1 - Posted on 2/14/2025

Kind of loose and the line widths are much heavier.  Maybe someone in his studio did it during a crunch.  Either way, this mystery will haunt you .

2 - Posted on 2/14/2025

If Alcala inked this, he did it in the back of a van going back and forth over railroad tracks.

1 - Posted on 3/20/2025

Update.  Look at the published one.  Same story but it's not mine and is definitely Alcala.

1 - Posted on 2/14/2025

I think Alcala penciled this and maybe apllied 5 min worth of inks. Someone else did the rest.  You can really see that in the way the woman is inked in the fifth panel - AA didn't use those kind of brushstrokes with his self-invented modified Chinese pen-brush.

1 - Posted on 2/14/2025

I don't think he did any inking or what little he did, was obliterated by who went over it. 

1 - Posted on 3/20/2025

I don't know who did the page I posted and bought but there is a different version that was published.  It keeps the same story but it definitely shows Alcala's hand in the published one. 

Posted on 3/21/2025

Now THAT is interesting! Yeah the published one is definitely Alcala.

1 - Posted on 2/14/2025

Giving credit where it's due, the blacks are beautifully spotted. Stylistically speaking however, I agree with yours and everyone else's sentiments, John. But then that begs the question, why bother getting this one?

1 - Posted on 2/14/2025

Still, an interesting story and had hopes that I'd find other related pages.  I did but, they sold for more than I wanted to pay so this might be headed to the For Sale bin.

1 - Posted on 2/14/2025

Gotcha. I understand your thinking on it. But yeah, since the plan didn't quite work out, this new idea might be the way to go.

2 - Posted on 3/20/2025

Just discovered we were right and I added the actual published version which is Alcala for sure.  Now.... who did mine and why does my version exist?????

1 - Posted on 3/20/2025

I recognize the style (From the faces) as being from one of the 2nd tier Filipino artists who primarily did work on these DC mystery titles for a while and never worked beyond that. As to why it exists, I can think of two possibilities. One, the script for this page was given to the artist (perhaps primarily/only an inker and was asking for pencilling work) as a tryout. Or, perhaps whoever drew this was given the job of doing it andfor whatever reason the editor wasn't happy with it and had Alcala redo it instead. Either way, it's all guess work at this point.

2 - Posted on 3/21/2025

Thanks Ruben.  I agree. I was thinking this was either a tryout and/or so horrible, the editor asked Alcala to do it.  Seeing how fast Alcala was, it was probably a tryout to then have Alcala do it and see the comparison - a massive void between the two levels of workmanship!  

1 - Posted on 3/21/2025

Sorry to hear about the mix-up published/unpublished fiasco. Sometimes in our joy/excitement we overlook things. Happened to me before as well.

But on the bright side. You can now shout "Shelly's Shoe!" when the need arises. Trust me, do that two-three times and this page will turn into one of your favourites.