13 GREAT ILLUSTRATIONS: A DAN SPIEGLE Birthday Celebration

The late artist was born 102 years ago…

By PETER BOSCH

The late Dan Spiegle’s work was amazing in any decade, but especially so as he got older. Unlike many artists, the older he got, the better he became. One of those later series was Eclipse’s Crossfire, a 26-issue title from 1984 to 1987, and in it he produced some truly astonishing work. Crossfire was a spinoff from The DNAgents and the character started out in that series as an industrial spy named Jeff Baker, a not very nice guy. When he was killed, his suitcase containing an extra Crossfire costume and equipment was found by bail bondsman Jay Endicott. He disguised himself as Crossfire in order to find out who killed Baker, and then kept on as Crossfire, but this time as a good guy, even if the police didn’t think so.

Crossfire was created by writer Mark Evanier and artist Will Meugniot in The DNAgents #4 but after The DNAgents #9 (the first Endicott Crossfire, and the first drawn by Spiegle), the character was given his own title, with Evanier and Spiegle working together on the full run. The character also appeared in a Crossfire and Rainbow miniseries (1986) and Endicott starred in a Whodunnit? mini (1986-87), both by Evanier and Spiegle.

If you have not previously been exposed to Crossfire, you are in for a real treat. The stories take place in Los Angeles – mostly Hollywood – and Evanier’s own experience as a writer in the TV industry is there on every page (plus he wrote a fascinating essay for each issue). And, oh, the artwork by Spiegle (Dec. 10, 1920-Jan. 28, 2017) was just wonderful!

Here is a mixture of 13 COVERS AND PAGES:

The DNAgents #9 (Feb. 1984). Jay Endicott trying on the Crossfire costume for the first time.

Crossfire #4 (Aug. 1984)

Crossfire #4

Crossfire #4

Crossfire #5 (Sept. 1984)

Crossfire #7 (Dec. 1984)

Crossfire #9 (Mar. 1985)

Crossfire #10 (Apr. 1985)

Crossfire #13 (July 1985). Believed to be Marilyn Monroe’s last moments.

Crossfire #18 (Jan. 1987)

Crossfire #18. Starting with this issue, the series’ interior pages went to black-and-white in order to save on costs. The move showcased Spiegle’s artwork even better than in color.

Crossfire #22 (June 1987)

Whodunnit? #3 (April 1987)

MORE

— 13 SPLASH PAGES: A JACK DAVIS Birthday Celebration. Click here.

— 13 TIMES Creators Appeared as Themselves in Comics. Click here.

PETER BOSCH’s first book, American TV Comic Books: 1940s-1980s – From the Small Screen to the Printed Pagehas just been published by TwoMorrows. He has written articles and conducted celebrity interviews for various magazines and newspapers. Peter lives in Hollywood.

Author: Dan Greenfield

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6 Comments

  1. This needs to be collected NOW!

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  2. Exceptional artwork, Dan’s amazing!

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  3. I never read it, but I was a big fan of Dan Spiegle and Mark Evanier’s “Blackhawk” – I have a complete run

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  4. Never really got into DNAgents, but stumbled across Crossfire and loved the series through the end.

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  5. He’s my all-time favorite comics artist. I have loved his work since I came across the Clash of the Titans and Black Hole adaptations as a kid. And then Blackhawk! It also begs to be collected!

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