Brave and the Bold Cover, Jim Aparo Artwork

"The Strangest Team-Up in History"

Covers and what they used to do for Comic Book sales

Jim Aparo's run of Brave and the Bold and a handful of issues on Detective Comics are considered his best work of the 1970s (though some argument has been made that position should go to his Michael Fleisher scripted Spectre run).

Coming from the era of Neal Adams pseudo-photorealism work, Aparo had some tools going for him that set him apart, though there is a superficial similarity with Adams. Aparo had solid story-telling chops, and was willing to try crazy angles and perspectives to break up the traditional panel-grid of comic books. Another thing that set Aparo apart was that his anatomy work, though well-thought out and containing a rational hero-sense of proportion that smacks of classical art ala' Michelangelo (among others) it didn't dwell on highly embellished abdominal muscles, something getting a lot of play by the 1970s of superherodom.

Aparo's line work here is fast and the composition of the two characters being strange buddies does what the newsstand comics of that time period had to do: get the potential buyer to wonder what's was on the inside. DC Comics in that time period featured word balloon statements meant to intrigue and draw attention, much like movie posters in the 20th century were meant to do the same.

This was a time period in which the consumer might (or might not) purchase a ticket - or comic book based upon an initial enthusiasm (or lack thereof) for the product in front of them presented a marketing challenge that no longer contains the same variables in the 21st century.

Retail foot traffic was once the lifeblood of comics (and movies), and purchase decisions were based upon the attraction of the poster and the comic book cover, and the loyalty that might exist for a product that had proven to be interesting in the past (such as a movie star, a particular director, or even just the genre in which the movie or comic book was immersed in).

In the 21st century, customers now check on movie availability from cell phones and have subscription boxes at comic book specialty shops. The demise of the immediate retail sale has probably been a chief part of the attrition in movie and comic books sales each decade, as Americans are more and more closeted into their homes, surrounded by electronic approximations of all the entertainment they might want to consume now within easy grasp and not requiring the foot work exercise once needed to engage that entertainment.