One more of my favorite comic book covers. Next Wednesday, I'll try to get a cool pulp magazine or paperback piece for this slot, but this week, we've got a memorable Blackhawk cover by my pal, Rick Burchett.This particular incaranation of the Blackhawk character is not my favorite, spinning out of a three-issue miniseries by Howard Chaykin that re-imagined the WWII aviator as bit of an asshole. While I like a lot of Chaykin's work, it's pretty clear that he doesn't really believe in "heroes," at least not the usual, idealistic types found in traditional comic books, and his version of Blackhawk reflected that cynicism. The monthly comic benefitted from strong art by Rick, though, and I especially like this montage cover.
I've always loved the sharp sense of graphic design in Rick's work, and it's particularly evident here.
ADDENDUM: Here's a great Blackhawk fan site, with a complete history of the comic and character, extensive cover galleries and tons of trivia. There's even a section devoted to Rick's art on the book.
Pontalba is a local name down here in New Orleans. Interesting. I wonder if there is a connection.
ReplyDeleteYou should consider doing a history of the comics. Your knowledge is vast.
I didn't read Blackhawk, although I did pick up Chaykin's mini-series. I love Burchett's art. He is great at design and his drawings are so clean and simple [a la Toth].
ReplyDeleteGreat cover!
The Evanier / Speigel run on Blackhawk was an awful lot of fun. Just some nice, solid, packed issues of good old WWII fun. (well, it's not all fun..)
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