Friday, July 21, 2006

An homage to Herb Trimpe

Now I'll openly admit that I got into comics a little later than most. There were plenty of false starts mind you. I remember reading Batman when I was two or three (I was reading at two. Yeah, I'm a freak) and then later on reading the new G.I. Joe kick-off when I was around five or six. But it wasn't until I was in middle school that I really started to enjoy the craft again with the wherewithal to feed my soon to be sick addiction. It was right around the time that The Punisher was getting his own series (which reminds me that all my issues disappeared. Probably into my brother's collection) that I started going weekly to my local comic shop. I'd have to sneak away there from time to time because my mother didn't appeciate or understand why I was wasting my money on funnybooks. (The irony of her statement is that she had a huge collection that her brother threw out when she was in the hospital for almost a year. Zounds, the issues lost to me from that episode alone.) That's why I'm loving the Essentials that Marvel's putting out along with the Showcases that DC is. They're giving me the opportunity to rediscover my childhood all over again and to truly appreciate those who have come before us. Sure everyone knows Jack Kirby, Ditko and Buscema. But some of us missed out on other greats like Ross Andru and Herb Trimpe (John Severin goes without saying, since I knew him from Cracked.) It's one of the greatest boons to be able to go back and learn from these past masters and see how they affected our artists of today.

I was laid out after a biking spill, lounging on the couch watching horror movies with a Hulk Essential and my sketchbook. I whipped up this Hulk drawing, luckily before the painkillers kicked in, as an homage to Mr. Trimpe, who was there when I rediscovered my love for the green gargantuan. I thank you, good sir.

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