The Jack Adler Collection Of Comic Art!

This Auction Includes:
DOOM PATROL #122 Original Hand-Colored Cover Art AND Approval Cover to the first issue of the bronze-age series, a famous DC Comics cover!  The swamp creature is from right during the original heyday of Swamp Thing and Man-Thing, in the early seventies, shortly after Swamp Thing was first unleashed on the world in the pages of House of Secrets #92, another horror title from this same publisher;  Perhaps DC was cashing in on the popularity of Swampy, in a way that would get other publishers into legal trouble?!   Courtesy of Nick Cardy in 1973.  The painting has the original Due Date and Received Date hand-written on the back.   This is an unheard-of MATCHED PAIR for this cool old "Dark Secret of the Swamp" cover, which includes the ultra-rare COVER PAINTING along with the resulting APPROVAL COVER, STILL RETAINED TOGETHER FOR ALL THESE YEARS!  Not to be confused with modern reprint material used to create GN's or Essentials or TPB's or other re-issues, as offered by other sellers, our art is the historic material used to create the ORIGINAL FIRST PRINTINGS, back over forty years ago, in the good old days.  The painting has more hues than seen in the blander printed version.  Rare is the art for the cult-classic Swamp Thing books, and matched groupings of unique production artwork that feagture a copycat Swampy monster are virtually non-existent, so don't let this opportunity slip away!   Great composition, with striking paint work by Adler.    Incredible Find, Of The Original Painting Along With The Next Step In The Cover's Production, Still Kept Together!     Ready to frame and hang together on a wall, shelf, or desk.  You could matte them together or separately in a side-by-side grouping:  Conversation pieces of the highest order.  The intricate details and subtle paint variations are apparent when it's viewed in person;  Although some never made it to the final piece, the comic book, ~which is too bad!     The hand painted showpiece was watercolored by Jack Adler and is the original that was submitted by D.C. Comics to the printer (Sparta) at the start of seventies, for the creation of the classic front cover to the popular supernatural horror book.  The Approval Cover is in great shape, and must be seen in person to appreciate.  The painting has a tear at upper center, which is missing a little triangle of paper at the top edge, otherwise it's lovely.  Even in the famous Adler trove, there were extremely few MATCHED PAIRS such as this, with the original Painting and the resulting Approval Cover, kept together for all these years.    These historical items would be a noteworthy addition to any collection of comic-art or Swamp Thing or Green Man Thing ephemera, or to any diverse investment portfolio.  --'Nuff said!   Many of you have read about this significant find in C.B.M. and/or C.B.G.
(Comic Book Marketplace #85 or Comics Buyer's Guide #'s 1399, 1402, 1414, etc.)   We are secure packagers and prompt shippers so expect to be pleased.   Jack Adler worked through all the major periods of the comics: Golden-Age, Silver-Age, and Bronze-Age.  He even colored the plates for the very first golden-age comic, the landmark introduction of Superman, in Action Comics #1, back in 1938! He continued his freelance work, and eventually became DC Comics' premiere colorist, on staff from the early '50's through the mid '80's, and was head of the art department for much of his tenure. He graduated from high school at the age of fifteen, and quickly got a degree in fine art.   He became proficient at sculpting, pencilling, inking, painting, and photography. He pioneered the washtone/graytone effect which became so popular on the DC "Big Five" war titles of the fifties through the seventies. In addition, he inked hundreds of covers over several decades as well; such as dozens of G.I. Combat covers and the entire run of Sea Devils, for but a couple examples... (You'll also see his name on the front cover of Plop #18, which he did with Basil Wolverton!)  Moreover, he also developed the "3-D" process used on the Batman 3-D and Superman 3-D comics in 1953; --so we're talking about a major contributor to DC history.     During the summer of 2004, the living legend himself, Jack Adler, (thought by some to have passed away years prior), at the urgings of his kind family, made his very first public appearance, at the San Diego Comic-Con!  He was honored Thursday afternoon at the huge show with the Inkpot Award For Excellence for Outstanding Achievement In Comic Art, and a rousing standing ovation from the many onlookers at the panel of Golden-Age and Silver-Age Greats, hosted by Mark Evanier (of course!)  Besides just Mr. Adler, other noteworthy members on the entertaining and informative panel were Tom Gill (RIP), Sid Jacobson, Gene Colan, Frank Springer, Harry Harrison, and Frank Bolle.  On Friday at the Comic Con, there was a one-on-one panel, with just Mark Evanier and Jack Adler, titled "Spotlight On Jack Adler", and many questions were answered for the crowd of audience members, who were kept entertained by the charismatic and respected living legend.  It is amazing how many great names were hired on or got their start in the industry by him!  He also explained how he invented the 3-D image technology popularly used in Viewmasters, but was unable to get the deserved patent, as the film itself had been patented, (but not in a similar 3D format, so he got burned, as viewmaster was able to capitalize on his invention freely!)  Plus, the method that made integrating photo cover and line-drawn cover art easily into a single cover image was also pioneered by this influential innovator.  (The technology was supposed to be kept a secret, but was leaked immediately by a DC exec!)   Julius Shwartz had told him "don't tell me about it, just do it", and when it worked, it worked, and was immediately utilized, as the articulate and charming Adler related.  As an accomplished photographer, he created covers using photographs he had taken of his own grandchildren, producing his own copies of Shazam #2 and #6, which were displayed on an overhead projector to the glee of many enthralled listeners.  The picture of Captain Marvel on the comics' cover, sitting reading to the innocent youths, was actually of Jack Adler reading to his grandkids.  (These same grandkids were present at the panel, and turned out to be pleasant, gracious, and kind adults.)  Moreover, he highly touted the art skills of good friends Neal Adams and Joe Kubert, (relating entertaining stories, of course.)  He helped Kubert set up his now legendary School Of Comic Book Art. Once the school was set up, he was supposed to head the school, but had to back out, as he couldn't bring himself to move to New Jersey. You could write a book on the contributions Mr. Adler has made to the medium many of us know and love. Sadly, he passed away in September of 2011, at the age of 93.   Back in the "good ole days", DC normally burned or discarded such production art once the comic went to print.   However, during the period of 1967 to 1974, (with some exceptions dating earlier/later), this award-winning artist pulled aside many prime examples of production art, representing each step of the comic-making process. Nevertheless, there's an extremely small amount of these that were saved, considering the volume that was produced in those days. It is estimated that out of 840,000 pieces created for the production process over that time period, only about 4,000 or so survived, thanks to Jack Adler; ~A miniscule percentage of less than one half of one percent.    This unique lot includes the actual Hand-Colored Cover Art, (sometimes known as Cover Color-Guide), and resulting Approval Cover (which is slightly larger than comic-size, and is blank on reverse, used to proof the front cover image and text elements), one of the last steps before production of the actual comic-book, for a fan-favorite issue of this long running DC big five war title. The painting is mixed media, painted in watercolor onto a stat of the original pencils/inks, and it appears perhaps some acrylic paint and india ink as well, by the masterful Mr. Adler and/or Joe Kubert, to determine the colors to be used for the comic book's front cover.   In this rare case, you get both rare items, the original painting by the reclusive artist, AND the historic Approval Cover that it led to!   This is as rare as it gets: Only one such lot was created per cover, and attrition was high; Extremely few remain intact after all these decades.   Mr. Adler's grandson sold virtually all of his art collection in one fell swoop in Texas in the late eighties, which represented the DC Archives of Comic-Book Cover Production Art for that halcyon Silver & Bronze era! Then, years later, it changed hands again, with the vast bulk of the load still untouched... Eventually, in the year 2000, after lengthy negotiations, a longtime friend and myself, Robert Letscher, were able to acquire the whole load from the Southern California art collector who possessed this landmark find since 1997.  After his recent passing, Key Comics gained exclusive access to Mr. Adler's long-term home in Queens, and obtained the remaining treasures he'd held onto 'forever'...  Additional pieces can now be found by checking the other Key Comics ebay auctions.  Buy aggressively, as such items are truly one-of-a-kind, and pre-1984 DC production pieces as a whole are notoriously rare.   Individual signed & embossed cardstock Certificates Of Authenticity are included for both items, forever guaranteeing the provenance of each piece from this major historic discovery. Hand-colored Silver-age & Early-Bronze DC Covers are exceedingly rare in the market, and very impressive, as you can see brushstrokes and color variations, in some cases desired by the creator, which never make it to the final product... These items are slightly larger than comic-book size. Because they were part of the original raw artistic process, they can include chips, tack-holes, pasteovers, tape, indentations from a paper clip, staple-holes, white-out, pencil notations, and/or edge wear; These are the telltale signs of its important role in DC  comics history.  These items avoided most of the severe defects, as you can see in the large scans.   Great Attention To Detail In The Painting. Jack Adler was perhaps the top colorist of the day.  (Please see the informative color feature article on this historic pedigree collection in the September 2001 issue of Comic Book Marketplace magazine; We have a copy of the entertaining fan magazine running in another current ebay auction. And a recent issue of Alter Ego magazine, #56, has an interview with not only the legendary Adler, but also some of the many famous talents he influenced: Neal Adams, Howard Stern, and Joe Kubert.  ~ But I digress!)  The scanner makes the colors look bland and the lines appear blurry, --when these museum pieces are actually spectacular. This irreplaceable set is just as rare as the blander black & white twice-up art... ~ Buy accordingly.   Fabulous eye-appeal: High-quality paper was used. Bone-white whites and and nice rich colors! This is a must-have lot for any fan of ultra-rare DC collectibles, or original art fanatics, or the pedigree comic & art collector, or the serious cover-art buff, or just the Jack Adler Art fan who enjoys owning true rarities ~ to keep himself satisfied visually, while keeping his portfolio diversified in a novel dramatic fashion!   As Usual: LOW ASKING PRICE AND NO RESERVE!
KEY COMICS is a Power(GOLD)Seller and CBM Market Report contributor and CGC Member Dealer that has specialized in Mail-Order Comics for a quarter-century; Buy with confidence.   COMIC-ART FANS UNITE! We accept PayPal, checks/MO.

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