Johnson, Alex :: My Art Collection - Artists and the Characters I Associate with them

Mon-El and Shadow Lass by Mike Grell

Artist: Mike Grell (Penciller)

9 Comments - 1,262 Views - 9 Likes

Mon-El and Shadow Lass by Mike Grell Comic Art

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Artwork Details

Title:	Mon-El and Shadow Lass by Mike Grell
Artist:	Mike Grell (Penciller)
Media Type:	Pencil
Art Type:	Prelim
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	1,262
Likes on CAF:	9 10
Comments:	9
Added to Site:	8/19/2023
Comic Art Archive:

Description

Why I bought it
This piece features my favorite member of the Legion of Super-Heroes by one of my favorite Legion artists Mike Grell. It includes his GF (or wife depending on continuity) Shadow Lass.

So, my reason for being interested should be pretty obvious.

What it is
Mike said this was the preliminary drawing for a poster he sells. You can see the poster in the Additional Images. You can see the inked and hand-colored piece here.

Backstory
I picked this up at the wonderful Eastern Rim Funny Book and Vintage Con run by Jerry Shafer. Jerry has terrific guests and the show is free!

Anyway, this year, I decided to go with Kathy and Lars, my grandson.My plan was to spend a few hours visiting with people and getting a few autographs - David Lloyd and Jae Lee especially since I'd never met David or Jae.

We did spend a few hours and Lars was pretty darned good. Got to see a few friends like Steve VanHorn and Belinda Fernandez of Duckbill Records, Richard Evans and Michael Steenbergen of Bedrock City Comic Co., Devin Kraft, Rob LaVohn, Daniel Holmes (who helped me out with an issue), Pop Mhan, Don Price, and more.

Good time and Lars was great.

I failed in my mission though. After an hour or so, we decided to leave. The 4 yr old was doing well, but we didn't want to press our lock. About that time, Mike Grell arrived and I stopped in his line to say "Hi!" and get his autograph. Mistake!

You see, Mike needed sometime to setup and there was one person in front of me so it took awhile for me to reach Mike; Kathy took Lars to explore taking on the burden of keeping him busy while I stood in line.

While standing there, I noticed that he had a portfolio. I decided to look through it. Mistake!

One of the pieces in it was the preliminary artwork for a print of Mon-El and Shadow Lass of the Legion of Super-Heroes. Mon is my favorite Legionnaire and Shady belongs with him.

Worse, it was something that I could afford so I bought it.

Because I'd stayed in the line, I knew that I needed to find Lars and Kathy so I forgot about Jae and David. Drats!

Turns out I need not have worried. Kathy is a veteran of small children and she was fine.

We left at that point for lunch and the drive home. It was on that drive, I remembered. :)

Oh, well...

Related Pieces
It turns out that Georg Schell owns the pencils, inks, and colors (on a printed scan) for this preliminary all by Mike. He also has a blue line inked version by James Pascoe. You can see the progression from preliminary to pencils to inks & colors to print plus the bonus inked version by James.

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About the Owner

	Alex Johnson Premium Gallery Owner
Joined:	January 2006
Last Login:	September 2025
Ebay Id:	alxjhnsn
Website:	http://web.mac.com/alxjhnsn
Country:	UNITED STATES
On CAF:	Premium Member Q&A Alex's Want List Artworks Commented On Liked Art Site Activity on CAF Read More About AlexJohnson

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Comments on this Artwork

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Garry Goodwin
Member Since 2003

1 - Posted on 8/19/2023

Love it, beautiful pencils as usual...go Mon & Shady -- congrats!

Steve Lipsky
Member Since 2008

1 - Posted on 8/19/2023

This Grell art is beautiful. The way they are posed, it almost looks as if Mon-El and Shadow Lass are rehearsing for a ballet! And this is a prelim for the print? For any artist other than Grell, this would be finished pencils. Congrats on a great piece!

Marcus Wai
Member Since 2005

1 - Posted on 8/20/2023

It's a dance and the piece demonstrates Grell's graceful line transfered onto them. Symbolic of the balance in the universe with what you can and can't achieve if you were just alone.

Malcolm Bourne
Member Since 2005

1 - Posted on 8/20/2023

Great pencil piece!

Aidan (Re-Legion ) Lacy
Member Since 2005

1 - Posted on 8/20/2023

There's an elegance to this picture

Nils E
Member Since 2014

1 - Posted on 8/20/2023

Mike definitely didn't dial this one in

Michael Kenyon
Member Since 2008

2 - Posted on 9/3/2023

Very few artists can draw in the same league as Mike. Swell pick up Alex. Grapeape approved.

Alex Johnson
Member Since 2006
Forum Moderator

1 - Posted on 9/3/2023

Michael Kenyon wrote:

Very few artists can draw in the same league as Mike. Swell pick up Alex. Grapeape approved.

Thanks. I enjoy seeing Mike, but he ends up tricking me into buying art every time!

Michael Kenyon
Member Since 2008

Posted on 9/3/2023

Alex Johnson wrote:

Thanks. I enjoy seeing Mike, but he ends up tricking me into buying art every time!

;-)

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