Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Black and White Wednesday: "The Last Sorcerer" by Archie Goodwin and Alex Nino

Last Wednesday, we looked at Jim Starlin's "Alex Nino phase", so I thought this Wednesday we'd focus on actual Alex Nino art. I dug up a real gem for ya this time, Groove-ophiles! It's from Creepy #112 (cover-dated October, 1979) and written by the late, great Archie Goodwin (who'd made his triumphant return to Warren after his gig as editor-in-chief at Marvel). "The Last Sorcerer" is pure Nino: the "wide screen" layouts (decades before Hitch and the boys made it "kewl"); the funky-cool cross-hatch work; the weirdest worlds this side of Steve Ditko; the magnificent detail; the masterful use of negative space and spotting blacks... Groove on this, baby--it's the real thing!
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4 comments:

  1. AnonymousFebruary 11, 2009 at 9:50 AM

    thanks so much GA. nino is tha man! i have never seen this story before. it's a great one. the problem with alex nino is that his work is so scattered it's tough to find it all. i'll keep trying, though.

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  2. BooksteveFebruary 11, 2009 at 6:44 PM

    I...respect Nino as an artist. I...I really do. That said, however, I'm sorry to say that I've never warmed to his style and I found this to be virtually unreadble. Sigh.

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  3. AnonymousFebruary 12, 2009 at 8:32 AM

    Wow! Thanks for posting these. I think I've got this issue in my CREEPY collection -- I'll have to dig it out of storage so I can ogle it in person again. Nino is a tremendous artist.

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  4. The Groovy AgentFebruary 13, 2009 at 5:21 PM

    I'll find and post all I can for ya, Andy. My plan next week is to post the highlights from the Rampaging Hulk Starlin/Nino collaborarion. You will be here for that, won'tcha?

    Nino is an aquired taste, Booksteve! His layouts are pretty challenging. But man, do I love his linework and inking style!

    Glad you dug the post, Pop-Monkey! Like I told Andy, more Nino to come! (Captain Fear, anyone?)

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Special thanks to Mike's Amazing World of Comics and Grand Comics Database for being such fantastic resources for covers, dates, creator info, etc. Thou art treasures true!


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