Framed

I just remembered I should acknowledge the origin of the name of this venture...Back in 1963, artist Roy Lichtenstein painted this and called it Image Duplicator:

As has been noted by many since, the title is also a comment on the artwork, since this image was taken from existing artwork drawn by Jack Kirby for X-Men #1 (1963), and possibly a Bruno Premiani issue of Doom Patrol.

The difference between the two (besides the frame) is that while Lichtenstein gained great fame and fortune from this and similar "duplications" taken from the comics, the original artists who came up with the initial images worked in relative obscurity for very little cash.

For quite awhile, I was one of those who despised what Lichtenstein did...until I actually stood in the same room with these pieces at a museum retrospective of his work. Standing in front of them, you can see the close-up imitation of four-color printing he accomplished through making some dots lighter and some darker...the technique is very evident and impressive!

I don't hate him...but if I were in his place, I would've sent out a few checks to the original guys who made my career...I couldn't live with myself keeping all that money for something that wasn't totally originated by me!

Welcome To The Dollhouse

Ever since I was five years old, my life has been shaped by comic books, specifically the images from their brightly-colored covers, images that screamed out, "BUY ME! Take me home! I am the most awesome thing ever!"

And often, they were.

This is the first image that I can recall falling head-over-heels with:

The cover on the right was the cover to FANTASTIC FOUR #60 (March 1966), pencils by Jack Kirby and inks by Joe Sinnott.

I think the sheer power of the Thing and Dr. Doom pounding the crap out of each other in the foreground while the other characters looked on in awe grabbed me. This was my "gateway drug" into the wonderful world of comics...later to be followed by even more stupendous images, but you never really forget your first...

This little slice of the Internet will serve that part of me that wants to share and comment on terrific artwork that I have come across in my travels...some from my personal collection, some from other fans as well as found stuff on the web. Climb aboard whenever you have the time!