 Way back when (early 70s) I was talking to renowned comics writer/artist Howard Chaykin in his upstart studio about my inability to increase my work speed. He suggested that I pick up some cover assignments at Marvel because covers paid rate and a half, as well as having high visibility. Seemed like a pretty persuasive argument for digging up some cover assignments.
By coincidence, the next time I dropped by editor Carl Potts' office, he was struggling with the layout for a Defenders cover. I causally asked if he would be interested in having me take a crack at it. He had me look the script over and, sitting on his office couch, doodled out a rough for the cover above. (I wish things always worked so smoothly in the comics world.) He had Bill Sienkievicz do the inking. I was a bit skeptical of the decision since Bill's approach is/was radically different than mine but really liked the result. See the printed cover  Jim asked Sandy about the above artwork. Sandy: Actually, this is one of the few images posted on this blog that doesn't have a story attached to it. I believe it was the second Defenders cover I did for Marvel. Pretty straight ahead assignment. Though no one ever mentioned a similarity, I got the inspiration for the scene from a Michael Golden Dr. Strange cover that had come out a few months earlier. Not a case of swiping really, but bringing my toe dangerously close to the line. My coloring, and another strong inking job by Alan Weiss.  Another view of this New Defenders cover  The Dr. Strange cover Sandy mentions above  Jim asked Sandy for his thoughts on his Marvel Comics Presents cover from 1991. Sandy: Not too much to say about this cover really. I believe it was the last one I did for Marvel before moving to Ohio and it's not a favorite of mine. The issue contained the first installment of a four part Daredevil story I wrote, laid out and eventually colored. (My apologies to all those who read this story, by the way- it was a real dog. Whatever I might have learned in the writing of my earlier efforts, I seemed to have totally forgotten on this one.) I'd never drawn the Wolverine before and I pretty much blew it. He's a short, thick guy and the proportions I gave him are all wrong. On the other hand, the back cover still intrigues me. It was an experiment and it broke from the standard look of a comic cover. But it doesn't quite look like a poster or a splash page or a trade paperback book cover and I like that hard-to-pin-down quality. Despite the hundreds (?) of comic cover that hit that stands each month, there's still a certain uniformity to most of them. Part of me is curious to see if I indeed could contribute something original if I were doing covers again. Part of me is a wimp who has no desire to once more join the fray once more and try and find that sort of work. Marvel Comics Presents Vol 1 #69-related images from Sandy's archive are below  Sandy's cover pencils  Sandy's cover color guide  Sandy's ink rough for back cover |
BLOGaboutPlunkett-fan Jim Harris interviewing Sandy about past and present projects. Archives
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