Tuesday, October 16, 2018
Decent Comics: "The Secret of the Black Orchid!" by Fleisher and Carrillo
Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! We're down to the final four Black Orchid stories of the Groovy Age, brought to you by the team of writer Michael Fleisher (with Russell Carley) and artist Fred Carrillo. From Phantom Stranger #38 (May 1975), here is..."The Secret of the Black Orchid!"
Black Orchid took a step downward artistically with each change of talent; from DeZuniga to Redondo to Carrillo. Of course starting out with uber talented DeZuniga made her so totally his own that any other rendition was always going to come out second best.
ReplyDeleteI like Tony de Zuniga's work, but, truth be told, he was a relentless photo tracer. Did it all the time in his DC work for the horror, war, western, & romance titles. Nestor Redondo was a superior draughtsman who drew his figures out of his head. He had s far greater command of human anatomy & gesture, and his drawings were always fluid. The only Filipino komiks artist who could give Nestor a run for his money was his predecessor Francisco Coching. He retired in 1973 in his early 50s to play golf & enjoy a life of leisure, as almost all of his komiks were hit titles which were made into films in that part of the world. Unfortunately none of Coching's stories have been translated into English. Gerry Alanguilan may have a few scans on his Filipino komiks website---definitely worth a look.
DeleteRegards,
Chris A.
There is an image on pg. 11 of his story "Captain Dracula" in "Weird War Tales" 18 that is clearly from a photo of Christopher Lee playing Dracula. I love that story and I love the art but I noticed that long, long ago.
DeleteI'm going to have to strongly agree to disagree with you. DeZuniga was the best of the Filipino artists and could hold his own with any of his American contemporaries. Check out House of Secrets # 94 for Tony at his best.
DeleteI remember it well. Drawn in duoshade, a Jekyll & Hyde riff, with lots of photo ref.
DeleteI'm an industry pro with 33 years of experience, not just drawing comics, but doing covers for the New Yorker and other top accounts.
I know whereof I speak.
Regards,
Chris A. (a nom de plume)
Whereas I have no credentials, other than being a comic collector for 53 years. I know good art and DeZuniga was among the best. So what if he did photo reference? That is a knock? His work was vital and exciting for decades. Loved his inking on Buscema during their run on Thor. And his solo work was second to none, particularly in Marvel's black and whites. I have a feeling your opinion is in the minority.
DeleteFred Carrillo draws well when using photo reference, but when he doesn't - as is the case on page 6, panel 5 - things get wonky.
ReplyDeleteStill, he did a fine job.
Regards,
Chris A.
Dear Chris A., Jeez, with all the clues you gave between your manner of writing and your resume et al., you may as well have just used your real name. Regardless, when Rich Buckler died was when I first read the term "swiping" as pertaining to his "work" which lead me to Bob Kane's indiscretions which then lead to Rob Liefeld's dreck. Call it plagiarism, borrowing or what-have-you, I understand it's a tough way to make a living, having to bang out so many acceptable pages per month on a deadline. Still in all, us kids (I was born in 1960) plunking down our10,15,20,25 cents and so on I think expected original content. It's cheating. Oh well, welcome to the real world.
DeleteRich Buckler was great in Deathlok and Avengers # 102 - 104. But his decision to do Kirby lite in FF greatly diminished him and ruined his reputation for the rest of his career. A shame really, since he started out with such promise. Also Avengers # 106 inked by Cockrum was absolutely amazing.
DeleteWith a title like "The Secret of the Black Orchid" and that final page, readers must have thought Ronnie was a big reveal. Sadly, it was not.
ReplyDelete