Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been talking to my writing partner Chad about how “Grounded” seems like the kind of premise that would’ve been a lot of fun back in the Silver Age, and that led to this: a look at what 8 current comics might’ve looked like if they came out 45 years ago!
Not that anyone really cares about the process of my photoshoppery, but this one was a little more work than you might think. I did most of the lettering in a font I have based on the incredibly prolific Silver Age letterer Ben Oda, but the actual elements (like the word balloons) were pulled off of the covers of late ’50s/early ’60s DC Comics. I couldn’t find a clean version of the signature “finger boxes” (usually seen on the cover of The Flash) from the era, so I used the ones from the recent Flash #3, while the “Featuring a Great Three-Part Novel” was pulled from the interior of a Superman Annual that reprinted the first Brainiac – Luthor Team story.
So there you go: A ton of work to make it look like I just slapped some nonsense on solicitation art. Enjoy!
“Superman’s Pal, Scott Pilgrim“
*sigh* Literally just yesterday I was brooding about how Yesterday’s comics would give you five or six separate stories for a buck, while today you have buy the $15-20 TPB or follow the damn book PLUS the crossovers for at least a year. CAN’T ANYBODY TELL A STORY IN *ONE* GODDAMN ISSUE ANYMORE!?
Look at the kids lines. For 10 or 15 years, the “kids” comics have been not only the gateway for the best new writers, they’ve been the last bastion of the one-shot story.
Cometothinkofit, there WAS a story in the Superman newspaper strip where Prankster LEGALLY enjoined Supes from flying. Why? Because Supes didn’t have a pilot’s license!
I particularly like the “way-out weirdies.” Oh, Bob Haney–nobody did it better.
Great series of pictures but I was disappointed there weren’t any Marvel books featured. Think how awesome Grim Hunt would be with some bombastic Stan Lee hyperbole.
I should have added—Nice work, Chris! I was actually wondering where you got the word balloons from when I was reading it, so it’s nice to see the explanation.
Looking at this I can easily picture a silver age story where Batman decides to walk across the United States for charity
They have night-walks for breast cancer. Oracle and the Pink Ribbon Parade?
//\Oo/\\
This reminds me of my idea I had to tell the entire “Death and Life of Superman” story in one issue, complete with Silver Age versions of Doomsday and all four Supermen. :)
Awesome work.
What I think is telling is how the Return of Bruce Wayne cover is actually an accurate depiction of the true contents of the book!
I loved these, though I did shed a tear at ATOM COPS OUT. Poor Ryan Choi. I unexpectedly happened upon the new Atom backup in Adventure Comics last week and nearly spit blood à la Atrocitus.
“The Dead-Beat Dad of Gotham City” will never not be funny.