The Huntress! Guy Gardner! Scooby Doo! The Justice Society of America! Dick Tracy! When you think of these characters, what artist comes immediately to mind? Joe Staton! Join Paul as he talks to the legendary artist about his career on this Special bonus episode of DC SpecialCast!
Check out Joe’s website: https://www.joestaton.com/
Some other information about Joe’s career:
https://www.mikesamazingworld.com/F231EB71A50CE9/features/creator.php?creatorid=92
https://twomorrows.com/comicbookartist/articles/12staton.html
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“Cloud Dancer ” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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Now that was awesome!
I know the easy tagline on Joe’s art is that it is ‘cartoony’ (maybe explains 10years on Scooby?). But I discovered him as a young kid in a tsunami of awesome art that included incredibly sexy women. His Showcase issues of Doom Patrol (with Negative Woman), his Showcase issues of Power Girl, and the incredible Huntress back-ups in WW. When people try to downplay his art, I show them those issues. Just glittery. Heck, even his Legion run is solid with the first appearance of the League of Super-Assassins being a high water mark.
I can remember being a bit ticked when I heard all the bitter complaints when he did some fill-in issues on American Flagg. Yes, his style is very different from Chaykin’s but he is just as good a story-teller.
Anyways, great to hear directly from him about all these memories. And love how he is asked to draw JSA members a lot. That makes sense.
Thanks for doing this!
Cannot wait to listen to this one!! I’m a huge fan of Joe’s work on the Justice Society, Green Lantern and Legion of Super Heroes. I’ve been fortunate enough to meet him and his lovely wife at Heroes Con over the last decade or so. He’s done a dozen of so commissions for me of various JSA members and are all outstanding! Such a nice guy and I wish him continued success.
Great interview Paul! Joe was a delight, and he sounded just as friendly as he was when I met him and his charming wife at Heroes Con back in 2017. Joe’s art was seminal for me, drawing that first issue of All-Star I bought, and introducing me to the JSA, and the Earth-Two Superman and Robin who would figure large in my fandom life…and my online/podcast life too! A lot of that had to do with Joe’s arresting visuals. And that Huntress back-up? He got a six-year old boy to buy Wonder Woman on the regular!
Fantastic discussion!
Great interview! I’ve talked to Joe myself and he was always very fun to talk to and always engaging. His recall of some of this stuff, considering how long ago it was how much stuff he’s done in his career, was pretty remarkable. BOARD GAME PARTIES AT JENNETTE KHAN’S PAD? Sign me up!
Joe is honestly one of the few artistic talents whose career has run as long as it has with no discernible loss in quality. A lot of artists lose their fastball four decades into a life of drawing comics, but Joe’s work is as solid now as it was when he was doing E-Man for Charlton, if not even a little better? Again, pretty remarkable!
Excellent content and great to hear from someone whose comics I had as a “kid” (E-man). Also, pretty sure Mr. Staton did some work for Rocket’s Blast, which I got every month back in the early 70’s. I have a couple dozen issues, I’ll have to look for him. He has great stories about how comic art was made in Brooklyn and delivered (I guess on the train) into NYC and the obvious camaraderie (in Jeanette’s parties) that existed in the comic industry back in the 70’s and early 80’s that Mr. Staton – something that with zoom calls and e-delivery is likely a thing of the past. Without these get-togethers and brainstorming sessions… I imagine it’s a lot harder to learn as you go in today’s industry? Anyway… Now, I have to go and dig out my copy of Space 1999!
This was outstanding, Paul! Not only is Joe Staton an immensely talented artist, but he’s one of my favorite folks to visit with at conventions. He’s always kind enough to sign a copy of All-Star Comics, his issue of DC Challenge, or Showcase #100 for a donation to the Hero Initiative. And I laughed out loud when he expressed his regrets about Millennium.
That’s a great interview, Paul. And Staton was just great – like others have noted, he seems like a genuinely lovely and gracious person. As I said in my comment to your JSA episode, he’s always been one of my favorites. In fact, back when I was a very young comics fan in the late ’70s, it was Staton, along with Byrne and Perez, whose name I began to recognize and look out for because I liked his work so much.
Great episode, Paul! It was a blast to hear Staton recall these stories, especially since I’ve been rereading his Green Lantern run lately. I need to read his Huntress stories again some time; haven’t seen those in years.
Great episode listened to this at work .
Enjoyed the show . Have to say I’m probably one of few people who likes hall mainly because he’s the green lantern I’ve read the most in black in white white show case collections . But guy Gardner was fun when read his comics .
Just wanted to add to the “great interview” chorus, Paul. Thanks to this wonderful surprise and thanks to Mr. Staton for doing it.
It slipped my mind that he inked some Elfquest back in the 80s. Yet another great series and favorite of mine that he contributed to. I highly recommend Elfquest to anyone who likes fantasy.
So, Paul, who’s your next special interview? Levitz? Wolfman? JLGL (PBHN)?
That was a great interview Paul and Mr Staton came across as an amazing person as well as artist.
When he said that he often focused on body language I was instantly flashed back to the one of sexiest pages in DC Comic Book history Green Lantern Corps 212 page 18. I was 13 1/2 years old when I got that issue and to this day Star Sapphire’s “movement” using her body language is burned into my memory. The layout the body language and the quality of the art is amazing and showed just how good Mr Staton is as a visual storyteller.
Now if you’ll excuse me I need to go take a cold shower…