The Best of Dan DeCarlo/The Best of Stan Goldberg

These two oversize hardbacks reprint material from various Archie titles each concentrating on the work of a single artist. The reproduction is excellent and the colouring, based on the original guides, very sympathetic to the glossy paper.

The DeCarlo volume includes stories from 1958 to 1969, taken mainly from Archie’s Girls Betty and Veronica, to which he contributed for nearly fifty years. A brief biography at the back of the book doesn’t mention his dispute with Archie Comics, but does say he “continues to be remembered by fans and his peers as the quintessential Archie artist”.

There’s no introduction, though the Goldberg volume has one by Stan Lee. As both artists worked for Lee on many of the same titles (Millie the Model in particular), that seems a shame. It’s countered by the lack of a biography for Goldberg in his volume, though, as he’s alive, he does provide his own dedication. The contents pages tell us where the stories first appeared, but have no credits for the covers of each volume.

No matter how good an artist is, basing a collection on the work of the artist can be difficult, if the writing’s no good. Thankfully, in the case of the DeCarlo volume at least, all of the writing is sharp and funny, though enlivened no end by DeCarlo’s keen storytelling, facial expressions and placing of characters in the panels.

The Goldberg volume covers 1972 to 1993 with stories that venture away from the teen romance. Archie relives The Birth of a Nation, is thrown to the lions in ancient Rome and captains a spaceship while investigating a maverick planet. There are also examples of Goldberg’s fashion pinups and cover pencils, which, while perfectly nice to have, seem somewhat out of place. There are similarities in style between DeCarlo and Goldberg. DeCarlo has a very clean line and leaves a lot of space on the page. Goldberg has a thicker line and fills most of the page, leaving a different, but no less interesting impression.

While the Goldberg volume is stated as having been produced from the artwork in Goldberg’s own files, the DeCarlo volume seems to be based on whatever stories were available as original artwork in private hands. Both sources need some explanation, if we are to accept these strips are ‘The Best’ of these artists’ work, so it is annoying that there is nothing to tell us why particular stories were chosen.

A second volume of DeCarlo’s work is being solicited for March 2011, so there’s still an opportunity for someone to do some explaining. In the meantime, here’s hoping that someone’s working on volumes for Bob Bolling, George Frese, Harry Lucey and Samm Schwartz.