Unused Pin-up for Marvel Fanfare

 Way back when, I was asked by editor Al Milgrom to do a portfolio for Marvel Fanfare featuring all the metallic characters from the Marvel universe. This page was my first shot at Dr. Doom, which I abandoned after I realized that the background composition should be more technological than mystic, keeping more in line with the theme of the portfolio.

Unpublished iron Man #240 COVER

 As you can see, the original version of the cover had the characters much closer to the camera than the published one.

The editor felt that we didn’t get the full impact of the situation. Ultimately, I agreed, mostly due to the fact that I felt the crouched I.M. looked too small, even though he was proportional to the other characters.

IRON MAN'S COLLECTION OF HELMETS

I was asked to do this illustration by long-time Iron Man fan, Larry Clay of Germantown, WI.

Larry asked to have Tony Stark contemplating which helmet he was going to don in the drawing. I thought it was a clever idea and, considering the variety of helmets this character has worn over the years, an appropriate one.

IRON MAN #1 COVER RECREATION

I got an e-mail from a local Florida resident, Jennifer Milone, asking for this piece for her husband's birthday. Her letter was so sincere and thoughtful that I just couldn't say "no". This is obviously based on the original Gene Colon classic--but I couldn't help adding a few Layton touches to the final piece, as you can see. Hey, Nick--Happy Birthday from all your fellow Iron Man fans!

 Unpublished Amazing Spider-Man #262 Cover

 This unused cover was from an issue of Amazing Spider-Man that was also written and penciled by me. As you may recall, this scene was the basis for the photo cover of that issue featuring stuntman Scott Leva as the web-slinger.

I was asked to draw this cover as a back-up in case the photo didn’t work out.

X-MAGNUSES

This piece was a commission from Swedish Valiant connoisseur' Magnus Ramstrom.

Obviously, he has a soft spot for characters who are his namesake, in this case Magneto from the X-Men and Magnus: Robot Fighter. 

Magnus asked me to recreate a scene from a classic X-Men cover originally done by John Byrne and me.

So-- here my redo of X-Men #113...with a Swedish twist.

X-O MANOWAR JAM BOARD

This piece was also commissioned by Swedish Valiant connoisseur' Magnus Ramstrom. What you can't see is that the actual drawing is on a board measuring 20"X 26".Magnus asked me to start a jam board that he could send to various former Valiant artists that would eventually become a giant mural of all the Valiant characters done by the original artists.

Dark Knight of the Round Table unused art

This piece was originally done as part of the editorial pitch for the DC Batman Elseworld series by Giordano and me, but was never used.

Actually, I did two pieces for the pitch—one of which wound-up as a back cover to one of the two issues.

For Sale--$200.00

TALES OF SUSPENSE #39 RECREATION

This cover recreation was ordered by someone who had to cancel the order due to an emergency in the family. Obviously, it’s a recreation of the classic Kirby/Heck cover to the very first appearance of Iron Man in the Marvel Universe. As usual, I took a few artistic liberties with the final composition—like removing some of the God-awful cover blurbs.

AVENGERS SAMPLE PAGE

This is a page that I did shortly after Editor Tom Brevoort offered me the inking assignment on the Avengers.

In order to get myself in to mindset to do the book, I drew this page of classic Avengers characters.

TUSKA'S IRON MAN vs. KANG PAGE

This is one of four pieces that my ol' buddy and #1 Iron Man fan, Daren Domina, asked me to ink from his private collection.

Unlike the other pieces (below), I took some liberties with this one, like adding the background elements and extending a couple of the figures, in order to better balance out the entire composition.

HERCULES: PRINCE OF POWER SINGLE FIGURE COMMISSION

This piece was commissioned by big time Hercules fan, L. Lee Hymn.

Lee was very specific about how he wanted the Lion of Olympus posed, so I did my best to accommodate him.

Actually, I had so much fun drawing Herc again, I did the piece much larger than Lee paid for (not that I'm going to hear any complaints from him about it...)

HERCULES GRAPHIC NOVEL WRAP-AROUND COVER

I recently found this double-page spread while sorting thru some old boxes of art from my ‘80’s stint at Marvel.

This was done as the original cover to my 1988 graphic novel, ‘ " Full Circle ”.

As it turned out, no one broke the bad news to me that we were not allowed to do wrap-around covers on graphic novels. After I lamented the enormous waste of time, I tossed it into a box and went on with the show.

And there it sat—until today. All in all, I personally like it this cover better than the final, published version.

UNPUBLISHED IRON MAN COVER BY KIERON GRANT

This is another of four pieces that #1 Iron Man fan, Daren Domina, asked me to ink. I referred to this as "The Wonky Iron Man page" when I was corresponding with Daren about it--mainly because I find Grant's figure construction...curious.

However, I can see the merits of this piece .

IRON MAN VS. KANG PENCILED BY DAVID ROSS

This is the third piece that Mr. Domina commissioned me to ink. Now, for those who may not be aware--Dave Ross is a ol' buddy of mine from the Valiant days and we've worked together several times, including an issue of Captain America a few years back.  Dave is one of those pencillers that it's a breeze to ink and I've always enjoyed his dynamic compositions.