Paul Neary - Eerie 71 Page 19

It's a huge unedrstatement when I say that I was floored by Paul Neary's Hunter series when I took notice of it in Eerie.

I was not a regular reader of Warren mags at the time, essentially for budget reasons. So I used to browse through them from time to time, mostly looking for new stories by Rich Corben or Bernie Wrightson...

But then, Hunter popped up from nowhere and, with it, the signature of Paul Neary who I had never heard about. To me, Hunter captured the best of both worlds: the fantastic/romantic vein of Jeff Jones/Berni Wrightson and the high-tech approach of Jim Steranko and sci-fi illustrators like Mike Hinge. Add in a touch of Vaughn Bode's post-apocalyptic visions and you've got it!

But, make no mistake, what made it all great is that all these influences seemed to mesh efortlessly within the artistic vision of Paul Neary, who was in complete command of his art. No mean feat for what I thought to be a first effort. I mean, if this was his calling card, what would his next move be?

So I waited, patiently... And... I'm still waiting!

Oh, sure, I've seen Paul Neary's signature on a number of stories since then, some more epic that others. But, to me, he never approached that level of craftmanship again.

I'm not complaining. I'm sure there are tons of good reasons. Maybe the opportunity never arose again, but it's sort of too bad.

In any case, I've never met anyone who knew of Hunter. Original art doesn't surface often either, so, when this page came by, I was quite happy to pay respect to one of my great teenage graphic thrills.

And, now that you see it, go on: tell me what you think!