Yesterday, myself and countless other comic book fans across the globe were diminished by the death of Jim Aparo, who was an artist in the truest sense of the word. Jim Aparo, was born in 1932, and had a long and illustrious career in comic books. While it's true that Jim Aparo's name wasn't that well-known outside of comic book professional and fan circles, Jim Aparo's art is instantly recognizable to just about anyone who ever had a Batman lunch box or Underoo's. Chances are, if you ever saw any '80s Batman art on a sticker, a coloring book, a pair of Underoo's, a cereal box, or any other place, including a comic, it was an Aparo.
Mr. Aparo died yesterday at the age of seventy-two after complications resulting from a recent illness. He is survived by his wife Julie, his 3 children, his 4 Grandchildren and two step-grandchildren. Jim Aparo was a mostly self-taught artist. Throughout this entry, I'll be posting some of Mr. Aparo's best work. You'll be astounded to see that such art was produced by a man with very little formal art training. I am amazed particularly because I, like Jim, taught myself how to draw by reading and poring over comic books, though my art is nowhere near Jim's and is for my enjoyment alone.
Before I get into what Jim Aparo means to me, I'd like to share with you all something I found on a message board yesterday. A gentleman commenting on Mr. Aparo's death recalled that he had met the artist at a comic book signing right after the much-publicized "Death in the Family" storyline, which saw the death of Batman's sidekick, Robin. The storyline was the first true comic book stunt, and DC Comics allowed the readership to call in via a toll-free number to decide the fate of The Boy Wonder. Jim Aparo was the artists responsible for the pencil work on the storyline. The gentlemen I mentioned earlier was asked by Mr. Aparo what his vote had been for Robin, life or death. The man answered honestly that he'd voted for Robin to die. He and Mr. Aparo began to argue as the signing went on. Jim Aparo's opinion was that no one should ever wish the death of a person, especially if they hate that person. The man having his comics signed replied that the Robin character was snotty and annoying, but Mr. Aparo was adamant that wishing death on anyone was wrong.
I share this story to offer you a glimpse of the man who I have known all my life if only through his artwork. I began my love affair with comic books before I could read. I'd sneak into my brother's room and, with the deftness of The Batman himself, quietly slide open the cabinet where my brother kept his comics. I'd make sure no one was around, and then I'd sit and look at them. Later, I began to read them. As I grew older, I had to have my own, and thus began a love of the medium that endures to this day.
It's widely recognized in comic book circles that the three most beloved and well-known characters of all time are Superman, The Batman, and Spider-Man. I have long been a fan of all three of these characters, but The Batman has a special place in my heart. I own at least three hundred Batman comic books, not counting collections and one-shot stories. Of those three hundred issues, the majority are illustrated by Jim Aparo. Last night, still pensive about his death, I took out some of those old comics and was reminded of the joy that came with my youthful love of comics. A significant aspect of my love for comics is wrapped up in my love of comic, or as we prefer to call it in the genre, "sequential art." It's not just random drawings slapped together behind still more random drawings. It's sequential art because it tells a story in a way that no other medium can, not film, television, or books.
Jim Aparo was, at least for my generation, one of the "Big Two" Batman artists. There was Jim Aparo and there was Norm Breyfogle. Both are considered untouchable in my opinion. But Jim Aparo's work has a special place in my heart because his rendition of The Batman was the first I ever saw. Jim worked on Batman and on a team book called Batman and The Outsiders, which my brother was a big fan of. That's probably where I came to first appreciate Jim's work. That said, there was an issue of Batman the cover of which has remain seared in my mind's eye, so beautifully and powerfully was it rendered. For decades, I've wondered just what that issue was, as it belonged to my brother but has eluded me all these years. I've searched on the Web and in various other places and have found nothing. Until yesterday. While compiling cover art for a memorial thread for Jim Aparo that I started at a message board I frequent, I came across the image below.
When I laid eyes on it, I had to blink a few times to make sure I was really seeing what I was seeing. It really was that long-lost and unknown Batman comic, which had remained in my memory for most of my life. But the real kicker was that it was drawn by Jim Aparo.
This cover is one of the many reasons why I--we--are diminished by the death of Jim Aparo. I mean, just look at that cover! Go ahead, I'll give you another second to drink it in! It's simple and doesn't have that much intricate detail or action, but what's there is more expertly-crafted than the majority of the cover art you see on today's minimalist comic book covers. The action is clearly identifiable: The Batman is plunging to almost certain doom from the zeppelin above. There were a good number of ways this scene could have been portrayed, but it takes an artist like Jim Aparo to go at it from this angle and with this much power and drama.
That is what's so legendary, so brilliant about Jim's work. He's a talented draftsman and artist, yes, but he had a style that was unmatched by his peers. There aren't many artists in sequential art today whose work is instantly recognizable from afar. Nor is there anyone today who is as good a storyteller as Jim Aparo was. He could convey a range of emotions in a face make you wonder if he didn't spend all of his time looking at faces, getting a feel for how people looked and didn't look when they felt their feelings. Any honest artist will tell you that the face is the hardest part of the human body to draw. To be able to not only draw it well, but also, to infuse it with life and expression, is a rare and wonderful gift. Jim Aparo had that, and more.
Last night, I dug through my closet in the computer room my wife and I share at our home. I pulled out a box of old Batman comics and for an hour or so, marveled anew at the work of Jim Aparo. The smell that comic books once had, which came from the newsprint pages and the ink, wafted up to me and intoxicated me. But not nearly as much as the work of Jim Aparo, still vibrant, alive, and powerful after all these years. The truth is, there are other, far more important reasons why Jim Aparo was loved and appreciated. His family and friends are the receivers and guardians of those truths. But I'd like to think that, as an artist, Jim put some of that importance, the importance of life, into his work. I doubt any artist achieves success without putting themselves in their work. As you sample some of what I consider the best of Jim's cover art below, I think you can see how successful he was at his craft and in his life. Remember Jim Aparo and his family today in your thoughts and prayers.
Some of my favorite Jim Aparo art...
The Batman and Catwoman have both seen better days...
One of the iconic "hero no more" type covers often used on comic books. It takes a true artist like Aparo to make this kind of cover really work.
That's right, that's Jim Aparo on the cover! From a time when comics were a little more laid back than they are today...
Interior art from Batman: A Death in the Family, which saw the death of Robin The Boy Wonder at the hands of The Batman's archfoe, The Joker.
Cover art for the collected Death in the Family. Some of the most compelling and emotional art ever seen in comics history.
The Batman's back is broken by Bane, the first Batman villain to use brains and brawn to finally take out The Dark Knight. If only for a time...
Jim Aparo's first work on The Spectre, another DC character he put his stamp on...
The cover to The Brave and the Bold Art of Jim Aparo, which will be available in October and can be pre-ordered on Amazon.com.
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