icon_uk: (Default)
icon_uk ([personal profile] icon_uk) wrote in [community profile] scans_daily2023-03-26 06:06 pm

Happy 75th Birthday to Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez

Though his name is not always seen as being in the upper echelons of comic book art, it's hard to imagine anyone who has had a longer, more lasting impact on the DCU than the maestro; Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez


Chances are that if you owned ANY DC licensed merchandise in the late 70's or early 80's it either featured art by, or based on, work done by Jose-Luis Garcia-Lopez and Dick Giordano, two stalwarts of the organisation, who produced acres of top notch, lovely licensing art.

The art would be used from notepads to action figures, from t-shirts to underoos, and so had to be both simple and stylish, easily reproduced and instantly recognisable. They could hardly have asked for better! (and where is our coffe table book of all this art? It's MADE for such a project!)

The attached pics are scanned as best I can, and hopefully might bring a little happiness to your desktop should you wish to tweak them that way.

First the gentlemen... (Note that despite being out on his own for years by the time this was used, poor Dick still get's the batlogo behind his name. Of course, few people would be paying much attention to his LOGO)





And the ladies too of course, with Bab's up first supplying some equal opportunities hot ass (I may not be interested, but I can appreciate the aesthetics). I LOVE the Catwoman logo for some reason. It would never do as a comic headline, but it would work on a T-shirt, which is where this one appeared I think.




Here we see the old secret identity switcheroo.... Though Bruce... a BROWN dinner jacket? ICK! Rest assured Alfred will be taking a flamethrower to it first chance he gets, if you're lucky he'll let you take it off first.



And the bad guys get a look in too of course






A couple of heroic clashes. I love the Riddler one here, the butterfly net for BATMAN rather than him is an inspired touch.



And a couple of images of the Happy Couple... I'm sorry, I mean the Dynamic Duo (Yeah Dick you swing in there crotch first, there's not a bad guy would put up a fight!)




And I do have to mention the one that I own the original artwork for, because even my ego has to be stroked sometimes.


After lurking around Gotham City, I think we need some representation from another character inextricably intertwined with Mr Garcia-Lopez's style, the Amazing Amazon herself!





















Batman isn't the only one who can breathe in space! :)





And fimally, one featuring the only villain that most people would have associated with Wonder Woman at the time... That's right, Wonder Woman fought Josie from the Pussycats... I mean The Cheetah in the pre-werecat era!



And moving on from there to the wider DCU

The Man of Tomorrow


The Big Red Cheese


The Maid of Might (Looking TERRIBLY 80's... but at least no super-torso)


And from colour to black and white, but the linework is so good, who cares?

The Scarlet Speedster


The Emerald Archer


The Sentinel of the Spaceways


The Winged Wonder


The.. umm... the err... other Winged Wonder



The World's Mightiest Boy, and the World's Mightiest Girl


The Super Stereotype!


And I can't leave without a final shot of the Magnificent Manlings rather magnificent bottom! :)


I'll finish with a story from DC Editor and writer Andy Helfer, which shows that talent KNOWS talent. :)



So, many, MANY happy returns Mr Lopez-Garcia, and many more of them!
bradygirl_12: (dick (circus boy))

[personal profile] bradygirl_12 2023-03-26 09:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Gorgeous!!!
mister_terrific: (Default)

[personal profile] mister_terrific 2023-03-26 10:17 pm (UTC)(link)
I always thought Garcia-Lopez and George Perez had the cleanest, sharpest art of anyone anywhere. They were so immediately identifiable! And for some reason, when Giordano inked them it just elevated the art to a new level.
akodo_rokku: (Default)

[personal profile] akodo_rokku 2023-03-26 10:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Anyone who doesn't recognize Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez as one of the all time greats is a damned fool.
beyondthefringe: (Default)

[personal profile] beyondthefringe 2023-03-26 11:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Clean, crisp, elegant, straight-forward and uncomplicated. In a word, iconic.
I feel like this art is truly, absolutely, and positively representative not just of the characters but their spirit as well.

Many artists put their own spins on their subjects, and lord knows we can look at so many of them and say "Ed McGuiness, Humberto Ramos, Rob Liefeld, Erik Larson, Larry Stroman, Jack Kirby" without even thinking about it. But here, you're not seeing the artist's work, but the essence of the characters, because Garcia-Lopez, like George Perez, got them in a very certain way.

If there's a pantheon of comic artists, he's clearly at the top.
jkcarrier: first haircut after lockdown (Default)

[personal profile] jkcarrier 2023-03-27 01:13 am (UTC)(link)
I love that last anecdote. I always picture Moebius furiously flipping through Garcia-Lopez pages like Salieri in "Amadeus": https://youtu.be/tpzhkMBm498
bradygirl_12: (dick (circus boy))

[personal profile] bradygirl_12 2023-03-27 12:24 pm (UTC)(link)
I love that for the most part, the heroes look happy! ☺️
dcbanacek: (Default)

[personal profile] dcbanacek 2023-03-27 03:57 pm (UTC)(link)
And so do the villains which I think is a nice touch as well.
superfangirl1: (Default)

[personal profile] superfangirl1 2023-03-29 04:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Really amazing awesome art. Happy birthday, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez