John Ostrander Needs You!

One of the absolute best writers to come out of the 1980s is none other than John Ostrander. A former Chicago actor who had thought of becoming a Catholic priest, Ostrander showed a facility for writing stories that went a bit deeper than your run-of-the-mill comicbook fare. His insightful characterization, excellent plotting, and naturalistic dialogue kept his comics on my "must read" list for many years.

He co-created and wrote well-remembered characters like Grimjack and Dynamo Joe for First. For DC he plotted Legends (essentially re-booting the entire DC universe after the original Crisis on Infinite Earths), wrote Firestorm, contributed to Wasteland (which helped pave the way for the types of comics DC would produce in its Vertigo line), helped revamp the Suicide Squad and Manhunter, and created such memorable and important characters as Amanda Waller and (along with his late wife, Kim Yale) Barbara Gordon's Oracle persona.

If you didn't read Ostrander comics in the 80s, you just didn't know your comics, dude! Not only did Ostrander write awesome comics, but he stuck with them. He didn't do an "arc" here and there and move on to "put his mark" on every character a company published. He wrote every Grimjack and Dynamo Joe story. He stayed on Firestorm for nearly 50 consecutive issues. Suicide Squad was his baby for its entire 66 issue run. A true talent and a real pro, through and through.

From the 90s on, Ostrander has continued to be an influential and popular comicbook author. His 90s run on The Spectre is legendary and would be enough to keep him in the comicbook hall of fame, but he ain't stoppin', still going on mags like Star Wars: Legacy from Dark Horse (nearing 50 issues on that awesome mag).

John Ostrander has given comics fans tons of enjoyment, it goes without saying. But right now, John really needs our help. John has been battling glaucoma and has undergone very expensive treatments in order to keep his sight. His insurance (no surprise) won't cover all of the costs he's incurring, so fandom is coming to his aid through a group called Comix4Sight. Comix4Sight is holding auctions at various comic-cons and has set up a website with info on how to donate items for auction--along with a link to where you can just plain ol' send money. Please visit the Comix4Sight page and do what you can to help John in his time of need.

Cover Me: Ed (The Name Might Not Ring a Bell) Hannigan

Shame on the comicbook industry for forgetting Ed Hannigan. Ed is one of those renaissance men who can write, draw, letter, color, and edit. He knocked around Marvel Comics through the last half of the 1970s, then in the early 80s, he attained the star-status he deserved as one of the most innovative cover-artists of all time. His covers, in my eyes, rank with Adams' and Steranko's for their dynamic designs and cutting edge use of color. Ed's lettering abilities allowed him to create covers that invoked the creativity of Will Eisner's Spirit splash pages. From about 1982-1986, Hannigan's covers were the most eye-popping, attention-grabbing covers on the stands. When I think definitive 80s artists, Ed's up there with guys like Byrne, Miller, Bolland, and Simonson. Here's why (a lot of these will overlap, but you get my drift, right?)...

Incorporating cover copy into the art...


Ingenious use of color (props to any and all colorists who "got" Ed's vision)...

Shadows and silhouettes...


Wild perspective...


Reflections...


Flat-out iconic covers...


And a few that are just too cool for words...


Those are just a few of the dozens of covers I would love to have posted. (For a behind-the-scenes look at Ed's cover-sketching process, visit the Covers and Sketches page of his website. Wow!!)

By the late 80s, Ed had scaled back his cover work (though he still supplied many layouts for other artists' covers) to work on drawing Mike Grell's Green Arrow revival. By the mid-90s, for some strange reason, worked dropped off to nothing for this highly skilled and innovative artist, and that's a shame. Ed's name should be remembered and revered in the Hall of Fame for 1980s artists. Not only that, but the man's still around, still able to create knock-out covers, like this recent Captain Action cover done for Moonstone. I say it's time for an Ed Hannigan revival!