A 13 COVERS BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE to one of the Bronze Age’s greatest…
The late, great Jim Aparo — born 94 years ago, on Aug. 24, 1932 — is an artist who pops up on 13th Dimension all the time, and with good reason: He was one of the greatest comics artists of the Bronze Age, most notably on characters like Batman and Aquaman.
But over the years, we’ve done precious little on Aparo’s work with DC occult characters like the Spectre and the Phantom Stranger, even though those 1970s runs are seminal.
So let’s break out the Ouija board, clasp hands, and beckon those who help bring light to the darkness, with these 13 COVERS from Adventure Comics and The Phantom Stranger.
Far out.
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MORE
— The TOP 13 DC CHARACTERS Drawn by JIM APARO — RANKED. Click here.
— 55 YEARS LATER: How NEAL ADAMS and JIM APARO Gave THE PHANTOM STRANGER New Life. Click here.
August 24, 2026
The guy cutting the chain in the cover for the Phantom Stranger 23 looks very similar to Novaro’s version of Fantomas, except for the color. I wonder if it was just a coincidence.
August 24, 2026
And I thought he resembled the Gentleman Ghost, a villain who has faced Hawkman and Batman.
August 24, 2026
Jim Aparo was one of the all time greats. The more of his work that I see the more impressed I am. I’ve been a big fan for decades, but I haven’t seen most of these covers. Amazing stuff!
August 24, 2026
I was a die hard Marvel zombie from when I started reading comics back in 1973. The only DC comic I bought was The Spectre!
August 24, 2026
The Wein/Aparo Phantom Stranger is grossly underappreciated.
Love the Aparo Spectre issues as well.
No offense to Ernie Chan/Chua, but when I was a wee lad of five and first started getting comics, I wondered why Batman looked so much cooler in Brave & the Bold than he did in Batman and Detective.