Contents & Editorial © Copyright & ™ 2009 ACAB
Art & Text © Copyright &™ 2009 Trevor Von Eeden
All characters © Copyright &™ DC Comics
THE DIFFERENCE AN INKER MAKES
Compare these three different Green Arrow pages. The top page comes from World's Finest #254 (Page 31) and was inked by Vinnie Colletta. The middle page, taken from World's Finest #278 (Page 7) was inked by Larry Mahlstedt. The bottom page was both penciled and inked by Trevor Von Eeden.
Trevor Von Eeden and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez: Legends of the Dark Knight #17, page 17
CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO SEE A FULL SIZED SCAN OF THE ART
VINNIE COLLETTA INKS
LARRY MAHLSTEDT INKS
TREVOR VON EEDEN PENCILS & INKS
Detective Comics #521 (Page 23)
Trevor was never fully satisifed with Colletta's inking and these pages clearly show why. Colletta, while certainly competent, was clearly not the best inker for Von Eeden's richly detailed pencils. Mahlstedt came the closest to bringing out the power and detail that Trevor routinely produced. It could be argued that Mahlstedt was possibly a better inker, for Green Arrow, than even Trevor himself was.
Whilst working at DC, Trevor became known for four characters: Black Lightning, Batman, Black Canary and Green Arrow. Green Arrow was the second series that Trevor worked on and the first major, solo, DC project he was offered whilst working on Black Lightning. Throughout 1978 Trevor would alternate Green Arrow and Black Lightning stories until the latter was canceled, which freed Trevor up to work on the former exclusively. Initially inked by Vinnie Colletta, the series suffered somewhat art wise. However when Trevor returned to the character in the early 1980s and was assigned Larry Mahlstedt as an inker his rendition of Green Arrow soon became a fan favourite and it eventually led to the character being given a solo mini-series, which featured art by Trevor and industry legend Dick Giordano in 1983.
"The main attraction to me for GA is his independent, free-thinking personality," says Trevor, "The "trick arrow" gimmicks always struck me as somewhat too convenient--he just happened to have the right arrow for every occasion--and sorta corny, too. In my GA Mini-series from '84, he actually uses his detective skills to solve a crime, which I really liked. I like people that use their brains, in general.
"Other than his personality, though, GA is essentially a very limited character. I like the Adams-designed costume, because the "breastplate" gives him an eternally modern look (what's it made of, anyway, galvanized rubber? superhard plastic? unstable molecules? Whatever it is, I like it.) I don't care much for the cowled look, because it doesn't suit Ollie's outgoing, extroverted personality. Cowls are for dark, disturbed, brooding heroes--not for smiling, blonde, sunshiny ones."
"The socially aware GA of O'Neil/Adams' creation is the definitive GA for me," says Trevor. "He became very close to becoming one of my favorite heroes, like Batman (another non-superpowered hero) is to me, in that run. Batman, of course, is a helluva lot more interesting--what with the darkness, and the intense psychology that he represents. I loved Jack Kirby's GA--and I'm glad Neal kept the cap, in his design. Although the goatee was a bitch to draw, it grew on me after a while.
"GA's always been more of an interesting person, than an interesting super-hero, to me. Seems like a smart, fun guy--one you'd like to hang out with, in real life."
TREVOR VON EEDEN RECENT COMMISSION
CLICK ON THIS COVER TO SEE ORIGINAL ART FOR THIS MINI-SERIES
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