where her clear uncluttered animation style art was really appealing on these types of stories. Among the many comic strips she drew for these titles my favourites was “The Spawn of the Devil” from “House of Mystery” #235. The story may lend from Rosemary's Baby and The Exorcist but it was as close to a genuinely scary story as DC's "House of Mystery" ever got. Enjoy:

Above: Cover to House of Mystery #235 by Luis Dominguez.

My first memory of Ramona’s work was in the Super DC Giant featuring Aquaman (S-26) special from 1971. I later became aware of her work when she returned to comics in the mid 1970’s where she provided some fun art and excellent covers for Plastic Man.