OMAC - The One-Man Army Corps!

Here's a commission I completed in 2021 for a collector of OMAC, Jack Kirby's quasi-loopy DC comic from the early 1970s, which was aborted somewhat prematurely for Jack's heralded return to Marvel and Captain America in time for the Bicentennial. Those DC Kirby comics -- namely, his improbably run on Jimmy Olson -- were some of the first comic books I could call my own. Although lacking the sparkly of Stan Lee's "Master of Ceremonies" scripting, they were some of the mature Jack's most energetic and creative work. This 14" x 17" commission, which came to me online, was begun during the afternoon lull at the 2021 Akron Comic Con as a lone pencil figure, then completed at home.

Patriotic Pen and Ink: An Orphaned Commission!

Perhaps it's all the deep divisions right now in this great land of ours, or (more likely) my own perverse prankishness, but when a collector contacted me about doing a commission over the weekend with instructions that he wanted me to be me, this is the idea I woke up with this morning. So, I let 'er rip. Unfortunately, at the pencil stage (below), said collector balked, informing me that he was "really not a Marvel fan." Okay. So I went ahead and inked it anyway.

SpideyCat and the Chopper Cube: Marvel Samples Then and Now!

I started reading comics in earnest at the age of ten in the summer of 1972. The first comics I devoured were from the Marvel Comics Group with the cover date of September. Virtually the last comic book on the spinner rack at Howard's Drugs at Six Mile and Inkster Road in my neighborhood of Livonia, Michigan--with a Marvel banner that I hadn't read already--was Amazing Spider-Man #112, which I bought somewhat reluctantly. I don't know what it was that turned me off of Spider-Man; maybe it was the awful Ralph Bakshi Saturday morning cartoon of some years before, with the dreadful theme song that still haunts the current Marvel movies.

Adventures of Nick and Megs: Two Recent Commissions!

Here are a couple recent commissions I did for fans at Lawn Con 5 in Youngstown, Ohio on October 5, 2014. The first I did in advance of the show for Bill Lait, the second I drew on site for Mark Sweetwood. The first is a parody of Neal Adams' "Kryptonite Nevermore!" cover for Superman #233 (January 1971); the second is my interpretation of Nick Fury in his black rubber latex suit. I was a bit worried that doing all that Neal Adams feathering would affect my work for the next sixth months, but the cool outdoor temperatures of a rust-belt Indian Summer had me reverting to a rather straightforward Kirby-Romiat roundhouse style in no time! Great fun and good times.

Pen and India Ink, watercolor and colored pencil on Strathmore 400 Drawing, 11" x 14". Collection of Bill Lait.

Pen and India Ink on Strathmore 400 Drawing, 11" x 14". Collection of Mark M. Sweetwood.

I've been very lucky to have received numerous commissions and freelance assignments in 2014, and I am humbled and grateful for every one! If you would like to own an original piece of my art and would like me to draw something for you, please look over my commission price list and contact me with your request! Thanks -- Don Simpson.

Drawing Blanks: Variant Covers, That Is

Here are three recent drawings created on blank variant covers (a phenomenon I am only barely acquainted with, but apparently dates back to DC's Wasteland #6, which is the only issue of the series I don't appear in). Depending on the paper stock, I used India ink, either with a sable brush or crowquill pen, and Dr. Martin's dyes. Each of these paper stocks offered a different quality surface, better or worse for pencil/inking/coloring, and therefore a unique challenge -- but it's a poor craftsman who blames his materials! Enjoy.

Crowquill and ink with Dr. Martin's dyes.

Sable brush and India ink with Dr. Martin's dyes. This is the first time I've drawn this character.

Sable brush and India ink with Dr. Martin's dyes. The composition is a riff on Jack Kirby's iconic cover for Captain America #106 (October 1968), except that I have Cap in shredded army fatigues, as if he was just revived in Avengers # 4 (March 1964).

Don Simpson does not discriminate on the basis of universes, companies, or eras of comic book fandom. Don Simpson is an equal opportunity cartoonist.