Jim Aparo!

Jim Aparo Artist. Header. Design by Joey Faraci.

Jim Aparo was an advertising artist in the early 1960s who turned to full time comic artist starting, for the most part, in the late 1960s and for the rest of his career from that point on. He is most famous for his Batman comics which he did for over a period, on and off, for over 2 decades (or a good quarter century!). 

His artwork made an impact on the comic world back in the 1970s on the Brave and the Bold books as he drew Batman teaming up with a different character every issue. 

Jim was heavily influenced by Neal Adams as were many artists of the time. Jim acknowledged this and got the "ok" from Adams to 'borrow' his style if you will. What was special about Jim really was his style. He had the illustrative feel but very hyper animated, almost cartoony in a realistic way.
I recall reading in a magazine or letter column what one person said about his style: It was a cross between Dick Sprang and Neal Adams. That I can accept. I would even say between Adams and Bruce Timm too!

What he also did for a good 10-15 years was draw, as in pencil, ink and even letter his own work. This was usually the job of 2 to 3 people, yet Jim did all this from month to month along with tons of covers on top of a busy schedule.

Jim not only drew Batman but was well known for his Aquaman, Phantom Stranger and the Spectre too.
 

The Phantom Stranger by Aparo, from the Who's Who series.

The Spectre, the Wrath of God by Jim Aparo in a very controversial issue for it's violence is now considered a classic part of Jim Aparos career and the Spectre in comics.

Classic Aquaman by Aparo a more tender moment.

In the 80s as the B&B title came to an end he continued to work on Batman and the Outsiders. His artwork became simpler and less refined than his early to mid-70s style and by the time the 90s came around he seemed to only get decent artwork when he inked himself (however Bill Sienkiewicz and Kevin Nowlan did very memorable jobs embellishing his art). At this point the Bat and Green Arrow books were his only working books, as far as I know.

Batman and the Outsider no.1.

DC Sampler 1983. Spread page introducing the new Batman and the Outsiders book that replaced the long running the Brave and the Bold series.

Batman 534 inks by Bill Sienkiewicz

Legends of the Dark Knight Annual no.1.1991. Inked by Jim.

Even if you haven't seen Aparo in the pages of any comic books you have read, chances are, you have seen his artwork on the cover of hundreds of DC covers from the 70s and 80s.

Worlds Finest 255. Wrap around cover by Jim Aparo.

Adventure Comics 462. Left production art by Aparo. Right final cover off the news stands scanned.

There is a lot more to Jim. For those on Facebook there is an active page called Jim Aparo Artist. https://www.facebook.com/groups/17217745637/


Pinterest Jim Aparo 

Jim Aparo bio from Back Issue magazine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Aparo