A long-overdue homage to 70s superstar Jim Aparo, my childhood hero, in which I desperately try to restore his reputation with a focus on the mastery of his early work.
Aparo is my favorite Batman artist and I was always drawn to him as a kid. I will always pick up any of his issues if I can. I love the realism and the scale. His heros seemed…human. Not gross exaggeration.
Aparo is on my Mt Rushmore. His Batman is my personal definitive version. (As Swan’s Superman is as well) I bought everything he drew that I could off the spinner rack and shelves. I was fortunate enough to see some original pages at a convention once and it was AMAZING! One of the all time greatest comic artist when it came to water of all types. And his Phantom Stranger and Aquaman are equally definitive for me as well. Thanks for a spotlight on this brilliant workhorse that defined a large part of the DC Bronze Age for me.
I love the phantom art!! That’s how I started realizing who Jim aparo was and now I’m a fan of his art! I always look for Batman comics in the dollar bin by him! I got a spectre comic when I was a kid at a used bookstore and was so captivated on how he was drawn (it was an aparo comic) and then when I tried to get into spectre I got bummed with the boring drawings in other comics by different artists. Now as I’m older and started collecting comics with preferred artist in mind…it was an awesome full circle moment in my adulthood knowing who this man was
Man I remember Jim's drawing in the early pages of Knightfall. I mean he seemed so old school at the time. But now as an old school dude myself it's hard to not see how amazing he is.
Great video! I loved your analysis of the art as well as your clear enthusiasm for the artist. I'm a big Jim Aparo fan as well. A lot of artists had great specific Batman stories, but Aparo was THE Batman artist for me for quite a while. I have such clear memories of the Batman/Sgt. Rock story and absolutely loved the bonkers meta nature of the story. You didn't touch on it, but I loved his work on the Outsiders.
You don't have to recess Aparo for me. I knew he was a star when I was pulling his stuff from the 7-11 spinner when I was ten years old. Thanks for the great video. Nice to see him honored like this. Ive been a professional cartoonist for 32 years. I still collect photos from books and magazines rather than using google images. If I don't have exactly what I need, I "Short hand" it as you say. This gives the cartooning an original and surreal flavor that today's overproduced, stiff comics lack. Aparo also reminds me of the brilliant Giordi Bernet. I liked your segment advertising your books . It was very charming and funny. Best of luck with your book. again, thanks for your very sharp insights into Bronze Age cartooning and what makes great cartoonist's work, great!
Very nice examination of an underrated artist. I'm glad you focused on this era of "peak Aparo." The early '70s were his best period by far, simply because he had the time to pencil AND ink his stories. Once others started to ink his work in B&B (and elsewhere), his art lost its snap, its crispness. They simply couldn't match his inks, and his art suffered for it. And since the DC books at the time had very limited credits, they often omitted the name of the inker, which meant some readers (including me, I'm sorry to say) thought he was losing his touch. Now though, it's far easier for me to discern inking styles and to see when and where the "pure" Aparo art was published.
I don’t even think of Aparo when Death in the Family or Knightfall are mentioned. For me personally, some of my favorite childhood memories involve Aparo’s work on Brave & the Bold and, to a lesser extent, Aquaman.
Wow! I love this, I grew up on Batman from the late 70s and 80s. As I got into Batman, I would always look who did the art. Aparo and Adams plus Irv Novick seamed to be DC’s go to guys. Those were my favorites.
Awesome video! I’ve never known that many of the Batman artists and had no clue about this Jim Aparo guy and his work, definitely severely underrated and under discussed. Love his realism on the muscle definition and cape flow, real top notch stuff.
I'm a big Jim Aparo fan as well. I also dig Bob Haney on the Brave and the Bold. I was pretty young when those issues came out, so I wasn't aware of Bob Haney ignoring continuity. Didn't matter, because I was introduced to the less popular characters in DC and I loved it!
Aparo is the Batman artist I grew up on. He did a great job with the "light and dark" aspects of Batmans character. Loved his work on Batman and would buy Adventure comics for his art even though I wasn't an Aqua man fan.
When I was young and buying some of those comic books, Jim Aparo's weren't available to me. I didn't know he did artwork on Aquaman. I did know about The Spectre. And there were hardly any Brave & Bold Jim Aparo issues. I however was occupied with Jack Kirby's New Gods and Neal Adams Avengers and his (Adams) Green Lantern/Green Arrow issues. I really wanted more of those The Wrath of The Spectre issues.
thank you for this. when i was 12 in late september 1974 i started seriously collecting comic books. before that i just gor the occasional issue here and there. the first superhero artist that got my attention and my favorite was jim aparo. he drew everyone is such a cool and sleek style. except for kamandi i don't think i ever saw a character he couldn't draw to my liking. his art had a profound effect upon me. his was the style i measured all other comic artists by. back then it just semed like everyone loved aparo's work. it wasn't until the advent of the internet that i ever encountered any nay sayers for his work ... and i was shocked. by the time i started collecting in 74 neal adams was pretty much done except for maybe a rare cover here or there. i was able to approach aparo's work on it's own merits without any comparison to any other superhero artists. it is great to see that just maybe the tide is turning back in aparo's favor.
The first Aparo I was aware of was the Aquaman comic in the late 60s, and Phantom Stranger a little later. Not Adventure. Also, I could never mistake Aparo for Adams.
Thank you for this video! I Love Jim Aparo! The excitement that I had as a kid reading a B & B , heck, the excitement I get now is just as fresh and new as back then, as you showed here , it didn't get any better than this !!!!!! Excellent job on this video!
his boring panels (non action) are full of so much energy. I am looking at Toth artwork on google as I watch this video to compare - it's a small sample, and you stated he (toth) is considered better. I know that he is definently a far bigger name, but I think they are both on the same level artistically. An artist in comics is no different than an actor in hollywood. They all have skill levels but once they make it to the top its all about the movie (actors) or comic book (comic artist) they pick (or in case of comics what is picked for them) because they are both amazing artist with about the same skill level to me. Thank you for this video because I had either never heard or seen the work of this artist or his work just didn't catch my eye...
Thank God, someone finally does a video with decent recognition of Jim Aparo's art! In my opinion, nothing compares to Neal Adams... With the exception of Aparo! Just as good, and in some aspects, better. Much more dramatic, I'd say. Toth is great, if you look at scenarios and at things, but his characters seem lifeless, expressionless, compared to either Adams or Aparo, and Aparo is, in my view, even better than Adams, in expressions. On the other hand, Aparo is comparable to Toth, in handling things and scenarios. I wouldn't say that Aparo is better than Adams, for I wouldn't know what it means, "being better than Adams". Adams is at an absolute level. But "being just as good as Adams", that is pretty meaningful, very much meaningful, and probably true. Thanks for showing the details. You mentioned how much the Aparo's scenes would have stood in your memory, a very good point, that would be shared by anyone reading comics drawn by this comic-book art genius. Nobody could beat his work on House of Mystery, or on the Spectre and, by the way, especially on the Phantom Stranger. He may have been the first artist to have promoted Aquaman to the 1970's level of seriousness. DC in the 1970s really became serious stuff, just as much as Marvel, but DC did achieve it, without giving up to having its own personality, and they kept it going up until sometime in the 1980's. At some point, Marvel pushed its complexity yet to another level, and in my opinion, DC sort of went in panic and lost its soul, in a desperate attempt to be too much "Marvel-like". The catch word for DC is "Crisis", right? All their "Crises", up until "Crisis in Infinit Earths, were good, except for the fact that it endede up reflecting an identity crisis, and, together with their multiverse, they blew up ther identity. The permanent state of identity crisis is probably what is happening with the DC movies, as well. Anyways, Aparo has been, for me, the best symbol of the times when DC has developed a mature identity, an extraordinary one, with no "crises" about it.
The first Aparo I was aware of was the Aquaman comic in the late 60s, and Phantom Stranger a little later. Not Adventure. Also, I could never mistake Aparo for Adams.
Aparo is my favorite Batman artist and I was always drawn to him as a kid. I will always pick up any of his issues if I can. I love the realism and the scale. His heros seemed…human. Not gross exaggeration.
Highly underrated artist.
Aparo is on my Mt Rushmore.
His Batman is my personal definitive version. (As Swan’s Superman is as well)
I bought everything he drew that I could off the spinner rack and shelves.
I was fortunate enough to see some original pages at a convention once and it was AMAZING!
One of the all time greatest comic artist when it came to water of all types.
And his Phantom Stranger and Aquaman are equally definitive for me as well.
Thanks for a spotlight on this brilliant workhorse that defined a large part of the DC Bronze Age for me.
Great artist. I loved everything he did....but especially Phantom Stranger and his Aquaman run.
Jim Aparo is one of my favorite artists, especially on Batman. I really loved his Brave and the Bold run. Great work.
He was so awesome, definitely one of the greatest Batman artists!
I love the phantom art!! That’s how I started realizing who Jim aparo was and now I’m a fan of his art! I always look for Batman comics in the dollar bin by him! I got a spectre comic when I was a kid at a used bookstore and was so captivated on how he was drawn (it was an aparo comic) and then when I tried to get into spectre I got bummed with the boring drawings in other comics by different artists. Now as I’m older and started collecting comics with preferred artist in mind…it was an awesome full circle moment in my adulthood knowing who this man was
Fantastic job!
Besides Aparo, I feel Ross Andru was among the unsung heroes of the ‘70’s. I loved both artists.
Man I remember Jim's drawing in the early pages of Knightfall. I mean he seemed so old school at the time. But now as an old school dude myself it's hard to not see how amazing he is.
You bet your ass pal!
Jim Aparo is the definitive Batman artist and always will be.
Great video! I loved your analysis of the art as well as your clear enthusiasm for the artist. I'm a big Jim Aparo fan as well. A lot of artists had great specific Batman stories, but Aparo was THE Batman artist for me for quite a while. I have such clear memories of the Batman/Sgt. Rock story and absolutely loved the bonkers meta nature of the story. You didn't touch on it, but I loved his work on the Outsiders.
You don't have to recess Aparo for me. I knew he was a star when I was pulling his stuff from the 7-11 spinner when I was ten years old. Thanks for the great video. Nice to see him honored like this.
Ive been a professional cartoonist for 32 years. I still collect photos from books and magazines rather than using google images. If I don't have exactly what I need, I "Short hand" it as you say. This gives the cartooning an original and surreal flavor that today's overproduced, stiff comics lack.
Aparo also reminds me of the brilliant Giordi Bernet.
I liked your segment advertising your books . It was very charming and funny.
Best of luck with your book.
again, thanks for your very sharp insights into Bronze Age cartooning and what makes great cartoonist's work, great!
Very nice examination of an underrated artist. I'm glad you focused on this era of "peak Aparo." The early '70s were his best period by far, simply because he had the time to pencil AND ink his stories. Once others started to ink his work in B&B (and elsewhere), his art lost its snap, its crispness. They simply couldn't match his inks, and his art suffered for it. And since the DC books at the time had very limited credits, they often omitted the name of the inker, which meant some readers (including me, I'm sorry to say) thought he was losing his touch. Now though, it's far easier for me to discern inking styles and to see when and where the "pure" Aparo art was published.
I don’t even think of Aparo when Death in the Family or Knightfall are mentioned. For me personally, some of my favorite childhood memories involve Aparo’s work on Brave & the Bold and, to a lesser extent, Aquaman.
Same here. I bought an Aquaman collection(Adventure Comics) and there were some Spectre issues included that I was introduced to. Awesome stuff!
Outsiders and Batman's origin story for me.
Me 2
Excellent in depth look at Aparo!
Wow! I love this, I grew up on Batman from the late 70s and 80s. As I got into Batman, I would always look who did the art. Aparo and Adams plus Irv Novick seamed to be DC’s go to guys. Those were my favorites.
You're not wrong, but I also got into Don Newton & Gene Colan's work on the books. It was a good time to be a Batman reader!
Awesome video! I’ve never known that many of the Batman artists and had no clue about this Jim Aparo guy and his work, definitely severely underrated and under discussed. Love his realism on the muscle definition and cape flow, real top notch stuff.
Aparo has always been a favorite of mine. He is easily the equal of Neil Adams and many others.
I scanned Batman from the 30s to the 70s around 20 years ago. It was still floating around the net last i looked.
Aparo was my favorite as well was Norm Breyfogle. i know Adams was a legend but I preferred Aparo and Breyfogle. Even Mcfarlane did a great batman.
I'm a big Jim Aparo fan as well. I also dig Bob Haney on the Brave and the Bold. I was pretty young when those issues came out, so I wasn't aware of Bob Haney ignoring continuity. Didn't matter, because I was introduced to the less popular characters in DC and I loved it!
Aparo is the Batman artist I grew up on. He did a great job with the "light and dark" aspects of Batmans character. Loved his work on Batman and would buy Adventure comics for his art even though I wasn't an Aqua man fan.
When I was young and buying some of those comic books, Jim Aparo's weren't available to me. I didn't know he did artwork on Aquaman. I did know about The Spectre. And there were hardly any Brave & Bold Jim Aparo issues.
I however was occupied with Jack Kirby's New Gods and Neal Adams Avengers and his (Adams) Green Lantern/Green Arrow issues. I really wanted more of those The Wrath of The Spectre issues.
thank you for this. when i was 12 in late september 1974 i started seriously collecting comic books. before that i just gor the occasional issue here and there. the first superhero artist that got my attention and my favorite was jim aparo. he drew everyone is such a cool and sleek style. except for kamandi i don't think i ever saw a character he couldn't draw to my liking. his art had a profound effect upon me. his was the style i measured all other comic artists by. back then it just semed like everyone loved aparo's work. it wasn't until the advent of the internet that i ever encountered any nay sayers for his work ... and i was shocked. by the time i started collecting in 74 neal adams was pretty much done except for maybe a rare cover here or there. i was able to approach aparo's work on it's own merits without any comparison to any other superhero artists. it is great to see that just maybe the tide is turning back in aparo's favor.
The first Aparo I was aware of was the Aquaman comic in the late 60s, and Phantom Stranger a little later. Not Adventure. Also, I could never mistake Aparo for Adams.
Excellent and insightful assessment. Thanks, Skewesart. 👍
Aparo's Aquaman was kind of ignored here. That was some great art!
Love this video. New sub....looking forward to exploring your back catalogue of content.
Thank you for this video! I Love Jim Aparo! The excitement that I had as a kid reading a B & B , heck, the excitement I get now is just as fresh and new as back then, as you showed here , it didn't get any better than this !!!!!! Excellent job on this video!
Adoro Jim Aparo, desde criança ate' hoje (59 anos).
He was born in New Britain and lived in Southington CT.
his boring panels (non action) are full of so much energy. I am looking at Toth artwork on google as I watch this video to compare - it's a small sample, and you stated he (toth) is considered better. I know that he is definently a far bigger name, but I think they are both on the same level artistically. An artist in comics is no different than an actor in hollywood. They all have skill levels but once they make it to the top its all about the movie (actors) or comic book (comic artist) they pick (or in case of comics what is picked for them) because they are both amazing artist with about the same skill level to me. Thank you for this video because I had either never heard or seen the work of this artist or his work just didn't catch my eye...
3:59 MAn these Great Drawings and Inks!
My favorite Batman artist aside from Neal Adams.
Man, it's incredible how much you sound like privettricker (a.k.a. James James). Do you play guitar, by chance?
Jim Aparo was great. Except when rushed because he tended to give everyone the same face then.
Thank God, someone finally does a video with decent recognition of Jim Aparo's art! In my opinion, nothing compares to Neal Adams... With the exception of Aparo! Just as good, and in some aspects, better. Much more dramatic, I'd say. Toth is great, if you look at scenarios and at things, but his characters seem lifeless, expressionless, compared to either Adams or Aparo, and Aparo is, in my view, even better than Adams, in expressions. On the other hand, Aparo is comparable to Toth, in handling things and scenarios. I wouldn't say that Aparo is better than Adams, for I wouldn't know what it means, "being better than Adams". Adams is at an absolute level. But "being just as good as Adams", that is pretty meaningful, very much meaningful, and probably true. Thanks for showing the details. You mentioned how much the Aparo's scenes would have stood in your memory, a very good point, that would be shared by anyone reading comics drawn by this comic-book art genius. Nobody could beat his work on House of Mystery, or on the Spectre and, by the way, especially on the Phantom Stranger. He may have been the first artist to have promoted Aquaman to the 1970's level of seriousness. DC in the 1970s really became serious stuff, just as much as Marvel, but DC did achieve it, without giving up to having its own personality, and they kept it going up until sometime in the 1980's. At some point, Marvel pushed its complexity yet to another level, and in my opinion, DC sort of went in panic and lost its soul, in a desperate attempt to be too much "Marvel-like". The catch word for DC is "Crisis", right? All their "Crises", up until "Crisis in Infinit Earths, were good, except for the fact that it endede up reflecting an identity crisis, and, together with their multiverse, they blew up ther identity. The permanent state of identity crisis is probably what is happening with the DC movies, as well. Anyways, Aparo has been, for me, the best symbol of the times when DC has developed a mature identity, an extraordinary one, with no "crises" about it.
The first Aparo I was aware of was the Aquaman comic in the late 60s, and Phantom Stranger a little later. Not Adventure. Also, I could never mistake Aparo for Adams.