Ungoliantschilde

Classic Star Wars, Vol. 1 # 08, by Mark Schultz.

Lone Wolf and Cub: Book One, by Frank Miller and Bill Sienkiewicz.

and, here’s an unused version of Bill’s painted colors:

‘John Carter and the Savage Apes of Mars’, painted by Frank Frazetta, was used as a cover for a paperback reprint of two John Carter stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Lone Wolf and Cub: Book One, by Frank Miller and Bill Sienkiewicz.

and, here’s an unused version of Bill’s painted colors:

Lone Wolf and Cub: Book One, by Frank Miller and Bill Sienkiewicz.

and, here’s an unused version of Bill’s painted colors:

X-Men Classic, Vol. 1 # 109* by Jae Lee.

*this issue reprints the contents of Uncanny X-Men, Vol. 1 # 205, "Wounded Wolf", by Barry Windsor-Smith and Chris Claremont.*

The Shadow reprint covers were extremely cool in their own right.

Steranko did the covers. that probably had something to do with the awesomeness.

frontispiece splash process for Conan the Barbarian in Robert E. Howard’s “Red Nails”, as scripted by Roy Thomas and illustrated by Barry Windsor-Smith.

the last image was ReColored by Richard Isanove.

I really wish they would either let BWS recolor his own shit or at least have him supervise the recoloring.  I feel like when they use other people to recolor his stuff we are losing the original art. 

Agreed, but all of the changes Barry would make amount to him doing it himself all over again, and he does NOT want to do that. I would be happy if there was an artist’s edition of Weapon X released. The difference is I would want all of the pages published directly from the original color guides that BWS created. Give it the purest, cleanest chance of being the colors he wanted. He did an artists edition for the Red Nails (sort of), but the printing has since been massively improved, and the colors are the whole point with Barry. He can illustrate in ANY medium and do it well.

the Color is where Barry demonstrates just how good he is at making comics.

Richard recolored the splash as an assignment for Marvel, and he did a good job of it in my mind. Obviously, the version that Barry created is my preferred version, but Isanove did nothing wrong.

Barry is not gonna be happy with anything he created being republished in any form he does not personally oversee. That is just the nature of the beast. I do not blame Barry for feeling like he does - I agree with him, actually - but Marvel or Whoever does not owe him anything beyond a phone call if they want to republish his work.

That is neither villainy nor a lack of propriety. That is just the business of making comics: it costs too much to do things the way that Barry wants, and the profits are not there to justify it. I wish it was different too, believe me.

I think the money could be there. A lot of BWS fans are older and probably willing to shell out for good editions of his stuff. If they did a special book of his XMen stuff I would be all over it as my copies look like shit due to them almost being 30 years old newsprint comics. But I hate all the reprints I see cause they look like shit. Just way too bright.

I think the money might be there, but it would come down to Barry.

To my knowledge, Barry last directly commented on his comics work in a statement intended for the fan community when he accepted the Eisner Award for Lifetime Achievement, back in 2000 or 2001. He was not physically present at the ceremony, and so someone else read a letter he wrote. His statement was (I am paraphrasing) something to the effect of, “I will work in comics again when pigs fly to the moon and return home safely.” (I will look for the article I am referencing so I can share it with all of the other children, and no one will feel excluded).

Barry is protective of his work, and rightfully so. And his protectiveness has had a rather noticeable effect on his relationships with his former employers. Jim Shooter always loved and respected Barry, and Jim knows Barry got screwed over in the Valiant deal when Acclaim bought the company.

Barry helped create Valiant. When I look at the Valiant books, I know for a FACT that they are based in a shared-universe world that was designed from the Atoms and Molecules outward by BWS, with editorial input from Jim Shooter. Shooter is… Controversial, but Valiant Comics rock.

If you have not read his Storyteller series, I suggest you change that ASAP. Storyteller is his last fully realized project, and Barry used every skill he has to create those 9 issues.

X-Men Classic, Vol. 1 # 83, by Joe Madureira and Dan Panosian.

the Wizard: Ace reprint of Amazing Spider-Man # 01 had a cover by Humberto Ramos and Tim Townsend.