Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Black and White Wednesday: Jeff Jones' "Sleep"

Hey, hey, hey! Here's another winner from the wonder that is Psycho #21, aka The 1974 Nightmare Summer Special. This time the spotlight falls on "Sleep" (originally published in Nightmare #6) by the incredible Jeffrey Jones. With a plethora of out-of-this-world comics and cover paintings, Jones (along with Studio mates Barry Windsor-Smith, Mike Kaluta, and Bernie Wrightson) helped elevate the public perception of our humble medium into a bona fide art form during the Groovy Age. Jones' mastery of shape and shadow is just as mind-blowing today as it was back in then.

See?

8 comments:

  1. Such a trip -- along with Joe Bloke's Grantbridge site, your page is the business.

    Nice one,and thanks for taking the time to get these pages online.

    Gnostic.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, Groove! This story and another by Jones ("Explored") are the two things I've most searched for online. If you ever decide to post Jim Aparo's three Nightshade back-ups or the three Creeper stories that appeared as back-ups in Adventure 445-447 or thereabouts (hey, DC's never gonna reprint 'em), you'll have a fan for life! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Explored" was not one of Jones' best, but you can see it in IMAGINATION #1 (and the rest of this 1971 fanzine) here:

      http://stendec8.blogspot.com/2012/02/imagination-1-1971-with-neal-adams-jeff.html

      The story was reprinted (with colour added) in Pacific Comics' RAVENS AND RAINBOWS #1 in 1983 (which featured a number of Jones reprints).

      Regards,

      Chris A.

      Delete
  3. Prepare to chain yourself to this blog, Groove-ophile...Those Creeper stories from Adventure are in the works as we speak! (The Aparo Nightshade back-ups aren't a bad idea, either!)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Do you have the 8 page Jeff Jones story "All the Ways and Means to Die"? It was published in PSYCHO #9 in November, 1972 by Skywald. "Sleep" shows that Jones had entered his mature drawing style, and the aforementioned story was drawn three issues later. Would love to see it!

    Chris A.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ditto that one, "All the Ways and Means to Die." Never before heard of it, let alone seen it. Got it, Groove? Lay it on us, man!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ask and ye shall receive! Coming next Wednesday (3/27/13)!

    ReplyDelete
  7. The last page reminds me of the closing scene of "The Boy who Predicted Earthquakes," a season two episode of Night Gallery. Very similar vibe & melancholy in a groovy way.

    Regards,
    Chris A.

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Blog Widget by LinkWithin
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!


Note to "The Man": All images are presumed copyright by the respective copyright holders and are presented here as fair use under applicable laws, man! If you hold the copyright to a work I've posted and would like me to remove it, just drop me an e-mail and it's gone, baby, gone.


All other commentary and insanity copyright GroovyAge, Ltd.

As for the rest of ya, the purpose of this blog is to (re)introduce you to the great comics of the 1970s. If you like what you see, do what I do--go to a comics shop, bookstore, e-Bay or whatever and BUY YOUR OWN!