Jim Aparo

(August 24, 1932 – July 19, 2005)

Jim Aparo: Typically listed as one of the foremost Batman artists from the 1970s, Jim Aparo got his start in comics doing work for editor Dick Giordano at Charlton Comics in 1966. His first credited work as a professional comic book artist was either drawing the adventures of "Miss Bikini Luv" for "Go Go" comics or it was for "Teen Tunes" magazine in 1967 - - I have seen claims going both ways.

New Jim Aparo Book Coming

New Jim Aparo collection coming from DC Comics. Hope it includes the run of Archie Goodwin-penned tales from the mid-seventies. Cover of the book (as advertised so far) is a recoloring of the art Aparo did for the cover of Brave and the Bold 111. See it at 1400 pixels here.

Pre-order at amazon here.

Jim Aparo Article in Back Issue Magazine issue 50

[Above: Cover to issue #50 of Back Issue magazine from TwoMorrows Publishing.]

The "Batman Bronze Age" issue leads off with an editorial about Jim Aparo written by Michael Eury, which contains praise for Aparo's 1970s work, and speculates how much a bigger name Aparo might have become if he had stretched out beyond DC Comics. Along with several pages of lovingly chronicled issues of Aparo's 70s work, Eury gently raises the issue of Aparo's decline later in skills:

"If you discovered Jim Aparo after the early to mid- 1970s, you may not share my passion for his work. When scheduling permitted him to comfortably draw one comic per month (he generally alternated between two bimonthlies), Aparo's artwork was lush and memorizing. Once he became a DC commodity and was expected to produce at a quicker pace, his art lost a little of its luster. By the late '80s, as DC's main Bat-artist, Aparo was relegated to penciling. With all due respect to his embellishers, no one inked Jim Aparo better than Jim Aparo. That, coupled with the artist's advancing age and declining proficiency, made the latter body of Aparo's work seem like a pale imitation of that from his prime."

Aparo's later work is often marred by shortcuts and lack of attention to details, once one of Aparo's main hallmarks. His style became 'cartoony' and had a placid sameness. A thorough biography of the man might help explain what happened, something that hasn't been done yet, to my knowledge, only the drip-drop of short articles (like this one) which address in miniature the career of a comics artist who deserves a longer examination.

The August 2011 issue of Back Issue has a cover price of $8.95. Issue also features Neal Adams and Denny O'Neil, a feature on Ernie Chus (Chan), Bob Rozakis, Len Wein, and the Frank Miller Dark Knight Reutrns.

Go Go Comics: Miss Bikini Luv

[Below: Jim Aparo cartoon art of "Funny and Chair" from "Teen Tunes", 1967.]
See more of this at the Jim Aparo Fan Club blog.

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