Sunday, December 14, 2014

The Art Institute of Zwen: Dick Dillin


Tomorrow I will review DC Comics Presents #13 on this site. It's a team-up between Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes written by Paul Levitz and drawn by Dick Dillin.

Dick Dillin deserves a post of his own.

Growing up, Dillin was one of the first artists whose style I recognized. As a kid, I didn't scan the credits often. But I knew Dillin was going to be drawing Justice League. His style was sharp and distinct. And he introduced me to so many DC characters that crossed paths with the League. Black Lightning, the JSA, the New Gods, Despero, the Freedom Fighters and so many more ... I met all those characters through Dillin. Apparently he had a 12 year run on Justice League. Think about that ... 12 years!

I could post innumerable pages of Dillin's that stuck with me but this is a Legion blog. So let me showcase his take on the Legion in the few times he drew them.

First from DC Comics Presents #13:

Arriving to help Superman

I bet every artist loves drawing Dawnstar. Beautiful.

Streaking in to talk to Jon Ross

Again, more Dawnstar! Lovely!

And some great Saturn Girl

While not a Legion story, Dillin did draw Supergirl a handful of times. Here are some panels of my favorite character from JLA #133 and #134!

Supergirl takes no guff from the League! Fiery!

Supergirl crushes Despero! Now that is a brokeback pose!

And then from Justice League #147-148, a triple crossover between the JLA, the JSA, and the Legion! Don't ask me to explain the crazy story of Abnazer, Rath, and Ghast, Mordru, time travel, and mind control.


The Legion's greatest (?) enemy, Mordru the Merciless

Sun Boy and Wildfire enchained...!? 

Brainiac 5 and Princess Projectra on a mission..!

Splash page of Ultra Boy and the Legion on the attack!

Nice Who's Who style splash, introducing new readers to the Legionnaires. Love Jeckie here.

Saturn Girl concentrating and defeating Green Lantern. Just beautiful!

Hey! Aren't they friends??

The meeting of three great teams!
I love Dillin's work! Any issue he drew is worth looking at!

4 comments:

  1. I was never a big fan of Dillin's work on JLA, but seeing these samples alongside the issue of DCCP he did makes me think it was Frank McLaughlin's inks I didn't care for.

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  2. Dillin always drew beautiful women... and beautiful men.
    Love his artwork, have many fond memories of my childhood, and for me he and Grell represented "modern" in the seventies (I read comics from the mexican Novaro imprint, and my start was with many classics from the 60s, so true-70s art felt cutting edge)

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  3. Dillin is often overlooked, I think because he was so prolific, it's easy to gloss over the massive output he had. He never drew anyone that looked "off model". And he sure knew how to draw women, for sure!

    Chris

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  4. I love his work. I grew up on his JLA and some of those stories were key in my comic history. Zatanna joining. Firestorm joining. Death of Mr. Terrific. JLA/JSA crossover with New Gods (first time I saw 4th World). And I fell in love with his Hawkgirl.

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