Tuesday, August 14, 2012

My Creative Yodas...Michael Golden

Howdy everyone...
Michael Golden's art blows me away.
If you've never seen his work (and I can't imagine how anyone who calls themselves a comic collector or enthusiast hasn't) you are missing out. His figure work is dynamic, graceful and full of expressive power. His background work is just as striking and his storytelling and design sense are what other professionals aspire to.



The first time I experienced his work was Avengers Annual #10. This book not only introduced me to his work, but also to Rogue, whom he co-created. It wasn't just the beuaty of his pencils, it was how expressive the people's faces were and how he made a punch look so powerful and painful. To me, the way he drew the Avengers and Spider-Woman was top-notch and was exactly how they should look if they were real people.



Michael Golden started at DC working on Mister Miracle and Batman Family. He eventually went to Marvel and cut his teeth on the Micronauts with Bill Mantlo. He only did 12 issues, but the work was so good. I know I lost interset in the book after he stopped drawing it.
After that, he did a lot of covers for different Marvel books, like Rom, Star Wars and Hulk and did some great interior work for the first two issues of Marvel Fanfare, Star Wars and some landmark work for Dr. Strange, including issue 55 where he fought D'yspare.
























During the 80's, Golden bounced between Marvel and DC, pencilling a Batman Special, written by Mike W. Barr, where the Dark Knight met his opposite number, the Wraith, an X-men Annual #7 featuring the Impossible Man and other work, including a return to Marvel Fanfare and The 'Nam with Larry Hama. He did another book with Hama for the Continuity Comics label called Bucky O' Hare, a funny animal book that was even better than DC's Captain Carrot and the Zoo Crew book and more imaginative.








More recently, Mr. Golden has continued doing different covers and some interior work for Marvel, DC and Topps. He's also done a cover for the recent Before Watchmen books that DC are putting out. His style has changed and become more sleek and Kirbyesque with the figures, but still retaining his signature detail and expression. His work is still awesome.
Back in 2010, I actually met him at Wizard World Chicago-Con and he critiqued my work. He even offered to do a more detailed critique if I was coming back the next day. (I wasn't, but I wish I could have!) The comments he made were very helpful and stick with me to this day. Michael Golden's work still blows me away and still makes me want to pick up a pencil and draw.























 


6 comments:

  1. glad you liked my little Rom/Man-Thing photoshop project. indeed Michael Golden will be one of the very best of all time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the comment...Yes I did like the ROM/Man-Thing pics...His newer stuff is kewl, but I admit I love his older stuff...either way, Michael Golden is one of the best artists EVER...

      Delete
    2. Thanks for the comment...Yes I did like the ROM/Man-Thing pics...His newer stuff is kewl, but I admit I love his older stuff...either way, Michael Golden is one of the best artists EVER...

      Delete
    3. Thanks for the comment...Yes I did like the ROM/Man-Thing pics...His newer stuff is kewl, but I admit I love his older stuff...either way, Michael Golden is one of the best artists EVER...

      Delete
    4. Thanks for the comment...Yes I did like the ROM/Man-Thing pics...His newer stuff is kewl, but I admit I love his older stuff...either way, Michael Golden is one of the best artists EVER...

      Delete
    5. Thanks for the comment...Yes I did like the ROM/Man-Thing pics...His newer stuff is kewl, but I admit I love his older stuff...either way, Michael Golden is one of the best artists EVER...

      Delete