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Topic: Artists (story , art and words) when you first met the characters Post ReplyPost New Topic
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John Byrne
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Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 135168
Posted: 26 August 2025 at 4:58pm | IP Logged | 1 post reply
All right—confession of geezerhood…

Superman: Wayne Boring and Curt Swan, in one of those hardcover black and white “annuals” from my childhood in England. Curiously enough, the Swan stories were actually from JIMMY OLSEN.

Batman: Dick Sprang, in another British reprint, not hardcover but in color.

The Flash: Carmine Infantino, in whichever issue introduced the Weather Wizard.

Green Lantern: Gil Kane, in his first SHOWCASE appearance.

Hawkman: Joe Kubert, in his first BRAVE & BOLD appearance.

Aquaman: Ramona Fradon

The Atom: Gil Kane, first SHOWCASE.

Sea Devils: Russ Heath

Metamorpho: Ramon Fradon

Fantastic Four: Jack Kirby (issue 5)

Spider-Man: Steve Ditko (issue 1)

Doctor Strange: Steve Ditko

X-Men: Jack Kirby (issue 1)

Iron Man: Don Heck

Thor: Joe Sinnott

Hulk: Jack Kirby (issue 4)

Sgt Fury: Jack Kirby

Nick Fury agent of SHIELD: Jack Kirby

Gonna stop there. Makes me SO old, but I am glad to have been there!

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John Byrne
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Grumpy Old Guy

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Posted: 26 August 2025 at 5:01pm | IP Logged | 2 post reply
Sidebar: those SHOWCASE and BRAVE & BOLD issues felt special to my young self. Like I was being given a peek behind the curtain…
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Michael Penn
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Posted: 26 August 2025 at 6:00pm | IP Logged | 3 post reply
You got to see, first times out, basically the definitive artists for each character...! 
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John Byrne
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Grumpy Old Guy

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Posted: 26 August 2025 at 6:03pm | IP Logged | 4 post reply
And I am happy to report it all seemed very exciting at the time!
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Mark Haslett
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Posted: 26 August 2025 at 7:21pm | IP Logged | 5 post reply
Fate put pocket books and reprints in my way. I ran into a lot of original
creators by accident:

Spider-Man - Ditko
Hulk - Kirby
Fantastic Four - Kirby
Flash - Carmine Infantino
Doctor Strange - Ditko

Superman - Curt Swan
Batman - Neal Adams (Power Records)
Captain America - John Byrne ( 50th anniversary was 1st issue I picked up)
Daredevil - Miller
X-Men -Byrne
Deadman - Adams
Shadow - O’Neil/ Kaluta
Green Lantern/ Arrow - Grell


That’s the steam train that ran me over!
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Michael Penn
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Posted: 26 August 2025 at 7:30pm | IP Logged | 6 post reply
Similar to my experience, Mark, but I'm little surprised that your first Captain America was by JB when you got a chance to see so many other earlier artists. 
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Mark Haslett
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Posted: 26 August 2025 at 11:02pm | IP Logged | 7 post reply
Michael: I'm little surprised that your first Captain America was by JB when
you got a chance to see so many other earlier artists.

**

I guess it depends what we mean by “met” because I was aware of the
character from ads for the Kirby run on Cap&Falcon and it just looked too
intense for me. The Captain America serial had been in TV and I watched
one episode- and he died! (I wasn’t aware how cliff hanger endings worked-
my friend watched with me and we figured that was how hos show worked-
weird, but true). I never ventured into reading any of Cap’s stories until
someone gave me that anniversary issue. That’s when I feel like I “met” him
as more than a guy in a costume.
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Evan S. Kurtz
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Posted: 26 August 2025 at 11:02pm | IP Logged | 8 post reply
You know, I'm not even sure I can hazard a guess in most cases.

I know that the first two Superman comics I ever read came from my dentist office. One was a Pre-Crisis Superman drawn by Curt Swan, where Superman temporarily replaced himself with a robot version, I think? Like, a Superman-X, perhaps? The other was Adventures of Superman #442, a Byrne and Ordway story involving Psi-Phon and Dreadnaught (and I literally am piecing together only at this moment the intended pronunciation of Psi-Phon, as created by Mr. Bye-ruh-nay himself). 

Best I can really do is tell you the artists I associate with my early days reading the comics.

Spider-Man - Bagley.
Superman - Jurgens, Bogdanove, Grummett, Guice. 
Fantastic Four - Paul Ryan.
X-Men - honestly can't say for sure. Maybe Portacio? Possibly the Kubert brothers?

I mean, I started avidly collecting comics when I was 11 or 12, in or around 1992. 
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Victor Manuel Fernandez Patiño
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Posted: 27 August 2025 at 3:16pm | IP Logged | 9 post reply
Please don't try to understand the chronological order of
my first encounters with comic book artists and writers.
In Mexico, it was very rare for publishers to publish
series in an orderly (and in some cases even legal)
manner. That said:

Fantastic Four: Gerry Conway / John Buscema / Joe Sinnot
Spider-Man: Gerry Conway / Gil Kane / John Romita
Superman: Curt Swan
Batman: Neal Adams
Jamie Olsen: Jack Kirby
X-Men: Stan Lee / Jack Kirby
Iron Man: George Tuska
Daredevil: Gene Colan
Iron Fist: C.C. / John Byrne
Legion of Super-Heroes: Jim Starlin (using a nom de
plume)
Avengers: Stan Lee / Jack Kirby
Wonder Woman: José Delbo
SuperFriends: Ramona Fradom
Conan: Roy Thomas / Barry Smith / Sal Buscema
Hulk: Marie Severin / Herb Trimpe
Namor: Gene Colan
Dial H of Hero: M.W. / Carmine Infantino
Spider-Woman: M.W. / Carmine Infantino
Supergirl: Jim Mooney
Aquaman: Jim Aparo
Blue Beetle: Paris Cullins
Warlord: Mike Grell
John Carter: Carmine Infantino
Tarzan: John Buscema
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Peter Hicks
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Posts: 2065
Posted: 27 August 2025 at 5:25pm | IP Logged | 10 post reply
“ Sidebar: those SHOWCASE and BRAVE & BOLD issues felt special to my young self. Like I was being given a peek behind the curtain…”
***********
I collect Silver Age comics.  Among those who share my interest, Showcase and early Brave and the Bold are the titles that separate the men from the boys.  There are oh so many first appearances, and new beginnings for old Golden Age characters.  Collecting Superman or Batman from the 60s is far easier and cheaper than Showcase or early Brave and the Bold.
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Brian Miller
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Joined: 28 July 2004
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Posts: 31762
Posted: 27 August 2025 at 6:00pm | IP Logged | 11 post reply
Other than the X-Men and Iron Fist, I truly have no idea. X-Men was
Cockrum and Iron Fist was JB. Most DC characters I met thru television
before I ever saw a comic book and I don’t have a clue what my first comic
featuring those characters would be. I did have a Batman Book & Record set
that had Man-Bat in it that I’m sure was a reprint of a comic issue and was
probably done by Adams/Giordano. So maybe that. Other than the X-Men
and Iron Fist, I couldn’t really say where I saw anyone else’s first
appearance.
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John Byrne
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Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 135168
Posted: 27 August 2025 at 6:02pm | IP Logged | 12 post reply
I’ll say, too, that the title THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD filled my young self with a kind of wonder. It was just so COOL.
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