Nightmaster and Ronin

As comic book collectors and lovers it’s had to grasp sometimes that the professional comic book artists whose work we enjoy didn’t start out as the polished professionals we’re used to.

Wayyyyy back during the Silver Age of comic books DC Comics produced a comic book called DC Preview Showcase.

The title was a sort of proving ground for possible future titles and a try out for up and coming writers and artists.

In issue #83 of Preview Showcase Nightmaster a young and upcoming artist’s work was printed.

The artist had garnered himself a reputation as a capable and talented artist in fanzines and a smattering of comic book covers and short stories.

That artist’s name was Bernie Wrightson and issue #83 allowed Bernie to test his penciling chops.

While Bernie’s talent was evident it was also glaringly obvious that at some points in the story he had bit off more than he could chew.

Denny O’Neil provided the script for Sword and Sorcery tale.

Bernie’s pencils were clean and crisp but not quite up to the polished professional level he would produce only a few years later.

In the 1980s a superstar artist had proved himself with Marvel Comics’ Daredevil title.

Frank Miller had rattled the comic book world with his bold story-telling techniques and impressive scripts.

Miller moved to DC Comics and took on a project few expected him to accomplish.  It was unlike any of his previous projects.

The title, Ronin, demonstrated Miller’s incredible range of story-telling expertise.

Unlike his previous bold line and deep shadows Daredevil work his Ronin art consisted of intricate illustrations with an over-abundance of cross-hatching.

The mini-series represented a bold new direction in Miller’s work.  He pulled it off masterfully.

Both Showcase #83 and Ronin represent key moments in comic book history. 

So many instances of new directions, innovations, breaks from tradition and unprecedented creativity are evident in all Ages of comic book history.  You just have to look for it.

It’s important to pay more attention to content and context than to purely collectibility.