John Golga
Last Thursday night, June 19th, lifelong followers, personal friends, casual fans and fellow creators also celebrated the opening reception and art book release party for one of the few artists in the comic medium that has been on the heat for three decades, overcoming the rain at the Philip Lavern Gallery in Manhattan.
This book is Pulp Hope 2: The art of Paul Pope and Comic Miss is nothing but Paul Pope.
The Pope exploded into the scene in 1994 in the first part of his ongoing science fiction epic THB, with the flames showing no signs of slowing down. Only a rather small sample of the Pope’s vibrant work is on display, but it covers most of his career and is certainly well-selected.
These include test pages that eventually grew into his knockout graphic novel Battling Boy.
Superhero fans, we’re not left behind! Amazing page from the Wild Take of Crusader in a Hat he made in DC Comics in 2006, Batman: 100 Years hanging right in the vicinity!
Additionally, four absolutely jammed Cen-like sequential pages show the characters in sci-fi sports violence scenes from issue 5 of the Pope’s miniseries 100%. This alone is worth taking the subway to see the strength of the original pen and ink firsthand.
Not to mention the entire wall of sexy standalone portraits: posters from diesel fashion brands, heavy liquid characters from his comic book, covers of the aforementioned THB collection.
The Pope himself was present, speaking about the show, the Philip Laverne space, and the cultural changes in the country’s cartoons over the past 30 years, saying, “This is generally the coral crown of cartoon art, and I’m happy to be the frontman today.” The unique “pope” of the comic once again showed him that he belonged to Upper Echelon, creator of sequential art.
In true rock star fashion, the party refused to end, and finally spilled on the sidewalk in front of the gallery, long after the rain evaporated and closed the bells. The show continues until July 26th at the Philip Lavern Gallery, located at 534 West 24th Street in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood.
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